Applying algebraic formulae to real life

In maths at the moment we are working on algebra, we applied the use of algebra into a daily life situation. We used the scenario of running a cafe to produce these spreadsheets. Big thanks to the two students from Room 13 who shared their knowledge with us. We will be extending this tomorrow with a mini project. 

Here is Charlotte's... 

Name...	Soup...	Meal...	Dessert...	Drink...	Total...
Bob	4	6	4	3	$77.00
Greg	2	4	6	7	$77.00
Bella	12	30	16	7	$313.00
Caitlin	7	20	13	6	$218.00
Chloe	30	50	20	10	$530.00
Ally	3	7	3	2	$72.00
Jack	34	23	5	3	$303.00
Finn	12	27	9	9	$273.00
Emma	19	33	11	11	$351.00
Teddy	9	11	12	13	$189.00
Adam	5	8	18	7.5	$162.50
Willow	17	37	17	2.5	$365.50
Mia	16	34	26	3.333	$382.00
Sophie	1	2	7	5	$59.00
Total	171	292	167	89.333	$3,372.00

Algebra equations

Following on from our Algebra lessons of last week we are exploring algebraic expressions. Found this youtube clip as a backup reminder...remember methodical steps, one at a time!

Class novel for term 3

The 10pm question by Kate De Goldi.

This novel is gearing up to be a good one! Written by a New Zealand author, we are introduced to Frankie Parsons, a talented year 8 boy with a quirky family, a best friend Gigs, and a voice of anxiety constantly nibbling in his head. When a bold, inquisitive new girl arrives at school, Frankie's carefully guarded world begins to unravel, leading him to a painful confrontation with the ultimate 10pm question.

We are finding it easy to relate to the characters...especially when the opening chapters have included references to completing a science fair investigation! Keep an eye out for student reviews later on in the term!

An overview of Room 15's Science investigation entries

Tyrin put together this awesome presentation using Thinglink- hover your cursor over the picture and then click on the links that appear. Well done Room 15 and congratulations to the six students representing the school at the Hawkes Bay competition!

#CrossCountryHereWeCome!

Created with Padlet

Change Makers- If not me than who?

For inquiry this term we are investigating "Changemakers". We used the Haiku Deck app to illustrate our initial understanding of the concept of Empathy. Check out the efforts of Mila, Imogen and Ella here; and others from room 15 on individual blogs.

Communication Scenarios- Pubertal health

One of the task's I set the class during pubertal health was to create a video demonstrating three different communication choices for a scenario they may face. This is Max, Finn and Miharo's creation- check out the others on individual blogs!

Budding poets

We have finished off the term exploring and experimenting with poetry. As a result we have been busy posting our latest creative efforts on our blogs...check them out.

The eye's to a window's world

I open my eyes up to the world today

I see the world spin  through the glass at the end of the room

A square, a circle ,a shape that you desire

A barrier to the outside world

The eyes to the space beyond the walls of my room

The soft solid see through slab that frames a view

I am a window

I am alerted when the morning comes

and when night is approaching

The glare of light, the shadows of darkness bounce of the surface

A protector from the weather

a mould dirt grime dust collector

an easy clean surface

A breakable block

a forceful hit will smash it to bits

I am a window

Can be open

can be closed

can be dirty

can be clean

A blank block

Can make shapes with the light

can reflect your image if the light is right

It may become cold and frosty or wet and make condensation

It does not live and it does not die it will be here for a long time

I am a window

Written by Sam Gilbert.

The Incredible Human Machine Grid challenge!

We had some fun doing these tasks over the term. Check out individual blogs to see how we got on! 

