Book week 2014

Room 7 has been studying the magic school bus book " Kicks up a storm".

We were learning all about the weather. We did experiments, read books about the weather, went outside and checked out what we could see in the sky, talked to others about our learning.

We made clouds and rain in a jar. We measured and tested temperatures, rain and the wind.

We made displays about all our learning.

At the assembly we won the award for having the best classroom display in the juniors.

Our class has clouds, snow, rain and raindrops plus posters and photos of all our learning.

We hope you got a chance to come and visit our class.
We have put some of the posters on this blog so you can see them.

  At the Book week assembly, the teachers all dressed up to go with their theme. The classes dressed up too. Here are some of the other classes and teachers.

Here is our class.

Classes also put up displays about their learning in the hall for all the parents and children to see.

We got to share our ideas and costumes at the assembly.

Room 1 learnt about butterflies and their life cycle.

Room 4 learnt about stars and their life cycle.

Here is our weather display.

Here is Room 4's space game and activity centre they made.

What Are Constellations

What is a constellation? 

what is constellation

A constellation is a group of visible stars that form a pattern when viewed from Earth. The pattern they form may take the shape of an animal, a mythological creature, a man, a woman, or an inanimate object such as a microscope, a compass, or a crown. 


How many constellations are there? 


The sky was divided up into 88 different constellations in 1922. This included 48 ancient constellations listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy as well as 40 new constellations. 


Star Maps 


The 88 different constellations divide up the entire night sky as seen from all around the Earth. Star maps are made of the brightest stars and the patterns that they make which give rise to the names of the constellations. 

The maps of the stars represent the position of the stars as we see them from Earth. The stars in each constellation may not be close to each other at all. Some of them are bright because they are close to Earth while others are bright because they are very large stars. 


Hemispheres and Seasons 


Not all of the constellations are visible from any one point on Earth. The star maps are typically divided into maps for the northern hemisphere and maps for the southern hemisphere. The season of the year can also affect what constellations are visible from where you are located on Earth. 


Famous Constellations

Here are a few of the more famous constellations:

Orion 

Orion is one of the most visible constellations. Because of its location, it can be seen throughout the world. Orion is named after a hunter from Greek mythology. Its brightest stars are Betelgeuse and Rigel.

Ursa Major 

Ursa Major is visible in the northern hemisphere. It means "Larger Bear" in Latin. The Big Dipper is part of the Ursa Major constellation. The Big Dipper is often used as a way to find the direction north. 

Ursa Minor 

Ursa Minor means "Smaller Bear" in Latin. It is located near Ursa Major and also has the pattern of a small ladle called the Little Dipper as part of its larger pattern.

Draco 

The Draco constellation can be viewed in the northern hemisphere. It means "dragon" in Latin and was one of the 48 ancient constellations. 

Pegasus 

The Pegasus constellation is named after the flying horse by the same name from Greek mythology. It can be seen in the northern sky.

The Zodiac 

The zodiac constellations are the constellations that are located within a band that is about 20 degrees wide in the sky. This band is considered special because it is the band where the Sun, the Moon, and the planets all move. 

There are 13 zodiac constellations. Twelve of these are also used as signs for the zodiac calendar and astrology.

•   Capricornus

•   Aquarius

•   Pisces

•   Aries

•   Taurus

•   Gemini

•   Cancer

•   Leo

•   Virgo

•   Libra

•   Scorpius

•   Sagittarius

•   Ophiuchus

Aries (The Ram)

March 21-April 19

In Greek mythology, Aries was a winged ram with golden wool. His hide became the much-desired golden fleece.

Taurus (The Bull)

April 20-May 20

Jupiter, the supreme Roman god, turned himself into a bull when he swam from Phoenicia to Crete.

Gemini (The Twins)

May 21-June 20

This constellation reminded the Greeks of Castor and Pollux, the mythological twin sons of Zeus. It was thought to bring good luck to sailors since it appeared at the end of the winter storm season.

Cancer (The Crab)

June 21-July 22

Cancer represents the crab that Juno, queen of the gods, sent to rescue Hydra. But Hercules stepped on the crab, crushing it to death. To reward the crab for its heroic attempt, Juno chose it to represent this constellation.

Leo (The Lion)

July 23-August 22

This large constellation honors the strength and bravery of the lion.

Virgo (The Virgin)

August 23-September 22

Virgo is traditionally depicted as a maiden holding an ear of grain to symbolize the harvest.

Libra (The Scales)

September 23-October 22

Libra is the symbol of balance. This constellation appears at the time of the autumnal equinox, when days and nights are equal.

Scorpio (The Scorpion)

October 23-November 21

In mythology, Scorpio (or Scorpius) was the scorpion that attacked and killed the hunter Orion.

Sagittarius (The Archer)

November 22-December 21

This constellation is usually pictured as Chiron the archer, who is a centaur (half man, half horse). Chiron is said to be aiming his arrow at Scorpio to avenge the death of Orion.

