Sunday, 16 June 2013

Desalination Incursion

On Thursday, we were lucky enough to be the only year twos and threes to visit Warren from the Murdoch University. Warren came down to talk to us about the desalination process and using our water sustainably.
Not one of us even knew what desalination was! So we starting off watching this sort clip to get our brains thinking! Just click on the link below to view!







Warren started by giving us a taste of desalinated water, which we thought was delicious and then he gave us a taste of 'normal tap water' which most of us spat out because it tasted salty! We think Warren was trying to trick us!!

Next, Warren explained to us how much water was on Earth and how much of that water was fresh. In this photo, the big jug of blue water represents all the salty ocean water on our Earth. The smaller jug of blue water shows the fresh water that is found in ice burgs and glaciers, and the smallest container of blue water is the amount of fresh water we have access to!

We were pretty surprised to find this out and a little concerned! Warren reassured us that we have more than enough water though, but we do need to make sure we look after it!









Warren explained that on average Perth consumes 
1 Gigalitre a day! That is 
1, 000, 000, 000 litres! 
To help us understand this massive number, he explained it is like 1 whole Subiaco oval filled to the top each day!......Phew! That is A LOT OF WATER!

Warren explained that at the moment we are taking most of our water from the reserves that are deep underground. He said that we are taking more than we should be and that this is affecting the environment. That is why they have built a desalination plant in Biningup. Warren helped us understand what desalination is by using this experiment: 

He put some water in the kettle and added some food colouring to it, which made it yellow. The he taped one end of a tube around the nozzle and the other he sealed into a cup. Then he boiled the kettle and asked us what colour we thought the water in the cup would be. It ended up being clear! Warren explained that this is similar to what happens to salt from ocean water when it is desalinated.

 After that, Warren used his super duper micro scope camera to show us some close ups of Isabelle and Claire's skin on the big screen! We could see every tiny little cell! It was amazing!



Warren used his super duper micro scope to show us the filters inside the desalination tubes. These filters only allow water molecules to pass through and all the salt, viruses and bacteria get left behind.














Here are some close up pictures of two types of filters that are used in the desalination process.

Did you know that once the ocean water is desalinated, it is pumped into our normal water reservoirs and it is mixed with rain and ground water before coming through our taps!




Click on this link to take a virtual tour of the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant in Biningup!












We really enjoyed learning about desalination and looking after our Earths resources in a sustainable way! We hope you have learnt a thing or two also!


Over and Out
Tremendous T4
Balloon Poke Science

In Science this term, we have been learning all about matter. What's the matter?...... you ask?
No not that type of matter! We are learning about the type of matter that makes up everything around us!

Matter is everything around you. Matter is anything made of atoms and molecules. Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.

We started our investigation into matter, by carrying out a 'balloon poke'. Mrs M filled up three balloons with three different states of matter. We got to poke each balloon and then write down our observations of the matter inside. Here are some pictures of what we found!

Hailey got to poke the first balloon! For some reason we all had the urge to put our hands over our ears!


The matter that came out of this balloon, we decided was see through, light, loud - GAS

Eric was our next balloon popper......but for some reason...the balloon just would not pop!

Still trying to pop it!..

Even Alby came and had a go!

And finally we managed to pop it! We found the matter in this balloon was runny, liquidy, cold and heavy - LIQUID

Danica was in charge of popping the last balloon.

Danica was a little unsure at first....but she popped it!

Inside this balloon was cold, hard, heavy ice! We decided this was a SOLID

Poor Hamish's work got soaked in the process!


After all of our balloon popping fun, Mrs M explained to us what matter was, and we watched this cool video on liquids, solids and gasses.
Did you know our whole world is made up of matter in its three states; solids, liquids and gasses! We can not wait to learn more and tell you all about it on our blog! Stay tuned!

Love Tremendous T4

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Our Cemetery Walk

On Friday the 31st of May, Tremendous T4 and room 4 were lucky enough to go on a short excursion to the local pioneer cemetery. 

A strange place for a school excursion you say?.....Well perhaps, but we have been learning about our local history and found some VERY interesting information about some of the early settlers to our area.


