Middle TAG Questions

Now we have almost finished our experiments or investigations into  a famous scientist we can start on our inquiry questions .

We just need Aliyah on the 22nd Sept then Blake and Grace 29th Sept and then we are done.

Questions

Denise - What are butterflies wings made out of and how did the scientists find out?Do different types of butterflies have different wing structures? Hyperlink to Denise's answers here

Harper - 1. What makes glasses lenses so strong that it makes it easier to see?  Hyperlink to Harper's answer here

Zara - How does the sun and water make a seed sprout?  Hyperlink to Zara's answer here

Georgia - Who made the first lightbulb and what did it involve? What sort of life did he have? 

Hyperlink to Georgia's answer here

Margo - How did plants get here? - where did the first plant come from? Hyperlink to Margo's answer here

Blake - How is a rocket that can get to the moon made ? What fuel does it use? What was the first rocket  that got to the moon ever?  Hyperlink to Blake's answer here

Grace - How did we evolve from other animals? Hyperlink to Grace's answer here

Aaliyah - Who was the first ever scientist and what did they first invent or explore?  Hyperlink to Aaliyah's answer - Here

Our Inquiry Questions now we have finished our experiments.

 

Darcy 

Question 1-  Why is the moon sometimes out in the daytime?

Answer

The moon is visible in daylight almost always but we just don't look or it is behind clouds.

The moon and the sun are only opposite each other in the sky one day a month - on a full moon!

On this day the sun is rising just as the sun is setting. That is not the case every other day of that month.

Willow 

Question 1- What are all the types of domestic cats you can get in New Zealand?

Answer 

WILLOW'S CAT BREEDS 🐈‍⬛🐈

Abyssinia 

American bobtail

American curl

American short hair

American wire hair 

Asian

Australia mist

Balinese

Balinese-Javanese 

Bengal

Birman

Bombay 

British short hair

Burmese 

Burmilla

Cymrics

Cornish Rex 

Chinchilla 

Devon Rex 

Egyptian Mau

Exotic short hair

Havana brown 

Himalayan

Japanese bobtail long hair 

Japanese bobtail short hair

Khao manee

Korat

La perms

Maine coon

Manx

Munchkin 

Norwegian forest

Ocicat

Oriental long hair 

Oriental short hair

Persian long hair

Pixie bob

ragdoll

Russian blue

Savannah

Scottish fold

Selkirk Rex

Siamese

Siberian forest

Singapura

Snowshoe

Somali

Sphynx 

Tiffane 

Tonkinese

Toyger

Turkish angora

Turkish van

Question 2 - 

How many wild cat breeds are there?

Answer

Lion

Leopard 

Jaguar 

Tiger

Snow leopard

Clouded leopard

Sunda  clouded leopard

Asiatic golden cat

Borneo bay cat

Marbled cat

Caracal

African golden cat

Serval

Geoffroy’s cat

Guina

Southern oncilla 

Northern oncilla

Andean cat

Colocolo

Margay

Ocelot 

Iberian lynx 

Eurasia lynx 

Canada lynx 

Bobcat

Mountain lion

Jaguarundi

Cheetah 

Mainland leopard cat 

Sunda leopard cat

Fishing cat

Flat headed cat

Rusty spotted cat 

Pallas cat

European wild cat

African wild cat 

Chinese mountain cat

Sand cat 

Black footed cat

Jungle cat

Pampas cat

Pantanal cat

Iriomote cat

Willow 

Question 3 - How many cats were around during the ice age? 

Beringiah Lion

American Scimitar Cat

Saber tooth Tiger.

Angus 

Question 1- Why do Zebra have black and white stripes? What good is that for camouflage?

I found out that zebra can camouflage unto the dry grass and the predators are colour blind so it will look black and white. they don't attack because they think that it is some sort of big animal. Zebra stripes can scare away flies.

Logan 

Question 1- Why do Chameleons need so many different colour changes for camouflage?

Chameleons do use camouflage the ability to blend int their surroundings to hide from predators such as snakes and birds, their natural colour is greenish brown to blend in.

She might also tune brown or white to indicate that she is not in the mood. 

The brown colour can mean lots of things. On reason why a chameleon turns brown is that it is depressed.

Chameleons are famous for their quick colour changing ability. It is a common mistake for people to think this is for camouflage but it can also be to show moods. 

Bradley 

Question1 - How many stars are in the Milky Way ? 

Answer - 100 Billion stars

 Question 2 - Mrs Maw says...How do they know that Bradley ?

Answer - We know it is 100 billion starts in the Milky Way because they found out that red, white and blue stars give give off different amounts of light. By measuring that starlight specifically its colour and brightness astronomers can estimate how many stars our galaxies hold.

Bradley 

3  - How many solar systems are in a galaxy ?

Our Planetary System is the only one official solar system but astronomers have discovered more than 3200 stars with planets orbiting them in our galaxy.

