Well the Challenge was to spin the basketball for 1 minute on his finger for the prize of a Moro Gold! Not only did Marco spin the ball for one minute but 3 minutes and 9 seconds!! winning him 2 Moro Golds! The challenge is there for anyone else to try if they think they can, nice skills Marco!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Oh Deer - 11th September
Today a surprise visit came from a deer in a chill box the organs where a liver the kidneys, one testicle (gross) the lungs and the heart. We where allowed to touch the organs and the lady who brought them in told us about the organs and how they are not so different from a humans. She demonstrated by getting mister sloan to cut open with a craft knife the inside was porous and like a tree because the middle had thick branches of air sacks which then thinned out to become thin slivers of air everyone (nearly) touched the lung and a lot of people picked up the smaller organs like the kidneys and even the testicle. Everything was covered in blood after looking at that I don’t think anyone was up for venison tonight!
By Rory Harvey
By Rory Harvey
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Longbeach Trip Tomorrow...Wednesday 27th August
A couple of things to remember for tomorrow - TORCH - you will need to bring a torch with you for one of our activites. Remember lotsa of warm clothing and a warm hat!
If we have to postphone due to weather there will be a cancellation on More FM in the morning. Hopelully we will strike it lucky with the weather this time!!
If we have to postphone due to weather there will be a cancellation on More FM in the morning. Hopelully we will strike it lucky with the weather this time!!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Longbeach Trip - Wednesday 27th August
Well we are hoping for some good weather next week for out trip to Longbeach on Wednesday 27th August. As planned earlier we will be leaving school at 8.50am in order to get out to Longbeach and into activities by 10am.
Students will need to bring a good lunch, warm clothing(hat & jacket), and suitable footwear. Students should not wear jeans! Track pants or shorts are more suited to the activities we will be doing.
It is great to have some parent helpers coming with us to make all of our activities possible.
If you would like to come along with us and haven’t already let me know please let me know asap, it would be great to have some more people along with us.
We will be returning to school between 3.00pm -3.30pm
Any questions about this trip send me an email asloan@balmacewen.school.nz or call and leave a message at the office.
Students will need to bring a good lunch, warm clothing(hat & jacket), and suitable footwear. Students should not wear jeans! Track pants or shorts are more suited to the activities we will be doing.
It is great to have some parent helpers coming with us to make all of our activities possible.
If you would like to come along with us and haven’t already let me know please let me know asap, it would be great to have some more people along with us.
We will be returning to school between 3.00pm -3.30pm
Any questions about this trip send me an email asloan@balmacewen.school.nz or call and leave a message at the office.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Otago Science Fair - Prize Winners
Well we have had some great successes at the Otago Science Fair which has been held down at the Otago Museum this week. Balmacewen has scoped up a large number of the awards at this. From Room 13 we had 4 pieces of work go to this and everone has won a prize or mrizes in some cases!!! A super effort. the awards are listed below. The prizegiving ceremony wil be held this Sunday at the Museum. Awesome effort and results!!!!!
Prizewinners
Meg McKay – Does breakfast make a difference?
Prizewinners
Meg McKay – Does breakfast make a difference?
- 2 X Children and Young Persons Research
- Cluster Group Award
- Aurora Award
- 2 X Department of Marine Science University of Otago
- NIWA Award
William Pelet – Skateboard stand
- Aurora Award
Will Davidson – No pain no gain
- Asthma Award
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Check out this cool site...Brain Pop
This cool site has some great info relating to some of the learning we are doing about the human body at the moment. It has interactive quizes as well which are great o test your knowledge.
The address and login/password are below. (the log in is for a one week trial) Once this trial expires i will load a new one to use.
www.brainpop.com
user name: room13balmac
password: attack
The address and login/password are below. (the log in is for a one week trial) Once this trial expires i will load a new one to use.
www.brainpop.com
user name: room13balmac
password: attack
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
They are fast!!!
Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) 3:26.00 Rome 14 July 1998 The world record for the 150m run is 3min 26sec. We went out as a class today and ran 100m each in relay style until we had ran 1500m, our time with 15 students running 100m each was 4min23sec, not even close to the fastest individual for this event!!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Beijing 2008 - Homework 1 Athlete/Team Study

Homework – Olympic Games Athlete/Team
You are to carry out and complete a project on one of our athletes at the Beijing Olympic Games and produce a wonderful piece of work to show your findings and followings of the athlete/team.