Our Cemetery Walk on PhotoPeach  

Here are some of the recounts written by the students in our class:


Our Cemetery Walk
Written by Isabelle 
(Year 3)
 
On Friday the 31st of May, T4 and room 4 which was Mrs K's room, were lucky enough to go for a walk to the Old Australind Cemetery.

First, we lined up nicely in our groups. In my group there was me, Connor, Hamish and Alby. It wasn't to far a walk from our school. When we got to the cemetery, we looked for Marshall Waller Clifton's grave. He died in 1861 which was 152 years ago!

Next, we found Doctor Anthony Carpenter's grave. He was the first person to be buried in the cemetery in 1842. He was 32 years old when he died. He came to Australind on the Parkfield ship with Marshall Waller Clifton.

The last person to live in Henton Cottage was Phillip Edward Nutley. We saw his grave also. Marshall Clifton's wife Elinor Bell was also buried there. In Australind they named a road after her.

I found going to the was really interesting and it was great seeing the actual graves of the people we have been learning about. I think it is really important that we are careful to look after the cemetery so that all people can learn about our local history.


Our Cemetery Walk
Written by  Claire
(Year 3)

On Friday, my class and Mrs K's class went on an exciting walk to the old Australind Cemetery. 

To begin with, we got into our six groups and we had one leader in each group. I was the leader of my group. The we set off to the cemetery. When we got there, there was a sign that said 'established in 1842'. While we were in there, we were doing a scavenger hunt. The first question was 'how old was Marshall Waller Clifton when he died?' The answer to the question was 73.

Secondly, I found out that Doctor Anthony Carpenter was the first to get buried at the cemetery. He also sailed to Australind on the Parkfield ship with Marshall Waller Clifton.

Finally, when it was time to go, we headed towards the entry archway and Mrs M took a photo of all my class. When Mrs M finished taking the photo, we had to catch up with the others because they were ahead of us!

I strongly believe that knocking the cemetery down would be a tragedy to all of us because it is a special place in our community and a significant part of our history. This is why we need to work together to protect it!

The Cemetery 
 Written by Eric 
(Year 2)

On Friday the 31st of May, my class and I and room 4 (which was Mrs K's class) went to the cemetery for an excursion. We even got to do a scavenger hunt and we needed to answer ALL the questions!

To begin with, my group leader was Charli and the other person in my group was Tyson. We looked for Marshall Waller Clifton's grave. He died in 1861 which was 152 years ago! We also saw Dr Anthony Carpenter's grave as well. He was the first to be buried in the cemetery.

Next, Tyson and I were answering our scavenger hunt questions and we found that lots of the older graves were of babies. Mrs M explained to us that it was common for babies to die in the 1800s because there were no hospitals to help them.

My favourite part of going to the cemetery was that it was very interesting to see Marshall Waller Clifton's grave, because we had learnt about him in class.

I think it is important to not build anything on the Australind Cemetery site because it is important for our history. It helps us learn about the first settlers.


We hope that you have learnt a thing or two about the history of Australind!

Love 

Tremendous T4!
 

Sunday, 19 May 2013

Holiday Digi Art

After coming back from the holidays, we all had so many fantastic stories to tell about our adventures, Mrs M thought it would be a great idea to create 'Digi-arts'. A digi art is when you combine photography with hand drawn art to create a picture.

We all started by writing a recount of our holidays, then we picked our favourite part that we wanted to turn into digi art. We had to think carefully about our pose before Mrs M took the picture, then we had to create the scene around our picture. Check them out, we think they look fantastic!


         My Fantastic, but Painful Holiday
Written by Zachary
On my holidays, we had a lot of fun things planned like hanging out with Leo and going to Leo’s house to ask if he would play soccer with dad and I, Thomas came too.

To begin with, dad and I went over to Leo’s house to ask if Leo wanted to play soccer. He said “Yes” and he bought Thomas with him. After playing soccer, we went to climb some trees. I fell out of the tree and it really hurt because my leg got stuck in two branches, then I front flipped onto the ground and I also landed front first on my neck. My back ached for ten days afterwards!

