Nanogirl's visit to HNI- making science real

Dr. Michelle Dickinson MNZM, a.k.a. Nanogirl and Boris her trusty lab assistant made science and engineering come to life in the coolest ways possible, right before our eyes.

Nanogirl explained the science behind each experiment in a way that was fun and easy to understand. She started with a small experiment using sound waves to demonstrate the concept of invisibility, proceeding to explain each idea with the help of a volunteer from the audience.

Here are four examples of Room 13's earthquake report writing- Sam, Sophie, Tobey and Lola.

Opening of our new Technology block

On a hot Friday afternoon, we welcomed the newest addition to HNI- the tech block.  Today's formal opening marked the move at the start of the term to the new learning spaces.

Today's Te Reo exercise- to be Tellagami'd

Click on this link to hear a narration: Tellagami

Student’s activity:  Putting it all together!  Sentences about self and family

Read through the text and determine what each sentence means.  Fill in the gaps using the missing te reo words.  Then translate into English and narrate using Tellagami.

Ko name tōku ingoa. Age in years ōku tau.   No birthplace  ahau.

He hair colour  ōku makawe.  He eye colour  ōku whatu.

Ko father’s name te ingoa ō taku pāpā.  Ko mother’s name te ingoa  ō taku māmā.  He māmā tino ātawhai ia.  He ______  ōna makawe.   He _____  ōna whatu.  Toko number in family  tōku whānau.

  

Ko Paul tōku ingoa. Toru tekau mā ono ōku tau.   No Heretaunga ahau.

He urukehu  ōku makawe.   He kahurangi  ōku whatu.

Ko Gerry te ingoa ō taku pāpā.  Ko Beatrice te ingoa ō taku māmā.

He māmā tino ātawhai ia.  He urukehu ōna makawe.   He kakariki ōna whatu. Toko waru tōku whānau.

Translation

My name is Paul.  I am 36 years old.  I am from Hastings.

My hair is blonde.  My eyes are blue.

my father’s name is Gerry.  My mother’s name is Beatrice.

My mother is very caring.  Her hair is blonde. Her eyes are green.

There are eight in my family.

Our 'ChangeMakers' Banksy wall- promoting change through street art

Year 8's very first Line Dance practice for 2016

Taken under the direction of former HNI reacher and deputy principal, Mr Fullwood.

Ben and the band playing at Te Mata Primary

The band was helped by the new roadies, Jack and Oliver!

A selection of 50-word quick wrtites.

It was three am. The boy always spent three am like this, eyes open staring at the screen of his phone, his mind flooded with thoughts. His brain just couldn't stop thinking. His attention drifted away from the screen and  into the inky blackness. Numb, sunken eyes staring into emptiness.

Alice

Why are things called what they are? Is there a specific reason that whoever discovered them gave them that name or was it just quick thinking because they were focused on something else, like Frog as an example, does the word frog have a meaning or was it just random?   Joshua

Hi I am an ordinary person but people see me as a different person because they scream and run away from me when I'm around and yes I know that I'm green and that I have arms that are tentacles and three eyes, but no- one has to run away.     Anna

As soon as I woke up I spotted him out the window eating grass he was huge. I moved to the cabinet, unlocked it, grabbed the gun and ran up to the hut above my house.  Slowly and quietly I loaded a bullet, then looked through my scope and shot.     Cooper

My legs ache as my pedals begin to get harder to turn. My wheels roll over the top of the hill and I begin to speed up as I descend the slope. My bike flows down the smooth dirt trail, gaining even more speed than I did before.     Jack

I’m not feeling the same as I usually do about this race. I usually feel that I can win it, but it’s the Olympic Games so I don’t want to get my hopes up. I stretch for the finish but then I face plant and another runner takes the glory.    Jordan

The sound of birds chirping flows through the air, the smell of pine trees surround me. The fire keeps us warm on this cold winter's night. The moon's light beams down on the pathway. It’s quiet, no-one's speaking, everyone’s acting so suspicious.  I wonder if they’re keeping something from me?   Kat

The hamburger dripped greasily down my arm seeping into the sleeve of my new jacket. I put it on the plate, wiping my hands on the napkin in front of me. I throw it in the bin as I walk out and start driving away. Tyres screech, I scream. Silence.    Lola

Finally my favourite season has come, spring, the flowers are blooming and baby animals are all around. I hear birds singing their wonderful songs, and I see baby bunnies coming out of hibernation for the end of winter, I see a cat walk out of a house with her kittens.      Mikayla

¨Can’t wait any longer¨ I said to mum and she said ¨You don’t have to, we are getting it today.¨

I couldn’t wait. When we got to the shelter I had the biggest smile as I walked in, and hearing all the noise made me even more excited.     Natalya

At the Olympic Games I stand at the edge of the steep snowy hill. I clip my boots into my snowboard and put my goggles on. 3,  2,  1, adrenaline kicks  in as I speed down the  snow- covered hill. I get closer to the ramp  then my shoe unclips…        Olly

My fingers clutch the steering wheel as I speed around the second to last corner. Number 6 is coming right after me as we go into the straight. We are now battling to the corner he goes way past me, he spins out I pass him and the finish line.     Sam

I love rocks because they are round and you can get millions of different types of rocks.  Sometimes I wish that they could become real so that I can have a pet rock. but I don't care I use my imagination and they become real in my own fantasy world.       Sahjae

“Any progress on the kidnapping case?” the captain asked.

