Level 4

Inquiry 

Level 4 has been extremely engaged in our Inquiry lessons these past few weeks. 

In Reading sessions, students have been identifying the terminology used within a science experiment. They have been looking at detailed, step-by-step lists of everything they will need for an experiment, including the materials and methods used. Then, they tested out the instructions. 

Dancing popcorn and tornado in a glass.

Harry and Nate K said, if you interrupted the reaction between the vinegar, baking soda and the kernels by moving the container too much, it stopped the popcorn from dancing (reacting). It went on for ages and it was relaxing to watch.

Ianthe and Will said if you put too much detergent into the jar when creating the tornado, you could not see the tornado effect in the jar. We even went out in the sun to see if we could see it. 

Ice cream in a bag

Kaiden and Tasha said that there were many challenges while trying to make ice-cream in a bag. Some of them were: 

1. If you used too much force when shaking the outside bag, it would break, and the ice and salt mixture leaked all over the table! Another one was that the ice-cream mixture in the small bag was thick, however it turned back into a liquid when it was not near the ice and salt mixture. You had to eat it quickly!
2. The cream, sugar and vanilla mixture tasted flavourless by itself. When we added      the chocolate, it was a teensy bit better... but still not great to eat. 

Maths

Students enjoyed observing and analysing repeated chance experiments. Tossing a scrunched-up ball of paper into a bin repeatedly was enjoyed by all. Such a fun way to learn about fractions and probability. 

Writing

In Writing, students continued to plan and present their speeches to an audience. Be sure to ask them what they learnt from each other's speeches. Stay tuned to hear more about them in the next newsletter.