WALT: recognise and describe the systems that work together in the human body WALT: explain how the human body responds to a specific challenge (physical & psychological responses) WALT: describe mechanisms that help humans cope with challenge (stressors)

Compose a rap/music lyrics: About a challenge to the human machine- viruses, smoking, alcohol, diseases, immunity to penicillin...	Timeline/flow chart: Investigate and record evolutionary changes to the human machine over time- record predictions regarding changes into the future.	Design a menu: Make a healthy, balanced meal plan for your family for a day.  Remember to consider the food groups and their specific role in health. Include costing and a list of ingredients.	Exercise Plan: Design a 5-10min dance/exercise routine to music that would encourage others to ‘be active’. Consider what parts of the body you are exercising. Be prepared to instruct the class.
Complete a personal food and activity log. (2 day period) When completed: Categorise the food groups. Create graphs to illustrate the information you gather. Make generalisations about your diet and exercise. Could you make any recommendations to yourself?		You must aim to complete 5 activities. We finish at the end of week 8. As you complete an activity and have it marked, highlight the square on your grid.	Design a piece of equipment: to support a person with a disability. It must include an illustration, written description and be related to a real need.
Profile an Athlete you admire. Remember top athletes are talented, but really they are just like everybody else- they did not start out as champions. Some sample questions you may wish to answer; Why did they choose the sport they have?, What was an example of a low point and how did they deal with it? Greatest achievement?	Presentation: Select one human body system. Become an expert by creating a presentation that informs. The challenge is to create something that is entertaining/  interesting. Body systems are: Respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive, Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Digestive, Endocrine, Immune.	Create a TV commercial. (1 min) Select a specific product eg; soft drink, make-up, sports shoe, hair product. The goal is to reflect/ parody how real commercials often rely on manipulating a viewer’s self image to make them desire a product. Write a script, identifying a product, audience, brand name. This is the only group activity task.	Write an exposition: Should the NZ government impose a “fat tax” on unhealthy foods? Take a stand on the above issue and compose an argument to support your opinion. (You have a strong opinion on another issue?- if it fits with our inquiry focus go ahead!)

Wonderful writers

This term one of our writing focuses has been on creating effective explanations. We came up with a topic of particular interest to us before forming three questions that we wished to answer. After extensive researching,we began forming our explanation texts...aiming to demonstrate our strong writing voices, structure appropriately and make precise vocabulary choices.
Here is Emma's effort. Check out our individual blogs!

Arthritis

Have you ever had trouble grasping a jar or opening a lid? This is something people with arthritis have to deal with on a day to day basis.  There are over 140 types of arthritis, but about 5 types are common in NZ. Arthritis is a disease that causes tightening of the muscles, inflammation of joints, weakening of the fingers, hips and many other joints.  Some of the effects that you can see are: nobly joints, crooked fingers or inflamed knees. Many medications are in place to help fix the symptoms that arthritis brings.

There are many different types and versions of Arthritis. In New Zealand the most common type is OA (Osteoarthritis). Almost half of people aged over 60 and virtually all over 80 have OA. On the other hand Reactive Arthritis is more common for people aged 20 - 40 but it can also affect young women and children. As you can see arthritis affects anyone no matter what age you are there is a possibility of getting arthritis.

Arthritis makes people weak and sore in the particular area that they get it in. Everyone with arthritis has to deal with the pains and injuries on a daily basis. Some of the effects that you can see from arthritis are: inflamed knees, nobly joints, crooked fingers. Sharp pains and aching joints affect the way people work and move.  For example, OA can feel like broken glass in your joints. Imagine that cracking, smashing sound when you are simply trying to bend your knee or leg.

Unfortunately there is no real cure for arthritis but there are, fortunately many ways to control the symptoms with medications. There is a list of medications that you can take  to help Arthritis like NSAIDs and DMARDs. You have to take these before you try any of the self injected medications; Humira, Enbrel.  Humira is a fortnightly self injected medication that is for Rheumatoid arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis amongst other diseases and things. Enbrel is a weekly self injection. This is for RA, Psoriatic arthritis, JIA and AS.

Arthritis is a disease that affects the joints and muscles and  causes pain in the particular area. Although it has no cure, you can take medication to help the symptoms.