Include
1. Name(s) and Profile – beginnings/history, past successes, photo/drawing an info on the athlete.
2. What sport/events entered for Beijing 2008.
3. Info-graphic (full page)
4. Results – follow through all the events of this athlete/team recording their results and reports on events (this may also include information and reports from papers, websites etc). You need to write your own summary of the athletes performances (at least half page).
5. Add and include any other interesting information and findings relating to this athlete and there sport at the Beijing Games.
Timeline/Guide of Sequence
1. Decide on Athlete/Team.
2. Read/listen note take in exercise book.
3. Write up information to present – NO power points.
4. Presentation to class 2 days after games conclude.
You must
1. Show evidence of research and following of the athlete/team – in your exercise book you should have paper clippings and info found.
2. Notes recorded in book.
3. Work written in your own words
4. Neatly and clearly presented in an organised way.
You are to carry out and complete a project on one of our athletes at the Beijing Olympic Games and produce a wonderful piece of work to show your findings and followings of the athlete/team.
Include
1. Name(s) and Profile – beginnings/history, past successes, photo/drawing an info on the athlete.
2. What sport/events entered for Beijing 2008.
3. Info-graphic (full page)
4. Results – follow through all the events of this athlete/team recording their results and reports on events (this may also include information and reports from papers, websites etc). You need to write your own summary of the athletes performances (at least half page).
5. Add and include any other interesting information and findings relating to this athlete and there sport at the Beijing Games.
Timeline/Guide of Sequence
1. Decide on Athlete/Team.
2. Read/listen note take in exercise book.
3. Write up information to present – NO power points.
4. Presentation to class 2 days after games conclude.
You must
1. Show evidence of research and following of the athlete/team – in your exercise book you should have paper clippings and info found.
2. Notes recorded in book.
3. Work written in your own words
4. Neatly and clearly presented in an organised way.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Our Bones
Thursday, July 31, 2008
New Date for Longbeach Rockclimbing Trip
Well hopefully the rain will ease soon! We have booked a new date for climbing and hope that this date will be sunny and fine! We are now going to be going to Longbeach on WDENESDAY 27th AUGUST. We are still looking for some more helpers, so if you are available and would like to join us for the day it would be greratto have you accompany us!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Human Body - Homework Task Due 6th August
Your task is to choose a body part, organ or system.
Gather all the information you can on this body part, organ or system.
You are going to have to present your findings about this on an A4 sized page.
You will need to include on your page:
· DEFINITION of the body part, system or organ.
· DIAGRAM/DRAWING of the part, organ or system.
· EXPLANATION of what this part, system or organ does for us and its importance and relationship to other parts of the body.
· DID YOU KNOW BOX with some interesting/possible uncommon knowledge facts.
You need to be prepared to share your sheet of facts and information with the class on Wednesday 6th August.
A high standard of presentation is expected along with a detailed knowledge of all of your information.
Gather all the information you can on this body part, organ or system.
You are going to have to present your findings about this on an A4 sized page.
You will need to include on your page:
· DEFINITION of the body part, system or organ.
· DIAGRAM/DRAWING of the part, organ or system.
· EXPLANATION of what this part, system or organ does for us and its importance and relationship to other parts of the body.
· DID YOU KNOW BOX with some interesting/possible uncommon knowledge facts.
You need to be prepared to share your sheet of facts and information with the class on Wednesday 6th August.
A high standard of presentation is expected along with a detailed knowledge of all of your information.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Rockclimbing postphoned...
As you will be aware we have postphoned the rockclimbing due to weather related issues, we are in the process of rescheduling these trips and hope to confirm new dates asap. It is likely they will be in week 6-7 of this term
Monday, July 28, 2008
Did you know..... Some interesting facts about the human body!
Some interesting facts listed below, possibly all true?
Your ears never stop growing
The human thigh bones are stronger than concrete
The human body is 75% water
The heart can squirt enough blood 30 feet
Your brain is 70% water
The strongest bone your femur is hollow
Blood isn’t red it is yellow and called plasma
People who have a high number of moles live longer
1 drop of blood is made of 5 million red blood cells 7,000 white blood cells and 300,000 platelets
You can lose 90%of your liver and still live
Your lungs contain 750 million tubes and capsules
Your heart beats 2.5 billion times in 66 years
Some people have over 206 bones
People who spend most of there time riding horses grow extra bones in there thighs
An average person farts 16 times a day
You lose 60 hairs a day
Pound for pound human body produces 5 times more energy than the sun
You can cut the brain directly in half and not fell anything
You shed 600,000 particles of skin every hour
It takes 15 months for the body to fully recover from even a moderately bad sunburn
If you unfold and flatten a set of human lungs they would cover a tennis court
All babies are born colour blind.
