The Rising Tide / Birdwatching

Morning Group:

Time for a geography lesson. I told the children about the island nation of Kiribati, between New Zealand and Hawaii. We created our own island nation from dough in a clamshell pool and imagined what it would be like to live there. 

Of course, we had to add some sea to make it feel more realistic!

We read the book, Teaote and the Wall, by Marita Davies, and acted out what happened in the story - building walls on our little islands to keep the rising tides away from our houses.

At the end of the book, we read that Kiribati might be completely underwater in fifty years time because the tides keep rising. Why do you think that is happening? Is there anything we can do about it? This might be a good thing to find out more about at home.

Of course, we flooded our island nation to see what the sunken islands might look like as well. (But we imagined that all the people got off safely first!) 

Then we went down to the beach to play in the water and sand, in the mud and on the swing. Lots of fun.

Ideas for home:- Find out more about Kiribati and the problem they have with rising tides. What is the cause and what solutions can you think of?

Afternoon Group:We had decided last week to watch birds today, so after looking at some feathers and discussing our previous questions inside, we headed down to the beach to see what we could discover. Some were more excited about bird-watching than others, with two of the group taking detailed notes on their observations. We all noticed things though, like how the gulls ran before taking off and lifted their feet like landing gear on a plane. At the beach, we spotted seagulls and oyster catchers. Along the walk, we also saw tui and sparrows. The tide was out and the reef demanded exploration, so we went there as well. While it may not have been the most completely bird-focussed afternoon, it was good to spend time on the beach, watching things carefully.

Float

Morning Group:

When I saw the book, 'Float' by Daniel Miyares in the library the other day, I thought it would be a great one to explore on a gloomy day. Well, that was today!

Anyone could read the book because there were no words, but the pictures stirred our imaginations about a boy and his paper boat.

So, of course we had to make our own! There were instructions in the book cover and some of us tried out our own designs as well. 

We went down to the beach, where the wind and waves were busy! There was a stream coming from a storm drain that we tried our boats out in. Many got waterlogged pretty quickly, but it was still fun!

We made sure to not leave any paper behind when the boats sank or fell apart!



Some of the group went for a paddle in the sea while others worked together to create a dam.



A few children said that with the wind today, it would have been perfect for flying kites instead. If such a day comes again, that's definitely what we will do! Still, floating boats was still fun.

Ideas for home:
- Can you make a stronger boat design - perhaps one that can carry a small waterproof toy for a ride? On our last day of term, (December 17th), we want to have a beach day together, where the afternoon group will test out the rafts they have been building all term. We could also have a small boat course for any boats you make for toys. (Plus, if it's sunny, we can have a swim, make sandcastles, have a picnic lunch and enjoy our last day together on the beach.)

Afternoon Group:

A big challenge today - making 'cocktails' - trying to get different colours to sit on top of each other in a glass. All we had was a mixing glass, spoon, warm water, food colouring, salt and a display glass each.

Lots of conversations about what the salt would do with the water and I enjoyed seeing people explaining what they thought would happen and why.







Tadaa! We had some success - with salt water on the bottom and fresh water above it. WHY?





We then spent a while talking about our understanding of floating and sinking, before deciding to look at birds next week.

Then it was time to check out the latest with some group members' rafts before our time together ended. Remember not to bring your rafts for the next two weeks... we will give them a final test the week before Beach Day!





Ideas for home:
- Experiment more with separating colours in water. Try using a clear straw and try a few different salt to fresh water combinations to see what happens.
- This website, http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/fiords, talks about fiords. We have a layer of fresh water over sea water in fiords because of the heavy rainfall. You might want to learn more about these massive cocktails and the sea life in them!
- Think through the questions we hadn't covered in the group - What makes the sea salty? What happens to different items in salt or fresh water over time?
- Some of you talked about making videos. Here's a challenge - create a video for the morning group to explain why things float or sink. Have fun!
- If you have any ideas about our bird inquiry from next week, let me know!

'Seeing' with our Imaginations and Testing Rafts

Imagination is one of the best things in the world. Nobody can be bored with a good imagination. 

Imagination helps us enjoy things that we can not see or do in real life. People in wheelchairs imagine walking, we imagine flying or breathing underwater. It helps us enjoy life with none of the restrictions that ours often have.

We practised using ours this morning - pretending we could do things that we just can't in real life, like flying, going through walls, and in my case, throwing and catching things well!

Then we thought about blind people. Do they imagine seeing? And how would we describe colours and sights to friends who were blind?

We tried - how would you describe blue, yellow or green using other senses but sight?

'Colour The Stars', by Dawn McMillan, explores this idea, so after reading it, we set out to explore our forest and beach by 'seeing' with our imaginations and other senses as well as our eyes.

Many in the group decided to experience blindness on the forest path, closing their eyes and holding on to the handrail as they walked. 

Friends were guides to each other, describing sights and colours and helping them experience what we see. The photo below was of experiencing the colour, brown.

We played by the sea and enjoyed wading, finding small treasures like lacy leaves and crabs, digging, making a sand-couch and continuing to see things with our imaginations. So much fun!













Ideas for home:

- Some children wondered how blind people do some things when they can't see. We talked a bit about Guide Dogs. Why not find out more? Did you know that the Guide Dog centre in Homai can take visitors?
- Try describing something in your garden with your imagination - don't just focus on what you see, but what you hear, smell, touch, taste and feel in your emotions. What is it like? What does it remind you of? You might be able to do some very creative writing with your thoughts!

REMEMBER - as the weather warms up, keep bringing a change of clothes. It's probably also a good idea to wear togs and bring a towel, just in case the water is inviting!



Afternoon Group:

Wow - some of you have been busy with your rafts over the last week! It was great to see the progress and spend most of the afternoon helping each other with advice and continuing to put rafts together.

First, we thought a bit more about what makes things float. We experimented with an orange - it floated with the peel on but sank once it was removed, even though it was now lighter. Orange peels have a lot of little air pockets in them and air always wants to go up in water, keeping it floating. Remember to add air to your rafts if they sink otherwise!



After an afternoon of tinkering, helping and raft-making, we headed to the water with three of the more completed rafts. Success! Fun!
















Ideas for home:

- Keep working on your fabulous rafts!
- You might be interested in looking at boats and rafts from different cultures, especially in the days before modern technology. How did people in the past use what they had with materials and tools to create effective vessels?

More raft tweaking and testing next week if the weather is good - bring your togs! Otherwise, we will finish off our floating / sinking experiments inside and think about what other investigations we want to work on for the rest of the term.