Epic Song Pproject

The students (and Bevan) have been working hard at putting together a song. It is finished and is amazing. The music and lyrics were a collaborative effort. So good to see the learning come together like this. Well done guys and well done Bevan!

Click through to the schools music blog to view it. http://musictepahu.blogspot.com/

Study skills

We are having a mini exam for the purpose of learning some study and memory skills. There are lots of ways of studying and we are exploring some of them and practicing them together as a class. Here are a few things we have discussed:

• UNDERSTAND If you understand what you have learnt you will remember it and be able to use it. Go through your notes and highlight parts you are unsure on. Exams do encourage you to check if you have understood what you have been taught. Ask yourself possible test questions and go and get help from videos, books, your teacher, or your friends. 
• TALK When we talk about learning it forces us to think about how to explain things. It is so helpful to study with other people. It also helps us identify information we missed or didn't understand. Use notes from what you have learnt and come up with possible test questions to discuss. We noticed today that when we came up with possible test questions, other people came up with ones we hadn't even thought of.
• WRITE and DRAW. Writing helps you learn how to express what you have learnt and it cements the learning in your head. We remember pictures well so drawing is also really helpful. Highlighting important information or using different colours for text can also work well.

YOU ARE TRYING TO CREATE PATHWAYS IN YOUR BRAIN so it is easy to remember and use information. If you focus on understanding, talk lots about your learning, and write or draw things about your learning you will turn pathways into highways!

We have looked at how we can create visual images in our minds and use acronyms and mnemonics to remember information.

Parents, if you have any tips for studying please pop them in the comments section below.

Classifying materials

This week we have looked at classifying materials. The students examined a bike and identified all the products used to make it. This included everything from the paint to the foam inside the seat.

We then looked around the room and classified as many things as we could into the following categories:

• Organic Plastics/synthetics 
• Composites 
• Ceramics 
• Metals 
• Natural fabrics 

We took a deeper look into metals. We examined a variety of metals and then the students researched a particular metal and shared back their expertise. The students looked into the metal's melting point, conductivity, malleability and all sorts of other information. Mercury was a fascinating metal to look into as it is one of the only metals that is liquid at room temperature.

 

An interesting question is what actually is a metal. What makes something a metal? This is a definition of a metal:

Any chemical element that is an effective conductor of electricity and heat can be defined as a metal.

Some definitions:

• Alloy - a metal made from a combination of metals, e.g. steel (iron and carbon), brass (copper and zinc), Bronze (copper and tin).
• Galvanized - coated in a protective layer of zinc.
• Stainless steel - steel with a high amount of chromium which stops it from corroding.
• Malleability - how easily its shape can be changed. 

The lungs of the world

Today we looked at the chemical reaction that happens in photosynthesis. Trees are amazing! They take what we are creating too much of - Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - and they break it into oxygen and food for the tree. The problem is we are cutting down the trees and at the same time creating more CO2.

We looked at this fascinating video on the CO2 levels in our atmosphere over a year long period. It was amazing to see the change between when trees lose their leaves and gain them again. It raised many questions, like: What places create the most CO2? What things cause the most CO2? What would happen if all the evergreen trees were cut down?

Combustion

We have looked at what combustion is. Simply put, it is the burning of something. In more detail it is the rapid chemical combination of something with oxygen. When this happens heat, light, and exhaust is produced. Oxidise means to combine chemically with oxygen.

We looked at some examples of spontaneous combustion, such as linseed oil when it is exposed to oxygen. We also did an experiment combining potassium permanganate and glycerine which combusts.

The most important ingredient for combustion is oxygen. The main product of combustion is carbon dioxide (CO2) which is not good for our environment. There are other products though.

We burnt a candle and put a spoon in the flame which got black all over it. We discussed how the fuel (wax) has carbon (C) in it and the wax doesn't completely burn up (incomplete combustion). Small particles of carbon are released which gather on the spoon or as black smoke. We also covered the candle with a container. The candle went out as the oxygen in the container got used up.

Fuels can be all sorts of things. A fuel is anything that likes to absorb/take on oxygen - e.g. gas, wood, wax, alcohol.

We also identified some common flammable things in the home. If something is flammable it easily oxidises/combusts.

Breaking up a molecule - chemical reactions

It is pretty complicated to break up an atom and the result is a nuclear reaction. But molecules are broken all the time. Today we split a molecule. This is called decomposition. We had hydrogen peroxide and separated it into water and oxygen. We used a catalyst to cause a chemical reaction to break them apart. The catalyst was potassium permanganate. We explored what both chemicals are and what they are used for.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) - is a naturally occurring substance that can be found in every living thing (including people) as well as in things like snow, rain, lakes, and rivers. We use it for all sorts of things such as bleaching our hair and as a disinfectant.

Potassium permanganate (KMnO4)- is a substance created by scientists. It is used for things such as preserving fruit and treating water.

The reaction was quite spectacular. Because of the heat generated the water escaped in its gas form - steam.

We did a second experiment where we added detergent and water to the same reaction. The detergent trapped the steam and oxygen as it escaped creating lots of bubbles that looked like 'elephants toothpaste'.

We have looked at what a chemical reaction is. A chemical reaction is one where you end up with a new element or molecule. It is usually irreversible. There are clues to help you work out if it is a chemical reaction. These experiments today were chemical reactions. We saw changes in temperature, sound, colour and saw bubbles sizzling away. All clues of a chemical reaction.
There was quite a lot of heat generated (one feature of some chemical reactions). When heat is generated it is called an exothermic reaction.

Here is a video of the reaction as well as some other 'bigger' examples.