Urine is made up of 96% water. The rest is protein and salt.
Babies are born with 300 bones.
If you took out all of the water in your body then you would weigh 40% of your body weight.
Your thigh is stronger than concrete.
Each eye weighs 1 ¼ ounces.
In a child there are 600 miles of blood vessels.
A new born baby’s brain weighs 3 ounces.
In the 1850’s, a man from Paris had a brain injury and all he could ever say ever again was tan.
The brain weighs 1.3 kg.
The left side of the brain controls the right and vice versa.
Ancient Greeks thought that the heart did the thinking.
The world sneezing record is held by a girl that in the 1980’s sneezed 1,000,000 times per year for 2 ½ years from 1981 to 1983/
Stomach acid is strong enough to melt through copper.
Nails are made out of protein called keratin !!!
More than 2,500 gallons of air flows through the average of a adults nose in a day!!!
The human body has 6 ponds of skin!!!
Each hand has 27 bones: eight in the wrist five in the palm and 14 in the fingers!!!
A newborn baby has300 bones, some of which fuse together to make the further 200 in the adult!!!
Every day your fingernails get longer by 2 hairs a day and if you did not cut them they would get up to 28 meters of nail during a life time each piece of hair grows 1 centimetres per month!!!
Your ears never stop growing
The human thigh bones are stronger than concrete
The human body is 75% water
The heart can squirt enough blood 30 feet
Your brain is 70% water
The strongest bone your femur is hollow
Blood isn’t red it is yellow and called plasma
People who have a high number of moles live longer
1 drop of blood is made of 5 million red blood cells 7,000 white blood cells and 300,000 platelets
You can lose 90%of your liver and still live
Your lungs contain 750 million tubes and capsules
Your heart beats 2.5 billion times in 66 years
Some people have over 206 bones
People who spend most of there time riding horses grow extra bones in there thighs
An average person farts 16 times a day
You lose 60 hairs a day
Pound for pound human body produces 5 times more energy than the sun
You can cut the brain directly in half and not fell anything
You shed 600,000 particles of skin every hour
It takes 15 months for the body to fully recover from even a moderately bad sunburn
If you unfold and flatten a set of human lungs they would cover a tennis court
All babies are born colour blind.
Urine is made up of 96% water. The rest is protein and salt.
Babies are born with 300 bones.
If you took out all of the water in your body then you would weigh 40% of your body weight.
Your thigh is stronger than concrete.
Each eye weighs 1 ¼ ounces.
In a child there are 600 miles of blood vessels.
A new born baby’s brain weighs 3 ounces.
In the 1850’s, a man from Paris had a brain injury and all he could ever say ever again was tan.
The brain weighs 1.3 kg.
The left side of the brain controls the right and vice versa.
Ancient Greeks thought that the heart did the thinking.
The world sneezing record is held by a girl that in the 1980’s sneezed 1,000,000 times per year for 2 ½ years from 1981 to 1983/
Stomach acid is strong enough to melt through copper.
Nails are made out of protein called keratin !!!
More than 2,500 gallons of air flows through the average of a adults nose in a day!!!
The human body has 6 ponds of skin!!!
Each hand has 27 bones: eight in the wrist five in the palm and 14 in the fingers!!!
A newborn baby has300 bones, some of which fuse together to make the further 200 in the adult!!!
Every day your fingernails get longer by 2 hairs a day and if you did not cut them they would get up to 28 meters of nail during a life time each piece of hair grows 1 centimetres per month!!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Class trip to Longbeach!! Copy of Notice
24 July 2008
Dear Parents/Caregivers
As part of the outdoor education programme the year 7 classes will be looking at self confidence and communication skills through rock climbing.
Classes will be split into three groups. Rock Climbing, where a professional rock climber will
take one group, a cave challenge activity and a third activity involving photography and sand sculpting. These are all held at Long Beach and the students will take part in each of these activities throughout the day.
We will be leaving school at 8.45 sharp and will return to school approximately 3.30pm. Children will need to take their own lunch, drink and suitable outdoor clothing.
The need for parent support, in order to keep our students safe, and also the need for transport is very important. Busses now cost between $200-$300 dollars per day, in an attempt to keep the cost down, I was hoping that we could use private vehicles and the school van rather than a bus.