“No sir.  We can’t proceed until we have a consultation with Detective  Samara Thorpe .”

“Why do you need her help? She’s been retired for years.”

“The ransom note is written in cursive, and nobody on the task force can read it.”     Samara

Deep in the county there was a town called Beaverville. No one knew anything about it.  Beaverville was a  sad little village. There was a beach on the river and a boardwalk. Far along on the boardwalk there was a small, unkempt boy, sitting, looking out to sea, smiling big.     Serah

I opened my crusty, sleepy eyes to hear the pilot on the speaker say “We have arrived at our destination, London.”

Suddenly I feel a strike of excitement inside of me. I was 5 minutes away from starting a new chapter in my life, it’s all going to happen now.      Sophie

When we landed on the black airstrip and got out of the old exhausted plane on the fresh and cool autumn morning, we walked across the tarmac into the full and muggy airport to collect our bags, wanting to get out of that humid, stuffy place and just go home!       Summer

As I stumbled through the dark gloomy hallway that leads to the kitchen- bang, crash- loud, rumbling sounds echo from the attic. Quickly, I react to this and scamper back down the hallway to get safely to my bedroom. As I leap into my bed I rush under the covers.     Yana

Today is my 11th birthday. My mother promised me that I could get a journal to write cool stories.  Writing is my favourite hobby… well it's my only hobby. I don't play sports or even play an instrument! I just sit under an oak tree and write all day long.          Zoe

HNI Year 8's spending the day at HNHS

Our close neighbours, Havelock North High School, have recognised the importance of having year 8 students better prepared for their entry into higher schooling.  Today, our year 8 classes were invited to spend class time in four typical subject areas at HNHS.  For Room 13 students, this was English, Social Sciences, Maths and Science.
Firstly, our students were welcomed by Mr Fenton and senior student leaders before they were whisked away, leaving us HNI teachers to make our way slowly back to class to prepare for planning meetings- no lazy day for us, oh no!
On their return to class this afternoon the students were bubbling and enthusiatic about the day and high school life.  Some even went so far as to say they enjoyed maths- at last!

Inter-class debates

In preparation for the inter-class debates we have been writing persuasive speeches and putting forward personal points of view.  Our first challenge was to come up with arguments for against NZ becoming part of Australia.  Here are some of the ideas for 'affirmative' and in 'rebuttal' (should be 'negative', I know).

This preparation helped determine who would be our Room 13 representatives for the inter-class debate. Once that was decided, our team of Chloe, Cameron and Ben came up against the hard-hitting team of Bella, Ellis, and Emily, from Room 16.  The moot was, 'Social Media does more harm than good'.  Room 13 were the affirmative.  After an intense battle of wits, common sense, evidence and arguing to-and-fro, Room 16 were announced the victors.

Matariki kites

HNI are having a kite-flying day in celebration of Matariki, the Maori winter solstice.  As part of this we have had two students, Lola and Chloe, use flax to create a manutukutuku or traditional maori kite.  It's shape was copied from designs used in Aotearoa's past, including some manutukutuku's contained in the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, collection.
The making caused some sore hands and, over three days, the flax dried out and shrank.  You can see this in the tightness of the weave in the early photo compared to the finished article.

 

    This box kite is yet to be finished but we are expecting big things from it- it is 1.8m long and 

0.6m wide.  It has 30m of string in its construction.  This has been used to bind it together.

Room 13 orienteering

Jane from HB Orienteering took Rooms 13 and 15 for the afternoon, getting all students to complete several courses around the school grounds.  Complete novices paired up to help each other and the experienced raced the clock for bragging rights.
Room 13's experienced orienteers- Olly, Cam and Chloe, helped set up the courses and did the control timing at the finish.

Go Zoe and Sophie- netball won this race (Zoe










  Jack punching out as he completes a map.                

For some- above, Olly and Sam- the competition was fierce.  Olly has been successful at regional level so Sam was always up against the wall.  Still, the smile says it all.

Tobey felt the heat.  He was a terrier, determined to get good times and put the pressure on more experienced orienteers.  Here he has just finished a course and is about to receive his time, and take a break.





It was the first time many of the students had orienteered and they did exceptionally well. Some of those who looked slow completing the course had better success than others, as they punched all of the controls whereas faster runners (myself included) punched the wrong control- a disqualification!  I blame the maps.
Here we have Serah and Mikayla working together, problem-solving to find the next control. They both did very well as they took their time and ensured the right controls were punched in the correct order (they taught me a lesson- won't tell them, though).                                                                                                          
Samara sets a hot pace as she continues on her map.