Linking Multipliction to Division

Some people get anxious when you use the word, 'division' and think that it must be hard, but actually all you need to do is remember the times tables!

Lincoln show how division is linked to multiplication .  

Green also show this link, but also the correlation between 3X5 and 5X3 by turning his whiteboard around carefully and re-writing the multiplication fact.

Kate displayed the same mathematical links using unicubes.

Multiplication

In stage 5 Maths, you need to know the 10x, 2x and 5x tables, and use them to solve problems.  At stage 4, people usually skip count in tens, twos and fives to calculate groups of numbers.  Other people use repeated addition, like this: 5 + 5 + 5 = 15.  However, it is easy to make a mistake or forget when to stop counting.  The only sure, quick, accurate way is to learn your times tables.

These people are making the two times table with see through counters so you can see the numbers on the number line underneath.  Cunning eh?

Jeremy, Luke and Ronnie were skip counting in fives to recall the 5x table.

While Alyssa, Summer and Charlotte displayed the 10x table using unicubes.

Meanwhile, Rylee and Maryanne are making caterpillars to show groups of ten. 

Measuring trees

Cockle Bay has a many trees, and it is interesting to consider how old they are.  You can work out the age of tree by looking at their growth rings.  Every Spring, trees need to transport huge amounts of water up to the new leaves, and this shows as a darker line on a cross section of the trunk.  However, to do this you would have to cut down the tree!

Instead, we measured the circumference of different trees using wool.  Back in the classroom,  we straightened the wool out and measured it with metre rulers to find out the circumference, or girth of the tree. Next we calculated the approximate age of each tree using a mathematical formula.  On average, every a tree's girth grows by 2.5cm a year, so we could estimate its age by dividing the girth by 2.5.  This was a good time to practise our calculator skills!

Scientists at Work

It is interesting to discover how things work, and that is just what we have been trying to do in room 18!  So far, we have totally dismantled a television and a vacuum cleaner to see exactly what is inside,  and how it might work.

Please donate any old electrical items you no longer use or no longer work, so that we can strip them down and look inside to see what makes them 'tick'.

We used Phillips screwdrivers to unscrew the outside panels of the TV.

After many hours, this is what we found inside.

The main dismantling team.

Caesar set about the vacuum cleaner on our work bench.

Te Reo Maori

On Monday mornings, Howick College students come with their teacher to teach us Te Reo Maori. The focus is to feel more confident is speaking Maori.  We learn action songs to help with our pronunciation, and  useful phrases so we can introduce ourselves and make people feel welcome.  Some people have written their pepeha and are practising reciting them, so that they can introduce themselves more formally.

This week, we learnt how to tell people our name.

Here are Andrew and Lincoln practising their introductions, and telling us their names.

Special 'C' Mufti celebrating the CBS Carnival 2020

Everyone could come to school dressed as something starting with 'C' to celebrate the CBS Carnival 2020 (the date has been announced!)  In Room 18, we had Children, Cockle Bay kids, Chinese people, Cowgirls, Cowboys, Crazy kids, Clowns, Colourful people, Cheetahs and Cats!

This is what 'C' people do at lunch time - they play Collaboratively with 'L'!

Pacifica

The Weka Team were visited by the Pacifica team, who taught us how music and dance can tell stories about life and culture in the Pacific Islands.  First we learnt to about music and the messages spread by the drums.  We were lucky enough to all have a go playing them too.  Next we learnt about the language of flowers, and how Pacific people fashion flowers into leis to give to someone they love.  Because it is the middle of winter in New Zealand, we used fabric flowers and spacers made from straws, instead of real flowers, but the method of stringing them together was similar.

Information Reports on New Zealand Insects

We enjoyed reading the information reports we wrote about New Zealand insects. People chose to research and write about different insects including the giant weta, ladybirds, praying mantis and crickets.  You can see our reports on the Writing page.