Congratulations from Ms S and Mr Mc

Poem - My Friends and I

With my friends I have the greatest fun
With my friends I get the job done
When I am lonely they will always be there
A friend is something that is very rare

No matter what we do
There will always be a time when I need you
Whatever situation we are in
Both of us will win

Arguments may happen and we will fight
But we are friends as I write
Without you where would I be?
Together you and I are free

By Slinky

I made this poem last year to reflect on the times with my good friends. I think it says a lot for itself and I am proud of it. When I put it up here, I will never forget it. Hopefully this will pass for homework. :)

We Made The Solar Oven!

This is what it looks like. Myself, Movies and Dogs and Soccer made this today. It will not be exposed to sunlight without the full supervision of the most wonderful science teacher, Ms S. We took the photo with my webcam because the camera doesn't have a memory card. This is why it is sort of blurry.

The Pee Wee AKA the Magpie Lark

The Pee wee is a black and white bird that looks a lot like a magpie but the name can be misleading. Pee wees have no link to magpies or larks. The most noticeable difference in the different species is the fact that the pee wee is smaller than the magpie. Whether their looks are similar, the peewee is a very interesting bird.

Description

As I have said before, the pee wee is a black and white bird. The adult male has a white eyebrow and a black face whereas the female has a white face and doesn't have a eyebrow. The young, no matter what gender, have a black forehead, a white eyebrow and a white throat.

Habitat

Pee wees can be found in Australia, New Guinea and Timor. They can be found in almost any habitat except rain forests and the driest deserts. The birds that don't breed and young birds make large wandering groups that move together depending on which season. These groups can sometimes consist of several thousands.

Food

The bird is a mostly ground dwelling animal and can be seen slowly searching the ground for a variety of insects and their larvae. They also like to eat worms and freshwater invertebrate.

From my perspective, this bird does not at all sound like the noisy magpies but yet, does not sound as sweet as the lark but I like to think that they are there, having a peaceful time as they fly, eat and enjoy life.

Wind Power

Using the wind as a source of energy has been around for a long time. You might of seen a windmill on a farm. When the blades turn, it rotates a turbine inside a small generator to produce energy. You can make one too by following these instructions.

Materials
the template on the right
scissors
a toothpick
a straw
sticky tape

Instructions

1. Cut out the template.
2. Decorate it
3. From the corners of the square cut until you reach the line
4. At every dot, fold it into the middle
5. Sticky tape them there
6. Cut your toothpick in half
7. Poke a hole big enough at the top of the straw to put your toothpick in
8. Put your thumbtack or split pin in. Make sure that paper is not touching the straw
9. There you have it! Now blow directly at the front

Note that this is something that I have tested out and I have made by mixing different instructions together. I anything goes wrong, I am to blame.

Solar Power

Solar is the Latin word for sun so the word suggests that is is sun power. The sun is a powerful source of energy and with it, it can be turned into energy. We use the sun in two different ways. It can be used as a heat source or as a energy source.

People have used the sun for thousands of years. Greek people used to build their houses towards the sun so that their house would be warmer. In the 1830's, a explorer named John Herschel used a solar oven to cook his food during his adventure in Africa. Here is the hyperlink on how to make it. Trust me. It is so simple.

To generate your home with solar power you have to use a lot of panels. Just look at this photo!



The whole roof is covered! I was really surprised.

A process known as photovoltaics, is what we do to make energy out of the sun. So if you have a solar powered watch or calculator, you are using photovoltaics.

In 1954, some scientists discovered that silicon made a electrical charge when it was put in the sunlight. A few years later, silicon chips were used to help power space satellites. Funnily enough, silicon is a substance found in sand!

A lot of people use solar energy as part of their electricity. From just one ton of sand we could produce enough energy to burn 500,00 tons of coal.

Some of you might be wondering why we all don't use solar panels and solar energy. With the energy from the sun, it makes a different energy than the one from a power station. Due to this, you need different wiring done and that isn't the cheapest thing...

Although it costs a lot, I think that it is a good way to save the environment and I think that the actual solar energy isn't as expensive as normal energy!

Poem - Two Drops of Rain

These are my two drops of rain
Waiting on the window-pane.
I am waiting here to see
Which the winning one will be.
Both of them have different names.
One is John and one is James.
All the best and all the worst
Comes from which of them is first.
James has just begun to ooze.
He's the one I want to lose.
John is waiting to begin.
He's the one I want to win.
James is going slowly on.
Something sort of sticks to John.
John is moving off at last.
James is going pretty fast.
John is rushing down the pane.
James is going slow again.
James has met a sort of smear.
John is getting very near.
Is he going fast enough?
(James has found a piece of fluff.)
John has quickly hurried by.
(James was talking to a fly.)
John is there, and John has won!
Look! I told you!
Here's the sun!