Capricorn (The Sea Goat)

December 22-January 19

In many cultures, Capricorn has the head of a goat and the tail of a fish. The goat, an expert climber, represents the sun's climb from its lowest position in the sky. After December 22, the shortest day, the sun's time in the sky increases daily.

Aquarius (The Water Bearer)

January 20-February 18

The Babylonians believed that this group of stars represented an old man pouring water from a jar. The Greeks saw Ganymede, the cup bearer of the gods, who poured the water of life.

Pisces (The Fishes)

February 19-March 20

Pisces represents Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and her son Cupid. To escape from a monster, they turned into fish and jumped into a river.

Uses for Constellations 

Constellations are useful because they can help people to recognise stars in the sky. By looking for patterns, the stars and locations can be much easier to spot. 

The constellations had uses in ancient times. They were used to help keep track of the calendar. This was very important so that people knew when to plant and harvest crops. 

Another important use for constellations was navigation. By finding Ursa Minor it is fairly easy to spot the North Star (Polaris). Using the height of the North Star in the sky, navigators could figure out their latitude helping ships to travel across the oceans. 

Interesting Facts about Constellations

•   The largest constellation by area is Hydra which is 3.16% of the sky.

•   The smallest is Crux which only takes up 0.17 percent of the sky.

•   Small patterns of stars within a constellation are called asterisms. These include the Big Dipper and Little Dipper.

•   The word "constellation" comes from a Latin term meaning "set with stars."

•   Twenty two different constellation names start with the letter "C."



Take the constellation quiz here

Storybot videos about space

Her are some of the songs we like that the Storybots sing.

They are full of interstesting facts

The first one is about the moon.

In this video we learnt that:

• light shines from the sun and reflects off the moon
• the moon orbits the Earth
• Earth and the moon orbit the sun
• When the earth turns it makes day or night
• The moon makes different shapes in the sky every month
• It looks like it disappears but it is still there, just dark
• the moon is covered in dust and rocks

This is the Earth song. In this video we learnt that:

• the sun gives Earth its heat and light
• Plant need the light  and heat to grow
• the Earth is covered in water

This is a song about the planets

• there are 8 planets
• they orbit the sun
• Mecury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
• The first four planets are made of rock
• the last four are bigger and are made of gas.
• They have rings of rock around them
• Many planets also have moons that orbit them
• Uranus is on its side
• 
  

How the universe was born.

Here are some videos of how our and other universes were born.

Although the language is quite challenging for the kids, if you help them by talking about what is being shared and the pictures, they will learn a lot about space.

Already the children know how a star is born. (see the previous post)

The life cycle of a star.

WE have been learning about the life cycle of a star. We have watched videos and read books to help us find the important information. Below is what we have found out. We have highlighted the key words from our research.


Particles of hydrogen and dust are in space.

This cloud is called a nebula.

This move around space all by themselves floating on the solar winds.

Gravity is trying to squash this cloud together.

It pushes and squashes them.

When the hydrogen pieces bang together they let off energy.

When the pieces of dust and hydrogen are tightly packed together, the forces of energy cause the cloud to ignite.

This is now called a star.

Stars slowly expand as they use up their energy.

Towards then end of their life they expand quickly and become a red giant star.

When they run out of fuel, two things can happen.

1. They can burn out their fuel and shrink and darken until they become a brown dwarf.

2. They can explode into a supernova. This spreads the remaining element back into space so the hydrogen can start its journey again.

Sometimes these supernovas collapse in on themselves creating a high gravity field that sucks in everything including all the light. We call these black holes.

Below are some of the children from Room 3 showing you, using drama, the life cycle of a star.

What is a star?

We have thinking about stars and asking questions about the things we want to find out.

 
We have read books and journals. 

We have looked at posters and charts.


We have watched DVD's and videos.


We have researched and found key facts.

We made lists of information using bullet points.
We have used the facts and information we have collected 
to write reports.



If you look in the writing section of the blog you will be able to read some of our reports.

Some of us also want to display our work in other ways. We are making our own posters, booklets, charts, dioramas and mobiles to demonstrate our learning.



When we have finished, you can come to our class and see our work. Mrs S will take some photos of the work too and put it up in our blog.

We hope you like our learning.

To get you started, we have put up one of our videos and a song that we enjoyed watching.




First, here is a video.

This is the song about stars that we really enjoyed singing.

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Pink shirt day 2014

STOP BULLYING PINK SHIRT DAY

WHY WILL THE TEACHERS BE WEARING PINK SHIRTS ON MAY 23 AT RPS?

Pink Shirt Day is about working together to prevent or stop bullying by celebrating people's difference and promoting positive relationships.

An annual event celebrated in many countries around the world, Pink Shirt Day encourages people to talk about bullying and take action against it. On Pink Shirt Day, Friday 23 May 2014, we ask New Zealanders to Speak up. Stand together. Stop bullying.  

