Percentages

Try out some fun percentage revision homework...

Complex sentence homework

Not too hard for you though :-)
Try it...

language homework

Questionaut

This is a cool game - check it out :-)

QUESTIONAUT

Beautiful graphics too

Maths = Jobs

"Pig farmers need maths too"

Enjoy your maths lessons because they will get you jobs!


:-)


Here is the proof...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/maths/index.shtml

To blog or not to blog

Should Room 18 students be allowed to blog? Should Room 19 be able to use it's fabulous wiki? Is it of benefit to you?
The Ministry of Education believe we are doing a good job but also think maybe we shouldn't be allowed because we are too young.
What do you think?
Check out who is first on their TKI website blogroll...

http://softwareforlearning.tki.org.nz/Managing-Software/Social-Software

Incredible social science learning

Click on the "tiny url" http://tinyurl.com/orkncq


to access a really neat ppt that has 60+ slides with a weblink on each taking us to interactive learning sites [games] relating to sustainability, globalisation, etc.


Try out the games and leave comments here stating which ones were fun, useful and why you recommend them in relation to our studies.


:-)

MyAbodo

See the bottom of the page to see My Abodo - it is the sustainable house I designed in a rural community in MyAbodo land. It's easy, fun and teaches you about sustainable choices.
When you design your own Myabodo house, register it and say you live in "Hamilheaven". [See if you can do cooler houses than Miss Freeman's class.]

Join me in MyAbodo

Learning all the time...

Learning is so cool. The Internet rocks!
I have wondered for some time about the terms "The 1st World" and "The 3rd World".
I vaguely understood that we were part of The 1st World along with Australia, the U.S.A., Britain, etc. And I conceived of The 3rd World as being less well developed nations like some of the countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. However, I hadn't heard of a 2nd World and wondered who that might include if it did exist.
Well, today I found out thanks to Wikipedia. Read on for a simple explanation:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The three worlds as they were separated during the Cold War era, each with its respective allies. First World: the United States and its allies. Second World: the Soviet Union and its allies. Third World: Non-aligned and neutral countries.

The terms First World, Second World, and Third World were used to divide nations into three broad categories. The three terms did not arise simultaneously. After World War II, people began to speak of the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries as two major blocs, often using such terms as the "Western Bloc" and the "Eastern Bloc". The two "worlds" were not numbered. It was eventually pointed out that there were a great many countries that fit into neither category, and in 1952 French demographer Alfred Sauvy coined the term "Third World" to describe this latter group; retroactively, the first two groups came to be known as the "First World" and "Second World".

Some countries did not fit into these partitions, including Switzerland, Sweden, and the Republic of Ireland, who chose to be neutral. Finland was under the Soviet Union's sphere of influence but was not communist, nor was it a member of the Warsaw Pact. Yugoslavia adopted a policy of neutrality, and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Austria was under the United States' sphere of influence, but in 1955 the country became a fully independent republic under the condition that it remain neutral. Turkey and Greece both joined NATO in 1952, but are not predominantly in Western Europe. Spain did not join NATO until 1982, towards the end of the Cold War and after the death of the authoritarian dictator Francisco Franco.

As many developing countries have industrialized, the term Fourth World has been coined to refer to countries that remain predominantly agricultural or nomadic and lack industrial infrastructure. However, such coinage can create confusion because Fourth World is used by scholars to refer to stateless nations (such as indigenous nations in the Americas). Countries that were previously considered developing countries but now have a more developed economy are grouped under the term Newly-industrialized countries or NIC."

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World

The Story of Stuff

This outstanding web-based resource tells us all about the real environmental and social costs of our wasteful society...

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Seas of Plastic

As a consequence of our throwaway society, where we waste so many resources, there is a disgusting and unacceptable level of pollution growing in our oceans.
The video by Captain Charles Moore from "TED" is about this disturbing phenomenon...

Homework Motuora Style

Homework from the South ISland:

http://img.skitch.com/20090522-11gh6s8s6dfj6huqejh745xhr2.jpg

Science Fair advice

Check out the Moturoa class blog post on science fair.

BrainPop on the Environment

Here is an interactive research site for you to enjoy learning about how fragile our environment is.

:-)

Enjoy your compulsory studying, kidlets.

BRAINPOP !!!

Shall we grow tea?

On our island we may be able to grow tea as a crop:

Waikato Tea Farm

Read the article then discuss what we would have to do to successfully profit from tea growing on our island, or whether or not it would be possible.

Useful learning mindset

Thanks to the Japanese, the martial art of Kendo and my thoughtful Sensei Marleen for the concept of :

Heijo-shin:

A disciplined state of mind which can respond to change in a situation in a calm,

normal manner, without becoming agitated.

This could be useful for students in class, and for teachers being asked to make class "webpages" by next Tuesday ;-)

p.s. nice hair-do Mr Woody ;-)

Economics

We are learning about Economics in relation to our Sustainability theme.
Here is a great website to help you understand the concept of Supply and Demand.

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/economics/supplyanddemand/

Enjoy!

Karearea, the NZ Falcon

WOW!!! Today Mr Noble spotted a rare NZ Falcon sitting in the tree outside our staffroom. It had just swooped in and killed a sparrow. As we watched it tore the poor sparrow apart, then proceeded to devour the hapless creature. Luckily for us, Rooms 19, 19, and 20 got to watch the grisly scene.
I was totally gobsmacked. The NZ falcon is a very rare forest bird. It is a type of goshawk which means it preys on other birds by swooping through the trees. It is smaller than the Australasian Harrier, which is what we normally see around eating carrion on the side of the road.
I just can't help wondering what such a rare forest bird was doing in our school in the middle of town.

