Today we worked really hard in our groups to finish our research posters and foyer display design. We worked so hard and were so busy that the day flew by, all the bells for morning tea, lunch, and the end of day rang before we knew it! Ms Gain even forgot to take any photos!
We finished adding information to our posters, chose the images we wanted including maps and diagrams, created titles and headings for our posters, and published our information on keynote and comic life. We also chose some information to present by pretending to be information buttons and film footage. Next time we meet we are going to be visited by a drama specialist in role as our company manager. We are going to have to present all our work to her and walk her through our foyer design ideas.
So far for our foyer display design we have:
• 6 different research posters (1 for each group) with either an ‘information button’ or piece of ‘film footage’ to go with it.
• Clay models of, and information about, the different types of equipment used on board The Aumoana.
• A company timeline and history.
• NZ COSSA’s Mission Statement, Values, and Company Logo.
• A display about diving work including a poster and a small video clip.
• A display about Life on Board the Boat including boat plans, an example of an upcoming planned expedition, photos from on the boat (our freeze frames), details about the equipment that needs to be worn while working on deck, ‘information buttons’ reading some excerpts from diary entries written on the boat, and a small videoed interview with scientists about their experiences working on The Aumoana.
Muritai TV visited us today and spent a long time talking to us about the work we have been doing. We all took turns to tell the interviewers about our fictional company and the work we have been doing to design a new informative foyer display for the company building. There was a lot to talk about as we described our company, (its values, mission statement, history, workspaces), the research we have been doing, and what learning in Mantle of the Expert is all about. Keep an eye out for the link to the documentary here soon!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Day 6: Afternoon: Some Drama
In the afternoon we practised filming some of our small dramas that we had created last week to be a part of our foyer display. We have one group doing an interview with a number of ‘marine scientists’, which gives information about life on board the boat, and another group doing a diving equipment check and a short informative talk about diving in Antarctica.
Some of us as audience made suggestions to the group about how they could make the information clearer and the people filming also made suggestions, for example how best to stand or sit including not covering faces with paper when reading, and ways to make things clearer such as thanking each person after each interview before moving on to the next person. These suggestions helped polish the performances. Next week we hope to have some finished films of these small dramas to be a part of our final foyer display.
Finally we used drama to reflect on the values and mission statement of our company that we had come up with last week. Going back into role and imagining ourselves as marine scientists working for NZ COSSA, we thought back to a moment that may have led us to working as a marine scientist. We thought about something that could have made us want to work with marine life and investigating marine environments, and in a job that involved practical work on a boat as well as research and lab work. Here are a few of the ‘memories’ that were shared…
I knew I wanted to work in the sea when I caught my first fish, it was a little spotty and I thought it was amazing…I also wanted a job where I could be active and wouldn’t have to just sit at a desk all the time.
Max.
When I first saw a blue whale I decided at that moment that I really really wanted to be a sea scientist…
Zoe.
When I was 8 we went to a place called Green Island and I went snorkelling there and I saw all these corals and turtles and all these animals that I had never seen before and I wanted to protect them…
Mia.
Once my sister dived into the sea and caught a baby shark and I thought ‘I want to work in the sea!’, I wanted to find more sharks!
Lucy.
When I was little me and my parents went diving in the sea except we didn’t have all our equipment we just went beside the beach and saw fish, and I decided I wanted to do proper diving when I grew up…
Robbie.
Once I saw lots of beautiful sea creatures, lots of fish, dolphins, and turtles and I thought I really wanted to work where I could help look after those animals.
Georgia.
When I was little I loved playing games about animals, especially sea animals…
Mia P.
When I was little I loved skipping along the beach, examining the little things on the seaweed that washed up on the shore…
Sally.
Some of us as audience made suggestions to the group about how they could make the information clearer and the people filming also made suggestions, for example how best to stand or sit including not covering faces with paper when reading, and ways to make things clearer such as thanking each person after each interview before moving on to the next person. These suggestions helped polish the performances. Next week we hope to have some finished films of these small dramas to be a part of our final foyer display.
Finally we used drama to reflect on the values and mission statement of our company that we had come up with last week. Going back into role and imagining ourselves as marine scientists working for NZ COSSA, we thought back to a moment that may have led us to working as a marine scientist. We thought about something that could have made us want to work with marine life and investigating marine environments, and in a job that involved practical work on a boat as well as research and lab work. Here are a few of the ‘memories’ that were shared…
I knew I wanted to work in the sea when I caught my first fish, it was a little spotty and I thought it was amazing…I also wanted a job where I could be active and wouldn’t have to just sit at a desk all the time.
