2040 the Movie - Room 4 and 5

Students from rooms 4 and 5 were given the opportunity today to watch the movie 2040. I have shared the trailer below to give you a sense of what the film is about. It also added a wonderful resource into the children's 'Sharing the Planet' units of inquiry.

Below the trailer I have shared reflections from three students in room 5. Reading these filled me with confidence for the future of our world. These young people have produced thoughtful, intelligent reflections about the impact of the film on them. I hope you enjoy.

We are also grateful to the Chandler family and Four Square Waipapa for their support in making this happen for our children. Both are showing though their actions a strong commitment to action to improve outcomes for our planet.

Robot Tuesday's at the Proctor Library

Note: The club is aimed at 7-13 year olds and starts on 23rd July

How the World Works

Room 5/6 recently shared their learning for their How the World Works unit of inquiry by exhibiting their science fair projects. The students chose science tests which they were interested in an conducted fair tests following the scientific process. This year we decided not to use the traditional science fair boards to show our process, data and results and instead created slideshows to present this information.

The children also included a piece of explanation writing to this to make connections between their test and the scientific facts which they witnessed. Our focus was not for the children to present information which would be read by the audience but to come up with a provocation to encourage conversations about their tests and the scientific knowledge. The students came up with imaginative ways in which to interest the audience in their work and were able to have discussions about their findings.  

We had an excellent turn out of parents and whānau who came in and had lively conversations with the students about their work. I think we all were in agreement that it was a much more effective use of our time to spend more time doing science and less time crafting a display. The students also have a digital copy of the learning in a slideshow which can now be shared with a much wider audience.The student's confidence and ability to have discussions about their learning is really growing. A big thank you to everyone who came and spent time talking with all the students.

“Millions saw the apple fall but Newton asked why” Bernard Baruch

The IB Learner Profile ‘Inquirer’ encourages students to nurture curiosity and develop skills for inquiry and research. Students know how to learn independently and with others. Students learn with enthusiasm and sustain a love of learning throughout life.

At the start of each inquiry teachers set a provocation to inspire and engage students in the upcoming inquiry. These provocations have ranged from a staged staff argument, a room full of materials, science experiments, to unknown suitcases turning up at the school.

Children have natural curiosity and this should be the drive for learning. Our celebration of science day last Thursday was an outstanding collection of mini inquiries, displayed by our senior students using provocations to invite us to ask questions. This process showed that students were knowledgeable about their science and also thought about how to provoke thinking in others.

Celebrating Science at Bay Academy

Scope of Science Learning

In science, students will develop their observational skills by using their senses and selected observational tools. They will gather and record observed information in a number of ways, and they will reflect on these findings to identify patterns or connections, make predictions, and test and refine their ideas with increasing accuracy.

Students will explore:

• the way objects and phenomena function,
• parts of a system, 
• complex cause and effect relationships,
• change over time, and recognise that change may be affected by one or more variables,
• the impact that the application of science, including advances in technology, has had on themselves, society and the environment. 
• ethical and social issues in science-related contexts.

Students will communicate their ideas or provide explanations using their own scientific experience and that of others.

(extract from: Science Scope and Sequence, International Baccalaureate, Primary Years Programme)

Purpose/Learning focus:

Recently your child has begun their science project in class. The science project’s objective is to give every child hands-on experience using the scientific method and engage in their own interests and passions in a meaningful way.

The emphasis of this project is not on winning anything, but on having positive and authentic learning experiences. Sharing is essential to the experience for our students, as is challenging students to take risks, grow in confidence and become more knowledgeable. We believe that authentic action is the natural outcome of a project driven from passion and interest.

Parent Guidelines:

You can help motivate your child by simply taking an interest in the project. By all means help organise, proof-read work, ask questions, challenge and discuss ideas, and supervise experiments. But please, do not do any of the work for your child. They will present their science project in the BOIIA Celebration of Science. Parents, Whānau and people from the community will be invited to engage with students and their projects.

We have chosen not to participate in the Top Energy Science Fair in 2018. We believe that student inquiries are too restricted by the ‘one size fits all’ approach to presenting learning in a strict, inflexible approach on science boards. While our student inquiries will be structured according to good scientific method we want to offer our students the flexibility to present their research publicly in a method most appropriate to their findings.