Secondly, about seven days later, Leo came over for a sleepover. We played the Wii six times! We played three times the first day and the next day we played three times again. We went to bed at 1:33 in the morning and woke up at 6:28! In the morning, Leo and his parents took us to the park. Rory came to. We saw a Blue Ringed Octopus. I spotted a hornet and we all went full speed because we knew that two hornet stings can kill you.

Finally Leo came over my place for a play date and we jumped on the tramp. After that, we played our favourite games ‘Skylander Giants’ and ‘Super Mario Brothers 1 and 2’. We played levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.
 
Overall, I had a great but painful holiday! My favourite thing was having Leo come for a sleep over because we ate a lot of junk food!



My Super Fantastic Holiday
Written by Bailey
On the holidays, my family and I went to the ‘My Golf Tournament’ in Bunbury. We also got to test drive a Holden, Mazda, Hyundai and a Toyota and my dad and I went to Barbagallo raceway to see the V8 Supercars!

The first thing I did on the holidays with my family was go to the Sanctuary Golf Resort in Bunbury for a golf tournament. Instead of our usual 5 hole games, we had to play 6 holes! I played really well and came first in the tournament! 

Our family also test drive a Hyundai i30, Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 and a Holden Cruze CD. We all preferred the Toyota, so we bought it. We bought it for the comfort, luxury and space.

The very last thing I did on the holidays was go to Barbagallo Raceway to see the V8 Supercars. Me and my dad went to the Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo with Hamish and his dad. It was great watching the V8’s, Big V8’s Formula Fords and the old boys racing around the tight, tricky and challenging track....and all this going at almost 300km per hour!

I loved going to do all of the things I did on my super fantastic holiday like; playing golf tournaments in Bunbury, testing and looking for new cars, and going to the most amazing V8 mix racing EVER for my first time! 




My Star Wars Holiday
Written by Tyson
On the holidays, I did lots of fantastic things at home with my brother.

In the first week, I was pretty bored. It was lunch time one day and I asked my brother if he would play Star Wars with me. We went and played outside and I totally beat him!

Secondly, it was Sunday night and I was playing a racing game on my iPad. It was called CSR Racing. I was versing a crew member and I won!

I just loved my holiday! It was the best holiday in my life. My favourite part was when I played Star Wars because I beat my brother.




The Magnificent Holiday
Written by Eric
On the holidays my family didn’t do any old thing…..my family and I went overseas to Japan to meet our friends!

The first thing we did, was pack our bags and then we got on a plane to Hong Kong. It took three hours to get to Hong Kong and the plane was called Cathay Pacific. When we got to Hong Kong we changed planes. Next, it took four hours and fifteen minutes to finally arrive at Japan.

When we got to Handeda Airport, we saw our friends waiting for us. Then we have dinner with our friends. For dinner we had oyacadomburi. After that, we went to the train station and we said goodbye to our friends. We went on two trains and one bus. On the bus we got to Disney Resort, but we were so tired that we brushed our teeth, had a shower and went to bed.

The next day, I woke up and I woke my mum and dad up. We had bread and juice for breakfast and it was DELICIOUIS! After breakfast, we went on the bus to Disneyland. At Disneyland we went on lots of rides. In the afternoon, we went on the bus to Disney Sea Resort. When we got there we had Soyjoy for an afternoon snack.

I really loved going to Japan for holidays, but my most favourite thing was playing on the swings with my friends.




My Most Stupendous Holiday
Written by Charli
Back at school once again, fresh and ready to begin an exciting new term! I am not saying I didn’t have a STUPENDOUS holiday, but it is nice to back in my school routine.
On this stupendous holidays Nan, Pa, Mackenzie and I went to Boyanup Beach with our friends. We stayed there for 4 nights and 4 days. While we were there, we did lots of stuff like fishing, shell finding and we even picked up rubbish!
Then on the second Friday, I went to Elisha’s house. We played in her cubby house and we also played lots of other games as well.
Lastly, at home, I took a bite out of a cookie and one of my teeth came out! I was so surprised! I wrapped it up for safe keeping and put it in mum’s jewellery box.