Links/Bibilorgraphy:

Arthritis NZ:  http://www.arthritis.org.nz/

Humira:  http://www.humira.co.nz/

Enbrel:   http://www.enbrel.co.nz/

Blossuming artists!

This week Room 15 have been busy working on our sculptures...wire, then tinfoil, then paper mâché, finally a paint job! We'll post reflections and pictures of our completed work over the next week...keep watching!

TK technology challenge

Half a packet of spaghetti pasta, 20 marsh mellows,an egg and 30 minutes. Instructions: Build the tallest freestanding tower...supporting the egg. Simple??

Poser Art

In Room 15 we have been exploring our incredible human machine. After a yoga PE lesson, we created poses using a cardboard skeleton, to which we added colour. A colourful addition to our classroom wall. The challenge was demonstrating our pose with our own body! Our next step is to recreate this pose using wire, to produce a sculpture. We'll keep you posted on how successful we are. Below are the creations of Ella MacKenzie and Sam Gilbert.

Transplant victims!

The challenge was set! In groups of four construct and plant every major organ into the "patient". Needing correct size, shape and colour..it proved quite a challenge for many!

A real fun way to explore the human machine.

Sensational senses

Exploring whether our tongues still detect flavours when our other senses are inactive. What an incredible human machine we have! 

This explanation about our tongues in a school journal has reinforced what we need to aim for in our own explanation writing this term.

The Incredible human machine brainstorm

We created initial brainstorms using a variety of mind mapping tools this week.  Our next step will be to identify a topic that is of particular interest, formulate some 'FAT' questions to research and eventually craft an informative written report. Keep a watch on our blogs as we will be creating posts to show our progress.
Here is Sophie's brainstorm...check out others on individual blogs.

Treaty of Waitangi inquiry finale

I am busy lining things up so that I can update the class blog...because so much is happening and being achieved in Room 15 already this term- BUT.... WAIT! My students have alerted me to a  major omission. At the end of last term we created and shared with each other some AMAZING timelines of major events in New Zealand's history that are linked to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. You need to check these out!
A huge amount of effort went into creating these and a number of new timeline apps were explored.
As a taster, here is the link to Jasmine's superb creation- check out others on individual blogs
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/272010/Treaty-of-Waitangi/#vars!date=1842-03-13_12:33:48!

The Incredible human machine

We have started discussing our 'incredible human machine" and gosh...what a lot of amazing options and variety of interests we have in our class in relation to this unit! This youtube clip was shared by another teacher...I just had to post it!

Courtenay's Showme

In Room 15 we have been learning how to add and subtract fractions. Here is Courtenay's show me, where she explains the process she follows when solving a word problem. Check out individual 'show me' maths learning by clicking on the individual blog links.  

Transformation in maths with style!

Our focus in maths over the past couple of weeks has been Transformation. Found this fun way to remember the properties for reflection, rotation, translation and enlargement!

Matahiwi Marae visit

Created with Padlet

We headed off to Matahiwi Marae today to kick off the HNI Kotahitanga week. A very valuable experience for many of us, which prompted us to create a Padlet to share our new learning! A great way to start the week!

Kotahitanga Week

We had a number of students in Room 15 working hard on creating a banner that represented our class. This is our finished effort, which is now hanging in the newly created wharenui (our school hall). Taurean and Jacinta did a fantastic job on Friday explaining the design features of our class banner- Well done guys!

We're back from camp..and it was AWESOME!

Lakes Ranch 2014 on PhotoPeach

Athletics Day- HNI

ATHLETICS DAY on PhotoPeach

Poem analysis: Heritage by Vernice Wineera Pere

Heritage

Take the sharpened pipi shell,

piece of paua, bird bone,

razor blade if you like,

carve upon my face the marks

of Maoritanga, Let the blood spurt

and dribble down my chin

like the moko of the old women

wrapped in blankets round the cooking fire.

Rub the juices in the wounds.

Charcoal, vegetable dye, Indian ink.

Make beautiful the design, like

the young fern curled across the moon,

or the kiwi feathers in grandfather’s proud cloak.