The cost for this day without the use of a bus would be $14. If you are available to help on this day please return the form as soon as possible.
Room 3 = Tuesday 29th July
Room13 = Wednesday 30th July
Room 11 = Friday 1st August
Room 1 = Monday 4th August
Room 7 = Tuesday 5th August
Room 5 = Friday 8th August
Room 10 = Monday 11th August
Dear Parents/Caregivers
As part of the outdoor education programme the year 7 classes will be looking at self confidence and communication skills through rock climbing.
Classes will be split into three groups. Rock Climbing, where a professional rock climber will
take one group, a cave challenge activity and a third activity involving photography and sand sculpting. These are all held at Long Beach and the students will take part in each of these activities throughout the day.
We will be leaving school at 8.45 sharp and will return to school approximately 3.30pm. Children will need to take their own lunch, drink and suitable outdoor clothing.
The need for parent support, in order to keep our students safe, and also the need for transport is very important. Busses now cost between $200-$300 dollars per day, in an attempt to keep the cost down, I was hoping that we could use private vehicles and the school van rather than a bus.
The cost for this day without the use of a bus would be $14. If you are available to help on this day please return the form as soon as possible.
Room 3 = Tuesday 29th July
Room13 = Wednesday 30th July
Room 11 = Friday 1st August
Room 1 = Monday 4th August
Room 7 = Tuesday 5th August
Room 5 = Friday 8th August
Room 10 = Monday 11th August
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Push Play!!!

Push play
It is recommended that kids try and do 60 minutes of push play (physical fitness) every day.
Room13 is going to participate in the push play classroom challenge.
The classroom challenge is to record 4 weeks of the fitness we do each day e.g. one person might do 20 minutes of fitness and another might do 30 minutes of fitness.
We will all try to do 60 minutes of fitness or more, at the end of the 4 weeks we will hopefully be fitter and ready for the school cross country!
By Jessie Sims
Friday, June 27, 2008
Term 3 Parent Interview Notice
Students should have come home with a notice outlining interview times for the start of next term, here is a copy of the note just incase it is still in the bottom of a school bag!!
27TH June 2008
Dear Parents/Caregivers
An important part of our reporting programme is the mid-year parent teacher interviews. This is an opportunity for you and your child’s teacher to discuss the progress and achievement of your child and to further home /school communication.
Interviews are at the following times:
Tuesday 22 July – 1.30pm - 5.30 p.m.
Wednesday 23 July – 3.15 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m.
Thursday 24 July – 9.00am-10.15am and 3.15 p.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Please complete the form below and return it to your child’s teacher as soon as possible. Your child will bring home the attached confirmation slip with your interview time. If none of the above times are suitable, please contact the school.
27TH June 2008
Dear Parents/Caregivers
An important part of our reporting programme is the mid-year parent teacher interviews. This is an opportunity for you and your child’s teacher to discuss the progress and achievement of your child and to further home /school communication.
Interviews are at the following times:
Tuesday 22 July – 1.30pm - 5.30 p.m.
Wednesday 23 July – 3.15 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m.
Thursday 24 July – 9.00am-10.15am and 3.15 p.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Please complete the form below and return it to your child’s teacher as soon as possible. Your child will bring home the attached confirmation slip with your interview time. If none of the above times are suitable, please contact the school.
Well Done to Our Award Winners!!!
These People won school awards for their Science Fair Projects today...
Joel Smith - Best year seven project - well done Joel!!!
Award Winning Projects
William Pelet
Meg McKay
Will Davidson
Highly Commended
Alex Phillips
Gemma Lowden
Paddy Ou
Jessie Sims
Gabby Norton-Poole
Class Effort Awards
Meg McKay
Gabby Norton-Poole
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Science Fair is Here!!!!
Well it is great to see so many wonderful science fair investigations arriving at school today. We have begun our presentations to the class and there are some wonderful projects that people have been working hard on as part of homework over the last 7-8 weeks.
Science Fair Projects will be on display in the hall for viewing from Wednesday this week. You are more than welcome to com ealong and view these from 3.00pm - 7.00pm on Wednesday and 3.00pm through till 7.00pm on Thursday and on Friday morning up until 10.45am.
Science Fair Projects will be on display in the hall for viewing from Wednesday this week. You are more than welcome to com ealong and view these from 3.00pm - 7.00pm on Wednesday and 3.00pm through till 7.00pm on Thursday and on Friday morning up until 10.45am.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Science Fair....
