Olivia and the Rainbow fish (And how Omaru Creek got its name)

Olivia and the Rainbow Fish

There is a link above that will take you to a presentation about Omaru Creek. I called it Olivia and the Rainbow Fish, because it's about a girl named Olivia who helps a dying fish. The fish is first blue then turns a rainbow colour. I hope you enjoy reading this presentation! :)

Information report on dragonflies

Name: Jazire

Information report on dragonflies

Dragonflies are flying creatures with 4 large transparent wings that are slightly narrow at the start of each.

These mystical creatures have only three body parts. The head, the thorax, and the abdomen. The dragonfly has two large eyes that take up most of its head. There are also three pairs of jointed legs attached to its short, thin thorax.

Dragonflies and damselflies start life in the water, so they are commonly spotted around ponds, streams and other water compounds. Considering dragonflies are great flyers, they are sometimes found a long way from water.

Dragonflies are fast moving critters, and have the average speed of 4.5 metres per second (10 mph). They move by alternating their wings one at a time, which allows the dragonfly to hover like a helicopter.

Adult dragonflies mostly eat other flying insects like midges, mosquitoes, moths and butterflies. The larvae, or nymphs, that live in the water will basically eat anything smaller than themselves.

Dragonflies have a fierce behaviour and are very brave hunters, in fact if modern day dragonflies were the same as dragonflies were back then, then swimming in water compounds would be much much scarier because there would be a slight chance of you getting attacked.

There are three stages in the life cycle of all dragonflies. The egg, the larva(nymph), and the adult. Surprisingly, dragonflies only live as adults for about 7 months! Less if they’re unlucky. The dragonfly can live up to more than a year in total. Dragonflies and damselflies mate whilst in the air, and when a damselfly lays an egg, she will find a suitable plant to put it on, but if she can’t find one, she drops it in the water.

How to add MIxed Fractions

How to Add Mixed Fractions

This morning, our teacher gave us some worksheets and games to do on our devices.

This was the first activity I worked on. It taught me how to add mixed fractions. Here are the steps…

Steps for adding mixed fractions:

First, convert the mixed fractions into improper fractions (Improper fractions are fractions where the numerator is larger than the denominator). Next, find a common denominator for both fractions then add the numerators. The denominator stays the same.Lastly, convert the answer into a mixed fraction.

I hope my explanation is helpful.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet

I just finished doing an activity on a site called MrNuss Reading Comprehension. You can visit this site by clicking here. There are a lot of activity worksheets to choose from. The grades go from Grade 1 and 2 to 5+. I did one on 4+ because I saw Justin Bieber’s name there. I also thought… “Hmm, this could be interesting.” And it really was. I liked this activity because it brings out how much I love to read. Answering the questions were easy peasy. Next I am going to do an Abraham Lincoln activity.

Science experiments

Rules of lab safety

1. Safety glasses - protect your eyes
2. Wear a lab coat - protect your clothes
3. Lab behaviour - appropriate behaviour to keep safe
4. Use proper equipment (ask if you have never used before)
5. Always clean up your mess

Experiment: Making a cloud

Equipment:

-rubbing alcohol

-bottle (plastic) with lid

-matches

Method: Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol into the bottle.

Light a match and blow it out so smokme is produced. Hold your bottle under the match while squeezing. Blow out your match so it produces smoke, and release the bottle so the smoke is sucked into the bottle. Immediately close the bottle tight with the lid. Squeeze bottle as hard as possible and release - the bottle should fill with a cloud.

Speed of the water

Today we went down to look at the speed of the water in Omaru Creek.  We made some paper boats, took it down there and let them sail in the water.  It was great to see the water flowing and not standing still like the first time we visited there.

Omaru Creek

Workers found that loads of junk were being stuffed into private and public wastewater pipes and had been drained into Glen Innes’ Omaru Creek.

It once used to be shiny and beautiful, but now that people have thrown all kinds of things into their wastewater pipes, this small river has gone all grubby and filthy. This is called dry weather overflows,since the type of damage isn’t caused by too much stormwater making its way into the drainwater system. These things happen when there is a pile of fat or rubbish like wet wipes in a pipe. They don’t break down in water, because they just create large clumps that block pipes and cause overflows. The workers aren’t responsible for fixing blockages or overflows on private properties, but they are trying their best to clean the stream. The men found disgusting things, such as kids toys, chunks of metal, etc. After they had picked out as much as could be, the workers then drained out the dirty brown water from the creek and flushed it with clean water to test for a few days. We, the students and teachers from Glen Innes School are trying to make a change, we are trying to keep a clean healthy environment, and we are starting with the creek. The creek now is still unacceptable, but it will be the stream it once was, because who knows that the trees and other life substances could be damaged if what its surrounding is not clean.