Making a Worm Farm

As part of 'tuning in' for our minibeasts inquiry unit we made our own worm farm today. Miss Gentil brought in lots of worms from her chicken coop and we went exploring for more in our school vegetable gardens. Next week we are hoping to make a larger worm farm that has holes drilled into the bottom of the container, with another container underneath to catch the worm wee. Worm wee is great for gardens and growing plants! Today we used an old fish bowl. Here is how we made our worm farm. 

1. Put stones into the bottom of the fish bowl for drainage.

2. Put a layer of sand on top.

3. Add a layer of soil, then another layer of sand.

4. Add the final layer of soil.

5. Put the worms on top of the moist soil.

6. Add grass clippings, leaves and some food for your worms. Worms like to eat food scraps so you could add some chopped up banana.

7. Cover the outside of the bowl with black paper or newspaper so that the container is dark for the worms.

8. Cover the top of the container with a piece of damp carpet, old towel or cardboard.

9. Remember to feed your worms and keep the soil moist. 

Blue Day!!

Today was Blue Day!! Lots of children and teachers dressed up in blue to support National Dwarfism Awareness. Room 2 did an awesome job of coming to school in blue. 

Writing Notebooks

Today everyone in Room 2 got given a writer's notebook. The purpose of the notebook is to collect seed ideas for writing. The writing seeds will then be used to grow ideas during writing time. We have talked about how often the best ideas don't always come to you during writing time. Room 2 have been encouraged to use their notebooks throughout the day to record ideas or exciting words. Some children are even choosing to take them home at night.

This morning we were focusing on nouns and adjectives. We went down to the gardens to find some inspiration. There was also a simile challenge for clever cookies. Room 2, I was so proud of what you achieved during our first session. I'm sure our writing will continue to get even more exciting as we learn more.


Here are some examples of adjectives

• Crunchy leaves
• Prickly plants
• Peaceful bees
• Dusty gravel
• Shiny sand
• Silky sand
• Crispy leaves
• Glowing sand
• Slimy slugs

Here are some examples of our similes. We learnt that a simile compares something to something similar by using like or as.

• The rocks are as sharp as shark teeth. By Jacob
• The sand is sparkling like glitter. By Carlia
• The log is as smooth as a seal's body. By Hanna
• The artwork on the concrete wall as is as red as a ruby rose. By Hanna
• The flowers are as orange as Fanta. By Luke
• The flowers are as yellow as lemons. By Tatyana
• The bark is brown like chocolate bars. By Suga-Rae
• The flowers smelt like sweet honey. By Stella
• The green house was as hot as Singapore.

Writing Notebooks - slideshows

Exploring for Minibeasts

Our inquiry topic this term is minibeasts and today Room 2 went out to the garden to find some minibeasts. Minibeasts are creatures that live in the garden and don't have a backbone. Before we went exploring we watched a Suzy's World DVD about why bees make honey. We learnt that the bees eat honey and they have lots of jobs to do.

When we were exploring for minibeasts I got stung by a bee. Everyone was interested and Miss Gentil had to pull the stinger out. I have still got it. We found a skink, worms, centipede, slater, wasp by their wasp nest, bees, spiders, a caterpillar and butterflies. We learnt a skink is not a minibeast. We got to touch some of the minibeasts and we also took photos of them. When Jacob picked up the skink the tail dropped off. They do this because they are scared. It's either drop the tail and grow it back or lose your life.

We are excited to learn more about minibeasts and their habitats.

By Hanna and Room 2

Wasp hanging onto the wasp nest.

Wriggly worm on the edge of the garden. 

A caterpillar we found in the butterfly garden. 

The slater rolled up into a tiny ball when it got scared. 

The tail that dropped off the skink. We learnt that it wasn't a minibeast, but it was still pretty cool! 

Welcome to Room 2 Tupuārangi

We would like to give a warm welcome to Tupuārangi. Today was his first day in Room 2. You can scan the QR codes to find out a little bit more about Tupuārangi. We hope that you enjoy your time in our classroom. 

From Room 2