Max.
When I first saw a blue whale I decided at that moment that I really really wanted to be a sea scientist…
Zoe.
When I was 8 we went to a place called Green Island and I went snorkelling there and I saw all these corals and turtles and all these animals that I had never seen before and I wanted to protect them…
Mia.
Once my sister dived into the sea and caught a baby shark and I thought ‘I want to work in the sea!’, I wanted to find more sharks!
Lucy.
When I was little me and my parents went diving in the sea except we didn’t have all our equipment we just went beside the beach and saw fish, and I decided I wanted to do proper diving when I grew up…
Robbie.
Once I saw lots of beautiful sea creatures, lots of fish, dolphins, and turtles and I thought I really wanted to work where I could help look after those animals.
Georgia.
When I was little I loved playing games about animals, especially sea animals…
Mia P.
When I was little I loved skipping along the beach, examining the little things on the seaweed that washed up on the shore…
Sally.
Day 6: Mid Morning: Planning A Research Expedition to Antarctica: Maths and Problem Solving.
Next we planned a research expedition to Antarctica. Each group had a different research project that involved using different sampling equipment, the equipment that we had just modelled using clay.
The team was given a range of information including:
• The expedition was to be 3 weeks long
• Distance from Wellington to Antarctica is about 3000km
• The boat travels 20km an hour
• Antarctica is dark all the time in Winter and light all the time in Summer
• In winter there is a lot of ice in the Ross Sea that would make sampling too hard and also make it more dangerous for the boat to travel through.
• Plankton blooms occur in Spring and Autumn
Using this information we had to choose the best time to travel (we decided late Spring: November), work out the travelling time in hours first (150hours each way) and then days (6 ½ each way), and then work out how many days remained for the research work (8 days).
Each group were then given the longitude and latitude co-ordinates of the sampling sites they needed to visit, a map of the Ross Sea area, and information about the amount of time it takes to get samples using the different pieces of equipment.
Using this information the different groups marked their sampling sites on the map and worked out how many hours work they would need to complete their sampling at each site using their equipment, including deploying the equipment and collecting the samples once back on board. Once every team had done this we came back as a group and negotiated when the work would be done in the remaining 8 research days. This was a challenge as we had to make sure everyone was allocated enough time to get all their sampling done!
The sampling sites that had to be visited by the different research groups.
Working as a team to make sure everyone's research was scheduled in!
The team was given a range of information including:
• The expedition was to be 3 weeks long
• Distance from Wellington to Antarctica is about 3000km
• The boat travels 20km an hour
• Antarctica is dark all the time in Winter and light all the time in Summer
• In winter there is a lot of ice in the Ross Sea that would make sampling too hard and also make it more dangerous for the boat to travel through.
• Plankton blooms occur in Spring and Autumn
Using this information we had to choose the best time to travel (we decided late Spring: November), work out the travelling time in hours first (150hours each way) and then days (6 ½ each way), and then work out how many days remained for the research work (8 days).
Each group were then given the longitude and latitude co-ordinates of the sampling sites they needed to visit, a map of the Ross Sea area, and information about the amount of time it takes to get samples using the different pieces of equipment.
Using this information the different groups marked their sampling sites on the map and worked out how many hours work they would need to complete their sampling at each site using their equipment, including deploying the equipment and collecting the samples once back on board. Once every team had done this we came back as a group and negotiated when the work would be done in the remaining 8 research days. This was a challenge as we had to make sure everyone was allocated enough time to get all their sampling done!
The sampling sites that had to be visited by the different research groups.
Working as a team to make sure everyone's research was scheduled in!
Day 6: Morning: Clay Models of Equipment
This morning we studied photos and diagrams of different types of equipment, which are used on board research vessels to collect samples for studying. Each research group studied a piece of equipment that would be used for their particular area of research. We then used clay to make models of the different pieces of equipment. Some of us found the 3D modelling quite a challenge, and there was a lot of working out how best to use the clay to get it to stand on its own!
We then made labels to go with our piece of equipment that described what they were used for and how they were used. Different groups used different computer programmes to make the labels, some used Comic Life and some used Keynote.
