Garston School Newsletter
Thursday, 1st December 2016
Discovery Time
Science came alive for our Year 6 and 7 students when they experimented with energy, sound,
chemicals and machinery at last week’s Science Roadshow. Their hypotheses were challenged by
intriguing results to a variety of experiments which had them pondering possible explanations.
Some of the experiments that captured their sense of curiosity involved watching:
water turning to jelly during absorbency testing
⇒
chemicals reacting with polystyrene
⇒
drink products being measured for sugar content
⇒
⇒
how messages to the brain are affected by different senses
⇒
⇒
their strength being measured
how sound waves travel and why pitch varies
Below are accounts of some of the experiments which they enjoyed trialing.
Hearing by Adriana
At one of the shows they did hearing. They had a screen
that showed a bar chart for hearing. At the start of the
chart there were adults with the worst hearing. The older
that you get the weaker the hearing. Next on the chart
were children. We can hear up to 20 - 20,000 hertz. The
younger you are the better hearing you have. Third on the
list was dogs. They have very good hearing. Fourth on the
list was dolphins. They were at the very top.
Fire by Maddi
The last experiment at the science Roadshow was
about sound. There was a long metal tube which
was lit with a microphone plugged into it. When the
pitch was high there were lot of short flames but
when the pitch was low there were just a few long,
high flames . Next they played a song and the
flames changed depending on the pitch.
Sugar Content by Loretta
Dissolving Solids By Jessica.
At the Science Roadshow there was an exhibit that
asked you to find out which drink had the most sugar
out of lemonade, sports drink, diet soda, cordial,
grape juice, raro and water. I picked grape juice but
I was told that sports drinks contained the most
sugar and surprisingly apart from water, raro was at
the bottom of the list with the least sugar.
A man had two beakers filled with water. First he put one
teaspoon of jelly crystals in the water and mixed them
until they dissolved then he put polystyrene in the water
which only got wet but didn’t dissolve. Next the man put
acetone in two beakers and added one teaspoon of jelly
crystals but they just sank to the bottom. When he
placed a 30cm stick of polystyrene in the acetone it was
amazing because it almost dissolved completely when he
put a bit of weight on it.
The Target Throwing Sensor by Quinn
My favourite exhibit was a target throwing sensor
which showed the speed of your throw. It was the
biggest exhibit and apart from the front and the
top it was mainly contained in a cage so the balls
didn’t fly everywhere.
However there is always going to be a bad thrower
in the mix and a few balls went straight to the
roof. My throw was measured as the fastest out of
the class. I can’t wait to pitch at softball.
Email: [email protected]
Sound Waves by Ursula
A woman explained that if a car or emergency vehicle is
beeping constantly while it’s passing you, you may notice that
when it’s closest to you the pitch gets higher and then lower
the further away it goes. It’s because the car producing the
noise is catching up to the sound waves that are getting
squished up so that means the pitch would be getting higher.
Also I learnt a surprising fact that sound travels slowest
through air and fastest through concrete.
Ph/fax. 248 8802.
Website: www.garston.school.nz
LAUNDRY TROLLEYS WANTED
We need 2 laundry trolleys to support the scenery for our show.
Several children assure us that they have at home trolleys similar to the one we
already have here.
Would anyone be willing to lend us a laundry trolley please? We would need it to
be at the Athol Hall for all of week 10 and you will be able to take it home on
Thursday night.
2017 Garston School Trail Bike Ride
The Trail Bike Ride will be on Saturday 28th January 2017 at Flagstaff Station, Athol. This will be our
major fundraiser for the year and as such we will be requiring help from all members of our school
community. The funds raised from this event will pay for the many extra enrichment activities that our
school provides for your children e.g. skiing, camps, swim week as well as a variety of other experiences.
Your assistance will be needed to help with the BBQ roster and to contribute items of food for the event
and the evening function to thank our many helpers on the day.
Please fill out the form below and return to school by Wednesday, 7th December 2016.
If you have any comments or questions please contact Annabelle Herbert on 021 022 75197
Many thanks in advance for your continued support of this event and we look forward to seeing you on
the day.
Garston School Trail Bike Ride – 28 January 2017
Please write your name and phone number below where you are able to help.
To make it easier for the organisers please state below if you are unable to
attend on the day. This will save them making unnecessary phone calls. Thank you.
BBQ
Time
Job
Name
7.30 - 9.00am
Setup - 4 people
9.00 - 11.00am
BBQ - 6 people
11.00 - 1.00pm
BBQ – 8 people
1.00 - 3.00pm
BBQ – 6 people
3.00 - 5.00pm
Clean-up/prep – 2 people
5.00pm
Evening BBQ – 3 people
Ph. Number
Food
Item
Square Fruit Cake x2
Slice x3
Bacon & Egg Pie x4
Name
Ph. Number
Peddler Polly and the Story Stealer
The storytellers of Tale Town are mysteriously losing their stories, while a
stranger sells ‘story boxes’ in the town square.
Will the villagers get their stories back?
♦
♦
Will the dastardly Dr Sebastian Spellbinder be vanquished?
Who will come to the Tale Town’s rescue?
♦
♦
Will they all live happily ever after?
Come to Garston School’s Christmas Story Swap Extravaganza.
ATHOL HALL
THURSDAY, 15TH DECEMBER 2016
(To be seated by 6.45p.m.)