Sovereign Hill Excursion

On Friday the 21^st of November we went to Sovereign Hill. It took 2 hours and some kids were getting reckless.

When we arrived we went through an old fashioned cottage. After we got through we hopped into our groups and headed off to our first activities. My group and 3 others went into the education centre. We wrote on slates and with ink pens and some kids got to dress up. Max got to be a tiny red coat and pretended to shoot himself in the foot. Once the education centre finished my group and Max’s group went panning. I found a fleck of gold and bought a vial. I gave Ryan the Vial so he did not have to buy one himself. He found a few more pieces before he gave back at the gold pour. My group and Max’s group got a free lolly each from the confectionary. We also watched 2 sorts of plays in the street one the red coats fired their muskets. We also watched a guy design brass.

At the gold pour this guy showed us a piece gold worth over  $1,420 of pure gold and he let 2 people hold it if they wouldn’t run away. He told us how they had got the pure gold.

We went to the lolly shop and I got 5 boiled umbrella lollies. There were many different types of lollies but I could only buy the 5 umbrellas (Very annoying.)

After the lolly shop Mr Mclean finally let us go and pan again. I met Andrew there and got 6 flecks in one pan. It was luck and Andrew went to find more but in a different spot. I followed him and got lucky he was so pissed off at me. Ryan and I found about 18 pieces altogether.

We then had to go so I grabbed my stuff and we went to the bus. Once on the bus the kids were starting to get reckless and the trip back was 3 hours. About 10 minutes in the kids became reckless and at the back it was like a mad house because it was loud and kids hitting each other while at the front the some kids were sleeping. I was at the back and it was a nightmare.

Sovereign Hill

One day on the 21^st of November 2014 on Friday 4/5A, 5/6A, 5/6C went to a place called Sovereign Hill. The Bus trip there was 2 hours and mostly there was nothing to do on the bus so we just had to wait on a long trip.

Once we had arrived we got in to are groups and split up to are activities. Are first one for are group was a school lesson on how school was on the gold fields. It was difficult doing the writing activities especially the left handers who had to write right handed and I was one of those people it was not fun at all.

After finishing are first activity we went to pan the first try I got nothing at all which was so annoying I tried so hard but I still got nothing. After Panning for about hour we went to do are tour of the Red Hill mine. In my opinion I thought was relay bad I went to the mine in Bendigo and that was way better and lease that didn’t have cheap affects.

Once we came out of the Red Hill we stared to look around and we stumbled in to the Sovereign Hill bowling alley. I found it to be fun and the rules were simple like real bowling you had to knock all the pin except there wasn’t ten there were nine and they set up in a diamond shape and the lane was so skinny and also you had to use two hands so wired.

We proceeded to other places until we stopped and watched a re-enactment of solders in the streets of Ballarat. They rose there gun and proceeded to shoot the first got me but the rest didn’t scare me. One person gun didn’t shoot right so he had restart so that sucked.

Once we had watched the re-enactment we stated to beg for to go to the lolly shop but once we got there it was all worth it. There were about a 1000 kinds of drops it was lolly heaven and there also umbrellas the lollies not the one you know what.

After a massive sugar rush we went to the smelting room where we were told how to smelt gold. Looking at the gold was amazing on its own. Watching how gold was smelted was pretty cool I thought to myself why anyone doesn’t steal the gold who knows.

For the rest of the day we paned and I found a large speck of gold I was so happy. We were told now to leave and we got on the bus and little did we know that peak hour traffic was on the way and it turned out to be a 3 hour trip.

I think the trip to Sovereign Hill was an amazing experience and I will not forget it at all.

THE END    

Sovereign Hill Excursion

“BANG!, BANG!, BANG! Went the guns in rapid succession. We were at Sovereign Hill on Friday the 21^st of November and some red coat soldiers were marching along the street outside.

It had been a really long bus ride to get there. When we finally did everyone got off and went into our groups of about 14 with our leader, my leader was Mrs. Matsoukas, Layla’s dad and someone else I didn’t know. Our group had a small snack and went on our way to Redhill mine.

When we got there we were directed to an artificial mine, it was really cool looking down into the raggedy, dim mine. There were 52 steps going down and 53 coming back up (that’s 105 steps if you hadn’t noticed). It was a self-guided tour with overhead speakers to tell where to go. There was also a short clip from a projector; it showed a miner when he found the welcome nugget (the second last largest gold nugget ever found second only to the welcome stranger), then they showed us a replica of the original.

After that we had a bite to eat and watched a man make lollies in a place called Brown & Co’s Confectionary. It was really cool watching him knead some pastry looking stuff on a hot plate, and then he put it in a roller to make into a make it into a spherical shape. Then we all got to sample the sweets he’d made. They were DELICOUS!

Some of the other highlights were: bowling (9 pins and you had to set them up yourself), the lolly shop (delicious hard boiled sweets), panning for gold (I found a whole milligram of gold! (Insert sarcasm here)) And watching a man melt gold in a clay and graphite pot then putting it into a mould and making an ingot. It was awesome.