Sedimentary Trap: Lowered into the sea for several months at a time to collect phytoplankton and microscopic zooplankton samples.
Model by: Helena and Georgia.
DTIS: An underwater digital camera that takes photos of the sea floor.
Model by Tim.
Side Scan Sonar: Travels alongside the boat and collects information to make a 3D map of the sea floor.
Model by Max and Tom.
MOCNESS: Multiple opening and closing nets that collect samples from the sea at different depths.
Model by Lucy and Zoe.
CTD: This piece of equipment is lowered into the sea to collect water samples to measure the salinity, temperature, and depth of the water.
CPR: A Continuous Plankton Recorder. This instrument is towed behind the boat to collect plankton samples.
Model by Samantha and Rosa.
A Multicorer: Takes shallow cores, about 30cm deep, from the sea floor.
Model by Mia P. and Sally.
Life Jacket, Steel Cap Boots, and Hard Hat: Safety gear to be worn while working with any equipment on deck.
Model by Mia W.
We then made labels to go with our piece of equipment that described what they were used for and how they were used. Different groups used different computer programmes to make the labels, some used Comic Life and some used Keynote.
Sedimentary Trap: Lowered into the sea for several months at a time to collect phytoplankton and microscopic zooplankton samples.
Model by: Helena and Georgia.
DTIS: An underwater digital camera that takes photos of the sea floor.
Model by Tim.
Side Scan Sonar: Travels alongside the boat and collects information to make a 3D map of the sea floor.
Model by Max and Tom.
MOCNESS: Multiple opening and closing nets that collect samples from the sea at different depths.
Model by Lucy and Zoe.
CTD: This piece of equipment is lowered into the sea to collect water samples to measure the salinity, temperature, and depth of the water.
CPR: A Continuous Plankton Recorder. This instrument is towed behind the boat to collect plankton samples.
Model by Samantha and Rosa.
A Multicorer: Takes shallow cores, about 30cm deep, from the sea floor.
Model by Mia P. and Sally.
Life Jacket, Steel Cap Boots, and Hard Hat: Safety gear to be worn while working with any equipment on deck.
Model by Mia W.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Day 5: Afternoon: Reflecting on our Learning
This afternoon we did some preparation for being interviewed by Muritai TV about what we have been doing on Mondays in the Green Room. We reflected on what we had learnt about Mantle of the Expert so far and we discussed the positives/minuses/and interesting things about this type of learning. We also came up with some key sentences about what we have learnt in our research. For homework we are going to have a go at sharing these key sentences with someone in our family.
These are the key sentences that each research group came up with this afternoon:
Group 1
Zooplankton can be different sizes some are microscopic and some are as big as jellyfish.
Plankton means wandering or drifting.
Zooplankton don’t swim very far they mainly float in the sea currents.
Krill is a type of zooplankton.
Krill is very important, nearly everything in the sea eats krill.
Zooplankton is an animal type of plankton, they eat phytoplankton and other plankton.
Group 2
Pythoplankton is a type of microscopic plant that lives in the sea.
Plankton means drifting or floating.
Phytoplankton is moved by the currents, it cannot swim on its own.
Plankton needs nutrients and sunlight to grow, just like plants on earth.
Phytoplankton breathes carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen.
Phytoplankton make their own food, they are at the bottom of the marine food web.
Group 3
Antarctic Silverfish and the toothfish are part of the notothenioidei fish family.
Silverfish are a type of fish that can live in freezing cold waters, there blood doesn’t freeze.
Silverfish are endangered because they grow under ice sheets and the ice is melting.
Penguins are dying out because the silverfish are dying out.
Group 4
There are volcanoes and sea mountains on the sea floor.
There are different types of muds and clays on the sea floor.
There are fossils on the sea floor like phytoplankton, and zooplankton such as krill.
There are risen bits of land on the sea floor such as the Chatham Rise.
Group 5
Cores are drilled from the sea floor to find different layers.
There are different depths of ocean around New Zealand.
There is a current called the circumpolar current that comes from Antarctica and its cold.
There are currents called the tropical and subtropical current, and these are warmer.
The oceans around NZ are the Atlantic, the South Pacific, and the Tasman Sea.
Group 6
The drill pipes on boats drill into the sea floor and collect tubes of earth to study called cores.
