Some of the girls in Year 5 recently had a lot of fun learning about the power of the sun. We made solar ovens out of pizza boxes. We used aluminum foil to reflect the sun into our ovens and then insulated them using screwed up newspaper to help keep the heat in. We placed aluminum foil on top of the insulation to radiate the heat around the box. A sheet of plastic was also used to help stop heat escaping out of the top of our oven.
We then tested our ovens. The outside temperature in the sun was approximately 26 degrees celcius. Using a thermometer some groups were able to determine that the temperature in their boxes rose to over 70 degrees celcius. The fun part then came where we cooked smores.(biscuits with marshmallow and chocolate on top.) It was amazing to see how quickly the marshmallow and chocolate melted.
We certainly learned a lot about how effective solar energy can be.

We awoke on Day 2 to overcast skies and sadly it rained for much of the day. Once again spirits were not dampened by the weather. Adjustments to the program schedule were accepted with grace and understanding and the girls fully engaged with the substituted activities. For many, the highlight of the day was the evening concert which saw a diverse range of Oscar winning performances. Another great day of learning about God, super activities, warm friendships and tasty food. Time for a well deserved rest. One day to go – it promises to be a great one.

The Year 5 Outdoor Education camp, has finally arrived. Sadly, the weather has not been kind to us. Despite the challenges of the ongoing rain, the girls have demonstrated great resilience and have enjoyed all the camp has to offer. They have enthusiastically participated in the first rotation of activities which included: archery, initiative games and rock climbing. The meals have been great and the girls have happily settled into their cabins and are looking forward to a well deserved sleep. No doubt they will have another exciting and challenging day tomorrow. Let’s hope the weather is kinder.  Enjoy watching a brief snapshot of the day.

As part of our Visual Arts theme this term our classes have been “learning to look…..” and transferring what they see to paper. The girls have had to draw their hand placing freckles, fine lines and wrinkles into their drawing. This week the girl’s task was to bring in a fancy shoe of any kind and try to draw it. From these photos it can be seen the girls were putting in a great deal of detail in the shoes they chose to draw. What do you think of their efforts?

This term Year 5 has been enjoying learning about our “Thirst for Energy”. As part of this process we have been investigating the viability of different energy sources. To help understand what a non renewable resource is and the impact that coal mining can have on the environment our teachers baked chocolate chip muffins for us to mine for choc chips. This was a really fun and tasty lesson. More importantly we learnt that once a non renewable resource has been used up is gone forever. We saw first hand the impact that mining can have on the environment. We also discovered that many mining companies make great efforts to rehabilitate mine sites once they have finished mining.

This week in class our students have been spending time in writing Exposition or Persuasive texts. The girls were reminded of the structure of the text having looked at the statement of position, giving reasons and examples to justify their statement and a strong concluding paragraph. They required assistance with the language used in an argument to persuade.  To do this we studied the value of using a Thesaurus to improve our Exposition writing.  We have spent class time discovering how to use a Thesaurus successfully. The students have discovered ways to widen their vocabulary and strengthen their arguments .The girls discovered that using a Thesaurus is different to a Dictionary in the way it is set out and it has opened a new world to Synonyms  that  they can use for words they use repeatedly.

Year 5 has spent some time investigating the design process and evaluating its importance. They were given the task of building a boat out of 15 straws, a 15 cm piece of glad wrap, a paper cup and a small amount of paper towel. Sounds easy I hear you say. Well yes, except for the catch. The boat had to float and be able to hold 25 twenty cent pieces without sinking, for at least 10 seconds. The students all learnt the importance of identifying the specifics of the problem, brainstorming, careful design, building, testing and then thoughtfully re-designing after considering the reasons why the boats didn’t float the first time. It was fantastic to see the manner in which the girls worked together in an effort to achieve their aim. Whilst none of the original designs were successful, it was fantastic to see that after careful redesign there was a number of designs that met the brief. Great work girls. I look forward to seeing you work on your next design and make task.

Welcome to all our wonderful students from other schools and our Year 4 classes 2012. As your teachers we are proud and humbled to be part of your learning journey. Our theme for this year is to “Embrace the Possibilities”. Already both classes have taken on challenges either creating a sailing ship where they were given no knowledge of their task but were required to follow instructions explicitly to draw their vessel. Other girls have had to use material to build a boat requiring them to work collaboratively as a team. We have already had our swimming trials and this coming week look forward to competing at our Swimming carnival gaining points for our Houses.

Last week our students had the opportunity of experiencing the practical side of gold panning. We travelled to Bathurst via the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves. Unfortunately the three sisters were totally covered in fog. However, the Lucas cave was cool and spectacular. The girls slept in a very comfortable motel, ate delicious meals, sang bush songs, danced the night away and finally slept! On the next day they learnt about life on the goldfields  and in the mines, explored the museum, played games, made damper and explored the camp site. We all found gold and were able to take our samples home. The trip was very worthwhile and the girls were well behaved. Thank you everyone for helping to complete our study of gold.