Flight -Parachute Investigation!

Today we did an investigation to help us understand how the science work that makes a parachute a good landing device. We wanted to see what makes it open and if it will lans softly enough.

We had the following to use:
1. 1 Rubbish bag (Black)
2. 350mm of string
3. One beautiful chicken egg.

We wanted the canopy to open instantaneously so that a soft landing would take place. This happens if the design is good enough so the wind will inflate the canopy. In other words it flies by catching the air in it's canopy.

Take a look at what happened.

Doggy do's and dont's!

Today we had a visit from animal control to remind us about how to behave around dogs. This is very important because people (Especially kids) get bitten by dogs every year.

We have learnt that as dog owners we have the following responsibilities:
You have to register your dog and make sure it has a microchip and a registration tag.
You have to pick up your dog's droppings.
It is important to give your dog good food and allow it to exercise everyday.
You have to make sure your dog have got a clean kennel or bed to sleep in.
You have to take your dog to the vet to get it checked up.

We also have to remember to:
Leave dogs you do not know alone, especially dogs tied up outside shops.
To stand still if a dog chases you, remember to cover your throat.
If you are on your bike, get off your bike and shield yourself with your bike.
Do not go near dogs while they are eating or when they take care of their puppies.
Ask the owner before you touch a dog.

This was an excellent reminder about how to care for our own dogs and treat dogs in our community.

Year 7/8 Girls song writing!

Today we wrote a song that would represent our school.

This is what we wrote.

School Song Writing - Jacob and Josh!

Today Jacob and Josh wrote a song that would represent our school. Like an anthem. We had the opportunity to write something we like and something with a tune that we would enjoy singing. This is what Jacob and Josh Came up with.

Auckland Championships - Orienteering!

On Tuesday the 15th May 2012 we had the Auckland Orienteering Championships on a farm near Patamahoe.

We left on a very large bus from the school at 11:00 and arrived on the Reeves Farm at about 11:40. Looking at the weather it was obvious that it was going to be a rather challenging field day. Mr Fourie entered the the 3 teams (Year 7 Boys, Year 8 Girls and Year 8 Boys). At this stage we already had to find shelter from the rain.

Soon after that we could have a look at what the area looked like. This made it even more daunting as no one has ever been onto this piece of land. It was totally unfamiliar. We had an idea where to start and knew where to finish, but everything in between was a mystery. And of course - there was the rain - again!

Soon we where doing the course. Anything from potholes, cow droppings (It was a dairy farm) trees and thorn bushes (Ask Jacob) were obstacles to make it more exciting. We had to maneuver our way around the 2.5km course as fast as we could and make the scheduled stops at the control points. We had to punch our maps at 14 different controls and run as fast as we could in between. At this stage the rain was quite nice, it cooled us down.

I no time the race was over and we felt great. We finished the course and some of our students completed the course in excellent times. As a bonus all our teams were able to hand in a result. So we took some time to wash our shoes and ourselves in a cow troth.

It was a great opportunity to compete against the very best orienteerders in Auckland. A special word of thanks to Val and John Robinson for organising this big event.

Congratulations with our 1 000'th Blog visit!!

Student Leader helpers at MPSSA Cross Country

All of the sports monitors got to have a taste of what its like to organize a big school sports  event at the 2012 MPSSA Cross Country field day.  

We have learnt to improve our leadership skills by talking in front of a very large audience. Jacob and Kate addressed the largest audience they ever had to. Jacob felt the nerves as he welcomed everyone to the event. Katie read a poem called the Athletes Prayer.

We also learned how to set up a course for the athletes to run. This took about 1hour to do. Mr Fourie showed us to plant the stakes and use tape to mark the outside lines of the course.

We had the opportunity to show the competitors the course before their event. Jacob walked with the year 6 athletes, Connor with the year 4 athletes and Cameron with the year 5 athletes.

One of the most difficult jobs was to help recording the results. Elle helped Miss Tait to record and worked out the winners.

Katie, Connor, Jacob and Cameron also helped at the finish line to line the athletes into the order they finished.

Waldo had to work with the sound system and called out the athletes to their race.

At the end of the event we helped to hand out certificates to the stars of the day and then started the massive task to pack up the entire course.

Hopefully this experience will help us to be able to run similar events ourselves.

We would like to thank Mr. Fourie for giving us the opportunity to help and show how reliable we can be.

Jacob and 

Elle!

More Statistical Investigation presentations!

Sharing our learning with Room 1

For a task we did for MRS Johns we had to use words that would describe the characteristics of the armed forces. We had to learn what these words mean, get examples of people from society that have shown the same characteristics in the things they do.

The words are: commitment, courage, integrity and comradeship. We studied the meaning of the words by surveying other people. We then presented it in a Key Note presentation, posters or in a blog.

Then we shared it with some of the younger students in room 1.