Overall Sovereign Hill was awesome and everyone had an amazing time!

House athletics

This year athletics was done at Springfield oval and this year there was some big shocks. Riley (Red) had had smashed the relays and in 100 meter came 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd but Bradman (Blue) winning the long distance runs and Freeman (Green) where coming second and third most of the time and Perkins (Yellow) had not did that well but were 1^st once or twice. This year’s humongous and just plain not even thought of upsets were strange ones. The places were Perkins (Yellow) 4^th, Freeman (Green) 3^rd, Riley (Red) 2^nd so that makes Bradman (Blue) the winners and House Athletics had finished. It was one of the most exciting athletics I had ever seen it was so nerve racking all the way.                                   

Samoan Hand Clap Game

Recently in Performing Arts, our class has been learning about Pacific Islander music and as part of that subject we have learnt the Samoan Hand Clap Game! This game consists of a whole lot of patting, slapping and clapping with your legs, arms and hands. There may be more to this really fun game, but we don’t know that yet! Since we learnt the first three steps, everyone in the senior level has been practising and playing this hand clap game together! The teachers have also spotted us doing it and some have even joined in the fun! The grade sixes may be doing for graduation this year because we have gotten so good at it and it would be great to show our family and friends what we have learnt! Of course, we all can’t wait to learn the next steps to this awesome, Samoan Hand Clap Game!!!

By Niamh Mebalds

High jump and hurdles

Recently this term, in PE, we have been practising high jump and hurdles for district athletics. First we did hurdles and we were allowed to jump over hurdles on the oval. Most of the hurdles were about 75cm or at your waist’s height. It was very high so I could only jump the 75cm ones, and not the 80cm ones. I enjoyed being out on the oval and jumping over the hurdles. It was nice to practise for district athletics, although I don’t think I am going to participate in any hurdles race. It was a nice experience. Then a week after that we started to practise high jump for district athletics. I was jumping from the left side and we started jumping with 75cm and then we went all the way up to a metre. I made it up to 90cm and then I started hitting the bar on the 95cm bar. It was fun but the first couple of goes it was a bit scary and I was nervous but then I got the hang of it after a while. It was great and I liked doing high jump again.

-Jasmijn V

Last week, Mr Blamey, the Advanced Maths teacher came to teach us about the brain and its characteristics. There were 2 activities, one was weighing and comparing the weight of different mammals’ brains, and the second one involved making jelly, which I desperately failed at. In a nutshell, the paper mat everyone had was dry, whilst mine was sopping wet with a sugary liquid. Needless to say, I was appallingly clumsy. We got to crack walnuts, prod jelly, and poke cantaloupes. Luckily, we didn’t have to write/type too much about what we did (I was secretly expecting a whole writing session dedicated to it), but boredom reigned if you weren’t making any jelly.

-Jen C.

Snow Leopard_Phoebe Gu

Snow Leopard

      

    Snow leopards are large cats native to the mountain ranges of central and South Asia. It's listed as endangered on the 'IUCN Red List of Threatened Species', and in 2003, the size of the the global population was 4080~6590 adults, of which fewer than 2500 individuals may reproduce in the wild.

    Snow leopards have long, thick fur and their base colour is smoky gray. Unusually among cats, their eyes are pale green or grey in colour because the moutain environment. Their bodies are stocky, their ears are small and rounded. Their tails are very thickly covered with fur which allow them to be used like a blanket when they sleep.

    Snow Leopards live in South Asia on the mountains. They love rocky places. They can travel without difficulty in snow up to 85cm deep, although they prefer to use existing trails made by other animals.

     Snow leopards are predators. Like many cats, they also eat whatever meat they can find, including carrion and domestic livestock. They can kill their own weight, such as the Bharal (a Himalayan Blue Sheep) and Argali (mountain sheep).

                                          The Yeti Crab

 

The Yeti Crab scientific name Kiwa Hirsuta was first discovered in 2005 in the deep blue of the sea. It is 15cm long and arms are coverd with fury white hair. It is from the Kiwaidae family. It was discvorered by Robert Vrijenhoek.

 

It looks like a crab or lobster with long fury arms and little eyes. It has claws and six feet with skinny long whiskers. Its legs are fury also.

 

It is found in the South Pacific Ocean off Easter Island. It lives deep in the ocean and is believed to live in treasure chests what a place to live.

 

It can brack in to a treasure chest. They have bad eyes so instead they use there hair to navigate.

 

Thanks for reading. By Max

Mantis Shrimp By Joel

 

The Mantis Shrimp

 

The Mantis Shrimp is part of the Stomatopoda order and can grow up to 30 cm. There are more than 400 species of Mantis Shrimp throughout the sea. They can live for over five years before they die.

 

Most of the 400 species of Mantis Shrimp look completely different, although they all pretty much do the same thing. Swim and kill. Their eyes have six rows of ommatidia (compound eyes ) which gives them a strong advantage on their prey. Another crucial thing they need to kill is claws. They have two claws the Spearer and the Smasher. The Spearer is used to stab their pray and the Smasher is used to smash their prey so they can eat it while swimming.

