Looking after the Guinea pigs.

One day the guinea pigs water container had moved too far back for me to reach and refill. Erica being the littlest helped me by climbing into the cage and getting the water container. While I filled it up, Charlotte and Tom decided to join her and they all climbed into the cage. The guinea Pigs obviously decided that there was no room for them and retreated to the bedroom.

Soccer - The Zebras

Oliver played Soccer for the Zebras this season. He trained hard and played well. He got 5 goals though out the season, and the team won nearly all their games.

Moss Gardens

Ruby, Charlotte and Oliver made moss gardens. They collected trays from under pot plants, moss from the garden, some rocks, shells, sticks and water. They designed their gardens to have bridges, waterfalls, rockeries and even miniature trees. They spent a lot of time thinking, being creative and using their imaginations. They looked wonderful.

Pumpkin Seeds

At the beginning of the year we counted how many seeds were in a sunflower and were quiet amazed at how many there were. We were making pumpkin soup one day and decided to find out how many seeds were in the pumpkin. First we all estimated / guessed how many we thought were in it.

Ruby 204 seeds

Charlotte 354 seeds

Dad 464 seeds

Mum 521 seeds

Oliver 488 seeds

Tom 100 seeds

We scooped the seeds out with a spoon and then picked out the rest with our hands. They were very slimy. We put them into ice cubes in groups of 10 to count them. We had 366 seeds altogether. Charlotte was the closest.

We made our pumpkin soup and had it with bread for lunch. It was yummy.

Written by Charlotte and Mummy

Face Painting

Early in July we went to kmart to buy some club penguin cards. When we got there they were have a promotion for safety checks on cars. We had a free sausage sizzle and got balloons and a show bag. Ruby and Charlotte both decided to have their face painted. Charlotte is very shy and usually would not have anything to do with public events, but today she decided, on her own to get her face painted. She waited patiently until it was her turn then went up to the lady, told her her name and what she wanted. She talked about her favourite colours and had the most beautiful butterfly painted on her face. She was very proud and so were we.

SLIME

What you need:

• Plastic cup and spoon
• PVA glue
• Water
• Borax
• Food colouring

What to do:

• Put 14g of borax in a jar, add 250ml of warm water. Put on lid and shake until dissolved.
• Measure 2 tablespoons of PVA glue into plastic cup.
• Add 2 tablespoons of water, a drop of colouring and mix.
• (you can use other quanities just make sure it is 50/50 PVA to water)
• Now the tricky part. Add the borax drop by drop until the mixture starts to become sticky. Don’t put too much in as it will become too stiff.
• Seal in a zip lock bag when finished.

What We Saw:

The first time we did it, we made it too stiff and it just broke into crumbly bit. The next time we did it we added the borax slowly and watched it as it slowly started to become sticky. It was amazing to watch as the mixture became more and more gooey. We got it out and squished it between our fingers. I was loads of fun.

What happened:

The polymers in the PVA reacted / bonded with the Borax (sodium bonate).

Written by Mummy and the Kids

The Strange Little Creature

I was walking in the deep dark forest I could see a huge scraggily tree and a parrot coloured nearly every colour. It early in the morning and was misty. It was kind of warm and kind of cold.

Suddenly I heard a huge scream. I froze and looked around and there it was a small creature with head like a mouse, budgie wings, legs of rabbit, tail of a possum and body of a dog. I slowly walked closer and then I noticed its tail was stuck under a rock. When I came close enough I said “hello, do you want that rock off your tail?” I slowly took the rock off, as I took it off, spikes came up and it squealed.

I reached out to touch it, it liked me patting it. It felt soft like a pillow. It told me where it hurt. Its tail was bleeding. I picked it up and unzipped my jacket and put him inside. He wriggled a bit.

I took him home and wrapped his tail in cloth. I made him a home and a bed he said he loved it. I asked him what he ate. He said “Bugs.” I went to Pets Domain and got 10kg of slaters, beetles, spiders and other sorts of bugs. When I got back he was asleep. When he woke I filled a bowl of maggots and he ate them all.