PINK SHIRT DAY BEGAN IN NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA IN 2007. A GROUP OF STUDENTS DECIDED TO DEFEND A KID WHO WAS BULLIED FOR WEARING A PINK SHIRT. IN A SHOW OF SOLIDARITY, MANY OF HIS PEERS TURNED UP TO SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY WEARING PINK SHIRTS, AND PINK SHIRT DAY WAS BORN. BY WEARING A PINK SHIRT, PEOPLE IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS AN ALLY. THE PINK SHIRT IS A WAY OF SHOWING THOSE BEING BULLIED THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE AROUND WHO CARE. 

SPEAK UP.
STAND TOGETHER.


STOP BULLYING.

What to do if you are being bullied?   

Being bullied can make you feel very alone. Sometimes it can feel like it will never stop, that no one can help you, or even that you deserve to be treated this way.

“Be proud of who you are. It’s okay to be a nerd – Einstein was a nerd, and look where he ended up. It’s their problem, not yours. Who you are is great.”

Finn, 10 

No one deserves to be bullied

All of us need a little extra help sometimes. Reaching out is a brave thing to do. Connecting with others can help you feel less alone, and empower you to start creating change.

It’s normal to feel frightened or even ashamed when you tell someone you’re being bullied. Don’t let this stop you from asking for help!

Find someone to talk to

Be mindful when choosing who to talk to. Figure out the best person in your community for you to approach. This might be your elders, a kaumatua, youth leaders, a parent, a friend or someone at school. The important thing is that you trust this person.

If the person that you talked to doesn’t help you, don’t give up, find someone else. We know that young people often report bullying as being more severe than adults perceive it. This sometimes makes it hard to connect with adults, but don’t give up. Silence doesn’t change anything. If you’ve experienced bullying, a good thing to do is write down the where, who and when of the occurrence. This can make it easier to talk to someone about what has happened.

You can also call a helpline. Helplines are staffed by trained volunteers who are there to listen to what’s going on in your life, and help you to find solutions to what’s bothering you.      

Helplines

•     Youthline - 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz

•                  What's Up (for 5-18 year olds; 1 pm to 11 pm) - 0800 942 8787.

•                 Kidsline (aimed at children up to 14 years of age; 4 pm to 6 pm weekdays) – 0800 54 37 54 (0800 KIDSLINE).

•        OUTLine NZ - 0800 688 5463 (OUTLINE) (provides confidential telephone support for sexuality or gender   

                                  identity issues).

•   Suicide Crisis Helpline (aimed at those in distress, or those who are concerned about the wellbeing of someone else) - 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO).

If you want to report someone else’s behaviour to your school, it might help to take a friend with you for support and backup.

More tips

•   Find safety in numbers – walk to, from, and around school with friends.

•   Stand up for yourself – this can be really hard, but sometimes showing your strength and telling people their behaviour is unacceptable can be very powerful. If it happens again, it can be really helpful to be able to tell your parents or school that you’ve tried to manage the situation on your own and let that person know that you don’t like how they’re treating you.

•   Walk away – often bullies thrive on attention. Starving them of attention by ignoring them and removing yourself from the situation is a powerful thing to do.

•   Write down what happened to you, as many details as you can remember.

•   Don’t attack others – you’ll just become a part of the problem.

How to protect yourself from cyber bullying

•   Share only what you would be happy to have shared (keeping in mind that other people may share your information, too).

•   Have strong passwords and keep them to yourself (and perhaps a parent).

•   Do not answer any emails/texts that you feel uncomfortable with.

•   Do not answer emails/texts/friend requests from people you don’t know.

•   Be careful what you write - do not respond to others if you are angry or frustrated.

What can I do if I am being cyber bullied?

•   Do not react - it gives the bully power. Don’t reply to text or online messages (we know this can be hard).

•   Print out or screenshot examples of cyber bullying and show them to someone else.

•   Report cyber bullying to social media sites, phone companies or internet companies.

•   Block the phone number/profile you are receiving the messages from.

•   Save what has happened to show parents, teachers or police.

•   Use assertive responses only if you need something to happen e.g. “Remove this post immediately”.

•   Ask for help.

Getting through

While addressing bullying is a good thing, if you’re not ready, or you’re finding things tough, find things to make you feel better and boost your self-confidence.

We asked the members of Rainbow Youth’s Generation Queer group what to do to make yourself feel better when you’re being bullied. These are some of their tips:

•   Listen to music.

•   Share your story with an online community you feel safe in – such as Tumblr – and pay attention to the positive responses you get.

•   Play a video game and lose yourself in it for a while.

•   Text someone you love – like your mum or a friend, and just vent.

•   Let yourself be heard. It’s not always about finding solutions; sometimes it’s about being understood.

•   Talk to overseas/removed friends who aren’t involved in the situation and don’t know the people involved.

•   Write a long letter and burning the paper as a way of release.

•   Writing a letter and giving it to your dean/principal to actually fix the problem rather than mask the symptoms.

•   Do some exercise – it will make you feel more positive and optimistic.

For more detailed help please visit the

Got questions about bullying page