KAKAPO

We have been on a Virtual Field Trip to learn about the kakapo. We have watched the scientists who work with these amazing birds through videos and diaries on the net. We learned lots about these endangered birds. Did you know . . .

• Kakapo means "night parrot."
  
• There are only 91 kakapo left in the world and they are only found in New Zealand.
• The kakapo live on Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) which is an island near Stewart Island. This is the island we visited on our Virtual Tour. 16 kakapo live on Anchor Island.
• Scientists have been trying to save the kakapo for years by helping look after them and learning about them.
• Kakapo are nocturnal.
• They feed on leaves, seeds, fruit and nuts.
• The male kakapo makes a hollow and sits in it and booms trying to attract a female kakapo.
• Only the mother kakapo look after the chicks.
• The kakapo is the heaviest parrot in the world.
• Kakapo cannot fly.
• They can live to about 60 years old.
• Kakao breed when there is lots of Rimu fruit. This only happens about every 20 years on Whenua Hou.
• Females lay 2 to 4 eggs which take about 30 days to hatch.
• 7 chicks that hatched this year were taken to Nelson to be looked after. Some of us saw the chicks at the Brook Reserve.
• Predators of the kakapo are cats, kiore (rats), stoats and possums. People have worked hard to get rid of these predators from the islands.
• All kakapo have a microchip and a radio transmitter so scientists can keep track of them.

We hope scientists keep learning about the kakapo so they do not become extinct.

Folk Dance

On Friday we had our school folk dance display. Lots of family and friends came to watch us. Our class performed the Jiffy Mixer, a folk dance from America. We practised very hard to get the steps right and to keep in time. We also danced Jibidi, a folk dance from France, with the rest of the Junior school. 

ELGREGOE

On Wednesday morning our class went with the rest of the school to see Elgregoe. 

Elgregoe did amazing magic tricks. He made rabbits disappear and birds appear. He had a great macaw named Zaza. Elgregoe talked about how to make our school a great place to be by being students who are caring, honest, helpful, respectful, fair and responsible.

At the end he handcuffed Sue and put padlocks on this box. In 3 seconds she had the handcuffs off and was inside the box! It was an amazing show.

By Room 6

Wind Power

Today in Science we talked about the possible power cuts this winter. There is not enough water in the lakes to make power. We talked about why we use more power in winter and what we can do to save it. 

We then looked at some pictures of wind farms and how they work. We made our own windmills using stiff paper, bamboo, beads and pins. 

MANA - The Spirit of Polynesia

On Tuesday afternoon, we saw a cool and exciting dancer named Bernard Mangakahia. He has lived in many countries and knows many interesting dances. He showed us an American Indian Hoop Dance. During the dance he twirled around very fast. He made animal forms with the hoops. He made a butterfly, an eagle, a flower and some more. It took Bernard five years to learn to do the dance without falling over. 

During the performance he changed costumes two times. He wore a Maori skirt called a pui pui and drew on his face to show us how a Maori tattoo looks. He led the whole school in a Humpty Dumpty haka.

He blew in a shell and we could feel it in our bodies. Two students from our class, Jacob and Millie, joined Bernard on stage. 

We thought the performance was really great. We hope Bernard will come back to our school again.

Written by Emma, Jessica N and Michael.

Helicopters

This week in science we looked at the seeds of the sycamore tree. They have a wing on them and twirl down to the ground. We made our own helicopters from stiff card and flew them from the adventure playground. They flew better with a paper clip attached to the bottom.

Magnets

This week in science we experimented with magnets. We all thought that the magnets would be attracted to anything metal. But when we tried the magnets there were lots of metal things that they weren't attracted to. We're going to see if we can find out why.