Tiny House Expert Alannah!

Today, Alannah from the Tiny House Community in Christchurch came in to talk to us about tiny homes. She and her partner are building a tiny home themselves - on a trailer! While they build their tiny home, they are living in a sleep out. 

The interior of the tiny home is made of steel framing. Inside, the wood they use will be rimu and pine.  It was fascinating hearing the pros and cons of living in a tiny home as well as the process Alannah is taking to build her home.  She told us that even families are living in tiny homes and that it can work really, really well.

We had lots of questions as it was really interesting hearing what she had to say about tiny homes!

Thank you for coming to visit us Alannah!

We measured the size of Alannah's tiny home on the court (2.4m by 6.5m) and we stood inside it.
It was a small space!!

A different angle.

Alannah drew up the plan of the tiny home.

Alannah also spent some time looking at the little tiny homes we had created. She gave out some awards.

Children who received a certificate for the tiny house awards.

Finn received one for 'Best use of plants'

Hannah received one for 'Best colour scheme'

Felix received one for 'Most realistic tiny house'

 Erin and Nethira received one for 'Best use of roof space'

Aditya and Armand received one for 'Best layout of a tiny house'

Sharukh received one for 'Most detailed tiny house'

 

Sienna and Isabel received one for 'Best two storied tiny house'

Radial Symmetry

 

 

 

 

 

Our Cultural Mihi

Luring Ladybirds

Some Room 3 children have created a ladybird garden based on their inquiry from last term 'The Secret Lives of Living Things.' Ladybirds like umbrella shaped flowers that are wide so they can land on them easily. They also love herbs. 

Some of the flowers and herbs ladybirds like are parsley, coriander, fennel, dill and angelica. They love cosmos, alyssum, geraniums and dandelions. Ladybirds also like cornflowers, especially the blue ones!

One of the girls wanted to attract ladybirds because they are beneficial in pollinating flowers. They are also predatory insects that help control garden pests. The girls painted their planter box in the colours of a ladybird. They have planted alyssum and parsley around the edge with blue cornflowers and mixed cornflowers in the middle.

Our Bee Friendly Plant Expert

Last Friday we had Laura come to see the 'bee inquiry group' from the nursery. She was talking to us about ways we could attract more bees to Ilam School, primarily through their food source, flowers!

It turned out, we knew more about bees and their roles than Laura did and she said that she had learnt a lot! However, we learnt a lot from Laura about the kinds of flowers bees like and how to grow them.

We are going to grow some of the flowers bees like from seed over the winter and then plant them into some of the gardens around our school. 

Bees love blue and violet flowers and they see in ultra violet light. 

They like yellow flowers too.
Bees also recognise patterns in flowers.

Herbs bees like: Borage, Rosemary, Lavendar, Sage, Fennel

Perrenials bees like: Salvia, Gaura 'Ballerina Blush', Sedum

Vegetables bees like: Bees like all vegetables that flower

Companion Plants for Vegetables and Herbs: Nasturtiums, Marigolds, Calendula, Poppies

We came up with some important reasons for planting a bee friendly garden:

1. We can provide them with food. They take the pollen and turn it into honey to feed their hive and us!

2. If we plant flowers, it also encourages other insects like wasps, butterflies and ladybirds.

3. Bees pollinate flowers to create other flowers. When the bee fertilises the flower it turns into seeds to create more flowers. Some of the seeds grow into seedpods that we eat such as apples or pumpkins.

4. Without bees, we would lose 1/3 of the world's food supply.

5.  It would make Ilam School more attractive.

6. Teachers and kids could go out to observe the garden, the flowers and the insect life.

7.  People will think Ilam School is nice and we will attract more kids.