What's On In Foundation

Maths in Foundation

Foundation students have loved exploring measurement by using informal units to compare the length of our sea animals. We  used different classroom resources to measure the length of our creatures. We found it interesting to see how the different size of the object had an impact on the number we needed - chain links are longer than teddy bears so we needed less chain links to reach the end of our sea animal. We then were able to order our sea animals as a class from smallest to largest. Students loved sharing what they learned and noticed when using different items to measure. 

We then wanted to explore the size of actual sea animals, this involved a visit outside with some chalk! How we were amazed at how huge a blue whale was compared to a turtle. We carefully counted each metre to measure the length of many sea animals. There was a lot of discussion of how many foot steps it would take to measure the length, we got tired of counting! Foundation students were amazed that the majority of animals under the sea are taller than they are. 

Tick…tock… time is flying this term! Foundation students have been investigating analogue clocks. We even made our own! We have used our skip counting by 5’s knowledge to help us count all the minutes in an hour. We are experts at showing o’clock times on our clocks and some are even exploring half past times!

The concept of sharing (early division concept) has also been investigated with the use of the mentor text ‘The Doorbell Rang’. Students were able to explore what would happen when the same amount of cookies were shared between different numbers of people. You guessed it… the more people we share with, the smaller amount each person gets! The concepts of fair/equal shares, unfair/unequal,  remainders and leftovers have also been explored. 

Integrated Studies

Now that we have returned from our Aquarium excursion, we have so much knowledge about under the sea creatures! Foundation students have been exploring non-fiction texts and identifying components such as an index, glossary, diagrams and captions. We are now excitedly researching underwater animals that we want to learn more about. Over the next few weeks, students will create their own non-fiction text and diorama, with the purpose of teaching our audience all about a sea animal. 

Be sure to pop into the Foundation area before or after school to read our fabulous recounts of our excursion, and see our labelled diagrams of the Ocean Zones and animals that lurk within!