On Friday, we were lucky enough to have Ipo the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo come to visit our Year 7 & 8 classes. Ipo is a pretty cool parrot - he is very much loved for his amazing fashion sense and cool, calm and collected presence, wowing his audience with his amazing, friendly personality. Ipo belongs to the nana of one of our students, and you can read more about him in this article from Stuff News
In Term 2, 7 & 8 MNL are participating in the Wonder Project Rocket Challenge. We have been learning all about Space and rockets, including what they need to make them fly. Last week, we did some initial test flights of plain 1.5 litre soda bottles. We learnt they have to be fizzy drink bottles as these are designed to withstand greater pressure. When testing the bottles without any design enhancements like fins or a nose cone, we could adjust two variables - the water level or the PSI/pressure. We decided to stick with always keeping the PSI the same, and changing the water levels. We kept the PSI at 60, and then tried different water levels between 100 mls and 600 mls.
We found that when we used less water, with 60 psi, the rocket launched more effectively. It did not lose control as fast or as easily. Our next step is to design our own prototype rockets that include fins and nose cones to achieve the ultimate launch power!
You can check out some of our photos below, as well as some links to our launch videos
OUR ROCKET TEAMS GETTING READY TO LAUNCH:
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2021 got off to a very busy start in 7 & 8 MNL Homeroom. One of our challenges in Term One, was to design and make sailboats, after learning about the wind and wind power. The criteria for our sailboats included having to have the following components:
We are 7 & 8 MNL, 2021. We hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about us from our presentation below. We are one of six Year 7 & 8 classes at Ōtaki College, based on the Kapiti Coast. We look forward to sharing our learning with you this year.
