Sherbet

Today in science we made sherbet. We used four different ingredients. Icing sugar to make it sweet. Baking soda to make it fizz in your mouth. Citric acid to make it tangy. Tartaric acid to make it sour or tart. Before we started Mrs Drummond made us taste the ingredients individually. Lots of people ran out to get a drink. Then we started to mix. First we did a spoon of icing sugar, a spoon of baking soda, a spoon of citric acid and a spoon of tartaric acid. We tried it and thought it was a bit to sour so in the next batch we added a spoon more of icing sugar but didn't change anything else. When we tried the next batch I thought it was the perfect recipe. The other people in my group didn't agree so we tried another recipe. This time the rest of my group thought this was the perfect recipe. I had to agree it was pretty good but it wasn't my favourite. It was a really fun activity.

Beak experiment

Today in class we did a science experiment. We used six different tweezers to act as different bird beaks. First we had to list our equipment (which was the tweezers or forceps), cut up gummy worms, skittles and ripped up paper. Then we had to make our predictions. After we had made our prediction we were ready to go. The first thing we tried our beaks on was the gummy worms. Then we did skittles. Last we did paper. All the different things were standing in for something. The gummy worms were standing in for real worms. The skittles were standing in for berries and the paper was standing in for leaves . It was a very fun experiment and I can't wait for our next one.

Here is a picture of my group experimenting.

Rainforest Diorama

In the past two weeks every chose a habitat and researched it. Then when we had done some writing on it we got to make a diorama of that habitat. I chose to do the rainforest because I didn't know much about it and also because there are so many life forms. It took me three or four days to do it. In my diorama I put in five animals. They were a bird of paradise, a sloth, a snake, a fish and two butterflies. I also put in quite a few plants like trees, grass and bush. Here is a picture of my finished diorama.

Bird Information Report

What is the rarest penguin in the world? Which penguin is the smallest in the world? The yellow eyed penguin and blue penguin answer both of these questions. These two bird species are native to New Zealand. The blue penguin is the smallest penguin in the world and the yellow eyed penguin is the rarest penguin in the world.

Both penguins live by the coast. They build their nests in vegetation and hollows in the ground. The blue penguin is found in various places around New Zealand, but especially in the lower South Island and upper North Island. Whereas the yellow eyed penguin is found in Banks Peninsula (Christchurch), Otago and multiple Southland coasts. 

The two penguins have very similar diets. They both eat small fish and squid. But the yellow eyed penguin can dive to depths of over 160 metres which is about twice the depth then that of a typical blue penguin. This means that the yellow eyed penguin is able to catch fish that live on the seafloor.

Both penguins have similar appearances. Small sharp beaks and powerful strong flippers. Even though they are similar in some ways in others they are different in others. Yellow eyed penguins live up to their name and have yellow eyes. The blue penguin is, you guessed it blue. Even though most penguins have blue coats but little blue penguin has a more vibrant blue coat therefore earning its name the blue penguin.

Both the blue penguin and yellow eyed penguin have Maori names. The yellow eyed penguin Maori name is hoihoi which means ‘noise shouter’. Kororā is the name of the blue penguin in Maori. Blue penguins are also known as fairy penguins. Since the yellow eyed penguin is the rarest penguin in the world they only have a population of 6000 - 7000 yellow eyed penguins in the world. However the blue penguin population is around 600,000 birds so a lot but that doesn't mean they don’t have some predators and other worries.

One worry of the blue penguin is the increasing amount of plastic in our seas. If they eat the plastic it can kill them. Another concern of blue penguins is oil spills. Oil spills are when boats carrying oil sink or their containers split and spill into the sea. A patch of oil the size of your thumbnail can be deadly to a penguin. If a penguin has oil in their feathers and they start preening themselves they will swallow the oil and die. Preening is when birds clean and smooth their feathers.

Penguins has seven main predators. Some of them are in the sea while others are on land. While they are swimming they are prey to fur seals, whales, and sharks. On land they are prey to rats, cats, stoats and ferrets. These predators contribute to the troubles some penguins face. All of these predators are introduced to New Zealand therefore the penguins weren’t ready or evolved for the predators therefore their numbers decreased dramatically.

I hope you learnt about the blue penguin and yellow eyed penguin. How they are different in many ways but similar in others. Both these penguins are beautiful creatures but we need to protect them from threats like predators and poison, so they don’t become extinct.

Welcome to the Rainforest

This term we have been learning about habitats. Everyone had to pick a habitat and do a flip book about it. I chose to do the rainforest. A fun fact I found was that rainforest only covers 6% of the worlds surface.  We presented our work as an app flip book. Each page had a different topic including the weather, the animals that live there and more. It was a great learning experience as at the start I didn't  know much about the rainforest but after I learned lots of facts about the rainforest. Here is a picture of my finished flip book.

 

Evolution

This term we are learning about evolution. This is my title page for evolution. I did a sort of acrostic poem and linked every word to evolution. Here is my title page.

Animal Classification

Today we learned about how animals are classified into groups. Animals are either vertebrates  (which means they have a spine) or invertebrates (which don't have a spine).

Invertebrates are animals like jellyfish,crabs,insects and octopus.

Vertebrates are put into five groups. They are mammals, birds, reptiles,fish and amphibians. Mammals have fur or hair and give birth to live young. Birds have feathers and lay hard eggs. Reptiles are cold-blooded and lay soft eggs. Amphibians breathe through  their skin and need to keep their skin moist. Fish breathe through gills and have fins.

Five examples of each type:

Mammals: rabbits, llamas, giraffes, koala and tiger.

Birds: penguins,parrots,swans,eagles and owls.

Reptiles: sea turtles,snakes, alligators,chameleons and tuataras.

Amphibians: frogs, salamanders, toads and newts.

Fish: sharks,eels,fish, seahorses, and stingray.

Science Roadshow

Yr 5/6 Science Roadshow Trip

Last week our year five and six students had the opportunity to see science in action at the
Science Roadshow.

There were lots of different exhibitions.  The first thing was when we sat down to watch
‘The Fire and Ice Show’. The show was my personal favourite as we learnt about temperatures and
how the molecules warm up and cool down. We then did an experiment using a metal hoop and we put
a pool ball through the hoop. We tested it a few times to make sure it fitted through and then the scientist
put the hoop in some liquid nitrogen (that liquid nitrogen was -273 degrees). We left it for a minute and
thenwe tried to put the ball through the hoop again, but this time it didn’t work. It didn’t work because the
molecules had frozen, therefore making the hoop smaller.

Next we were allowed to roam around the exhibitions. There were four flagged exhibitions that if you
figured out the science behind it you would get a click on your card. Once you got two, three or four
clicks you could enter it into the draw to see if you would win some cool 3D glasses and pictures.
Once we had had some time we then sat back down for ‘The Human Body Show’. We learnt all
about how our body works.

The Science Roadshow was a great experience for all of us. We learnt a lot and it was great fun.
I can’t wait for our next science experience.

This is a picture of us at the science roadshow.