The next morning I checked on him and it was alive I asked him if he would like to stay for ever and he said yes. I named him Squeak.
The End

By Oliver Dean

Going Green

On May the 31st Dad and I went to the Tasmanian round of the v8 super cars at Symmons Plains. This was my second trip to see them. It was cold when we got there. We found some space along the main straight to watch the action. Firstly the utes were racing, and then came the special invitation cars. It was then time for the first race for the v8 cars. The one thing that surprised me was how fast they go and how quickly they can slow down.
The other main difference between the two visits was that the cars did not smell the same or put as much fire out of their exhausts this time.
Dad had a special pass for us to go and have a look around the pits where the cars are prepared for racing. I was lucky enough to have my photo taken with Steven Richards who is one of the top Ford racing drivers.
Behind the pits we found the long trucks that carry all of the team’s cars and equipment. On the side of one truck there were a lot of details about something called Ethanol E85. I found out that Ethanol E85 is a special blend of fuel which is cleaner burning and better for the environment and is being used in all v8 super car races this season. The Ethanol is made from the leftovers from sugar production so that even the waste is useful. The cars still use some petrol but only 15% the other 85% is the new Ethanol fuel. It is hoped that by using Ethanol as a fuel in racing that people will realise that they can use it in their own cars and reduce the nasty gasses that their cars produce.


Oliver Dean

Rocket Science

We had an idea from the Extrementals show to make a rocket.

You Need:

• 1 Cup of Bicarbonate soda
• 1 cup of Vinegar
• Camera role cut in half
• Paper towel
• Empty soda bottle
• Cork

What to do:

• Wash soda bottle out.
• Then shake it dry.
• Sticky tape camera roles on sides
• Add one cup vinegar
• Roll bicarb soda in paper towel and lower it carefully in to bottle.
• Put cork in and turn upside down and thread on to wicket quickly.

What we Saw:

The bottle sort of exploded – the cork came off and the bottle flew up in the air like a rocket. It was very exciting.

Conclusion:

There was a chemical reaction between the vinegar and bicarb soda. There was so much pressure in the bottle that the cork blew off and the bottle flew up in the air.

Written by Oliver

St John's First Aid Certificate

Mum, Oliver and I went to St John's Ambulance to learn how to look after people in an emergency. We learnt how to bandage people up, what to do if they are having an asthma attack and how to do CPR. It was very hard and lots to learn. It was also a very long day. We got a certificate at the end.

By Ruby

Sunflowers

We planted our sunflowers last year around show day in October. First we planted them in egg cartons until they had germinated. Then we transplanted them into the garden. They grew very tall. By January they were as tall as me and by March they had flowered. They were taller than me then. The tallest one was 1m 22cm tall. Oliver, Ruby and I tried to guess how many seeds were in the sunflower. I thought there were 100. Ruby thought there were 270; Oliver thought there might be 350. We started to pick them out. We got to 100 really quickly and still had lots to go. Ruby changed her estimate to 380 and Oliver changed his to 510. We kept picking the seeds out. Soon we had over 300. We eventually finished and we had 464 seeds in the sunflower. Oliver was the closest. We were amazed that there were so many. We have kept the seeds to plant later this year.

By Charlotte

Our Garden

When we came back from the farm we brought with us some of our favourite rocks. We thought about building a water feature but we don’t have power to the backyard. We went to the library and found a good book of water features and found a page about a dry river bed. Dad and I cleared the garden and started to build it. We got some river pebbles from the garden centre and then used our special rocks on the top. It looks spectacular and it only took a day’s hard work. We replanted the irises and daffodils around the side.


We have two apple trees in the back yard but the possums always eat the apples. This year we helped dad net them so we can have some apples.


Dad helped us build a vegetable garden. We have planted lettuce, parsley, beetroot and garlic.


We planted seeds for our sunflowers last year. We put them in egg cartons until they were big enough to plant in the garden. They are taller than Tom and Erica. They are starting to flower now. The flowers are really big. We love them. They look great. We are going to collect the seeds to replant next year.

The Don Railway

During the Holidays we went to the Don Railway. We saw a real Thomas he was really cute. We also saw a train that was only 95years old and they called it Baby and it had a dummy with it. We saw how they restored the trains and the tools they use. One of the workers talked about all the work they do. Our friend Bob Foulkes had his photo there. He was a volunteer for the Don railway. He dressed up as the Fat Controller on special open days. He looked just like him. We then went for a ride one on the trains. It was really bumpy, smelly and hot. Tom loves trains but he didn’t like it and fell asleep instead. Erica fell asleep as well. When he had to swap carriages Mummy and Daddy had to carry the sleepy babies.

Charlotte's Playdough

We made new play dough.

We needed:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
4 tablespoons of Cream of Tartar
2 Table spoons of oil
2 cups of boiling water
Food dye

Mix all together and need.

It is so nice when it is still warm and squishy.

This is a picture of my two elephants I made. It is a mummy elephant carrying her baby on her back.

