Thursday, November 15, 2012

Ench- ANT- ing

On Thursday and Friday MSC and MSD, set up and performed a science experiment to further our Inquiry into 'What are invertebrates and why can't we live without them'

We are researchers is one of the skills we are working on in Term 4. We are focusing on gathering and recording accurate information on living species. 

We designed our own chart, table or diagram to help collect information and record our observations to see if our hypothesis was correct. 

This is the recording of our experiment. 

Ench - ANT- ing 

Set up time: 3.15 pm 15/11
First Observation: 10:10am 16/11
Time elapsed: 18 hours 55 minutes

Aim: To find out what type of foods attract ants.

Plate #1 (Grade 1/2)
Plate #2 (CAB)
Plate #3 ( Behind the bike shed under the oak tree)




Hypothesis: 
1. That ants are attracted to honey and biscuits because honey is sweet and soft and biscuits are easy to break apart.
2. That ants are attracted to sugar (sprinkles) because it is nice for them to eat and easy for them to carry.  
3. That ants are attracted to bread crumbs because it isn't heavy to carry. It is tasty and bigger enough for an ant nest to share.
4. That ants are attracted to sweet foods because it is easy to smell and tastes good.









Conclusion:  
1. We conclude one ant was eating the honey on plate #3, because we observed it eating the honey around the edge.
2. We conclude that ants weren't eating much honey because their was honey remaining on every plate.
3. We noticed that no tomato had been eaten, however an eye witness (Miss Looney) had suggested that pigeons had eaten the food on plate #2 as she saw pigeons around the plate.    



 We became real scientists and hope to do more experiments in the future!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Our prior knowledge about invertebrates


What are invertebrates and Why can't we live without them? 


We have began learning about invertebrates and we are enjoying it. They are interesting to learn about because they are different from mammals as they have no backbone.

We used a thinking strategy called Tic-Tac-Toe to show our first thinking.

Some of us completed 100% and some of us filled in more than 9 boxes.

This is our first thinking:

Hamish - "They don't have a backbone."
Lexie - "Most invertebrates are small." 
Lucinda- "Mostly invertebrates are insects." 
Millie - "Most invertebrates are sea creatures." 
Aimee - "Invertebrates live all over the world and there are lots of different species."
Olive - "There are lots of invertebrates that are insects like stick insects, bees, flies and lady bugs."
Justin - "Lots of invertebrates are dangerous."
Alex - "Scorpions are seriously dangerous because they have a stinger on the back." 
Anton - "Squids use their black ink to protect themselves in the ocean and when they have been caught." 
Bridget - "Most bugs are invertebrates."
Remy - "Some insects don't have backbones and sea urchins." 


Have any of you had an invertebrate as a pet? If so, what was it and how did you look after it? 


Have you every found an invertebrate somewhere unexpected in your house or out in public?

What other features do invertebrates have? 



 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Culturally Fancy Food



For our home task we were asked to make a dish from a different culture for our class party next week.
We needed to write the ingredients and a short paragraph about this food.


Alex - Koulourakia 
Koulourakia is eaten on Greek easter (April 15th), but you can eat it when ever you want. The ingredients are sugar, butter, vanilla essence and table spoon of orange and lemon rind, eggs, flour, self raising flour and icing sugar. 

Fraser - Red Eggs 
Red eggs are a tradition of Greek easter. The red dye on the eggs is a symbol of the blood of Christ. The eggs are eaten because they are part of the Greek easter tradition. 


Jack - Pizza 
The dish comes from Italy. Pizza was first eaten by people working in the fields and the sun melted the cheese on the bread and the tomato. Today Pizza is cooked by an oven not by the sun. 

Harvey - Pizza 
Pizza was considered a peasants meal for centuries. No one knows who made the first pizza. Pizza like dishes were eaten by the Egyptians and the ancient Greeks. Modern pizza has been attributed to Raffale  Esposito in Naples in 1882. 

