Whats going on...

Room 11 have been super busy lately finishing mini inquiries and beginning new ones as well as playing hosts to a couple of experts.

To round off all the learning from Brain Week, room 11 conducted a mini inquiry about 'How We Can Assist The Way Our Brain Functions'. 

We examined four main areas that support the way our brain functions. These were being physical, being social, engaging in mental activities and the food we eat. We researched a number of different activities related to these areas, discussed them, then presented the information within a brain silhouette using various mediums.

    

A little while ago Iain's dad, Mike, visited room 11 to discuss his hobby of being a volcanologist. 

  

Mike talked about the various volcanoes that he has visited around the world, he showed us some some photos and video clips he and his friend had filmed. Mike also showed us the protective gear we wears, the camera he uses to document volcanoes erupting and he let us handle some of the volcanic rocks he has collected. Thanks Mike.

Last week room 11 began looking at the various techniques that engineers use to earthquake proof a building. We looked at the different ways buildings in Wellington have been earthquake proofed and examples of buildings with earthquake proof structures.

We then set about creating our own structures using skewers and marshmallows to test on Mr. McMillan's rudimentary shake table. On a much grander scale, shake tables are a device used by engineers to shake structural models to see how they stand up to a range of simulated ground motions similar to earthquakes. 
Mr. McMillan's shake table was no match for our sturdy models. Currently, the score is student models 5, Mr. McMillan's shake table 0.

On Friday room 11 began their final mini inquiry for the term 'How Do We Build A Earthquake Proof House?' We researched some of the structural features that are being incorporated into modern houses to help them withstand earthquakes and thought about what kind of building we would like to be in during an earthquake. 

On Friday morning Rosa's dad, Jonny, visited room 11 and discussed his role as an architect. He talked us through the various processes that architects go through to create a building once they have a design brief, showed us some amazing models of houses he had designed for clients and gave us a glimpse of a computer generated house he has designed.

Jonny also helped us get started with our next challenge designing an earthquake proof house. Thanks Jonny.

 Photographs taken by Andrew & Samantha