Toto's new bed

When we went to the library last week we stopped at chickenfeed on the way back to the car park. They were giving away a trolley load of bits and pieces. I chose a box to make. When I got home I made it all by myself. I had to screw the sticks together and then tread the covers on. I then decorated it and made it into Toto, my teddy/dogs bed. It was lots of fun.

Log of Reason

When we went to Gunns Plains I made a man out of a log that was waiting for the fire. I used a shell for his hat, an emu feather from up at the wildlife park, Mummy’s scarf that had dyed all our clothes brown and a tea towel. I had lots of fun and spent ages drawing his face and making up stories. I called it the Log of Reason.
Written by Ruby.

Our Egyptian Dinner

On Friday 20^th February, we organized an Egyptian Banquet to follow up on our study of Egypt. We all dressed in white and set the table with mummy’s Egyptian place mats and table cloth.

We made Falafels, had pita breads with hommus and grated carrot and diced lettuce. We put on some music and had lots of fun talking about what we had learnt. Mummy didn’t think we would like the falafels but everyone ate nearly all their tea.

Corn Flour Painting

Ruby Charlotte and Tom made corn flour paint. First they put corn flour in their bowl, then added some water, and a little food dye. They had lots of fun mixing it with their fingers. It felt goey and sticky. They then used it to do finger painting and trickled the paint on to the paper. We took photos of the paintings because as the paint dried the corn flour crumbled and fell off.

Written by Ruby and Charlotte.

Sundial

Sundial

In the morning we went outside and put a large piece of paper on the ground. We put bricks on the side to stop it moving or getting bumped. We then put a large peg/nail in the center. We drew a line where the shadow of the peg went and marked the time. We kept marking the shadow every hour until the sun didn’t leave a shadow any more. We then measured the degrees for each hour and discovered that the shadow moved 15 degrees each hour. We then completed the clock from 9 am to 9pm and found that it was 180 degrees – a straight line. In 24 hours it had made a complete circle.

My Trip to the Moon

My Trip to the Moon

Once upon a time I was going on a rocket. The rocket landed on the moon. There were aliens there. It was funny. They said “Where are you from?” I said “Earth”. They showed me every planet and star like Pluto. I saw Earth I was small and funny. I could see England. I t looked small from here. I got my binoculars and saw my Dad’s old house. I saw lots of rats; He had a really messy bedroom. I looked back at the aliens and said I should go home now. “Bye” said the aliens “Bye” said me. I got back in the rocket and took off. I waved to the aliens. When I got home my Mum and Dad hugged me. I was very proud of myself. I told Mum and Dad all about my adventures that day.

The End

By Ruby Dean

Oliver at Little Athletics

Oliver At Little Athletics

Every Saturday and sometimes on a Wednesday night we go to little athletics. My favourite events are high jump, triple jump, hurdles and javelin. We also do lots of running events.

Written by Oliver

21^st February 2009

Ruby at Little Athletics

Ruby at Little Athletics

This is my second year at little athletics. My favourite event is triple jump. I have a personal best score for this event. I practice triple jump at home all the time. It is very hard but I am quite good at it.

Written by Ruby and Mummy
February 28th 2009

My Egyptian Pyramid

My Egyptian Pyramid

I built my Egyptian pyramid out of a box. First Mum helped me cut four triangles from each side and then push them up to meet the point. I made a sand and pva glue mixture and painted the sides. Then I went out side and spray painted it gold.

The Mummy

I used one of my sisters old barbies and wrapped her in toilet paper. I made a sarcophagus out of some cardboard and cut it and folded to the shape I wanted. Then I created a collage to make my name in hieroglyphics and an falcon head “Qebehsenuef”.

I put the mummy in the sarcophagus and sprinkled it with herb and spices. I added jewels and 5 cents for it to take to the afterlife.

I also printed off pictures of jewels, treasures, and canopic jars and mounted them on cardboard to go in the tomb.

Written by Oliver Dean

28 February 2009

Our Baby Budgies

Over the summer we bred my adult budgies.

We put breeding boxes in the cage and the birds paired up and chose boxes.

One box had lots of eggs but the mother bird didn’t sit on them and they never hatched.

Pip and Nip had three eggs that hatched.

We called them Lemon and Banana for the yellow ones and Speckle for the purple colored one.

Ruby and I got in the cage and fed them after they came out of the breeding box.

They are very friendly and liked to sit on our hands and heads.

Written by Oliver and Mum

10^th March 2009