Birds, Bugs and Trees at Halswell Quarry by Niamh and Macca

Tikouka went to the Halswell Quarry to learn about bugs, birds and trees. We learnt how to make noises like a fantail (cheep cheep cheep), bellbird (blink, blonk, blink, blonk)and a silver eye (kee, kee). 

Georgina showed us how birds help to grow new plants and trees. 

We then went on a bug hunt. We found slaters, centipedes, worms, spiders, beetles, grubs and two baby snails.

 We looked through magnifying glasses to see the bugs in detail.

 We also found some fungi!

 We found lots of bugs under the logs. Macca's dad helped lift the logs.

 We learned that the bugs help to decompose dead plants.

 We put blindfolds on and tried to guess the tree. We used describing words to help us -bumpy, flat, hard, smooth, bendy, scrunchy, prickly, soft.

 Lastly, we played a game to find out what would happen to the bugs and the birds if we chopped down the trees. 

 We decided we can help the birds and the bugs by planting another tree if we chop one down.

 We need lots of trees. The trees help us to breathe.

After lunch, we loved running up and down the hill.

The life cycle of a butterfly

    Three caterpillars arrived in Ti Kouka for us to watch this week. We also looked at  Youtube clips on how a caterpillar turns into a chrysalis. We are waiting to see what happens to our caterpillars.

We acted out the life cycle of a butterfly then some of us wrote about it using the words, first, next, then and finally.

We were trying really hard to put a full stop at the end of each idea.

Bugs - Wonderings

To start our topic about insects we got the children thinking...

 How did the egg get there? What is going to happen to the egg?

They had to decide whether these statements were True or False.

We got them to use their observation muscles and try and work out what these photos were.

Can you spot the difference?

We have also been reading different books and learning all about bugs and insects.

We wrote some wonderful questions about what we want to know about bugs.

Shapes

This week in Ti Kouka we have been exploring shapes. 

We went out into our playground and explored what shapes we could see. 

We played with our shapes and sorted them in different ways. 

We used the book creator app on the iPads to create books about the shapes. 

To make our book we had to be great Interactors and use our co-operation muscle. We tried to take turns.

Visit from Ruud - A Real Entomologist!!!

Today we were super lucky, Edouard's Papa came to talk to us about insects.  He is a real expert and told us all about how insects help us.  Dorothy, the giant weta came with Ruud.  Dorothy is very friendly and nearly got lost in Mrs O'Neill's hair!!!!

The Perfect Square

Today we watched The Perfect Square.



Then during ACTIVE play some children decided to use their imaginations and change their own perfect square.

Dog Safety

This week Tī Kouka had some very special visitors, Baxter the dalmatian and Chris from the Christchurch City Council.  Chris talked to us about how to keep ourselves safe around dogs.

Here are some of the things we learnt:

I learnt about picking up the poo - Justin
Baxter is fluffy and cute - Georgia
Ask someone that has a dog.  You can use your bag like a shield. - Gauri
Baxter and Chris came and we learned about dog safety.  Pick up poo.  Use bag as a shield. - Cassiel
If a dog is on it's own leave it alone.  - Maija

Gardening with Susan

The children in Ti Kouka have been helping our caretaker, Susan, look after our box gardens. 

We planted sweet pea seeds inside in peat pots.

We planted wildflower seeds in February in our garden and set up a stand for the sweet peas.

We looked after our seeds each day by making sure they didn't dry out.

Look at all the plants that have sprouted. We are looking after them by clearing out the weeds.

We are hoping that next term they will have some flowers and attract lots of bugs for our next inquiry topic.