van Gogh variations...

This term we were exploring visual arts in context and attempting to understand famous art works, and why they became so important and valued. As part of this we developed our own ideas and created our own versions of Vincent van Gogh's famous Sunflowers painting that he did in 1888. He used lots of short dabbing brushstrokes to create the effects. Check out our masterpieces. 

Even better, come and see them for yourself. They are proudly displayed in the office foyer and in the corridor outside Room 7. 

Vincent van Gogh inspired

This term our art focus is developing ideas. We looked at the world famous artist van Gogh and are attempting to make our own "Sunflowers" creations.


We watched this video which helped us to plan our artworks

First we ruled our page up into 6 x 8 squares. This meant we all had to practice measuring and ruling lines as well. Next we had to enlarge the examples we had, and roughly sketched the outline before beginning the painting....

Stay tuned to see what our final artworks look like. 

Science Week: Light

This week we have been doing science rotations among the senior classes learning about different elements of the physical world. 

In Room 10 we were learning about floating and sinking with Mrs Tofa
In Room 9 we were learning about electricity with Mr Nath
In Room 8 we were learning about sound with Mrs Moopanar 
and in Room 7 Mrs Parker was teaching about light. 

First we learned some of the key vocabulary we would need to know to be able to explore the experiments that were set up around the class. 

a)  Focus

To bring light rays to a meeting point

 

b)  Lens

A piece of plastic or glass that changes the direction of light rays

 

c)  Shadow

A dark patch caused by little or no light falling on a surface

 

d)  Prism

A piece of shaped glass or plastic that splits light rays into different groups 

 

e)  Reflect

To cause light rays to bounce off a surface 

 

f)  Refract

To bend or change the direction of light rays. 

We discussed some common myths about light, for example, even though the moon glows bright, it does not actually make light. The light we see on the moon is actually light from the sun being reflected off the moon. 

Next we explored the experiments about colour & light rays, and refractions of light through lens and prisms. 

Spinning rainbow coloured wheels really fast to make the colour turn white. 

The convex lens made things look closer,
and blurry and upsidedown

But the concave lens zoomed out
and made things look further away 

Shining a green, red and blue torch onto the white paper, the light didn't get darker like we predicted.
Instead it went brighter and whiter... 

Shining light into a prism makes the light refract and split into different rays. 

We were really surprised by the way the light changed and reacted during our experiments. We learned that the light that comes from the sun and light bulbs is known as ‘white light’ but white light is actually made up of all of the colours of the rainbow!

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Indigo and ,

Violet

When it rains the light hits the raindrops and refracts, splitting into its original colours. This is why we see a rainbow when the sun shines.

When we spin this coloured wheel quick enough it colours merge and are reflected back at us as white.

Coming to a cinema near you November 2015

This term the Glenbrae Film Club have been busy creating something pretty special for your viewing pleasure. 

From the Producers of 2014's Sci-Fi Mockumentary: Zombie Apocalypse, starring some of the same Glenbrae Actors, as well as, some up and coming new talent

The latest blockbuster to hit the Sylvia Park Xtreme Screen this summer... 

THEY'RE COMING.... 

We look forward to the opening screening of the full film at the Manaiakalani Film Festival November 2015 and we hope you are too. Please leave a comment below if you enjoyed the preview, and you're welcome to guess in the comments below, what our adventure might be. 

Our future food ~ By Luisa

Luisa, has managed to convince me, with the use of facts, humour, and examples, she makes a strong case for something which most of us would consider absurd, but don't let me tell you... read for yourself. Or read more of Luisa's work on her blog gbsluisam.blogspot.co.nz

WALT: Create an argument with a point of view (P.O.V) and reasons for or against.

SC: Use evidence for or against the topic to create an argument.

Here is a link to video clips about Eating bugs: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLUF3W_0ps5zpNO28voNwUW_40wyic4i1

I know what you would be thinking, "Gross Insects".? You would be very surprised to see the good side of eating insects and maybe you would consider insects in you healthy diet. Well its up to me to convince you to join my side but before you carry on reading let me tell you a joke. What is a insects favourite sport? Cricket. 