 

The Mantis Shrimp can be found in tropical and subtropical seas and oceans such as the Indian and Pacific Oceans or anywhere like Hawaii and other tropical islands.

 

Mantis Shrimp can break through glass even bullet proof glass. There eyes can have hundreds maybe even thousands of different sections that make up a Mantis Shrimp eye.

 

By Joel.C

Mantis Shrimp drawing

Report_Poison Dart Frog_Linda Ma

Platypus Report

Platypus

A platypus has a bill like a duck. They are mammals and their life span is about 15-20 years. The platypus is one of  only 2 mammals that lay eggs. The scientific name for a platypus is Ornithorhynchus Anatinus.

The colour of their fur is brown, grey and black. Adult platypus do not have teeth but young platypus have molar teeth. A baby platypus does not have an official title but most people call them platypups.

Platypus live in Western Australia and Tasmania. They live in burrows that are about 30cm deep. They spend about 12 hours a day hunting in the fresh water. Their burrows are usually in fresh water, rivers or lakes.

Platypus are omnivores and it's favourite food is shrimp. Their predators are foxes, snakes and crocodiles. Their leathery snout has electro-receptors that pick up small electrical signals sent by animals when they move. A male platypus can release toxic venom. By Ella. M

Meerkats

 

A meerkat, also known as a Suricatta is a small mammal and part of the mongoose family. Meerkats have a lifespan of 12 to 14 years in captivity and they are known for their up-right posture. There are three sub-species of meerkat and they are not a threatened species as there are an estimated 10,000 left in the wild.

 

 

Meerkats have light brown fur with a grey and brown tint on the stripes on their back. They eat plants and other animals (not of their own species), which makes them omnivores. Hawks, jackals and snakes are meerkats predators. The name for a young meerkat is a kit. A meerkat is 10 to 14 inches in length not including their tails because their tails are generally half as long as their bodies. The meerkat has a pointy snout used for poking into holes to grab food.

 

A meerkat can be located in Southern Africa in countries including Botswana, Namibia and Angola. They are natives of the Kalahari Desert. There is always a male meerkat watching out for danger. Meerkats live together in a large group called a mob or gang and usually all the meerkats are relatives. They share burrows with yellow mongooses, ground squirrels and occasionally snakes.

 

 

Meerkats can do many interesting things including digging through a large quantity of sand equal to its own weight in just seconds. Did you know meerkats can close their ears to keep dirt out. These animals can run t a speed of up to 37 miles per hour. They can communicate through vocal sounds to warn others of danger, they also have special hunting sounds.

 

 

By Bella M

 

 

 

  

 

Sloths report by stefan.n

Sloths are medium sized animals. They
are extremely slow. They stay in trees
for years and they are nocturnal. Most
sloths are a size of a small dog.
They have shot, flat flat head. Their
hair is greyish row. But sometimes it
looks grey green because they move so
slow their skin grows fungus.
They are found in rainforest canopies in
South Central america. There are two
species of two-toed sloths in South
America.
Their huge hooked claws and long arms
allow them to spend most of their time
in trees hanging upside down since they
have slow metabolism they don't need
much food.
By Stefan .n

Honey Badger Report

A honey badger is also known as a ratel. It is in the kingdom Anamalia, phylum
Chordata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora and family Mustelidae. It genus and
species name is Mellivora capensis.
Despite it's name it looks more like a weasel than a badger. It has a black underbelly
and side but a grey-white top.Males weigh 9-16 kg and females weigh 5-10
kilograms. An adult male can grow up to 90cm with the tail included. It has four legs
and five toes per foot. It also has short claws on the hind legs and long claws on the
fore-limbs. It has a broad body and very thick skin, about 6 mm thick.
 It is found in most of Africa below the Sahara, from the Cape of Good Hope to
Morocco. A young honey badger is called a kit, while females are sows and males
boars. A collection of honey badgers is a cete, colony, set or company although they
are mostly solitary animals.
Honey badgers are very fearless animals, even being named the bravest animal in
the world by the Guinness book of records. They appear to have developed a form of
immunity to snake venoms. It is known to fend of large predators such as lions. They
even are known to chase away lion cubs and take their kills. They have a very ranged
diet eating anything from insects, frogs, turtles, tortoises, rodents, lizards, snakes,
eggs, birds, berries, roots and bulbs. But of course they eat honey, often searching into
behaves for it, which earned the honey badger it's name. They are also very smart.

To see a video of a very cunning honey badger go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c36UNSoJen1 or www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01x412l

By Luke.D

Hi  5/6A, and welcome to 2014, and sorry for making this post so late (ie. the END of Term One)!Anyways........ our topic this term was "Australian Politics"! Here are some wordles that our class have created! Enjoy!

Luke's Wordle

 







Jennifer's Wordle

Summer's Wordle

Layla's Wordle
 

William's Wordle

5/6A 2014

With the start of the school year 5/6A 2014 commenced operation. Our class consists of 28 students from both grade 5 and grade 6.