In our last blog post we shared a video in which we talked about where power comes from. We had a wide range of ideas but most of us agreed that power came from the power poles and into wires that connect to the plugs in our homes and school. Watch the video and read about our thoughts here www.waikino.school.nz/junior-school---room-2/focusing-on-our-footprint.
The past week we have been talking about Energy and in particular, Solar Energy.
We have found out that...
we 'see' and 'feel' solar energy as heat and light.
Some places in our school get lots of solar energy, like the field and the playground.
Some places have the solar energy blocked such as in the native area, these places are colder.
Solar energy can be used to power the things we use.
Solar energy cannot be used as it is and needs to be changed before we can use it.
We have found out that...
we 'see' and 'feel' solar energy as heat and light.
Some places in our school get lots of solar energy, like the field and the playground.
Some places have the solar energy blocked such as in the native area, these places are colder.
Solar energy can be used to power the things we use.
Solar energy cannot be used as it is and needs to be changed before we can use it.
As we learn about Solar Energy we have come up with some things that we'd like to test, things that we have heard but aren't sure if they are true.
1. Dark colours attract the sun.
2. You can't get sunburnt in winter.
3. You don't need a battery to use solar energy.
4. You can cook with the sun.
5. You get more solar energy from the North.
We are in the process of designing experiments to test these statements, check in again to see what we come up with!
1. Dark colours attract the sun.
2. You can't get sunburnt in winter.
3. You don't need a battery to use solar energy.
4. You can cook with the sun.
5. You get more solar energy from the North.
We are in the process of designing experiments to test these statements, check in again to see what we come up with!
You can cook with the sun!
Mrs Smith spent a day in Room 2 last week and decided to test whether the fact that the sun can be used for cooking is true or false. Using readily available materials 4 solar powered ovens were created! Unfortunately on Friday the rain persisted and we had to wait for the whole weekend to see whether they worked. Today was the day....
We made some predictions about what we thought would happen and how long it would take.
"We think it will melt the chocolate and marshmallow"
"It will take all day to melt."
"I don't think it will cook like a proper oven, the marshmallows won't have a crunchy outside bit."
"I think ours will melt the quickest."
We used the information that we had come up with as we searched the school for areas with lots of solar energy and those that didn't have much and set up our area. We really wanted to know how hot our ovens got so that we could decided if they could be used for other food so we put a thermometer in the box with our smores! Woweee what an amazing thing we had created! 40 minutes, loads of heat and a delicious treat.
Thank you Mrs Smith!!!!!
"We think it will melt the chocolate and marshmallow"
"It will take all day to melt."
"I don't think it will cook like a proper oven, the marshmallows won't have a crunchy outside bit."
"I think ours will melt the quickest."
We used the information that we had come up with as we searched the school for areas with lots of solar energy and those that didn't have much and set up our area. We really wanted to know how hot our ovens got so that we could decided if they could be used for other food so we put a thermometer in the box with our smores! Woweee what an amazing thing we had created! 40 minutes, loads of heat and a delicious treat.
Thank you Mrs Smith!!!!!