2NR Portal 2009

Elf Yourself is wonderful website that lets you use photos and embed them into a Christmas animation that you can share with family and friends.

It is very easy to make your own as long as you have photos with people (or pets  ) looking straight at the camera. There is a maximum of 5 photos per animation.

To put your animation in the comments all you need to do is click the [email/share] button and where it says  ’embed code’  look for the copy button.  Once you have clicked the [copy] button it will change to [copied] and you can then come back here and right click and paste it into your comment.

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com

Click here to see another animation.

For these coming holidays some students will be selected to look after the Burrowing Cockroaches and Stick Insects at home. To be selected you must have permission from your parents. If you are going away for longer than 3 days then it is advisable that you either have someone look after them or you will not be allowed to take them home.

Stick Insects

For the Stick Insects I will provide the small plastic or mesh terrariums, container for the leaves and water and a spray bottle. Euycalyptus leaves will need to be replaced every 3 days so you will need to have a local supply. You will also need to spray the enclosure 3 times per day, more if it is very hot. Your mum or dad will need to come and help if you are taking the hexagonal mesh terrariums home.

1. Student Name – Titan and Golaith Stick Insects with Hexagonal mesh terrarium/ spray bottle.
2. Student Name - Ten Inch Stick Insects with Hexagonal mesh terrarium/ spray bottle.
3. Student Name - 3 Spiny Stick Insects with plastic container/ spray bottle.
4. Student Name - 3 Spiny Stick Insects with plastic container/ spray bottle.
5. Student Name - 3 Spiny Stick Insects with plastic container/ spray bottle.
6. Student Name - 2 Spiny Nymphs and 1 Childrenii Nymph with plastic container/ spray bottle.

Giant Burrowing Cockroaches

Both the Male and Female Litter Bugs (Giant Burrowing Cockroaches) will be provided in a heavy glass terrarium that has a lot of sand and peat moss mixed in.You only need to provide dry/rotting eucalyptus leaves when there are not many left or if they are getting mouldy (Any mouldy leaves must be taken out). You can provide one or two thin slices of raw carrot once per week as a treat, if it is still there after 2 days then take it out and throw it in the bin. Change the balls of wet paper towel each week or when it has dried out and make sure that you spray when the peat moss looks like it is drying out.  They like high humidty so the terrarium needs to be moist but not wet. Mum or Dad will need to come and help take this terrarium home.

1. ZoeT – Giant Burrowing Cockroaches with glass terrarium and spray bottle.

We were lucky enough to have a visit today by Michelle Jacobs (our new principal) and Jane Simmons (Northern Sydney Regional Director). They came to see our class pets and how knowledgeable the students of 2NR are. The visit was a great success, though everyone was still eagerly awaiting another special guest. Skye Blackburn, an entomologist from Butterflyskye.com.au was coming to show us some of her insect, arachnid and bug collection.

Skye arrived in the classroom with a cart full of creatures as well as a big portable mesh cage. We sat in a circle and Skye started to talk about different creatures she has and then brought out two huge rainforest snails and passed them around the circle. The snails foot was very slimy and although the snails were huge they still had a lot of growing to do.

The circle was soon abuzz with dead and alive rainforest and desert scorpions, bird eating spiders, millipedes, stick insects, rhinoceros beetle grubs and one huge cool looking cockroach (better known as a litter bug). Skye introduced each creature and gave us some interesting facts just before a huge wave of hands would go up ready to ask questions.

Can you leave a comment and tell me:

1. One thing you learnt during the incursion?
2. What was your favourite creature in Skye’s collection?

Tags: arachnids, giant snail, insects, litter bug, Pets

On the 19th of November William, Tyler and I (Maia) went to a chess tournament at our school. Tyler, William and I were in a team and Zoe, Max and Lily were in another. Our team won the first game and because of that we then played a harder team. I lost that game but Tyler and William won so then we had to play our school A team!  All of our team lost then! But then we were back on track, Tyler and I won the 4th game but William wasn’t so lucky because he lost.

Newport won the whole competition but  Mona Vale PS came second and third. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun. My favourite part was when all our team won.

[EDIT] by Mr. Rees : A fantastic effort especially considering these students are only in Year 2 and were competing against students who were much older. Maia’s team came 12th out of 80 teams and was the top ranked K-3 team. Zoe’s team also did very well and came 54th.
I can’t wait to see how well they do when they are in primary.  Well done everyone!!

What creatures can you discover in the Museum’s collection cabinets? How good are you at catching and identifying new bugs?

Go behind the scenes for a close-up look at the insects, spiders and other bugs in our collection store.

Use a zoom lens and field guide to explore the specimens in a drawer. Sort and label the bugs in a cabinet. Find out what’s missing, then go into the field to catch some more bugs for the collection! Click here to begin.