Noah - What were the first stars born in the whole galaxy? The first stars formed when the universe was about 100 million years old. The formation of the first galaxy . These stars were called Population 3 stars  and we don't know why. They have already classed the stars of the Milky Way as Population 2 stars. 

Thomas - What are the animals that can see colours that humans can't and what is it that they can see? How do we know that they can see them?

Dogs can only see the difference in light. Dogs can only pick up blue and yellow. There is 50000 different types of each colour which makes 10,000 altogether. Dogs can see in the dark better than their humans. 

Humans have 3 types of cones - red blue and green. Both the red and blue cones overlap, together with the rods which perceive black and white. This allows humans to see millions of colours.  However some animals have cones that are able to detect ultra violet wavelengths and others are able to detect infra red wavelengths.

Chameleons can see ultraviolet light. Additionally, some birds have cones other than those preciously mentioned meaning that they can see colours we cannot.

Mrs Maw told us about a famous scientist who changed the world!

Marie Currie - The first woman to get two Noble Prizes... one for Physics, the next for Chemistry.

 

The rain maker experiment

Denise and Zara brought along a shared experiment... Denise brought along her science book,  ice in a chilly bag, a baking tin and oven gloves and  mitts. Mrs Maw provided the oven and the pot in the staffroom.

Their hypothesis was that when water heats up it turns into a gas called... steam. If steam hits something cold ( like a tray filled with ice) it will cool down and turn back into water and rain off the bottom of the tray. This is how condensation works.

They did the experiment and proved their hypothesis.

Thank you girls.

        Can you see the drops on the bottom of the tray? 

 

Experiments by Darcy, Noah and Thomas today.

 First Darcy showed us his ice and Salt experiment. His hypothesis was if you put string beside an IceCube and then pour salt on it... the ice will melt a bit and then refreeze around the string and you will be able to pick up the ice cube with the string.

It worked!

Next was Noah.

He had an experiment called Exploding Colour from his home science kit.

He hypothesised that if he put red and green food colouring onto the top if milk. When he added a drop of dishwashing liquid the colours would explode across the surface of the milk. They sure did!

Finally Angus got his turn - we came back after play for his experiment. His hypothesis was that if he put a range of colours half way up a paper towel and then put the bottom of that paper towel in water. The colours would have nowhere else to go but move up the paper with the water. He was right! Angus kindly cut a piece of paper towel for everyone so we can all have a go at home tonight.

See you next week everybody. Bradley and Logan are the last two left to share their experiments.

Thomas makes a Vaccuum

 Thomas brought along his pre-prepared Science Experiment today 

His hypothesis was -  that fire needs Oxygen and so if fire was placed under a glass jar sitting in water... the fire would die out as it would use up all the available Oxygen and then would create a vaccuum  in the jar which in turn would suck up the surrounding water.

He repeated the experiment 5 or 6 times and got the same results each time - proving that his hypothesis was correct.

Middle Science TAG children's tasks to do - and when.

 Middle Science TAG  

Tasks to do: 

1. Share an experiment ( or presentation about a famous Scientist) they have prepared at home earlier with the other TAG children during our session together- see timetable below.

Thursday  Term 3 Week 3

Mrs Maw -  Plan a presentation about Marie Curie  at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Thursday Term 3 Week 4

Denise -  Plan an experiment at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Zara -  Plan an experiment at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Thursday Term 3 Week 5

Harper -  Plan an experiment at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Blake-  Plan an experiment at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Thursday Term 3 Week 6

Georgia -  Plan a presentation about a famous scientist at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Aaliyah -  Plan an experiment at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Thursday Term 3 Week 7

Grace -  Plan an experiment or Presentation about a famous scientist at home and share in front of other TAG people.

Margo -  Plan an experiment or Presentation about a famous scientist at home and share in front of other TAG people.

2. As soon as completed their preparation for 1 … set their own big Science Inquiry question and go through the Allenton inquiry cycle to solve it.

First Experiment today!

Willow brought along the most wonderful experiment we all took part in.

First she put her finger into iced water and we timed how long she could keep her finger in the water before having to take it out.

Next she put her hand into a plastic bag filled with fat, simulating the layer of fat around Polar Bears and then re timed how long she could keep her finger in the ice water.

Willow's  hypothesises was that the fat would surround her finger and keep it warm so she would be able to keep her finger in a lot longer the second time.

Both Willow's second time and Bradley's second time were effected by play and home time... but you can see that the results pictured below supported Willow's hypothesis.

Many people thought they would be able to hold their hand in the cold water for 20 years... they just wanted to do it longer than the last person.

We also noticed that if the fat formed a full layer around your finger it worked better than if there were gaps in it.

Thanks to Willow, Hayley and Charli for an excellent first experiment! 

Willow we had a great couple of photos of you doing this on your iPad - if you could send them to Mrs Maw I'll add them up here too.

This was Bradley's final time ( cut short by the home bell).

We LOVED doing this experiment - thanks Willow.