LET THERE BE LIGHT!

This term I decided to throw myself in the deep end and challenge myself to teach Day and Night with NOS (Nature of Science) as the focus. Specifically, I wanted to focus on the use of models to explore scientific ideas and explanations. I also wanted the children to have some understanding of how scientific knowledge changes over time.

We started with a PPK exercise (Prior Personal Knowledge) in which the kids wrote down their ideas about how we get day and night - along with diagrams. I hope to add some of these on here. We then used those ideas to have a debate, which I videoed. This seemed to go really well.
As a class we have then come up with key questions and the children have started to research what they can in books and on selected websites. We have also looked at youtbe animations of the Earth's rotation and have looked at the scale of the distance/size of the earth and sun.

Some questions which have popped up along the way have been: (after a discussion about gravity) - why do the clouds stay up if everything is pulled down? And - 'I have seen the clouds moving....why do they move?'

We are going to be exploring what we find in our research using models of the earth and sun/

During maths we will be possibly making sundials or pendulums or such to explore the concept of time.

During literacy we will be writing explanations so that we can eventually write some simple explanations about day and night.

So much to do! The kids and I are both really enthusiastic about it - which is great!

Term 2

Hi everyone,

I am back after an Easter holiday which was full of fun and chocolate (as it should be).

It has been a bit of a quiet start to the week, which has given me the chance to do lots of thinking. I am becoming more and more excited about the way we can do science and the possibilities ahead of us at Snells Beach School.

It was lovely to be in at school on Monday, meeting with Mrs McDonald and catching up with the rest of the staff. Mrs McDonald and I do miss you kids!

It looks like I will be busy for the next few days helping a student to take DNA  from her tiny samples. I have forgotten the name of the little marine creatures but I will be sure to update this blog tomorrow with the name and hopefully a picture.

I will also be entering numbers (data entry) into the computer for her....scientists work with lots of numbers!


Mrs Bradshaw

Wierd and Wonderful

Hi everyone,

I have seen some really interesting things lately and I am full of wierd and wonderful facts!

Did you know......

* that paua have a head like a snail?
* that scallops have eyes?
* that there is a mollusk (sea snail) that camoflagues itself with pieces of rock and old shells? (see picture)
* that some sea stars can grow as wide as 60cm?!

Have you ever seen a sea cucumber? - such a funny little creature (see picture)

Next time you are at the beach, look carefully at the shells, you will notice that some shells are in one piece and some shells are two pieces joined together (like a cockle). The ones with two shells are called bivalves.

Right, I am off to do more research on wierd and wonderful marine life. Let me know if you find any facts yourselves.

Mrs Bradshaw

A week in Dunedin

Last week I spent the week in Dunedin at Otago University, on a leadership course.

It was very interesting to be a learner instead of a teacher again. It made me remember how hard it is to listen to somebody talk for a long time! Especially for somebody like me who likes to talk!

I have included a picture of the team of other teachers who were there with me. They are a lovely team of people and I felt very lucky to get to know them all.

Most of them are primary teachers, apart from one who is a secondary school teacher and another one who  is a principal (who also teaches).

I learned a lot and now I have assignments to complete. Yes children, I have homework to do!! I bet you love that :-)

Now that I am back at Leigh Marine, I am busy doing my homework but I am also coming up with an investigation I might be able to do on my own. So, I have a question, now I need to do a bit of research, come up with a hypothesis, and design an investigation....exciting!

Mrs Bradshaw

Early March

Hi everyone,

Last week, I attended a fisheries lecture at Auckland University, where I got my degree when I was younger. It was fun pretending to be a student again. I learned that some fish start out as boys and turn into girls and the other way around...how strange!

Some species of fish lay hundreds of thousands of small eggs and other species have only a few babies that are much bigger in size. Can you think of any reasons for this difference? Why might some species of fish want to have so many eggs?

Today, one of the researchers brought in a fish that someone had caught. The people who caught it said a fish that looked the same as that one was sent off to Te Papa museum. I looked it up, it might have been a Sergeant Baker.



Some of the researchers are just starting up their experiments now. They have read a lot about their topics, they know what their questions are, they have finished designing their investigations and are beginning their experiments. Very exciting. I will have to take more pictures of the experiment set-ups and show you all.

Lots of equipment is usually needed...thermometers, cameras, computers, tanks, pipes, pumps, microscopes, dissecting tools, chemicals, containers of all different sizes....I'm off to take photos!

One last thing - did you know there is such a thing as waterproof paper, I have used some and one of the lovely ladies here said I can bring some back to school so you can try it out!

Mrs Bradshaw

Out in the field.

Monday 28th Feb 2011

Today I was lucky enough to go out in the boat with Carina, who is a PhD student. She is researching parts of the biology/lifecycle of snapper.
Peter took us out in the Kaipara harbour so Carina could try and catch some small snapper. Using a GPS, Carina carefully maps where she goes when she drags the net for samples. Then we pull the net in and sort through what we have caught.
We did get some baby snapper and also baby flat fish. Some of the fish were even smaller than your little finger! We also caught some Pipe fish which look like pieces of seaweed if you don't look carefully.
On the way back in, we checked a net we had put out earlier and in it there was an eagle ray!

Mrs Bradshaw

The first few weeks at Leigh Marine.

It can be a bit scary starting somewhere new and getting to know the people who are there. I have learned that it is important to be friendly and introduce yourself to people so that they get to know you quickly.
I have already seen a lot of science research being done here and it is really exciting to be a part of it.
I am surrounded by students busy trying to finish their research. It is not easy work but they are really passionate about what they are doing. They have to be really good at managaing themselves!

I have been helping the students whenever I can. For the past couple of days I have been opening green-lipped mussels and then helping to record measurements from them. Did you know that sometimes you can find a little crab living inside the mussel?
I have also seen an eagle ray up close. It had only one eye, but we think it might have been born that way.


Until next time...
Mrs Bradshaw