Passion Time Ponderings

We are really enjoying passion time. We still have 2 sessions to go this term so will need to complete our projects by then! 

 

Harry and Ryan at construction.

 

Sienna just needs to sew the ears on her little dog. Aditya at construction.

Tiny House Adventures...!

Multiplication, perimeter, area, volume, real world learning, project based learning, schematic view, birds eye view, interior, floor plan, space, design, colour scheme, challenge, problem solving, relevant,

!...MATHS...!

Passion Time Progress!!

Marthajoy and Emma are really enjoying Passion Time! 

One of the girls is doing woodwork and is holding a prototype of a bedside table she is going to make this term! The other girl is learning to knit. She is holding a pompom she created that she will sew onto a knitted head band.

They are motivated and enthusiastic and learning some fantastic real world skills as well as goal setting and reflecting on what they are doing.

What learning...!

Anti-bullying Week at Ilam School!

Here is the link to all of the competition entries: 
2017anti-bullying.blogspot.co.nz/

Passion Time! Construction...

Today in Passion Time the Construction group were experimenting with different materials to work out what made a stable structure that was able to stand freely.

At one station, there were straws and paper clips. At another station there were toothpicks and plasticine and at another station, there were popsicle sticks and pegs.

We found out that some materials were much easier to use than others. The most difficult materials to use together were straws and paper clips because the paper clips kept popping off. One group managed to create a standing structure by creating a triangular base and sides.

We discovered that have a central, strong core helped to stabilise the structures. We also worked out the structures required evenly distributed weight or a very stable frame in order to balance. Wide foundations were also another method that helped keep our structures stable and standing!

 

 

 

 

 

Our Cultural Mihi

We belong!

We all live in New Zealand. But, there is much more to us. We are also part of other cultures. 

Kua Whai 

Turangawaewae au

Dr Phil Show!

A wonderful celebration!

What a great end to an amazing term Room 3! We celebrated all the learning we had done with our parents and grandparents. 

Thank you mums, dads and grandparents for supporting us! It's been a great term!

We know you enjoyed our quiz...

Channel 6 News Report

I'm bored, NOT!

Ilam School News!

The Wonderful City of Christchurch

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. 

Our great assembly!

Last Thursday we had a fantastic school assembly. Our special guests were Richard from the SPCA and Anneliese from Alzheimer's Canterbury. They were thrilled to be there to receive the incredible amount of money we raised from 'Run a kilometre for charity!" They each received a whopping $4500 from Ilam School kids!  They were very pleasantly surprised! Richard said it was the biggest cheque the SPCA had received!!

We all felt very proud that we had done our bit to give back. The House Captains presented the cheques to the charities and felt very proud they had chosen these two important organisations to support.

We also announced the prize winners from the junior, middle and senior school. These children had raised the most money! After that, they announced the house that had raised the most money. That house was RAKAIA! 

A HUGE well done to EVERYONE at ILAM SCHOOL.

#KIND#ILAMSCHOOL#GIVING BACK

The Learning Pit - James Nottingham

Out, in, Out on PhotoPeach

Inquisitive Inquirers!

Our inquiry this term is called 'The Secret Lives of Living Things'!

We are completely in the midst of tuning in to a variety of different things in response to this theme.

So far, we have looked at bees, pollination, flowers, germination, worms and insects! We've had experts in including Nicky who did some artworks on the threats to bees and designed a game, and, we've had Dougal, an expert in worm farms in to talk to us and show us a real, live worm farm! We've also pulled flowers apart to find the male and female parts and found out what flowers look like under the microscope. This week, we're going down to the river to look at water health and other bugs we might find there and we're also going on a trip called 'Fertilising for the future'. 

 

 

Pollination 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

Dougal, the earthworm and Tiger worm expert!