Day in the Life of a T u i

I wake up and the sun warms my feathers as I step out of bed. I shake off all the moss and twigs from my nest. Then I fly down to the lake and get a drink.

I fly over to the Chatham islands looking for some food. After hours of circling the island, I finally find a kowhai tree. I suck lots of pollen off.“Mmmmm that was yum”. After that delicious treat, I get back to flying. 

A few hours have past and flying around has made my wings sore so I fly home to eat some lunch. Back in my nest, I had some spare weta from last nights hunt. I was starting to get really hot so I had a nap. I would say it was a small one but I wasn’t, it was 5 hours long because yesterday I was up searching for food all night.

After my nap when I woke up I was in shock the sun was going down. I had to quickly go out hunting to get dinner or I was going to starve. I was once again circling the Chatham islands. It wasn’t long before I found a group of wetas. I scooped up a couple with my beak and flew home. I gobbled them up really fast. Then went back to bed but I couldn’t get to sleep because of my long nap. So I spent the rest of the night staring into the stars.

Inquiry Experiment

Inquiry experiment  

Aim/Purpose : 

To see what happens when baking soda and vinegar mix/combine 

To see the reaction that occurs when these two substances are mixed

Prediction - What do we think is going to happen:

We think it will explode/ It’s going to blow up

The ziplock bag will pop open and the liquid will spill out

It could fizz up 

The bag might fill up with air 

Fizz up like soda when shaken

The air pressure created inside the bag will cause the seal on the bag to pop open

Steps:     

1.  Open up a paper towel on a flat surface
2. Put 4 levelled teaspoons of baking soda in the centre of the paper towel
3. Wrap up the baking soda in the paper towel like a package - Keep the baking soda concentrated in the middle of the paper towel
4. Tape down your package of baking soda with a piece of masking tape so that everything stays in place
5. Open the vinegar and pour it into a cup - until the cup is half full
6. Then open a zip lock bag and pour the vinegar into it
7. Hold the package inside the zip lock bag, making sure it doesn’t yet make contact with the vinegar - then zip up the bag - making sure that it is completely closed
8. Let the package of baking soda drop into the vinegar and shake the bag up a little so that they start to mix
9. Observe what happens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlmsiPxEuK0

Materials/equipment:

• Baking Soda  (4 x tablespoons) 
• Vinegar (half a cup)
• Ziplock sandwich bags 
• Plastic spoon
• Paper towel 
• Masking tape

The Result - What did we see happen?

The baking soda reacted with the vinegar and the air pressure raised.

Variables - How could we change the variables?

Predict what might happen if we change the variables 

Lots of baking soda but not much vinegar.

Lots of vinegar but not much baking soda.

Experiment - Were our predictions accurate?

 Put 5 or more teaspoons of baking soda into the package - Bigger explosion/more powerful 

If there is too much baking soda and not enough vinegar, it may not work

Put more vinegar  - Bigger explosion/not pop  

Way less baking soda and wrapped in more paper towels - nothing - it would take a longer time to see a reaction 

Baking soda - With no package surrounding it - The reaction would happen instantly and uncontrollably 

The Science - Why did it happen?  Here are some websites to look at…. You may be able to find other websites too!

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/balloon-baking-soda-vinegar-experiment-kids/

https://www.science-sparks.com/amazing-baking-soda-experiments/

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-happens-when-you-mix-vinegar-and-baking-soda

https://carrotsareorange.com/baking-soda-vinegar-reaction-experiment/

plants absorbing water

Plants Absorbing Water 

Aim:

To colour celery or cabbage leaves - Try and see how plants absorb water

Materials 

Glass jars x4 

Celery

Cabbage leaves 

4 different colours of food colouring 

Water 

Scissors/knife/chopping board to cut the celery

Method 

Fill up 4 glass jars up to around halfway 

Put approximately 10 drops of different coloured food colouring into each jar

Place a celery stick or a cabbage leaf into each jar

Explanation 

Part 1 - Explain why plants need water 

Plants need water to absorb nutrients from the soil they also need water to grow to the right size and not die.

Part 2 - How they absorb water

Plants absorb water through their entire surface through roots, stems and leaves. Because of this movement of water molecules, it’s absorbed by the root hairs through cell membranes from the soil. Then the root hair cells become more and their osmotic pressure falls.  Osmotic means the movement of water molecules through a structure.

choral counting by jack and max

How are Cheetahs so Fast

What is a cheetah

A cheetah is the fastest animal in the world. It can reach speeds of 120 kph. The cheetah has a slender, long-legged body that is made for speed. Cheetahs are a tan colour with black coloured spots all over them.

The cheetah’s features

The cheetah is built for speed. It has long, slim, muscular legs, a small, rounded head set on a long neck a flexible spine, nonretractable claws,  special pads on its feet for traction and a long tail for balance. Cheetahs have a bite force of 215 kgs and with such sharp teeth, they could almost pierce through anything.

Where can the cheetah be found?

Cheetahs are mostly found,  mostly, all around Africa, but there is a small population of Cheetahs in Iran. Cheetahs are found in habitats with mostly open areas of land like the African grasslands and the savanna.

Why is the cheetah so fast?

The cheetah is so fast because it has Wide nostrils to get more air to breath, large lungs, a powerful heart, and large arteries allow more oxygen to get to the cheetah's muscles. Huge leg muscles that expand faster to produce faster speeds. The cheetah’s body structure allows it to reach such fast speeds but they can only run fast for about 30 seconds. That’s not long before they get tired out. Running so quickly tires cheetahs out.

Conclusion

How a cheetah’s speed helps them in everyday life. Cheetahs have a large hunting advantage over all big cats mainly because of their speed. Whatever they spot while hunting and want they can get because their much faster than all animals.

https://www.google.com/search?ei=KVe_XfzFBfTCz7sP_-mskAs&q=where+can+a+cheetah+be+found&oq=where+can+you&gs_l=psy-ab.18...0.0..3883...0.0..0.0.0.......0....6..gws-wiz.d6UE78DdwoU&gs_ivs=1&safe=active&ssui=on#tts=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7e_lDDojas

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+the+Cheetahs+features&gs_ivs=1&safe=active&ssui=on#tts=0

compare and contrast-tropical and temperate rain forests

Freashwater Biomes

cheetah fact file