We have had a fantastic year this year and I thought I would do something special for all of you. I have created a professionally published book called ‘2NR 2009′ and filled it with photos and text of activities we have done this year. The book size is 18cm x 18cm square. A copy of last years book is available in the classroom if you would like to see size and quality.

The first 15 pages of the book can be previewed by clicking on the picture on the right, then click Preview. You can purchase the book (AU$16.95 + AU$13.80 shipping) on the same web page by just adding the quantity (1 or more) into your cart. Then click checkout and register your details.

I am more than happy to organise a bulk order that will reduce the cost from AU$30.75 each to only AU$15.00 each.

BULK ORDER: AU$15 per book (including shipping)

If you wish to place a order as part of a bulk lot you will need to send your child in with $15 (cash only or ask for my bank details) by Wednesday 18th November, I will then place a bulk order on the Friday(20th November). The books will take a short time to be printed and then shipped from the United States.

Additional Information:

• The book is likely to be updated to include ButterflySkye Incursion (19th/20th Nov).
• The books are being completed a little earlier this year so that you will are likely to receive them before the Christmas Break.
• A discount coupon is being used to reduce the books bulk cost.
• The books are much cheaper this year partially because of the strength of the Australian Dollar against the green back.
• The photos were taken with my iPhone and may not always be the best. My DSLR camera would have taken much better pictures, the iPhone is just much more convenient.

[Update]: The book order has been placed. The large order may delay printing by few more business days, though I expect them to still arrive before the term ends (fingers crossed).

[Update 2]: Estimated dispatch is 2/12/09.

[Update 3]: Order completed and shipped on 25/11/09

The following students have ordered a book as part of the bulk order.

1. Flynn
2. Jemma
3. Hannah
4. Ethan
5. Dawei x3
6. JakeL
7. Logan
8. Katie
9. Damian
10. Calum
11. Amber
12. JasmineB
13. Maia
14. Jenna x2
15. ZoeT
16. Bailey
    
17. JasmineB
18. Talija
19. Nic
20. Lily
21. Loulou
22. Tyler
23. Sarah

Need something interesting to do on the weekend?

Why not visit Sculpture by the Sea especially since it is free. The statues have transformed the magnificent 2km Bondi to Tamarama Coastal Walk until the 15th November. An estimated 500,000 visitors will view over 110 sculptures from artists from across Australia and around the world. www.sculpturebythesea.com

Below are three of my favourite Sculptures by the Sea. Click on them to see a larger version.

[amazing horse sculpture, click on photo to see full size]

[The watch sculpture reminds me of this painting by Salvador Dali.]

Today we had a wonderful time going around the school observing, taking pictures and temporarily collecting selected mini-beasts. Students were divided into seven groups and were given a camera, magnifying lenses, school map with coordinates, plastic collecting containers (Thank you Zoe B’s Dad) and a data logging sheet.

We found that the school is alive with a wonderful mass of creatures, some that we have never noticed or even seen before. One group found this pure white creature that looked like a spiky white flower. Other groups found beetles, worms, aphids, spiders, lady bug larvae, birds, rabbits, ants and a few other unidentified insects. The most popular find was a whole colony of Lady Beetles/Bugs.

We then returned to the classroom to discuss our observations. In the afternoon we had a short chance to observe the variety of creatures that were collected before releasing them where they were collected.

[ More wonderful photos can be found in the Gallery]

Several students have asked if we could keep some of the Lady Beetles/Bugs in the classroom as class pets. Since the students and I had no idea how to look after them it was probably not a good idea. After a little homework several students and I have found that they are actually very easy to look after.

Can I keep a lady beetle/bug as a pet?

A. Keeping a lady beetle as a pet to observe is easy and fun. You can house your ladybug in a bug box or terrarium. Keep the foliage moist, or place a damp paper towel inside so the ladybug can get a drink. You can feed your ladybug moistened raisins or other sweet, non-acidic fruits.

[photo taken by Zahli 2NR]

Lady beetles only live for around 100 days and lay between 600 and 2000 eggs. When the eggs hatch the larvae will grow from 1mm to about 7 mm in 10 to 30 days, depending on the amount of food. The larvae will then pupate and become a lady bug. In Australia, there are one to two generations per year before the adults enter winter hibernation.

Here is another fun game to help improve your estimation skills. If you spend too much time trying to get the exact answer you will not be able to complete many questions. If you answer too quickly then you will not get many questions right. The idea is to estimate and get close to the right answer. You have 60 seconds, good luck.

Click here or on the picture to begin.

Here is a fun game that will help improve your fraction skills. Each flower is missing some petals. Match all the falling petals to a flower before anyone hits the ground.

Click here or on the picture to begin.