Eleanor - Scottish Short bread 
Origin is Scotland. It represents petticoat tails which were the same shape as the triangular shortbreads. Its os eaten at Christmas, Hogmanay (Scotish new year) and weddings.  

Joe - Blini (Apple pancakes) 
The origin of blini was teh early Slavic people made Blini as a symbol of the sun and cooked them at the end of winter. They are also served at wakes which is a funeral after someone dies. Today they are a popular Russian food served with lots of different toppings. 

Raynoo - Cinnamon Duck 
It is eaten in Thailand for good luck. The food represents healthiness. It is eaten on special occasions. 



What is your favourite food from another country/culture, we would like to know what significance does it have to that country or culture? 


What is a food that you eat on a special celebration and what does it represent?




Fiji and Foods


Why in Fiji do they use & have a Lovo every week to cook their food? By Bronzen and Joe


This movie was used to explain what Fijian food is and what forms of cooking are used.
We presented to the class and want to share our information with you.

Please enjoy =|:})


Have you been to Fiji and had a Lovo experience? 




Monday, August 27, 2012

Celebrations around the world!


Our home task was to research a celebration from another culture and discuss the food the people might eat.  

Lily chose to interview her aunty Dianne, on the celebration Perahera (Budder's tooth) from the country Sri Lanka. 

Question 1: How many times have you been to Sri Lanka? 
Answer 1: Two times 

Q2: What was the best thing about Sri Lanka? 
A2: The people. They always have a smile on their face and they are really poor. 

Q3: What was your favourite area? 
A3: Galle

Q4: What was your favourite food? 
A4: Her favourite food was they tasty bananas. 

Q5: What what was your favourite thing about the Perahera? 
A5: The elephants, because they are covered in jewellery and beautiful cloth.    



What food do you enjoy in Sri Lanka? Is it different to my aunties? 


Edie chose to research Thanks Giving, a celebration from North America.
She discovered from using Wikipedia that in America they eat deer, corn, self fish, roasted meat and cranberries.


Do you eat different foods at your family thanks giving dinner? 

Ella chose to research Carnaval from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She discovered three days before Ash Wednesday in lent, one of the worlds most spectacular Carnivals takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Carnival means carne vale 'good bye to meat'
In the performances the percussionists wear 3 colours, pink, green and silver. The food that you will see is, Pineapple, Linguica (sausage on a stick), Guava, coconut milk, chicken parcels and pipoca (pink popcorn).    






By Ella



Lily asks: What food do you enjoy in Sri Lanka? Is it different to my aunties? 

Edie asks: Do you eat different foods at your family thanks giving dinner? 

Ella asks: Have you enjoyed a Carnaval experience? 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Discoveries at the Little Saigon Market and a Vietnamese Restaurant.


Little Saigon Market

The Grade 3/4's went on a long journey to the Asian Market in Footscray.
There was a range of fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, and a deli market. We saw and tried lots of different foods we have never seen before such as Pomelo, Mangosteens and Kwima.

We had a task to buy one or two ingredients for an Asian inspired dish, that we planned to cook for our families at home. We recorded the cost of our food.

After we did our shopping at the market, we visited a Vietnamese restaurant and ate delicious, fragrant, sweet Pho with noodles, bean shoots and side of green tea.

We really enjoyed our experience at the market.
Edie's Fried Rice

Xander's Chicken Stir Fry

Jack's Fried Rice

Emily's Drawing of a Pomelo

Ella's drawing of a Bitter Melon

Alex's drawing of a bitter melon
Eleanor's Lamb Salad 



What is your favourite Asian dish and why do you like it? 

What interesting foods do you find in your local market that we might not see in Melbourne? 

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Welcome to MSC and MSD Inquiry Blog



Our focus for this term is 'What do other children around the world eat and why?'
We have written key understandings to help us with our inquiry.
Our key understandings highlight how important food is for everyone's life
1. Why do some children not get enough food.
2. Food and the rituals around food are an important part of all cultures.

The first part of our inquiry was to predict what children eat in other countries. We then began our own research to find out what children eat in other countries and why?
This will help us to compare other countries food to ours.