By A.A. Milne

By the looks of things, this is a child who is bored by the rain and is looking at two raindrops on their window. One is James and one in John. The child is giving these characters personification by making them sound as if they are running. A the end of the poem John has won but they totally forget about it and realise they can go out and play.

I found this poem very enjoyable to read because of the simple English and the funny topic.

Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer was a German painter born on the 21st of May, 1471. He is a renowned painter and printmaker but died on the 6th of April, 1528 at the age of 56. Dürer became famous when he was in his mid-twenties and because of this, his life has been well documented by several sources.

After a few years at school, Dürer started learn a bit about goldsmithing and a bit of drawing from his father. He showed such a talent for drawing that although is father wanted him to continue goldsmithing, he let him become a apprentice to Michael Wolgemut at the age of fifteen. Wolgemut was a leading artist at that time in Nuremberg and owned a large workshop that produced many different types of art. The one in particular was woodcuts for books.

The great artist of the Renaissance looked as if he painted in watercolours and oils but engraving was the thing he was most famous for. A particular favourite of some is a watercolour painting called A Young Hare. Although the idea of a hare bores some people Dürer has added great detail to this work to make it a boring hare look like a piece of artwork.

With a lot of his works in great detail, he did not get to finish some. When he died he left a career that many would have loved to have. Although the person is gone, his spirit still lives in some of his paintings.



A Young Hare

Auroras

Auroras is the natural display of lights in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. These are usually seen at night and some scientists call them 'polar auroras'.

These lights are can be seen in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It gives off a an illuminating glow over the horizon. Mostly you can see a glowing green but sometimes you can see a radiating red.

In the Southern Hemisphere the lights are called the aurora australis. These are visible in Antarctica, South America and Australasia. Australis is the Latin word for 'of the South'.

In the Northern Hemisphere the lights are called aurora borealis. These can be seen in the arctic islands of northern Canada. The name comes from the Roman goddess of dawn named Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas. These lights occur most often during September to October and from March to April.

How to Make Musical Instruments

Click on this link to go to the site where you can find out how to make fun musical instruments!

My List of Dairy Products

I've named 14. How many can you name?

1. milk
2. cheese
3. yoghurt
4. ice-cream
5. gelato
6. butter
7. cream
8. chocolate
9. coffee
10. white tea
11. cappuccino
12. curd
13. margarine
14. Yakult
15. buttermilk

From The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

These are the famous lines from the poem. I did not really understand this until I read the Wikipedia article about it. For once it explains the poem in plain simple English that I can understand and after reading it, I thought it was a very good poem to describe a horrific story.

Edgar Degas

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas was a French born artist and famous for painting, sculpturing, printmaking and drawing. Born on the 19 July ,1834, he lived for 83 years and died on the 27 September ,1917,. If he was alive today then he would be 174 years of age but althoug his age changed I don't think that his love for art would have ever changed.

He was born into a family of three boys and two girls and Degas was the eldest of them all. He changed his last name to Degas some time later when painting his works of art.

At the age of 18, Degas had turned one of his rooms into an art studio but although his love for art showed, his father wanted him to go to law school. His studies for law at the University of Paris were vain as he took little interest. In July 1856, Degas travelled to Italy which was the place where he would stay for another 3 years. There he drew and painted copies of pictures done by Michelangelo, Raphael and other famous artists. During this period he succeeded in the technique of classical art.

Degas used a couple of artistic materials. From what I can find he used oils, pastels and he had to use something to make sculptures!

I am really infuriated by the fact that wherever I go to find something on the Web that it always turns out to be in complicated English. This is what I find a lot on Wikipedia and since this is the only site I can find details on his life, I have to stop here. Wait a minute! One last thing. I am personally very attracted to the painting called The Dance Class. With the detail and beatuy of the picture, it gives you a wonderful feeling to go and dance with them.


The Dance Class

Trixie Belden

Trixie Belden is a series of mystery stories revolving around the main character Beatrix 'Trixie' Belden. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell but then changed authors to Kathryn Kenny. Kathryn Kenny was a pen name or in other words, a fake name only used to write books and to disguise the author's real identity. These books were written between 1948 and 1986 but stopped for a number of years before Random House reprinted them. They came back out in the summer of 2003. In 2006, books 1-15 have been reissued. Lots hope to see all 39 reprinted especially the hard to find books.

Trixie is 13 year old girl who lives in the made up town of Sleepyside-on-Hudson. This is in the Hundson River Valley around the area of New York. She lives on Crabapple Farm with her family made up of her parents and her three brothers. This farm has been with her family for three or six generations. The reason for three to six is that it changes through the series. She hates her real name Beatrix and is not to fond of school work.

