Rooks Test Wood Lakes Adventure!

On Friday, Rooks visited Test Wood Lakes Nature Reserve.  This term, in our Geography and Science topics we have been studying Rivers and States of Matter, including the water cycle.  The aim of this visit was to link both subjects together, look at and identify the features of a river, and also learn more about the water cycle and the role our rivers play in it.

Read on to find out about our exciting day

The morning began, with us map reading our way around the nature reserve.  After leaving the centre,  we were each given a map to help us navigate our way around the site.

 We crossed over the River Blackwater

 We found ourselves at the faster flowing River Test.

 We all had a game of Pooh Sticks - it got rather competitive!!

 After returning to the center, we ate our lunch.  As part of Test Woods desire to protect the environment, we looked at how much of our lunch waste we could recycle and how much would need to go the the landfill.  Although we were not officially taking part, we managed to win a silver award - well done Rooks!!

After lunch, it was time to play with water.  We created our own water cycle using sponges for clouds, drain pipes to deliver the water and squirty water bottles to act as evaporation.  The three teams had to repeat the cycle and label up the different parts of the water cycle.  Luckily the sun came out, so we dried up quickly.

Finally, if that wasn't enough fun, we headed off to their wooded area to practise our map reading skills.  We had to follow another map and find different parts of the water cycle hidden within the woods, these were clearly labelled on the map but it was quite tricky getting our bearings!  Again competition was fierce, with one team completing the challenge and several others coming close second.  We even had some of the local deer join in the hunt!

After our map reading dash around the woods and an enormous 'Thank you' to the staff at Test Wood Lakes for hosting our day, it was back to the mini buses to head back to school.  

A great day was had by all!

Rooks meet creatures from 'The Deep'!

Today, Rooks were able to meet some real-life vertebrates and invertebrates from the Twilight part of the ocean.  Dr Horton (Frank's Mum) visited the class with a number of amazing specimens.  The children were enthralled by the different creatures on display.

The class favourite however, had to be the amphipod - both the cuddly and preserved.

Here are some photographs of our afternoon to share with you.

Thank you again Dr Horton for sharing your knowledge with us.
Rooks Class

ROCKET SCIENCE...READY TO LAUNCH!

We are all busy getting ready to receive our "seeds from space" next week, as we take part in the National project - Rocket Science!  Watch this space for updates on how our seeds are growing!

Rooks Day 1 Science Week

Today Rooks began their introduction into Electricity and circuits.

"I loved today, it was fun and I learnt lots!" Kayden

"What I have liked about Science Day is we have learnt lots of new things but had fun at the same time." Victoria

"Especially the experiments at the beginning of today and lots of new stuff about circuits!" Seth

Today we began by identifying different types of appliances and whether they use mains electricity, battery or are manual.  The children learned that an appliance is a device, piece of equipment or an instrument designed to perform a task.

This afternoon, the class looked at circuits using a Human Circuit Maker Breaker.  We formed human circuits and tested different objects to see if the current would flow through the material being inserted into the circuit for instance a wooden ruler.

Quotes from Rooks members
"I really liked the fact we could transport electricity. It was amazing!" Lucas
"I found out electricity can go through us and metals and not wood." Kayden
"I learnt not all materials can carry on the circuit and some can." Saiya
"I learnt wooden and plastic will not allow electricity through, only metal can make it go through."Seth
"I learnt plastic will not let it go through." Kobey
"I learnt that metal with plastic on the end can't let the electric circuit go through." Jason