Counties Orienteering!

Counties Manukau

Orienteering

The Reremoana School Orienteering team took part in the Counties Orienteering field day at Totara Park on the 1st May 2012. This was a qualifying event, that means the best teams could qualify for the Auckland Championships in week 4. 

We had a challenging course. Six athletes comete at a time each with a different course. So it is very important to orientate your map and see where you have to go first. Each map had 22 controls and you can’t even make one mistake. 

So it was important for every athlete to stay focussed and do their best.

Reremoana school had a very good day, thanks to the learning we do about orienteering at school.

A special word of congratulations to the following section winners.

Individual Stars!

Jorien Fourie - Year 6 Girls First Place.

2. Reuben Webster - Year 6 Boys First Place.

3. Kaudee Raututi - Year 7 Boys First Place

4. Katie Lowry - Year 8 Girls First Place

5. Jacob Gordon - Year 8 Boys First Place

6. Georgia Webster - Year 8 Girls Second Place

Congratulations to the following teams who did very well in the team devision.

Team Results!

1. Year 6 Girls A - First Place.

2. Year 6 Girls B - Second Place.

3. Year 7 Boys A - Third Place

4. Year 8 Girls A - Second Place.

5. Year 8 Boys A - Second place.

Congratulations to the year 7 and 8 teams who have been selected to go to the Auckland Championships!

Good luck - we know you will do your best!
We would like to thanks Mr Pete Mesley for the beautiful photos taken at Orienteering field day!

Elle's writing piece! - Why do we need road safety rules?

Why we need road safety rules!

Road safety rules are rules for the road well obviously, But there but there not just like normal old rules I think maybe there a bit more important. Without them i don’t know what would be going on on the roads.....

We’ve got road safety rules to keep the roads under control and to keep everything in order. We have these rules to de-crease the chances of crashes and or collisions, I mean how hectic would it be on the roads with out them?

Lets say a group of friends were waltzing across the road and suddenly a speeding car comes zooming down the road.. Now clearly there are no rules in this side of town . So the girls keep walking and then No more group of friends, now if there were road safety rules this car would have been going a normal speed and the driver would have seen the girls and come to a stop and then the girls would continue on having a great night.

So in conclusion R.S.R are: supper important, Prevent crashes and collisions and they are really good to have. So by keeping to these rules your saving your parents heaps of money and saving you a visit to the big guy.

By Elle Griffiths.

Sean's writing piece! - Explain why we need exercise!

Why do we need enough exercise?

By Sean Youmans

The human body needs enough exercise to function properly. Thats good, because exercise is also very important in everyday life. Exercise is when you do strenuous physical activities that keeps you healthy. It can also help your learning and makes you feel great.

Firstly, while exercising, your body requires more oxygen than usual. Not all of the oxygen is needed immediately, so it all goes to your brain. So afterwards, when you are left panting for breath and go back to class, the extra oxygen makes you work better.

Secondly, when you are exercising with food in your stomach, your body is focusing all of it’s energy on running and keeping yourself alive, the body splits the fat in your abdomen into glucose molecules used for energy in a process called anaerobic metabolism. It sounds nasty, and the pain generated by acid buildup is commonly known as the stitch. It may feel bad, but it is putting ugly fat to good use.

Last but not least, exercise makes you feel great. It is really cool when you come back from school feeling energetic and joyful, which also makes your parents really calm and happy, so your night will be as easy as cutting butter with a red hot knife.

Exercise gives more oxygen to your brain, turns fat into energy and makes you and your parents happy and calm. If everyone gets enough exercise, everyone will be fit, smart and happy.

School Orienteering Term 1 Week 10!

School Orienteering 

In week 10  of term 1 the Kereru team took part in an orienteering activity. Everyone had to complete the School Orienteering course as fast as they could without making any mistakes. 

There were 5 maps with 6 controls on each map. You had to find the correct control and punch it in on every map. This was not that easy. You would think we know the school grounds well enough to be able to negotiate the map, but if you forget to orientate the map you can get lost. That means you loose a lot of time. You also have to remember to read the map key and use the clues and match them up with the control numbers.

Mr Fourie used these results to select our school teams to represent our school at the Counties Orienteering field day at Totara park. Good luck to the following students:

Here are the top 6 in each age group 

Year 6 boys                 Year 6 girls

Adam                              Jorien

Liam                               Theane

Reuben                          Summer

Callahan                         Briana

Colby                             Gemma

Codi                               Neeve

Year 7 boys                 Year 7 girls

Blake                           April

Sam                            Shanya

Kyle                            Emily

Kaudee                       Danielle W

Waldo                         Lucy 

Denzil                         Charlotte

Year 8 boys                 Year 8 girls

Jacob                           Katie

Dylan                           Georgia

Scott                            Jessica

Latham                        Krisana

Josh C                         Elle

Connor M                    Martina