Amazon Jungle...our next destination!

After a long flight we eventually 

landed in our new destination...the Amazon Jungle!! We had planned a tour of the rain forest, but it seemed that the weather Gods were against us. 

Both classes got together to find 

out exactly where the Amazon Jungle was. Gill showed them on her map and told them a little about some of the species that are found there.

Fortunately after our first break there was a break in the rain and were able to set off to explore! The children had all come armed with walking shoes, walking sticks, binoculars and even some sunscreen.

We discussed where in what type of area we
were likely to see each of the animals

Everyone was so excited. We set off to walk to the 'jungle' at the university nature trail. We had prepared a checklist of animals that the children had to look our for. They played along so nicely, spotting all sorts of animals!

 

Off we go..keep your eyes peeled!

We could eat the fruit from the bread fruit tree.

Can you hear that...is it the Spider Monkey?

A sloth! A sloth!

Watch out for the Anaconda!

Two intrepid explorers!

Zeenatha and Alka can see the Hapi Eagle!

A good example of the
different levels of
vegetation in the forest.

A real live toad in a hole!

Ebrahim couldn't bear to look!

We conquered the jungle!

   

A beautiful mushroom after the
storm.

After our exciting adventure we returned back to school. This learning experience really helped the children to formulate an idea of what the jungle could be like. They are very eager to learn more!

                                                                             

Super Squid

Last week we read another book of Gill Eggleton's, called the Super Squid. It dealt with the crew of Sub DD who go diving into the Midnight Zone to learn about the super squid. On their way they encounter a number of different sea creatures that live in the depths of the ocean.

By way of introduction we showed the children a PowerPoint to help them understand what is found under the ocean, and how deep it is. They were totally fascinated with the different levels. Especially with the Twilight Zone and the Midnight Zone.

This story lent itself well to measurement. So armed with a worksheet of the sizes of the different fish from the story we headed into the parking area outside the Red Square to measure out the sizes of the Sperm Whale, Super Squid, Hammerhead Shark, Sub DD and the Fangtooth Fish.

Ebrahim makes sure that the Trundle wheel is in
the correct starting place.

Keshav labels the measurement of the Sperm
Whale. The children could get over how large
it was.

Aariv drawing the line that joins the beginning
and end of his groups measurement.

Hard at work. It was fortunate that the coke truck
was delivering at this time. When we measured the length
it was shorter than the Sperm Whale. Standing next to it
and looking up. We were able to get a real feel
of how big the Whale actually was.

Alka, Adrian and Aruna, carefully counting the 'clicks'
on the trundle wheel.

Using a ruler to measure the size of the Fangtooth Fish.

It was so much fun!

This practical application was really meaningful and gave the children a clear idea of how big the creatures in the story were.

Experiments.

Gill and I found these two experiments that we thought would be perfect for our theme. 

Next week we are reading the
Jill Eggelton book, Super Squid. This
will give the children an understanding
of how the Sub DD will work.

We have spoken so much about
Tsunami's this week. This was
a perfect experiment to do.
We demonstrated,as
lots of children... and hot water don't
 go well together!

There was much excitement as most children to school, came armed with their 2l bottles and pen lid. They had great fun filling up the bottles and trying their best to get the lid to float properly before dropping it into their bottles. 

Not everyone was successful, but they had tons of fun, none the less!

Mikhaeel, with advice from Caleb, tests
to see if the 'diver' will float.

Aariv trying hard to get the right
amount of presstick onto his
lid.

Alka having a go.

It works!! Ebrahim was the first
to get his diver to submerge and
resurface!

Oh no! Adrian's sunk to the bottom, never to return!
I think Neeshal's was heading the same way!

Congratulations to our budding artists!

Well done Nikhil and Aruna, their beautiful art was chosen to be part of an art display at the Glenwood Festival this year. They were given certificates in recognition of their talent.

Phuket Poems!

Gill and I were inspired by our phonic words this week and wanted to incorporate them into our theme. After much discussion we came up with the idea of using rhyming phonic words in a short poem. We sat together and wrote one and were very excited to get our classes to do so as well.

After a discussion on rhyming words, we got the children to brainstorm some that could be used to describe the sights in Phuket that we have spoken about this week. This proved a real challenge for some!! However, we soldiered on! 

All our ideas were pooled,then the children got into pairs to write their own poems. We gave them the beginning and end of the poem, and asked them to write about 3 attractions or activities.

Well, with a lot of encouragement, further brainstorming and explaining, I am pleased to say each pair produced a poem!

Do enjoy reading them!