People should include insects in their healthy diet.

In my opinion I agree with the statement and that we should consider eating insects in our healthy diet because insects are very nutritious, raising insects is free and sometimes we don’t know it but we automatically eat food that contain insects in them.

Firstly, Eating insects are not as bad as you think, insects are actually very healthy and environmentally friendly. They have highly more protein, fiber and nutrients like iron and zinc than beef and chicken. We need iron, protein and fibre to keep ourselves healthy. Insects are no different to their relatives shrimp, crabs and lobsters. 2 billion people currently eat insects like tarantulas s or toasted grasshoppers. Plus the after tastes of some insects taste like normal food that we eat every day. Like as some people say “Crickets taste like potato chips” or “Scorpions taste like popcorn”. So what do you think about flavoured insects.?

Also insects have less fat and fewer calories than a piece of chicken, beef or pork. If you  compare a piece of beef to a cricket, a cricket has more protein, vitamins and minerals then a piece of beef which only has protein. Plus insects are more edible and digestible. For example we can only eat 40% meat of a cow, 50%  meat of a chicken but only 80% of a cricket. So when you eat a cow or chicken you're actually wasting the other parts of the animal unlike insects.  There are at least 2,000 edible insects in the world and when people eat them it's called Entomophagy.

Unbelievably, in other countries like Mexico and Cambodia it is very normal to cook and eat insects. Turns out insects are part of their traditional food. Some people would mix insects in cookie mixtures or make grasshopper kebabs. So the message here is that some countries find eating insects completely normal. Insects are slowly starting to appear in Western(Countries like NZ or Aus) menus but most people are still squeamish around cooked insects.

Secondly, raising insects are much more cheaper and free than harvesting cows or chickens. To produce 1kg of beef it takes 22000 liters of water. To produce 1kg of pork it takes 3200 liters of water. But to make 1 kilo gram of a cricket only takes 1 liter of water. Which is because most insects keep hydrated by the food they eat.

Harvesting insects are more efficient for third world countries who find it hard to look for food. To raise insects we use less technology or investments unless they are needed. To grow a piece of meat it takes 200 square meters of land and to grow 1 pound of crickets it takes 15 square meters of land. With all insects that are free its is much easier to hunt and catch them.

Some believe that eating insects are our future food. Higher food prices develop as the years go by, which some people are not able to afford. So we should start to consider insects in our daily food choices because insects are cheap and free. Plus even though I haven't eaten insects I wouldn’t doubt that they are disgusting but I think that they would taste delicious. Nothing wrong with taking one step in my food choices.

Finally, people may not know it or believe it but most of the food we are eating  are contained with insects. Food like fruit canned sodas, peanut butter and chocolate. Shocking right, and I eat chocolate all the time. But I guess healthy insects in junk food makes junk food healthy-I doubt it. Also in every 100 grams of spinach there are at least 50 insects in the spinach. In peanut butter, they only allow 30 body parts of a insects such as heads, bodies or legs.

Now I will be talking about insect food made by some of the famous chefs. For Entree we got Crispy grasshoppers or known as Chapulines which are very famous insects in Mexico but normally people call Chapulines crispy bacon. Now for main is the deep fried tarantulas, deep fried tarantulas are put into tempura batter and then fried in hot oil. Last but not least to finish our meal I have desert Grasshopper almond flour cake, with square pineapples with coco loco ice cream with a touch of grasshopper on the pineapples. I would like to have some tasty fried tarantula, How about you.?

Last but not least insects are more available than any food products. Once all our food products sell out, insects would be all we got along with other animal meat. But I think if we have to choose between meat and insects I guarantee insects would have a better healthier chance than meat because there are enough insects for everyone to share and insects have been around longer than expected.

Including insects in our healthy diet is important because insects are unbelievably healthy, raising insects are more efficient and eating insects are already part of our natural life. But the important question is, Would you eat insects?, I know I would.

