Courtney and friends weekend experiment

Yesterday Courtney, her sister Ashleigh and 5 other friends were playing in their hut at the local park. Courtney was talking about how you can make a fire by rubbing two sticks together. Fortunately I was there and suggested that it wouldn't a good idea to do that and we discussed why.
I decided to setup a controlled experiment to demonstrate how you could, in a survival/emergency situation, start a fire.

First we talked about the reasons why you should not play with or start a fire without an adult present.
Then we talked about the 3 ingredients you need to make a fire. Fuel, Oxygen (air), ignition and to maintain a fire you need is fuel and Oxygen. To extinguish a fire you need to remove either the fuel or oxygen (or both). By using water you can cover the fire to prevent more oxygen getting into the fire. I had a small pot lid to cover our experiment, if required.

For the first experiment I used a Ferrocerium (firesteel) rod, a baking tray, a piece of cotton wool (fuel). We moved to a concrete area away from anything that could burn. I placed the cotton wool onto the baking tray then by striking the rod with a piece of steel the sparks created fell on to the wool to ignite it. Some of the kids suggested using large sticks instead of the cotton wool. But we talked about how that may be dangerous and that this was just a small experiment. Google "Ferrocerium" to find out more about firesteel.

The second experiment used Potassium Permanginate, sugar and two pieces of wood.
I made a small hole in one piece of wood and took a pinch of potassium and a pinch of sugar placed it in the hole. The sugar is used as an oxidizer which helps the potassium burn longer. Using the other stick I pushed and twisted the ingredients into the hole causing as much friction as possible. The friction caused the Potassium to ignite which could be used to light a small piece of fuel (in our case, cotton wool) .

During both of these experiments the kids made suggestions that we discussed. Most of the suggestions would have resulted in bigger fires. But, safety with fire was emphasised and the consequences of bigger fires were recognised.

Graphs

We have been collecting data and displaying it.

Have a look at Dathan and Callens graph, and, Olivias graph.

What is the strongest shape?

Hi Courtney's dad here. A couple of days ago while Courtney, her sister Ashleigh and a couple of friends of theirs were building a hut in the park. I decided to help them out. I asked them what they thought was the strongest shape so that we could use that shape in making the hut. They concluded that a square was the strongest. I said triangle and used the park swing frame as an example of how triangles are used. But they were sure that they were correct.
This maybe a question that could be put to other class members. Reasons for their conclusion and may be an experiment or two to also prove their conclusion, if time permits.
I'll be interested to see if Courtney changes her mind.......?
Have a great day =-)

Learning

Our day is busy. Our timetable is as follows:

9.00 to 9.10/15 we do the roll. We do maths each day after this until 10am. Except on Thursday, we do our maths after Kapa haka, which is on until 9.30. At 10 we have a run around. At 10.10 we come in and do our handwriting. At 10.30 we do our speeches or have a quick circle time.

After interval Mrs Bourke reads a story, we look at our poem and at the newspaper for interesting things. At about 11.25 we read our guided reading books and Mrs Bourke takes reading groups, we do other reading activities. At 12.30 we do a phonics interchange with LT1 and 2. At 10 to one we write our stories. At 2pm we silent read for 10 to 15 minutes and then do our inquiry or on Thursday some art.

Friday is different, we do maths until 10, then physical education. At 11 we do circle time and social skills. At 12.30 there is choir practice. Every second Friday there is assembly or community time.

Sometimes our time table changes when we have swimming or other activities.