News from 1/2

The last two weeks for 1/2 students has been jam-packed with events and great investigative learning.

Melbourne Museum Excursion

On Thursday last week, all F/1/2 students excitedly made their way to the Lilydale Station to catch the train to the city.  For many of our students, it was their first experience on a train and even though the weather may not have been on our side that morning, it could not have dampened their excitement as we boarded the train.

On our travel to the Melbourne Museum, there were many exciting conversations about what might be seen, how many people were catching the train, why people looked fancy (Oaks Day), and how we knew where we were going!  The chatter was deafening to some of the commuters, but along with us, they smiled at the enthusiasm of the children.

When we arrived at Parliament Station, all students learned about the importance of standing on the left of the escalators and using the pedestrian lights to cross roads.  We even learnt about the bubbles on the footpath, the green and red walking lights and how the lights vibrate and change pitch to alert deaf and blind pedestrians of the lights changing.

The museum was a treasure trove of great things to see, push, smell, whirl around and try out. Many students are eager to take their families to the. museum to further investigate areas that we had to briefly visit.  we thank all of our parents/grandparents/teachers who assisted us on the excursion. It was a very fun day!

Froggy Data

On Tuesday this week, we began to investigate real-life data and contribute to the National Frog Identification Week beginning this week on Friday 11th November - 20th November 2022.  It is Australia's biggest frog count and is coordinated by the Australian Museum.

With so much rain in the last few weeks, our waterways are teaming with tadpoles and all elements of the frog life cycle.

The F/1/2s had a mission to undertake.. How many different stages of the frog cycle do we have at school?  The children worked in small groups and recorded how many or each stage they found in their scoops of water.  (eggs, tadpoles, froglets, and frogs).  At first it was very tricky to scoop water and collect samples, but everyone quickly found the best technique to safely count and release the frogs.  We listened for the sound that frogs make and discussed how they create a chorus of sounds at night, especially around the month of November when they are calling to their mates.

When we came back inside we used our data to collate a graph of the stages of the frog life cycle.  It was the greatest fun!

Your family can also join in the fun by collecting frog sounds and entering them in the Frog Id app available in the app store.  This helps scientists know how well the populations of frogs are going and if any frogs have migrated to different areas.

You can get all of the information on the website https://australian.museum/event/frogid-week-2022/ 

Exploring Museum Items

This week, the year 1/2 students were greeted with olden day items including an old school desk which was Mrs Vranken's when she went to school.  

The 1/2 class had different items at each table and were given time to draw and investigate and guess what the items were used for.  There were lots of interesting guesses!

Presenting their own Museum Item!

Over the last few weeks in the afternoons, the students have been bringing in and sharing information about their own Museum Items. All of the items have been very fascinating and the students have been excited to share what they have brought and have asked some great questions.  The children have enjoyed getting up in front of the class to share their family treasures from the past.  Some of them love it so much that they want to get up every afternoon and some of them keep bringing in more items each day. 

Such enthusiasm!

Reminder- The grade 1 / 2's are really looking forward to the grandparent's afternoon on Friday the 18th of November at 1.30pm where they will be asking their grandparents various questions about the past and how life has changed from the way they lived to how we live now. Please let us know who is coming by email so we can make sure there are enough chairs and tea and coffee for after the event. Thank you so much for all your support in making this happen.