Visiting the Museum

 We went on the bus to visit the Museum. It was in the old post office building in town

We were learning about how to keep food fresh for longer. This is a Maori kete used for collecting food. It is made from flax.

Mrs Beautrais showed us ways Maori people used to store and cook food in the past.

We pretended to heat up water with hot stones to cook food. We used a wooden shovel to lift the hot stones.

Plants that were dried and hollowed out were good storage containers for keeping food in. They were like the preserving jars or containers we use today.

Some of these pumpkin like plants were really funny shapes.

We looked at lots of fresh food and what it looked like when it was dried in a dehydrator. We did this back at school as well. The food tasted sweet like lollies.

Yum! We got to eat some.

 This is what the food looked like in the dehydrator.

 This is what the food looked like dried.

Planting trees along the fence line of the school.

We gathered together to get instructions from mr Ohia about how we were going to plant the trees.

Mr Ohia and Mr Mc Phunn had already dug the holes and put the plants beside the fence.

We chose a tree with a partner and tried to remove the container from the root and soil. It was hard because the roots were clinging to the bag.

With the bag removed we were ready to put the plant in the ground.

We covered the roots with soil and stamped the soil firmly so the plant would not come out.

We had fun planting together.

We asked the plant to grow well.

 We needed lots of tools to help us plant the trees.

We said a Ruruku and sang a Waiata to celebrate the planting.

Plants need water to help them grow, so we gave them a drink.

Our trip to Te Apiti Wind Farm

 We had morning tea in the Ashurst Domain. It was raining so the shelter was really great.

 We arrived at the viewing area. We were up high amongst the clouds. The turbines poked through to mist on their giant stalks.

 The turbine pole was sooo big it took our whole class to make a circle around the base.

 When we looked up the drips fell in our eyes from the turbine blades.

 We looked at the map to find out how many turbines were around us.

 The map showed where we were standing.

 Not many of the turbines were turning as the men were repairing them. There was not much wind so they were slow.

 Our whole class could fit on the steps leading up to the door where the workers climb the ladder inside to the top. That would be scary.

 We had lunch back at the domain. There was a fantastic playground. It had stopped raining so we had a play. The climbing walls were challenging.

 The rockers were lots of fun with plenty of us on at the same time.

 In one of the sheds was a wood carver. He was going to make these giant logs into carvings for the Park in Palmerston North near the animal area. They were massive.

We headed back to school. The Mini Buses were really quiet going back to Whanganui as we were really tired after our Big Day Out.

Investigating Technology at the Tech Expo

 We found out lots of interesting things you can use different technologies in learning.

 Some children have become experts and shared their knowledge.

 We had fun trying the cameras out. Some pictures made us laugh out loud.

 The green screen was interesting.

Puanga Celebrations

 Some of us came to school really early when it was dark and stood around a large, warm fire. There were songs and prayers.

 We went in the hall and had breakfast and then did craft activities. 

 Kristinn and Kini made sailing boats.

 Maddison was making a Kite.

 Later in the morning we went to the beach and made sand and driftwood sculptures. They were fun. The weather was nice. We could see Mt Taranaki.

The whole school went back on the buses. We loved the beach.

Finding out how a boom-box works

 We were given an old Boom-box to see what made it work.

 We used a screw driver to take it to pieces and look inside.

 We found switches and wires which operated the electricity.

 This helped us understand how electrical items work.