Well I imagine this could be a very busy week for some people. Science Fair Projects are due to be at school at the start of next week for presenting to the class and they will then go on be displayed in the School Hall from Wednesday 25th. As this has ben the major homework focus for the last 7 weeks the quality of these pieces of work is expected to be high. I am looking forward to seeing what investigations have been carried out and the resuls and conclusions that have come from the work!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Two puzzles for the week...
Puzzle 1.
What am I.....
I know what my job is,
The point has been made.
You say I have a big head,
And you're right, I'm afraid.
So put me in my place,
And then leave me alone.
What I need most,
Is someone to drive me home
Puzzle 2.
As fast as an eagle, as slow as a slug. As tall as a tree, as small as a bug. Sometimes in front, sometimes behind. Never on top, and always aligned. What is it?
Email your answer to asloan@balmacewen.school.nz or give me a note with your answer on it before friday 13th June
What am I.....
I know what my job is,
The point has been made.
You say I have a big head,
And you're right, I'm afraid.
So put me in my place,
And then leave me alone.
What I need most,
Is someone to drive me home
Puzzle 2.
As fast as an eagle, as slow as a slug. As tall as a tree, as small as a bug. Sometimes in front, sometimes behind. Never on top, and always aligned. What is it?
Email your answer to asloan@balmacewen.school.nz or give me a note with your answer on it before friday 13th June
We have a winner.... Jessie Sims!!
Well only one person was able to solve our brainteaser correctly (I was a little disappointed at the lack of people engaging their brain to solve this one!!)
Jessie managed to get the correct answer!!!
So it goes like this..... Today is January 1st, Jenny was 7 the day before yesterday(December 30th) her birthday is on December 31st where she turned 8, this year (as it is Jan 1st) she will be turning 9 so that means that next year she will be 10!!
A tricky one but yes it was possible!!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
A Brainteaser to work out...
See if you can work out the answer to this one, you can email your answer to asloan@balmacewen.school.nz or give the answer to me on a piece of paper by friday 6th June! get thinking!!
The day before yesterday, Jenny was 7 years old. Next year, she'll turn 10. How is this possible?
The day before yesterday, Jenny was 7 years old. Next year, she'll turn 10. How is this possible?
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Healthy School Canteens
Today the Government introduced new guidelines for the sale of food in school canteens, ruling out some of the fatty/sugary unhealthy options. the link below is an article on the tvnz website relating to this.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1825639

What are your views on the food that is being sold in school canteens, especially in our canteen here at Balmacewen? Feel free to leave you thoughts in the 'comments' part of this posting. You can also vote on the poll at the side of the main page.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1825639

What are your views on the food that is being sold in school canteens, especially in our canteen here at Balmacewen? Feel free to leave you thoughts in the 'comments' part of this posting. You can also vote on the poll at the side of the main page.
Science Fair Project Progress.....
Well it is great to hear and see so many students under way with their testing, investigations and work related to the Science Fair. Just remember this is a major piece of work and needs a decent effort put in for homework to come up with satisfactory projects and findings. By now you should be well under way with your testing and starting to plan out how you will present your findings and conclude your work. (Science Fair begins on Wednesday 25th June).
Display boards are available for purchase from the school library for $10.00 - these boards are perfect for displaying your work - I will up-load a couple of example photos asap of some previous boards for you to view.
Remember you need to have completed and sent off "Ethics Approval" forms along with permission slips and an explanation of your work if you are using human or animal subjects in you work/testing.
Remember if at any stage you are unsure of what you should be doing - just come and ask for help and guidance!
I am looking forward to seeing these wonderful investigations when they are complete!
Display boards are available for purchase from the school library for $10.00 - these boards are perfect for displaying your work - I will up-load a couple of example photos asap of some previous boards for you to view.
Remember you need to have completed and sent off "Ethics Approval" forms along with permission slips and an explanation of your work if you are using human or animal subjects in you work/testing.
Remember if at any stage you are unsure of what you should be doing - just come and ask for help and guidance!
I am looking forward to seeing these wonderful investigations when they are complete!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Harry Potter Science Experiments
Today we did some Harry Potter science experiments, we were in 5 groups and the experiments were; swirling milk, table tennis water balls, magic layers, quidditch and floating letters! below are some photos of the experiments.
By Gabby
By Gabby
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