Overall, I had a wonderful holiday. My favourite part was when my tooth came out because it was funny!




My Super Holiday
Written by Kayleigh
On the holidays, I got to do lots of fun things like go to McDonalds, Milly’s party and roller skating.

The first thing I did was go to McDonalds with my family. I ordered an ice-cream and played on the playground with my brothers.

A few days after that, I got to go to Milly’s birthday party. It was a roller skating party! I went really fast and I fell on my legs. It really was painful but I was laughing. Then I had some cake, it was nice because it was ice-cream cake with chocolate on top. After that, I watched Milly open her presents. She got heaps of presents! I gave her Lego and a diary to write in.

I had an absolutely terrific holiday! My favourite part was getting to go to Milly’s cool party because I had lots of great fun.




The Amazing Holiday
Written by Danica
On the holiday, my family and I did lots of amazing things together.

Firstly, Kyran and I went to the shop and Kyran bought a ring and two Mentos. I bought a fairy and Squinkies. I had so much fun. In the pants shop there was a couch so that dad could sit down and relax.

The second thing I did on the holidays was go to Dunsborough with my family. In Dunsborough, we went to squid lips. At Squid Lips, I ordered fish and chips and squid. My brother ordered the same. It was really DELICIOUS! We bought the fish, chips and squid to the BP Park to eat it.

Then Kyran and I went on the rocks and I fell off, but I was ok. Then I collected shells. It was amazing!

Overall, I had an awesome holiday. I really enjoyed it when I got to eat squid at Squid Lips because it was delicious!

 


The Fantastic Holidays
Written by Samson
On the holidays, my dad and I went t the Bunbury Quad Bike Centre. We also did lots of other fun things around Bunbury.

Firstly, when we got there, we saw the quad bike riders practising for the rally race. Then when they had the rally race, one of the riders fell off their Quad bike and they got very injured and they didn’t get back in the race. I felt really scared for the rider.
Secondly, we got bored, so we went home. Then when we got home I got inside and then my mum came to pick me up from dad’s house.
Finally, when I got back to mum’s house I was feeling really sick and I threw up! Then my mum put me to bed until the next day.
 
Overall, I had a pretty good holiday. My favourite part of the holidays was when I watched the Quad Bikes. I feel really relaxed and rested for Term Two!



My O.K Holiday
Written by Alby
On the holidays, I stayed home with Alison, but then I got to go camping with my dad.

To begin with, I stayed home with Alison. While I was at home, I watched the Iron Man series. My favourite episode was ‘The Consumer’.

Secondly, my dad took me camping in the bush. We slept in a swag. Dad slept on the ground and two ants bit dad! I didn’t get bitten.

The last thing I did on my holidays was play video games at home. The game I played was called ‘The Call Of Duty 3’.

Overall, I had an O.K holiday. My favourite part was when I went camping because I got to spend time with my dad.




My Really Awesome Holiday
Written by Mikayla
On my holiday, I went camping in Walpole with our friends, mum, dad and my sister Ruby. I also had netball training and went to the movies to watch ‘The Croods’.  It was an AWESOME holiday!

The first thing we did on the holidays, was go camping in Walpole with Cody, Kirralee, Dani, Jarad, mum, dad and Ruby. We saw twenty kangaroos where we were camping, but it mostly rained there. We also cooked marshmallows! On Saturday, we went fishing and nobody caught fish...except for me! I caught two fish called Herring. We also had a code to use the toilet, it was CZ098. We were there for four days.

Secondly, I went to netball training. We did a practice game. It was kids verse adults and the adults won. We had to practice because on Saturday we are playing the ‘Cupcakes’. Our team is called the ‘Ruby Reds’.

Lastly, but not least, we went to the movies. We saw a movie called ‘The Croods’. It was cool and funny. One of the funniest bits was when Eep said ‘what is this?’, and it was fire!

I had an awesome holiday and want to go back to Walpole! My favourite part of the trip was going on the Tree Top Walk.



We hope you have enjoyed reading all about our holidays!

Love T4