Our Gardening Expert Visit

We decided that we wanted to grow our own plants to put in our painted terracotta pots, once they are finished. So we invited Mr Crawford along to help us ...

First we put seed raising mix in seed trays and wet it...

Then we flattened the soil gently with a block of wood to get rid of any holes in the soil that water could lie in...

After that we put the seeds on top. We tried to spread the seeds out and put them in rows.

Next we sprinkled a little bit of seed raising mix on top, just enough to cover the seeds.

Then we used a water sprayer to wet our seed trays - just a little bit...

Finally we put the date on the seed packets and poked them in the side of the seed trays before we put the seed trays 'to sleep' inside a big black plastic bag for five days.

 Thank you for helping us Mr Crawford!

Investigating What Makes A Good Terracotta Pot Design

First we used thinkcharts to look carefully at two terracotta pot designs...

Then we used a Venn Diagram to compare the strengths from both thinkcharts and see if some strengths were the same...

After that it was time for some more checking using a Cross Classification Chart ...

Finally we had our criteria for our terracotta pot designs...

Getting Permission For Our eThink Project - Our Visit to Mr Witheford

Once we had what our eThink project would be, we decided to write a letter to Mr Witheford to ask him if we could paint terracotta pots and put them by the Room 6 steps. Then we visited him to talk about our idea...

Luckily for us, he said "Yes!"

What eThink Project Will We Do? - Our Decision

First we looked at all our green sticker ideas for improving our school environment and we chose our four favourite ideas to put on the Decision Making Chart.

Next we decided what things we would need to think carefully about when making our decision. These became the criteria for our Decision Making Chart.

Then it was decision making time ...

Our Ideas For Improving Our School Environment

When we walked around the school grounds, we came up with LOTS of  ideas for improving our environment.

We took a close look at all our ideas and decided which ones…

·    Needed a grown-up to do nearly all the work

·    Needed a grown-up to do most of the work, with some help from kids

·    Could be done mainly by kids, with a little bit of help from

grown-ups

We decided to make our choice of project from the ideas where kids could do most of the work, because it’s OUR inquiry.

We're Going On Another Rubbish Hunt

Some people who read about our rubbish hunt on our blog, thought it would be a good idea to do another one, to see if we were taking more care of our school environment. So … we did!

     

Last time (26th August) on the bike track, we found 21 pieces of rubbish.

This time (24th September) we found 35 pieces... MORE!

Last time on the big playing field, we found 73 pieces of rubbish.

This time we found 109 pieces... MORE!

Last time on the driveway, we found 90 pieces of rubbish.

This time we found 42 pieces ...WAY LESS! 

Last time in the sandpit and little kids playground, we found 51 pieces of rubbish.

This time we found 7 pieces ...WAY LESS! 





Last time in the big kids playground and the grass beside it, we found 78 pieces of rubbish.

This time we found 32 pieces ... LESS! 







Last time, outside Rooms 5 and 6 on the tennis courts and in the hedge beside it, we found 41 pieces of rubbish.

This time we found 43 pieces ... NEARLY THE SAME

Last time, outside Block A (Rooms 7 and 8, the Library and the Activities Room,) we found 31 pieces of rubbish.

This time we found 64 pieces ... MORE! 





Last time, outside Block B (Rooms 1,2,3 and 4,) we found 121 pieces of rubbish.

This time we found 20 pieces ... WAY LESS! 

Last time, we counted 506 pieces of rubbish altogether.

This time there were 352 pieces ...

   GETTING BETTER !!!