Term 3 Adventure Learning Projects

Over the past two weeks Room 2 have been exploring what they would like to do for their Adventure Learning projects for Term 3. The topic that they chose for Term 3 had to be something that would challenge their thinking and something that they would be able to work on for the term. This term we trialed a planning template that we have used to help plan our projects in more depth. 

Here are the topics children have chosen for Term 3

• Designing a new playground for Morningside Park
• S.P.C.A
• Shark finning and how to stop it happening in NZ waters
• The solar system
• Factory farming 
• Cooking with a focus on traditional Maori cooking
• Dubstep Dancing 

Here are a couple of examples of our Term 3 planning proposals

A new playground for Morningside Park

What do you plan to do and why?

We want to design a new playground for Morningside Park. Children don’t really play on it because it’s been around for too long and it’s boring. It’s boring because there’s not much stuff to play on and it’s not colourful.  There’s only monkey bars, a slide, two swings and a tunnel. People have been tagging on the playground under the bottom of the tunnel. We want to write a letter to the Whangarei District Council asking them if they can make a new playground for the Morningside School. We will send them a design of what we want the playground to look like. We think if it’s nice and colourful and no more tagging that children will want to play on it.

What do you already know about this topic?

• That playgrounds are fun to play on and it’s something to do outside.
• We know that the council made Mander Park into a cool playground about a week before Stella moved to Morningside Road. There’s a big space rocket and it used to be way too high for little kids, but now there’s a little playground for the little children.
• The Town Basin playground has got lots of things that you can play on. It’s safe because it’s got soft mats underneath the playground. It used to be all concrete.

Write down your ‘I wonder…’ questions

•  I wonder how you make a playground?
• I wonder what equipment you will need?
• I wonder if we could involve local businesses if it’s going to be a nature playground?
• I wonder what the council will say?

What research are you going to do? What are you going to spend time doing?

• Looking at other playground on the internet and visiting some playgrounds in Whangarei.
• Designing our playground.
• Researching some nature playgrounds.

What resources do you need? What help do you need?

• We will need builders to help us make it if the council says yes.
• We will need help with writing a letter to the council.

Factory Farms in NZ

What do you plan to do and why?

We are going to learn about the chickens in the factory farms. We want to know how an egg is made and how they force them to make them. We want to learn about this so we can help stop factory farms in NZ.

What do you already know about this topic?

• We know that they force them to make eggs
• We know that the chickens need our help and that they can die
• We know you need a rooster and a hen to make an egg or you need an incubator.
• The chicken eats the food and the food produces an egg.

Write down your ‘I wonder…’ questions

• I wonder how a chicken makes an egg?
• I wonder why they capture the chickens and force them to make eggs?
• I wonder why people put chickens in small cages?
• I wonder where the farms are?
• I wonder how we can help stop the factory farms?
• I wonder why chickens are different colours?

What research are you going to do? What are you going to spend time doing?

• We’re going to look up where the factory farms are
• We’re going to find out how chickens lay eggs and why chickens lay different coloured eggs.
• We want to visit a free range egg farm and see how they’re different

What resources do you need? What help do you need?

• An iPad for researching.
• We need to talk to an expert about factory farming and free range farming.
• We need help organising transport and a letter for our visit to the free range farm.