Japan Podcast

Photo taken by Mr Fuller in Kyoto, 2009

As you know LA31 has been learning about culture. We recently learnt about Japan and we had to write a summary on Japan. Each group was assigned a category (I got ‘Japan and the World’). Mr Fuller gave us a sheet of paper with information on each topic. Everyone created an amazing summary and Mr Fuller decided to create a podcast (an audio clip) with our wonderful summaries. Lachlan created the podcast and did a brilliant job with it. Everyone took part and everyone like the end result. You can listen to the podcast right here. We hope you enjoy it.

This post was written by Lachlan.

Science Report by Sereia and Natalie

On the 28th of March, our class did a science experament with Mrs Harman. Our aim was to investigate what happens when we put yeast and sugar in 3 bottles with different temperatures of water. Bottle 1 was hot water, bottle 2 was warm water and bottle 3 was cold water. On top of the bottles we put balloons on it to see if the yeast produced gas. After 1 hour, we wrote what happened.

We found out that bottle 1, the yeast died because the water was to hot so that’s why it didn’t have any co2 (carbon dioxide) in it. Bottle 2, the water was just right for the micro orgamism (yeast) so they stayed alive and produced gas. Bottle 3, they had some carbon dioxide in it but nothing happened.

This was an interesting experiment and we learned a lot.

Making Sushi by Georgia, Luke and Bailey

On Friday, we made sushi. First, we made a mind map of some ingredients from sushi.

The ingredients were Wasabi,Yaki Nori (seaweed),rice,Capsicums,Tofu,Sushi Ginger,Cucumber.

The dressings were Wasabi,rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.

We got some help from some year 7s. They chopped up some of the ingredients. We split into groups and had a close up look at the ingredients.

Then we got to make the sushi. Mr Fuller showed us how to make it. Firstly we had to get the square peice of seaweed and we put a strip of rice down the middle. Then we got all the ingredients we liked and we put it on top of the rice. After we did that we got the dressings we like and we put it on top of all the ingredients. Finally we got the sushi and we got to eat it. Some people enjoyed it and some people didn’t.

Here a some comments of how they thought the sushi was !!

Christian did not even eat the sushi.

Hristijan did not like the sushi at all.

Tylah ate it but she said that she needed it refrigerated and she thought it was sticky inside.

Ashlee thought it was disgusting.

Natalie surprisingly said that she likes it.

Alyssa was another person who liked the sushi.

Andie liked the said that she kind of liked the sushi.

Swimming Report by Luke M

When we went swimming, the level 10,11 and 12s did a run-swim-run, tube rescue, board rescue, clothes swim (swimming in our PJs) and more. It was soo much fun at the beach,the waves were big at times and small at times. The thing that I enjoyed the most was when we were allowed to catch waves (Body Surf). It was funny because the level 10,11 and 12s didn’t have to wear the caps and the other levels had to wear caps and there weren’t enough caps for all of us. The down-side was that there were jelly fish and crabs and others,I got stung by a jellyfish when we had to do the run-swim-run.Today is Friday and I think we are doing games and things like that and our teacher (No.6) might let us body surf again or do free swim!

One-to-One Parent Workshops: 28 March

MacBook photo by Ricky Romero, used under Creative Commons licence.

Do you sometimes feel like your children know more about technology than you do? Would you like to learn more about your child’s MacBook in a casual and relaxed environment? Here is your chance.

On Wednesday 28 March, we will be running two hands-on workshops aimed at parents only. The goal is to support parents in feeling more comfortable with the technology that their children use every day.

The topics are:

2:45 – 3:45 pm Introduction to your Mac

Whether you are completely new to computers or just new to the Mac, this is the session for you. Learn the basics of how to use a MacBook including saving files, using a trackpad, changing system settings and finding your way around the ‘Finder’.

5:00 – 6:00 pm Introduction to Digital Photography

For more confident users, this session will show you how to use a Mac to manage your digital photo library. Learn how to make slideshows, gorgeous photo books, greeting cards and more. Discover how to edit and enhance your photos and keep your images safe and well-organised.

Both workshops will be held in LA31 and light refreshments will be served.

Future sessions

Is there a burning topic that you want to know more about? Just drop us a line and we could cover your topic in the next parent workshop.

Rube Goldberg machines

A fortnight ago, I issued students with the challenge of creating their own ‘Rube Goldberg’ machines. A number of students stepped up to the challenge. Have a look at their fantastic work:

Like what you see? Leave the kids a comment!

‘Paper Cranes’ by Cara and Alicia

On the 19th of March, the students in LA 31 made paper cranes because we are learning about Japan and their life style. The crane is a symbol of Japan. The other day we read a story about a girl called Sadako. She had leukaemia and before she died she wanted to make a thousand paper cranes but instead she made 654 paper cranes which still was a great success. To make a paper crane go to the website below (It is a video).

People try to make 1000 because people believe that it is a symbol of good luck. People all around the world make and send paper cranes to Japan all year long. They are put in glass cabinets around Sadako’s statue in Hiroshima. We will be sending our cranes to Hiroshima as a symbol of peace.

‘Learning about Japan’ by Alyssa and Leah

This week we started learning about Japan and its culture. First we made a ‘mind map’ on our topic, Japan. This could be family life, food for all occasions, education and many more. After we finished our mind map we made a Pages document putting together all our information off our mind maps and put them into a text and  then bulked up our sentences. When we had finished, we posted them up on our wiki so the whole class could see. We then made a podcast of ourselves on the iPods that we won at assembly on Wednesday. We took turns reading and recording our work out loud. Every one had such amazing work and every one worked together really well!

Lapathon, Swimming and iPod Excitement

‘Lapathon’ by Lottie

Today our school is participating in the Lapathon. We do this every year to raise money for to school so that they can purchase the items on the school “Wish List,” including some new stuff for school performances, shades for the sports carnival and other outdoor activities, new computers, library recourses, ribbons and trophies for the athletics carnival and a donation to the year 7 camp. All this would cost $40 000. It would be great if our school could buy all of the items on their “Wish List” and we would really appreciate it! Years 4 to 7’s have the option to do 20 laps of the Warrahdale Reserve, where the years 1 to 3’s have the option to do 10 laps of a smaller circle. We also get sponsors to sponsor us. Please make sure all of the money is back to the school by 30 March.

‘iPod prizes’ by Sulayman

On Wednesday our class went to assembly. We won the iPod touches and there are ten of them. We won them because we were the best class. On the iPod touch we play lots of math games and take lots of photo and videos. It is really fun. We have to give them back in two weeks.

‘Swimming Reminder’ by Kyuhen

Just a reminder about swimming, please remember that swimming starts on Monday,19 of March and please ensure that your child brings two towels each day. Students will also need a full suit of bathers including a rashie or shirt, they will also need a hat and drink-bottle daily. LA 31 will be taking session three (which is from 11.55 a.m.-12.55 p.m.) with LA 12. The bus officially leaves 11.20 a.m. But remember… students can’t have a warm lunch order from the canteen as the food shall be cold when the children get back.

Auction Mania! By Tylah, Caleb and Albina

On Monday 12th of March our class and Mr Fuller had our first auction in LA31. It included mini balls, 20 minutes free time, mystery box prizes and much much more. Mr Fuller was the auctioneer and the class were the bidders. We did it because it would be fun and we earnt money for our money books what we used to buy the prizes. Mr Fuller held up the prizes and the bids went higher and the last one standing got the prize.We thank Mr Fuller for letting us have our auction and getting us our prizes.