Throughout the series Trixie and her good friend Honey Wheeler solve mysteries together. I hope to grab some of these books and have a good read to see what Trixie really gets up to.


The first book

Seed Dispersal

What is Seed Dispersal?

The definition for dispersal is to scatter of distribute. The way seed dispersal works is that a seed of a flower or plant is dropped or scattered.

Ways of dispersal

If the seed is scattered with the wind blowing, it might fly miles away before it settles down. This is wind dispersal. If it is carried out by the sea it might settle where it was washed up. This is called water dispersal. Now we come to a method that is done in several ways. It's called animal dispersal. The first course of action is the plant sticking to the animal. For instance the burr plant is rather spiky. These spiky things can get tangled in the fur or feather of an animal and if the bird flies a long way, the spiky seed goes with it. Some plants produce thier seeds in an edible form. Nuts are a good example. If a squirrel eats the nut and disposes of its waste somewhere then the seed will go with it. The last way is if a squirrel saves a acorn for the winter and buries it somewhere and never comes back for it, the acorn will grow to become a tree.

Interesting Fact I Found

Some plants disperse themselves! The plant spurts out the seeds and then they go wherever nature takes them.

Take a look at this site I found and the videos are quite interesting! Note that the videos require Quicktime.

Monotremes

What are montremes? They are a mammal that lays eggs and there are only two monotremes on the entire Earth. The platypus and the echidna. They are found in Australia and New Guinea.

The echidna is covered with fur and sharp spines that are used to guard them from harm. Where it is warmer in the north, the colour of the echidna is brown whereas in the cooler south, they are black.

As I said before, what makes them a monotreme is the fact that they lay eggs. They do this rather than have live birth. For the echidna mating occurs during the winter months and around 22 days later, the female will lay a soft leathery egg directly into her pouch. After ten days, a baby emerges from the egg and the size of it is no larger than a jellybean. It suckles from two milk spores in the pouch and stays there for up to 55 days. During this time it begins to develop spines. After all this, the mother digs a burrow for the young one and comes again five or so days to suckle it for an extra seven months.

The platypus is the other monotreme. It's appearance shocked early scientists and were first thought to be a joke. It has a sleek fur-covered body, webbed feet and a smooth, leathery bill.

During June to October is the time to breed for the platypuses but can occur earlier in northern latitudes. Mating takes place in the water and from about 12-14 days, the female lays 3-2 eggs in a nesting burrow. These eggs are incubated by the mother's belly and tail and hatch after about a fortnight. By six weeks of age they have grown fur, have opened their eyes and may leave the burrow for short periods of time. Sooner or later they are weaned by 5 months of age.

I think that these are very interesting creatures that we should all look out for.

The echidna

The platypus

Poem - anyone lived in a pretty how town

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did.

Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hoe and then)they
said their nevers and they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt for forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

e.e. cummings

After some research I have found out that 'anyone' and 'noone' are actually people that are ignored by the others around them. 'anyone and 'noone' are lovers and noone gradually comes to love anybody. At the end of the poem, anyone died and I think noone did too.

From my point of view, I think that it is a very lovely poem that came to a very sad end. The repetition emphasises the things you forget in the first bit which is a good thing.

A comment on what you think or know what this poem is about would really help me to understand it more. Do note to leave your name. :)

Harper Lee - Author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

Nelle Harper Lee is an American author well known for her work, To Kill a Mockingbird. While born on April 28th, 1926, she made her book in 1960. At the age of 82, she lives with her 94 year old sister Alice.

Lee was the youngest child of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. Truman Capote, another famous American writer, was a neighbour and a friend in those early years and on. She lived in a southwestern Alabama town called Monroeville but first studied in Huntingdon College in Montergomery, Alabama. She then went on to do a law degree in the University of Alabama and spent one year overseas at Oxford University, England. Before she became a writer, she worked as a reservation clerk for Eastern Airlines in New York City until the late 1950's. Lee lived a inexpensive lifestyle, travelling only to her original home in Alabama to look after her father, and her cold-water-only apartment. She now worked in Holcombe, Kansas, as a research assistant for Truman Capote's 4th novel 'In Cold Blood' .

Harper Lee published her first but only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in 1960 after a two year period of rewriting and revising under the advice of her editor. Her book was so successful that it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize despite the fact that her book had many different critical views. In the book she had put in her own experiences as a child in Monroeville. The book was a best seller by selling more than 15 million copies and was made into an outstanding film.

As I have said at the top, she now lives with her sister Alice and I am sure that she is living a very happy life.

Harper Lee

Seed Dispersal - quick notes

types of seeds ...
winged seeds
round ones that float
dispers some seeds have to burnt. bushfires

birds disperse by pooing.

