The Final Mile of the Rod Dixon Marathon

What a beautiful sunny Nelson day it was today to complete the final mile of the Rod Dixon Marathon. There was a large number of Saint Paul's School kids who turned up to represent the school at Saxton Oval.  They all ran so well and received a medal for their efforts.  Well done to the Kotuku kids who competed!  Winning is finishing and finishing is winning :)

Fossil Hunters

Fossil Walk in the Richmond Hills

Today our class and Kereru went on the Richmond Hills fossil walk.  First we walked to Easby Park, had a snack and played on the playground.  Then we set off to reach the hills.  It was hard work and it took a lot of walking.  When we got there we had some lunch and then started to look for some fossils. Most people found at least one fossil.  The fossils were mostly shell fossils and are mould/cast fossils. After that we worked in our fossil notebooks.  Some of the group walked up higher on the hill with Mrs Trolle and Blake's mum.  The rest of us stayed and kept looking for fossils.  Then we walked back down and back to the park for another play.  We had a great day!

By Josephine

Fossil Walk!

This Friday we will be setting off on our Fossil Walk (so exciting!)

We will be leaving school at 11.00 and making our way to Easby Park where we will stop for some lunch.

After that we will head off up the track to fossick for fossils.

You may wear mufti on Friday but please remember you will be digging around in the dirt so dress appropriately. You will be taking your lunch, drink bottle and fossil kit.

We expect to be back at school by 2.30.

Jurassic Park

Last week we watched Jurassic Park as it fitted well with our topic.  It was a great way to spend a rainy day!  We had made amber jelly fossils and enjoyed eating them during the movie.

Resin Fossils

Today we made some pretend amber fossils using glass stones and pictures of bugs. Firstly we got a choice of 5 bugs and we had to choose 2. When we had chosen 2, we had to get yellow,orange and brown pencils and lightly colour over them. Then we carefully traced around the glass stones with pencils and then we cut them out. After we had cut them out, we put glue on the front and then put pressure on it. Once it was firmly stuck on, we put our initials on the back of the stones and finally took a long look at our pretend amber fossils. They looked amazing!

By Josephine.

Homework Week 6

Here are some links to websites with information about different dinosaurs that you could use to do your mini-report.

http://www.kidsdinos.com/

http://www.kids-dinosaurs.com/

http://www.abc.net.au/dinosaurs/fact_files/default.htm

http://www.dinodictionary.com/index.asp

Fossil Finder App

Thanks to Jonty for sending me the idea for an app you may want to load onto your own devices.  It is called Fossil Finder and it is free to download.  I have loaded it onto all of our classroom iPads so you can have a play this week.

Cookie Fossil Dig

Today we had a cookie fossil dig.  We used our fossil tool kits to excavate "fossils" (chocolate chips) from the rock "cookie".  It was harder than it sounds!  We needed patience, a steady hand, to be gentle and organised.  It was good practice for our trip to the Richmond Hills which is hopefully happening next week.

How to Make Your Own Fossil Eggs

Last week our class made Fossil Eggs.  Kereru are going to bury them in the sandpit for us tomorrow and we will dig them up and then excavate our dinosaurs.  Next week for homework we will write a mini-report about our dinosaurs.

Here is the recipe for Fossil Eggs if you want to make them at home.  At school we used a cup of Plaster of Paris to make them set extra hard, but you may not have that to use at home.

You will need:

• 1 1/4 cups dirt
• 1 1/4 cups of flour
• 3/4 cups salt
• 1/2 cup sand
• Water
• Plastic Dinosaurs

How to make dinosaur eggs:

1. Mix together dirt, flour, salt and sand.
2. Slowly stir in water to create a dough, clay-like texture.
3. Mould the dough around one of the plastic dinosaurs.
4. Let the eggs dry thoroughly. This may take all day or several days depending on the weather.

Year 5/6 Rippa Rugby Tournament

Well done to all of the Saint Paul's teams who competed today at Henley School in the year 5/6 Rippa Rugby Tournament.  All of the teams tried hard and showed good sportsmanship.  Saint Paul's Black team got 4th overall in the competitive pool and will be going to the regionals on Tuesday 24 June.

The Magic School Bus - Dinosaurs

This afternoon some of our class went to choir practice and the rest of us watched a movie called
"The Magic School Bus - Busasaurus".  It was all about dinosaurs and we had a question sheet to answer as we watched it.  Below is the link for anyone who missed the movie and would like to watch it.

Magic School Bus - Busasaurus

School Cross Country

Well done to everyone who took part in the school cross country at Rabbit Island today.  The weather was amazing and everyone gave the run their full effort.  Well done to Sam, Kimberly, Liam, Tysen, Aria, Josephine, Lauren, William and James who all got a placing!