Information reports

Hello Everyone,
We have been learning how to write information reports in 2H over the past two weeks.  We have been very lucky to acquire some small touch screen lap tops in our classroom and we are putting them to good use.  We have been using the children's search engine, Kid Rex to research our topics as well as a range of books from the library.  We are also learning that it is very important to recognise where we get our information from and reference these sources at the end of our report.  Together we have written 2 reports as a class.  Our first one is about Koalas and our second one is about Italy.  You can read these below and there are also some pictures of us researching our topics.

Koalas

By Year 2H

Did you know that Koalas are endangered animals?  There are only one hundred thousand living which may sound like a lot, but really it is not that many at all.  What makes the Koala an interesting animal? 

What type of animal is a Koala?

Well it isn’t a bear like some people think it is.  A koala is a marsupial.  Other marsupials are kangaroos, wombats and possums.  Koalas are born blind with no fur.  They live in their mother’s pouch and after six months they climb out and cling to their mother’s backs until they are old enough to climb trees themselves.

A Koala’s habitat.

Koalas are found in Eastern Australia.  They live in gum trees so they can protect themselves from predators on the ground.

What does a Koala eat?

A koala’s main source of food comes from their habitat.  They survive by eating the leaves from the gum tree.  These leaves also contain water that the Koala can drink.

What does a Koala spend it’s time doing?Koalas are known to sleep nineteen hours a day.  This is because the gum leaves take a long time to digest and the koalas needs to keep its energy to digest it’s food.  They also spend time climbing trees which they are really fast and good at.  They actually have sticky claws to help them.

Next time if you are lucky enough to see a koala, you will now know all about how they exist.

References:

Koalas. By Steve Parish

Say Hello Koalas. By Steve Parish

Koalah the koala. By Jon Rednick & Jan Davis.

Websites:

Animalfactguide.com.au

Italy

By Year 2H

Have you ever been to Italy?  Do you know how fabulous it is?  Here are some interesting facts about this great country.

Where is Italy?

Italy is located in the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe. It is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.  Italy is shaped like a boot.  It is the fifth most visited country in the world.  In the South of Italy you will find 3 active volcanoes.

Famous Landmarks.

There are many famous landmarks in Italy.  The Colosseum was were gladiators once fought.  It is in the capital city, Rome.  The leaning tower of Pisa is famous because it leans and it continues to lean a little more each year.  The Pope lives in Italy in Vatican City.

Fabulous Food.

Italians are famous for creating food that is popular all over the world.  Food like pasta and pizza were first made by Italians.  They make the best in the world.

As you can see, there are many wonderful and interesting aspects to Italy.  It would be a wonderful place to visit.

References:

Welcome to Italy. By Meredith Costain

A Visit to Italy. By Rachael Bell

Websites:

www.kids.nationalgeographic.co

Using the laptops for research.

Using library books for research.

Cane Train Safety.

Sam The Cane Train.

It is Cane Harvesting Season in Proserpine and we have noticed the cane trains as they make their way to and from the mill.  In our Health unit we are learning about safety around Cane Trains.  Click on this link to watch some information about safety around Cane Trains and talk to your family about why safety around Cane Trains in important.

Art Week

This week we are celebrating Art Week.  Click on this link for some creative Art activity ideas that you an do at home.

http://www.kidspot.com.au/kids-activities-and-games/craft-activities+1.htm

Don't forget that the school art exhibition is on this Wednesday night, 20th August, at the Mercy Campus in the undercover area from 5pm to 7pm.  Your art work is on display so come along and show it off!

National Science Week 2014

During week 5 we will be celebrating Science Week at St Catherine's with lots of science based activities.

Check out this amazing site for some fun science experiments that you can do at home.

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments.html

Catholic Education Week.

This week is Catholic Education Week and we will be celebrating with a whole school mass at The Loyola Campus on Friday.

The theme for this year is "Live Life in all its Fullness." This is a theme that we live up to very well at St Catherine's.

Last week we were visited by Michael Mangan who wrote and sings a lot of the hymns we practise from week to week at hymn practise.  We really enjoyed singing along to many of our favourites as well as his new song that he was commisiioned to write for this years Catholic Education Week.

The song is called "Come, Live Life!"  It's definately our new favourite.  Click on the link below to see the you tube clip and sing along!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxqtqlHZ_fo

Mealworms!

This term in science we are exploring a unit called "Watch it Grow."  We are looking at life cycles of different animals and how they diifer to the changes in humans over time.

As part of the unit, we are keeping mealworms in our classroom.  We will closely observe them and see how they will change through their life cycles.

Here is a cool you tube clip that explains how the mealworms will change and how to look after them:

Here are some pictures of our meal worms:

Here they are at the larvae stage.

Here is our meal worm habitat.

Asleep in the fridge.

At the moment we are keeping them in the fridge which slows their life cycles right down.  In a couple of weeks we place 2 of the habitats on the science table were we hope their lifecycles will speed up and we can observe them change into beetles!

Stay tuned.....

Our bird feeders.

We have placed some bird seed in our feeders and we are waiting patiently to spy some bird action!