Inquiry+Learning

We found out how important it is to grow plants for us to eat, for the animals and birds and for the environment.

Thanks to our amazing caretaker Charysse we planted our seedling in the school grounds. We hoped no-one would touch them but unluckily some of them have been pulled out or broken. We do still have some though and we want to see what they are going to become. We weren't allowed to know what exactly we were planting so we could do investigative work to find out the gardening process.



Term 4





Term 3 How do we impact on our school environment?

Our focus for Term 2 was learning how to have a Balanced and Healthy life - something which we all find rather difficult to do sometimes!! We Changed our minds and decided there are four main parts to having a balanced and healthy life not three - Sleep, Exercise, Love/Friendship and Food. To remember this we came up with a mneumonic SELF. We wrote a poem called mySELF - you will be able to check it out on our Children's Wikis page soon.

We also finished this part of our Inquiry by visiting Bruce's Fitness Centre in Te Awamutu. Yvonne and the girls really looked after us and helped us to see different ways of exercising. We also had some of our questions answered about a balanced fitness programme and how to aim to be healthy and fit. We found out that people that have problems with their backs, and legs might need special equipment to help them with stretching and movement. It just showed us that anyone can exercise if they choose to. Thanks Yvonne, Bruce and the girls.

Ourselves
 * Sleep is important because without it we'll be tired, grumpy, and impatient.**
 * We need more sleep than adults.**
 * When we are asleep it helps us grow.**




 * Exercise is important because it helps us to be fit.**
 * It helps us to think.**
 * We feel good when we have exercised because we are energized.**




 * Love and Friendship is extra important because we feel happy and cared for.**
 * Without kindness and caring we have lower self - esteem**
 * We love having people say sweet and wonderful things about us.**




 * Food makes us think, keeps us alive, gives us energy.**
 * Healthy Food is good for us and food high in sugar and fat are only treat foods.**
 * A little bit of sugar is okay.**

We have created food pyramids and record our daily food intake on our food journals. We have used Excel to graph our results from the information collected. Garth from Project Energize has been in and shown us the sugar content in some drinks.

The Children have been brainstormed what foods might be in the teachers cupboard/ fridge/ and freezer. The aim of this was to then find as many different ways to use the products. We have looked at the healthy foods, treat foods like desserts and the main meals that would be simply delicious. The next step of the process will be to select a range of the suggestions, find the recipes and hopefully make some of them to show how easy, economical and accessible for most households.

 Is to be 'Healthy' just about getting fit, staying healthy, eating healthy foods and/or the latest diet craze?

As there are a lot of mixed messages and misconceptions about what healthy looks like, we want to focus on developing a

positive mindset and practise, to the overall balance in life to keep us healthy.  Some questions to ponder on:    What is healthy? What is the cost to being healthy? How does advertising affect our decision making? Who benefits from staying healthy/ getting healthy/ being unhealthy/ dieting/ getting into shape? What organisations are available to help? Why are portion sizes changing? How does un/healthy eating impact on our learning? How can we make a difference? How can the children make a difference? What does being undersized/ oversized and average mean and what impact does it have on our personal outlook? In what ways can we begin to make changes for a lifelong effect? Room 5 Amethysts will be actively involved in looking at many of these questions and ones generated by their own wonderings. We will be classifiying information, comparing products, developing knowledge skills, creating a variety of information presentations and sharing ideas. We will be inviting specialists in to give an incite to how 'Healthy Living' impacts on them, personally and / or professionally. We've all heard about 5 + a day. Have a look at this site for a range of fruits and vegetables pictures and information [|http://www.5aday.co.nz/5aday.] Try out some of the nutrition activities on the following site. Let me know what you think Good/ Great/ Ok/ No good [|nutritionexplorations.]

One of the outcomes of having the 50th Reunion this year, the children have decided they would like to get together in another 25 years to check on what is happening in education. They want to keep a selection of their work including pmi's, and the tri-venn diagrams on the past, present and future of Pekerau School. To do this they have decided we should make a time capsule and store it in a very safe place which we will access in 2033. Part of their inquiry now is leading into what material might be suitable to store important information that will survive the elements for 25 years. If you'd like to share some ideas contact Room 5 by emailing ginnym@pekerau.school.nz.

Inquiry Learning not only looks at specific topics but it also looks at learning processes and learning styles. Room 5 Amethysts came up with a number of strategies and learning processes they believe are important in the classroom learning environment. We have the poster below on the wall to keep reminding us what learning looks like in Room 5. So far this term we have been surprised at what strategies and skills we have used already.

Room 5 Amethysts are showing they are successful learners and thinkers.