The September 2020 edition of the Lizard News is out, featuring this article on Matahui School.
So far, this term it has been a hive of activity at Matahui School, with a big focus on science, maths and engineering.
Our year 1 – 2 students followed a scientific method of inquiry when they grew their own Scobie and made Kombucha (fermented tea) last month. The students studied the Scobie’s growth, made predictions about the outcome, watched it grow, change colour and create carbon dioxide, used their senses to observe the changes (which included taste testing the Kombucha) before bottling and flavouring with homegrown fruits. The children finished off the experiment with a reflection on their predictions while they enjoyed a refreshing drink of kombucha. One child even commented: “Does this mean we are scientists now?’
Last month the EPro8 challenge was held at KatiKati College. Several students from our year 5 - 8 classes represented Matahui School at the engineering and problem-solving challenge. The EPro8 Challenge involves teams competing in practical problem-solving challenges, fun experiments, maths problems, and engineering challenges. The students had to work collaboratively, dividing up the tasks so that everyone was actively involved; and practiced teamwork, leadership, perseverance and cooperation. The year 7 – 8 class entered three teams and ended up going head-to-head in a final challenge for third place. Congratulations to all the Matahui students who competed in the challenge, but a big congratulations to Harry, Isabel, Macy and Matilda (aka the Matahui Machines) who took the third-place position and will now move onto the semi-finals. They made us proud!
The year 3 – 4 students practiced basic maths and science, built self-confidence and learned about healthy eating habits, when they prepared soup and homemade bread on a cold winter’s day as part of their learning last month. Cooking offers children the opportunity to learn about measurements and practice multiplication and division. It also provides children with a basic understanding of chemistry, such as learning about how yeast comes alive when you add honey and water and why we need hot temperatures to cook. The students chopped vegetables, diced onions and leeks and added fresh parsley and bay leaves harvested from the Matahui gardens. During lunch the soup and bread was shared with everyone at the school; a tasty treat for a cold winter’s day.
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