Making Fossils

Today we tried a few experiments to make our own "fossils". The children made mould and cast fossils and also simulated mineralisation. Find lesson plans here, here and here.

Making trace fossils in Playdoh "mud"

Our dinosaur walked over this "mud". Later we poured on some more plaster "mud"

Dinosaurs walking on a "muddy" plaster lake bed

We made some dinosaur bones using sponges. The holes in the sponges represented the pores in bones. We soaked the bones in melted wax  to represent water rich in minerals. Later the wax hardened and preserved the bone's shape just as crystallised mineral would do.

Our hardened fossils

Number Line

Today we were working on number patterns, less and more. Here is L with her finished number washing line.

Fantasy Houses

Today we drew some fantasy houses. We used permanent markers and coloured pencils. I encouraged the children to add as much detail as possible. L talked almost constantly about what the fairies would do inside her house.

Mermaids' houses by L

Aliens' houses by R

L's second drawing - a fairy village

Our House

Today the children sketched our house as part of the "Dwellings" sketchbook challenge. I asked them to draw a picture from memory and then from observation. You can see how much more detailed and accurate the drawings from observation are.

Memory drawing of our house by R

Observational drawing of our house by R

Memory drawing of our house by L

Observational drawing of our house by L

Fruit Delights

This week both children chose to make a fruity recipe. R made some ice lollies with purée kiwi, strawberry and orange. L made a fruity muesli with cranberries.

Volcanoes Scrapbook page

The children made these scrapbook pages using pictures and leaflets from out trip to Tongariro national Park in new Zealand.

By L

By R

Chinese New Year 2013 - part 1

Chinese new Year celebrations are huge in Sydney. There are several weeks of festival activities. The festivities open with Chinese markets, dance and music. We wandered around the market and had a go at Chinese crafts. R made a fan and L made a lantern.

There were lots of stalls selling Chinese food. We watched a chef making noodles by hand which was pretty amazing. The children tried some Chinese BBQ lamb kebabs.

We're hoping to catch some more events including the twilight parade and the dragon boat races. Check in later for more.