Distance From The Sun....

In Room 10 we are learning about Planet Earth & Beyond.  Today a group of students went about the task of working out which planets were closest to the sun.  

Below you will find a video made by the students sharing their findings.

It's hard work this measuring business!

Big thank you to Whaea Jess for supporting the student's learning.

Reference:  http://www.pbs.org/parents/adventures-in-learning/2014/12/solar-system-scale-model/

Space Visit...

We all hopped on a bus and travelled into Wellington to the Space Place which can be found in the Carter Observatory.  

We sat in big, red comfy chairs in a cool cinema and watched an awesome video that played up in the ceiling!  

We started at the Sun and flew through our Solar System.  We learned that not all moons are the same, which planets could have life on them and other facts.  

After the video the ceiling lit up with stars.  We learned how to find the Southern Cross, the Scorpion and a few more.  Our favourite was the Pleiades (Matariki stars) because soon it will be the Māori New Year!

We learnt more about the 8 planets that orbit our sun (which is a humungous star!).  

After the two sessions with our guides, we were able to look at, and play with the exhibitions.  Everyone loved being able to touch and play with everything.

Reference:  http://www.museumswellington.org.nz/space-place/

Solar System Inquiry...

In Room 10 we are beginning our inquiry around Earth and the Solar System.  

During our inquiry we will find answers to student generated questions and carry out some fun experiments.  

Along the way we will cover the points listed below, and any other student driven inquiry that is not listed here:

• To know that the Earth is part of the Solar System

• To know that the Earth takes 365 days and 8 hours to orbit The Sun

• To understand that The Earth revolves around its own axis once every day (24 HOURS) and how this gives us day and night

• To know that the Solar System includes The Earth, The Sun and nine planets
• To know the average distances between the planets

• To know that The Sun is the most important part of the Solar system because it keeps the planets in their orbits

• To know how the height of The Sun in the sky varies with the seasons

• To understand how and why the moon appears to change shape

• To know the different moon phases

• To know that The Earths moon takes 27.5 days to orbit The Earth