Sidney Nolan

Sir Sidney Robert Nolan is a renowned Australian painter for his arts on Ned Kelly but was also known for his printmaking. Born on the 22nd of April, 1917, He spent most of his life as a painter even as a child. If he still lived today he would be 91 years of age but died on the 28th of November, 1992 in London.

Nolan was the eldest of the four children in his family. He was born in the suburb of Carlton in Melbourne but later moved to the bay side St Kilda, also in Melbourne. He left school at the age of 14 to attend Prahran Technical College, Department of Design and Crafts to do a course which he had already begun by part-time correspondence. When he was 16, he started to work for Fayrefeild Hats and Abbotsford by making advertisements and display stands with dyes and spray paint. In 1934, when he was 17, he attended night classes, in no particular order, at the National Gallery of Victoria Art.

He was close friends with John and Sunday Reed who were art patrons or art supporters. His involvement with the Reeds ended up breaking his relationship with his first wife Elizabeth Patterson but married again to John's sister Cynthia after being refused to marry him by Sunday Reed. His last marriage was to Mary Boyd.

He is most famous for the Ned Kelly Series in which some he painted in the Reed's living room. In most of his paintings you can see that he has not put in Kelly's head or eyes but in every scene he painted, Kelly was always wearing his suit of amour.

In 1950 Nolan moved to London where he stayed until his death. Some of his paintings are now in the National Art Gallery of Australia. From my perspective, I think that they look very simple but sometimes just a little can do so much.

The Trial by Sidney Nolan

Our Very Own Birds Nest

Today, Mr B came into our room and gave us a bird's nest. It is about 14cm in diameter and 10cm in height. Around the base is is a lot of mud. From information from Speedy, the bird had made about 400 trips to cover the whole base with mud. It must have been tiring because bird's beaks aren't that big. Ms S reckons it's a Mynah bird that made it but who can be sure? It fell right down next to Mr B's car!

A bird's nest is a place where an adult bird lays and incubates its eggs. All nests are different depending on the type of bird but some don't even make them. They steal them! The Black-headed Grosbeak steals bits of nests to make her own home while the Cuckoo bird lays her eggs in another nest and lets the owner of the nest take care of it.

We will study the nest in different ways but for now it's sitting on the science desk. (Pictures coming soon.)

P.S. Look at what Bush Babe is posting on bird's nests.

The Cabbage Patch Fib

1. Who wrote the Round the Twist Series?

Paul Jennings

2. In the scene where Bronson is fishing with Nell in front of the jetty, does the camera zoom in or out?

Zoom in

3. Where do the Twists keep their goldfish?

On the wall

4.When Bronson is outside at night in the cabbage looking for babies, how does the director show that it is night?

The blue lighting

5.What special effect does the director use for the baby?

The director paints it green

6.What is written on the newspaper headline?

a) Blue boy alive and well.

b) Aliens invade a lighthouse.

c) Green baby found in cabbage patch.

C

7.What does the director use to change scenes after the teacher tells Bronson to change the baby's nappy?

A swirl the change the scenes.

This is a hyperlink to all Paul Jennings books

Test Tube Alien

The Hatching

Today we opened our test tube alien by the name of Zog. There were certain instructions on how to hatch the thing for it was in a white bumpy looking cocoon. Myself and J.B. were in charge of hatching it. We followed the instructions where it said to 'keep on adding water to the alien through the feeding hatch until all the fizzing stops'. This took a lot of water but in the end we hatched it. Now it was time to clean all the residue of the left over cocoon. Movies and I went outside to the tap and cleaned it all out by refilling and emptying the tube a few times. It was now ready for feeding. To do that we added the dehydrated 'sloog' to 150 ml of water and stirred it around in the cup. He needs 12 hours daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Everyone in the class had a quick turn in the feeding it with a teaspoon. He is now in the office satisfied, safe and sound.

Signals

On top of Zog's head is a light. This is where his heart is. When he is feeling hungry it flashes orange. When he feels that everything in his environment is right, it flashes red. When it flashes green, he is drowning.

How it Works

Zog's body contains a substance called polyacrylamide which is a type of polymer. This soaks up water which causes it to react to grow big. This is eight times it's original size. The 'sloog' contains a weak acid which slows the growth down to make it seems it is growing over several days.

I think that we will have a great time knowing the alien but I hope he doesn't die until the big school holidays!

The fizzing...




almost there...



and the final product.

Test Tube Alien Activities

• Write out a word bank of 15 words and put all of them in seperate sentences. Note that they have to be interesting.


• Keep a journal of how it grows and what changes it makes.


• Write a story from the alien's point of veiw.


• Year 5's do a information report on aliens. Remember to add your personal perpesctive.


• With a partner, make a story of how the alien came to live in the classroom.
• Design your own alien

Floriade 2008 Scrap Pic