Seek the patterns of the paua’s inner shell,

the curl of kumera vine.

Trace the call of the karanga across the marae,

the nose flute in the night.

Slice the flesh like the tekoteko’s stare.

The soft flesh, lip, membrane, skin.

Cut statistics on my face:

name, age, place of birth, race,

village, tribe, canoe.

Carve deeply, erase doubt

as to who

I am.

Use the sharpened pipi shell.

bird bone, razor blade.

Use them harshly. Lacerate

my legacy upon me

where all who read will perceive

that I am taking my place

on this vast marae

that is the Pacific

we call home

Vernice Wineera Pere, Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa.

(published: (1989) Harvest: Contemporary Morman poems,

Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books)

We critiqued the poem 'Heritage' as a class, exploring vocabulary and language features. Our final task was to create a piece of art work to illustrate a section of the poem that left a lasting impression on us. Check these out on our individual blogs. This poem was selected as we can make connections to it through our inquiry focus this term "I am New Zealand...together we grow".

Te Kanawa Namesake research

Room 15 was tasked with researching our house namesake: Kiri Te Kanawa. We were encouraged to select a presentation tool which we thought best suited the task. The class voted on the top three to share at a Te Kananwa House assembly. This one was created using 'Prezi' by Sophie, Charlotte and Bailey. Check out others on individual blogs.

Investigating background to the Treaty of Waitangi

Students were tasked with creating a Venn diagram to illustrate similarities and differences between two European explorers to New Zealand. This is Charlotte's creation using google drawing. Check out others by clicking on the link to individual blogs.

Pop art portraits

Colour, colour everywhere. As part of our identity inquiry focus, we have used a pop art approach to construct portraits of ourselves. We had to identify the light and dark contrast in a black and white photograph and then express that same contrasting effect by making careful, considered light and dark colour choices. They have proved to be very colourful additions to our classroom wall. 

Terrific Tabloids!

Fabulous weather, afternoon at the village pool, throw in a little competition...Year 8 tabloid sports was a hit! 

Statistics..Analysing Data Rap!

We are developing our statistical skills in Room 15. I found this fun rap to help us remember the different "M's"- Mean, Median and Mode...the catchy tune might just work!?

Te Kanawa wins the swimming sports!

A huge effort from all of TK has seen us take away a house win in the school swimming sports. Room 15 had a strong representation in the house team...and we looked particularly awesome in our blue gear! Well done team!

A fantastic first class novel for the year!

In Room 15 we have started reading the novel 'Memoirs of an imaginary friend' by Matthew Green. It is proving to be a really entertaining read...and we're only up to Chapter 9! Check out our individual blogs towards the end of the term to read our reviews.

I am New Zealand...together we grow

Created with Padlet

We have brainstormed and discussed what we already know about the Treaty of Waitangi. This is a padlet that we made to share our 'I wonder' questions.

Cyber citizenship and penguins?

Over the past two weeks, we have been exploring the idea of cyber citizenship. We have discussed a variety of issues that we need to be aware of when we work in an online environment. One area has been Media Smarts - where we are exposed to a wide variety of material online, ranging in it's accuracy, reliability and value; which we need to evaluate and determine how well it meets out needs. Check out this youtube clip-  it generated heaps of discussion!

The reading challenge is set!

READING OUTSIDE THE BOX CHALLENGE

In Room 15 we are adding a bit of a challenge to our homework reading program.The goal to broaden our reading habits by exploring a range of genres, including types of literature that we wouldn’t normally choose to read. The challenge requires the completion of 16 books, one for each box on this grid.

Keep an eye on our blogs as we post reviews of the books we read as we go!

The end of our first week in Room 15

We are settling in nicely to our new classroom. A three day week sure is a nice way to ease back into it!

30 Year 8 students have spent the week getting to know one another and Mrs Ellmore. What a great group of students! I am very excited about the term ahead...it's looking busy, busy, busy, so keep an eye on our individual blogs- they will be in action very soon!