Mould, mould and more mould

There has been one timetable change to our Monday so as students don't have so many options on a Monday. The library lesson will now happen on a Tuesday.

In the morning we all attended  the whole school assembly where students were reminded about the importance of staying within the boundaries of the school. The new slogan is Stay in bound and be found! We also celebrated the birthdays of the week  and  did a meditation session.

Then it was on to Japanese where the focus continued on classroom items.

Students received feedback on their last lesson

They played a game to reinforce the new vocabulary

Students will make these signs in the near future

Something is not right

Students have been  given some guidance to the aims and expectations of this section of  Marvellous Microorganisms  unit  which is now  focusing on moulds. They will be concentrating on  conducting fair tests in scientifc experiments and the use of computers to publish their findings and results.

After recess students had Daily Phys. Ed and their weekly Physical Education lesson. I am so proud of the dance leaders who I oversee. A job well done girls.  Cross country is tomorrow and students know the run off times  times and all about the expectations of the day.

Over the next few weeks students will be:

*planning an investigation that is a fair test.

*conducting an investigation,and making and recording observations.

*interpreting observations and making a conclusion which answers the
 research question  posed.

* describing the conditions that encourage the growth of food mould.

*use technology to present their final report, including  typed text
  tables, photos, diagrams, graphs etc

Students completed the following cloze procedure on moulds after watching the following doucumetary.
http://vimeo.com/20196310

Tonight as part of their spelling homework they need to ensure that their word walls about Microorganisms are up-to-date. I hope to see the word hyphae there. They also had to complete this cloze procedure and focus on the significant Science words:


The ____ 'mould' is used to refer to several kinds of _____ that grow on
various surfaces. Moulds reproduce by producing ______. Mould spores
are commonly found in the air and soil, but will grow into mould only when
they land somewhere with the right __________ for growth.  Spores are very
_____ and don't contain a supply of food to help them begin to _____ like
seeds do.  They use whatever they land on as ____.

Mould grow _____ away from direct _________ in moist, cool-to-warm conditions
where there is plenty of plant and animal (organic) matter for them to use as an _____
source. A soggy sandwich left in a lunch box over the summer holidays is a
mould's delight. Moulds love  bathrooms and ______ old shoes.  They will even
grow on books and papers that have not been ______ in the right conditions.
Direct ultraviolet light (including) sunshine tends to _____ moulds and they don't
grow well in dry _____________.

When mould spores germinate they produce long, thin strands called hyphae
which give moulds their fluffy __________. Moulds play an important role in the
ecosystem, helping to decompose and ________ dead organic matter.

term        stored  recycle     sunlight   spores      appearance       environments
fungi        kill     conditions   food    energy     small    best   grow  sweaty

To end the day we had a look at mouldy foodstuffs.  There's a nightmare in my lunch box!

Students looked closely at what six week old bread mould looks like along with a very disgusting apple and some really gross tomato paste.  We discussed the importance of sealing or double bagging their future mould experiments. Students have been asked to think about the experiment they are going to conduct to find out about the conditions that mould requires to grow on bread.

I now have a record 23 out of 24 parents who are coming  to or have already had a parent teacher discussion session. Thanks all, I appreciate your time and actually enjoy the whole process.