Can you make a hypothesis as to why such a rare forest bird might be in Hamilton?
Describe any connections you can make to your personal prior knowledge? e.g. Have you ever been bird watching or seen other rare endemic NZ birds?

Permaculture Tea versus Industrial Tea

A model to compare industrial methods versus permaculture methods :-)
We will discuss this in class so don't fret if you don't get it.

Fairfield Cybersafety for teachers

Hi everyone, I'm discussing cybersafety with my colleagues and am keen for any comments relating to the topic, your own school practices, successes, things to watch out for and opinions on how "Room5ian Rule!" and "Woodmonstas" use public blogging as a learning tool.
Many thanks in advance :-)

[p.s. students, this is for teachers, but if you have sensible opinions please share... and since you're here, you can check out this site if you like, but it's really for younger kids in case you have younger siblings.]

Qualities of 21st Century teachers?


Suzie Vesper's thoughts on cybersafety:
http://leadingict.wikispaces.com/Overview+of+cyber+safety

And Auntie Erin says this is cool :-)

And here's an Aussie talking about why we need to step into the 21st Century

Room5ians Rule Soccer Quiz

Go to Room5ians Rule [Google it] if you want to do some football quizzes.

http://peachgroveroom5.blogspot.com

Football training

We have some football [soccer] mad kids in our class and we are learning the skills of the game this term. I'm lucky to have four of you in my team. Hopefully Mr Webb won't poach our super-striker. Luckily, if he does, we have other goal scoring machines as well :-)

Who can tell me who this mega-famous former football star is?

Here are some links to sites with info and tips:

http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/soccer.htm lots of links to football skills 'n' drills

Frank Lampard on practicing

Soccertoons for advice, ideas, etc

Breakaway soccer stuff

Soccer Sins: [from Soccertoons]

Soccer Sin #1 - Players who pass up on shooting opportunities are of no impact on the game.

Soccer Sin #2 - The silent player who cannot communicate on the field is invisible to all.

Soccer Sin #3 - Strikers and midfielders who fail to track back on defensive transition, or unwilling to hunt down the opposition with the ball are should get accustomed to a new sport like fishing, or tiddlywinks.

And Soccertoon Clues:

Train ball touch maneuvers with a tennis ball to soften your touch and increase your foot speed.

The mother of skill is REPETITION so find the time alone to train to music and a thousand touches per day, as a minimum.

Treat the ball like an egg and do not scramble it!

If you put in 90% effort do not expect to get back 100% improvement.

Find a pattertennis court and take a ball. Play it off the walls and work on receiving turning, heading, volleys. No pressure - no one is watching! You will get comfortable with the ball and be creative. You have no limits to the creative ball maneuvers you can master in the restricted space of an enclosed court. The ball will fly and so will your reactions.

Find a soccer buddy who is as dedicated and crazy about training as you are and get together twice a week for some fun games and 1v1 competition. You will not only get competent but more importantly CONFIDENT.

Eco house design

Each of you needs to research the concept of eco-house design, be able to explain the fundamentals [on your blog and in person], and create your own design for your Matai Islands home.
Experts might actually build a model for extra credit.

Maths homework links

Who could this be???
Find out on the compulsory site at the end of this post.

Here are links to previous Room5ians Rule maths posts, links to online resources for homework, and some other guff about maths you may find interesting...

magic MATHS!

maths is great - afterall, we like shopping don't we? and working out how much pizza we can all have? and getting to the movies on time? - all using maths.

maths can also be magic - in fact, we can use mathematical language to describe almost anything in the universe. on a simple level, we can investigate the magic numbers appear to have.

have you ever investigated magic squares?

follow the link below...

http://nrich.maths.org/public/viewer.php?obj_id=1337&part=index

and for a safe NZ government organised site with links to lots of NZ relevant maths stuff follow this link:

http://www.tki.org.nz/r/hot_topics/maths_e.php

and for those keen to try out maths games and problems, check out this link:
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/wick_ed/maths/interactives.php

pyramid maths and info

this site has the explanation of how the pyramids were built as well as some activities relating to the maths of pyramids.

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pyramids/story/main.html

mega maths!

For those of you who do find maths interesting and are looking for a challenge, see these sites. there is one on Leonardo daVinci's works also. I think we will look at it in class, so if you want to get a head start....

http://mathforum.org/alejandre/frisbie/math/student.leonardo.html

http://www.c3.lanl.gov/mega-math/

http://teacher.scholastic.com/maven/index.htm

Measurement

I have attached some hyperlinks to NZ Maths online, digital learning objects, and TKI's eLearning sites...

http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/LearningObjects/


!!! Compulsory !!! in ICT Time
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/gameswheel.html

The River on Matai Island

Check out the river on our island.
Does it have qualities that may be useful for sustainable use?
Consider power generation, food sources, transport, etc.
How about a maori name based on it's qualities?

Football report

Our livewire reporter has had a practice at reporting on his football match. Any feedback?

Flippy Fishy

We are testing out a new Flip Video for class.
If it takes reasonable quality images and sound without making too large a file we could get one for our class so we can easily record and upload video enhancements to our blog posts.
How do the fish look? Can you hear anyone in the background?

Cooking Show

Meet our new cooking show host - this is his first time on camera. [He will improve, as will our production values.]
;-)