Kiwi Culture & My Culture

Social Studies keep us busy like little bee's. This term we have been learning about Kiwi Cutlure and looking into Kaupapa which have meaning to the individuals within the classroom. Last week 9R researched about Ihumatao and developed three focus questions to answer.
1.  What role does government play in this issues?
2. Why does Maori not want to give the land to government?
3. Why are protesters aiming to stop the build?
At the end of the research students presented their findings to the rest of the class. 

I have attached a waiata being sung by Stan Walker taken from YouTube.

More great work on probability this week. Finding probabilities when flipping 2 coins, rolling 2 dice, different spinners. Using a sample space (grid) to help and  to list all the possible outcomes. Also tree diagrams, used to find the different combinations.
We should do well on our end of topic assessment.

Probability 1

9R have now started learning all about probability - the chance of something happening or not happening !!
We worked on the probability number scale and the range from Impossible to Certain. Impossible has a numerical value of 0 and Certain = 1. All probabilities are therefore between 0 and 1.
other words were added, eg. likely, possible, highly unlikely, maybe, random ....

Students made a list of the key words they have used so far in this topic and put them into an image using wordart. https://wordart.com/
We will keep checking they remember the spellings and the meanings !!

Here is an example.

We have begun writing the probability of an event - using our fraction knowledge.
The number on the bottom of a fraction is the total number of possible outcomes of an event and the number on top is how many ways what we want can happen. Students have posted examples on their blog to explain.

All going well so far.

Mathematics Vocabulary

This week we spent a bit of time checking our understanding of words we often use in Mathematics. There were lots of examples of words for students to drag and drop into the correct box. Lots of discussion and asking about the meanings !!

Introduction to fractions

In maths we have been learning about fractions.  So far we have been working on how to write fractions, how to simplify fractions and equivalent fractions. These last 2 parts are much easier if you  know your times tables !!

Fractions are used a lot in our lives. Our class came up with some great examples - sports fields, chrome book box,  neopolitean ice- cream, measuring cups when cooking, half an hour etc.

Some important key words so far are -
equivalent  (means they are differently written but are equal) eg.  3/6 = 1/2.
numerator  (the number on the top of a fraction)
denominator  (the number on the bottom of a fraction)
simplify  (means make the numerator and denominator the smallest possible whole numbers)
eg. 10/12 = 5/6.    12/18 = 2/3

Students made their own fractions quiz in google slides.
Here is Ezra's Quiz.  See if you can solve his questions and it would be great if you left a comment on his blog post Introduction to fractions.

Cell Division in Science

As part of our science knowledge on genetics we learn about cell division. In year 10 the students have to know an outline on cell division, for example what is mitosis and meiosis, and the difference between them. We also look at why old cells have to be replaced by new ones.

Cell Division Mitosis and Meiosis from Catherine Patterson

Maths:Decimals

We have been learning about decimals - what is a decimal number ? Drawing pictures of a decimal number, knowing where they are on a number line, the place values, putting them in order, multiplying and dividing them by 10, 100, etc.

Nau mai, haere mai ki tēnei taonga

Welcome to our class blog for learning. This is where all of the teachers of 9M can share what's happening throughout the term in their class and student work.