Inquiry Roadshow

This morning Glenbrae School had our inquiry roadshow. This is so that each class can share the learning that they have done throughout the term. We create presentations, posters, diagrams, movies and hands-on activities to share with whānau, friends and classmates. 
We took turns sharing and practicing our presentation skills, making our teacher, Principal and families very proud. 

In case you missed the roadshow, or wanted to see more, view our personal blogs. 

This term's inquiry focus was in theme with the recent 100 year anniversary of Anzac Day, learning about WW1, weaponry, medicine, and NZ history. 

We created our own writing rubric

Over the last few weeks some of the Room 7 learners were busy making this rubric. 

They made the rubric by reading lots and lots of recounts and deciding what makes good writing and what things are needed to improve writing. 

Now everybody in Room 7 uses this rubric to help us to edit and self-assess our writing.

Thank you and congratulations to Trent, Fasi, Alex, Pelenise, Salote & Setaita for creating this wonderful learning tool for us. 

About our Brains

Alex Danny and Salesi wanted to know where our thoughts and creativity come from... this led them to learn all about the parts of the brain... check out their creative rap! 

Why do we Sleep?

Shannon Nirvana and Mary made a song about sleep and why we need it. They learned many interesting things about sleep which they put into a poster and used to create a venn diagram comparing being asleep and being awake. 

A bit about tastebuds

 Amelia and Angel learned about tastebuds as their inquiry into the human body. 
Did you know that chocolate, or cocoa is actually bitter? We add sugar to make it taste sweet!

The Digestive System

Trent, Loto and Penitoa wondered what happened to the food we eat and learned about the digestive system. 
This is their rap they created about their learning. They also drew a diagram of the digestive system to show at our roadshow. Well done boys, a great display of your learn, create and share. 

Hic, Hic, Hiccup!

What are hiccups? Honey, Whitney and Davarni wondered the same thing so they went about learning more.
They created a poem to share their learning and recorded it in their own news show. I look forward to seeing more from their news show (If you have trouble viewing this video please follow this link). 
They also created some posters to share their learning which is proudly displayed around our classroom! Well done girls.

What causes hiccups?

• We hiccup because we eat too fast, or too much.
• Also hiccup become an diaphragm that gets annoyed .
• Sometimes people get really annoyed with the ways they do hiccup
• Sometimes you can do a hiccup that sounds like a burp
• When you hiccup the result is involuntary, the diaphragm follows by the closing of the throat.
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Swallowing too much air
• Smoking

Ways to stop hiccuping?

• Hold your breath  10 seconds then breathe out slowly. Repeat about 3-4 times
• Somebody could give you a fright unexpectedly.
• Drink entire glass of water with a straw and block your ears
• Putting sugar under your tongue
• Try to burb
• Put your tongue out
• Get a massage.

How long can hiccup last for ?

Hiccups can last for a couple of minutes, sometimes it can even last for 48 hours.

It can also last for weeks and months, if it does last for this long then you might most likely have a medical condition.

Here is a link for a site, go visit it if you want more information

Information about the hiccup

Why do we get get scabs?

Litia, Fasi and Setaita were interested in learning more about our skin, and why we get scabs when we cut ourselves. Listen to their poem and see their diagram below.

What are fingerprints?

McKenzie, Sean and Charlie learned about fingerprints. Then they practiced taking peoples fingerprints during the roadshow on Friday, they were able to see how each person's fingerprint is different. 

Discovery Roadshow

This years inquiry topics are around the theme of Discovery: Past, Present and Future. 
Last term we learned all about ourselves and the human body. We explored themes that interested us and created posters, raps, songs, and diagrams to share our learning. 

As a class we were able to share with each other and the other school members the amazing things that we learned about the human body. Well done Room 7!

MultiMedia Learning

This week we are publishing last weeks learning as short movies. Our movies are songs/ raps/ news broadcasts and poems. 

Here we are using our creative thinking to combine Jovi drawings, iPad filming, netbook research and planning to create our final product. 

On Friday we have our school inquiry roadshow where we will present our learning to whānau and other ākonga.