Friday 8 November 2019

It's Growing time AGAIN ... Well, it never stops, does it! It's just that, with these hot days and winds, the watering cans are on the go daily!



Herbs, strawberries and flowers are mixed in this planter box.

Encirled by a wooden seat, these flowers are enjoyed by all who sit near them.

A whole planter of strawberries ... YUM !
Tomatoes, peppers, chillies, spinach, bergamot and lilies 


There have been plenty of bees and butterflies sharing these boxes this spring .. all the swan plants eaten!

Monday 5 August 2019

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who prepared a science fair project ... WOW .. an amazing variety of themes and investigations. The following were judged to be the best science and are going to represent HNI at the Hawkes Bay Fair in two weeks time.

Jeremy and Adam ...An Apple a Day Makes the Dr Stay
Yasmine  ... Each Sweet Apple
Sian and Kiera ...Freaky Fizz - Caffeine
William  ... Pest Pandemonium
Charlie ... I Spy : Dry Eye
Ella ... Hair to Help
Tapas  ... Burn OH Burn
Mabel ... Dye hard
Poppy ... Flower Forensics
Rupert ... Keep the Noise Down
Caitlin  and  Hannah ... Will it Compost
Bruno ... Apple Crash Test
Lucy ... Do You Want Germs With That?

  










Friday 17 May 2019

May Mayhem in Sci Tech ... and we LOVE it!

Winter is coming ... Let's learn more about ILLNESS and what to do to help ourselves.
Thanks, Sophie, for lending us the toys 

Tea Bag Rockets, Ice and Hot Water
 ... YES ! we can learn much about 'our weather' and the 'ocean currents' when we understand the concept of CONVECTION.
Is this substance an ACID or a BASE ?   What is it's pH ?
We are looking forward to the spring-summer flowering our 8 planters will provide for our butterflies, bees and birds.  A little bit of fun before school today  ... a 1 min slideshow
https://youtu.be/4wTUPZmv-1w
 This garden is a student initiative following the release of 30 butterlies in term one.

Saturday 6 April 2019

SCIENCE FAIR: preparation in term 2 and presentation / display at the beginning of term 3

We will have the HNI School Fair ... is on Friday the 26th July, first week of term 3.

The dates for the H B Science Fair Events for 2019 are:
  1. 15th August = Tech Challenge and Quiz (after school)
  2. 16th August = Judging of Projects (all morning)
  3. 22nd August =  Prize Giving   (evening)
Student projects / investigations will need to be complete by the end of the term 2 holidays.
Students may work as individuals or in pairs on a project.
Display boards are available from the school office.
There are two project categories:
  • A science investigation, following the steps of the scientific  method, and
  • A technological innovation, creating a product following the steps of the design process.  
Teachers have supporting information for both categories.
We encourage all students with an interest, or ability, in science to prepare a project.
An investigation 'science badge' topic can be developed into science fair project.

There is a display of past projects, for students to view, in the library during term 2.
(Scroll down to see projects from previous years ... )

Saturday 23 March 2019

Chikilidae ... Check out these legless amphibians ...

main article image
(SD Biju/frogindia.org)

This Photo of 'Not Marbles' Is Probably The Strangest Thing You'll See All Day

JACINTA BOWLER
22 MAR 2019
ChikilidaeEggsNanoMama
We know what you're thinking: why am I looking at a weird handful of pink marbles in a patch of mud?
Because it's a lot cooler than that.
Although these little see-through balls really do seem to be marbles upon first glance, they're actually the eggs of a legless amphibian that belongs to the Chikilidae family.
Chikilidae do have eyes, but their eyesight is extremely limited, and they spend most of their time underground.
But their eggs are where they really shine. The females brood with the eggs for 2-3 months, and researchers think the adults don't even feed during this important time.
By the way, when the little caecilians finally hatch, there's no larval stage - like frogs tend to have with tadpoles. Instead, they emerge as small adults and off they go to make their own families.
If you want to read more about these weird little creatures, the researchers, from the University of Delhi published a paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences back in 2012.

Tuesday 19 February 2019

Tomorrow, four students are going to make a Lepidopterarium for our Monarch Butterfly caterpillars and chrysalis ... Nikolai is helpfully organising a few bits and pieces today. UPDATED 20 Feb and 9 March


Such excitement .... 

Video of caterpillar pupating at lunchtime:...  https://youtu.be/DIvxjXSaAgk
Some reach maturity and can be released ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2U25-Wrmj4
Not all eggs / caterpillars / pupa / butterflies survive ... https://youtu.be/azNpIouphe8

A short video of the metamorphosis of the Monarch... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3VMl-EY2DM
and a time lapse of the butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.....   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTa-HMMi7yc
Update: The team have been busy all lunch-hour ... making progress on the lepidopterarium and ... planting swan plant seeds.


62 plants for next season ... will that be enough for such hungry caterpillars ? 
Now to look after everything !
8 days later and the seeds are germinating !


SUPERMOON coincides with perigee tonight ... keep an eye out for a large, bright full moon ... https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12205237

Source / Nasa

Monday 28 January 2019

Here is somewhere you can go to ask those science questions ... ASK AN EXPERT ! .. an online bulletin board for students and parents.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/ask-and-expert-free-science-project-support?from=Newsletter

Ask an Expert ... it is FREE 

thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers

The Ask an Expert Forum is intended to be a place where students can go to find answers to science questions that they have been unable to find using other resources. 
If you have specific questions about your science fair project or science fair, our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot. 
If you are new to Ask an Expert, please review the AAE Guidelines.
ASK . . .

Post a specific question about your science fair project!

    
ANSWER . . .

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