Cores can contain rock, sediments, and fossils.
Cores have a lot of history, different layers can have different fossils.
Fossils can tell you about what was alive in different times.
Cores have different layers from different times.
The layer at the top is the newest.
The deepest layer is the oldest.
These are the key sentences that each research group came up with this afternoon:
Group 1
Zooplankton can be different sizes some are microscopic and some are as big as jellyfish.
Plankton means wandering or drifting.
Zooplankton don’t swim very far they mainly float in the sea currents.
Krill is a type of zooplankton.
Krill is very important, nearly everything in the sea eats krill.
Zooplankton is an animal type of plankton, they eat phytoplankton and other plankton.
Group 2
Pythoplankton is a type of microscopic plant that lives in the sea.
Plankton means drifting or floating.
Phytoplankton is moved by the currents, it cannot swim on its own.
Plankton needs nutrients and sunlight to grow, just like plants on earth.
Phytoplankton breathes carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen.
Phytoplankton make their own food, they are at the bottom of the marine food web.
Group 3
Antarctic Silverfish and the toothfish are part of the notothenioidei fish family.
Silverfish are a type of fish that can live in freezing cold waters, there blood doesn’t freeze.
Silverfish are endangered because they grow under ice sheets and the ice is melting.
Penguins are dying out because the silverfish are dying out.
Group 4
There are volcanoes and sea mountains on the sea floor.
There are different types of muds and clays on the sea floor.
There are fossils on the sea floor like phytoplankton, and zooplankton such as krill.
There are risen bits of land on the sea floor such as the Chatham Rise.
Group 5
Cores are drilled from the sea floor to find different layers.
There are different depths of ocean around New Zealand.
There is a current called the circumpolar current that comes from Antarctica and its cold.
There are currents called the tropical and subtropical current, and these are warmer.
The oceans around NZ are the Atlantic, the South Pacific, and the Tasman Sea.
Group 6
The drill pipes on boats drill into the sea floor and collect tubes of earth to study called cores.
Cores can contain rock, sediments, and fossils.
Cores have a lot of history, different layers can have different fossils.
Fossils can tell you about what was alive in different times.
Cores have different layers from different times.
The layer at the top is the newest.
The deepest layer is the oldest.
Day 5: Mid Morning: Some New Tasks
After morning tea we went into role and had a team meeting. We received an email from management asking us to include some more things in our new foyer display design. These were to include a history of the NZ COSSA company, some information about the diving work done on board The Aumoana, and finally some information about life on board The Aumoana. We reviewed our progress on our research projects and decided to spend a day focussing on these new jobs. We decided we could only afford to spend one day of time on it though! So we divided into 3 working groups to tackle these new tasks.
One group created a historical timeline for our company. They interviewed everyone about when they joined the company, put together the dates on the newspaper articles, and decided on some key moments in the history of our company. Using drama we agreed to believe that the timeline recorded the history of our fictional company.
Another group worked on researching about diving equipment and procedures for diving in Antarctica. We received another email from management reminding us that we all needed our diving certificates renewed, and that involved proving recent diving experience and having all diving equipment checked. After doing their research, this working group decided to lead the whole team in a diving equipment check and then took us all on an imagined dive in Antarctic waters.
Diving Equipment Checklist.
“Just some advice, when you put your flippers on walk backwards so you don’t trip over….my assistants Julius and Robbie have their equipment on correctly so watch them…” Max talking as he led us on a team dive and diving equipment check.
“Diving in Antarctic is very dangerous because it is below 1 degree Celsius. You need to drill two holes in the ice because a seal sometimes uses one up! There needs to be two people to help one person diving. The rescuers need to be ready in their diving equipment to dive in and rescue if they need to. They need to have an extra layer so that they’re warmer! Not like normal diving!” Write up by Max.
The third working group did some research about life on board a research vessel. They then used drama to put together a ‘filmed’ interview with 3 scientists about the work they did on the boat, the gear they had to wear, what the food was like, and what their favourite thing was about living on the boat. We agreed to believe that we were watching a filmed interview as this group performed their interview to us. Next week we will try to make a real recording of this interview.
One group created a historical timeline for our company. They interviewed everyone about when they joined the company, put together the dates on the newspaper articles, and decided on some key moments in the history of our company. Using drama we agreed to believe that the timeline recorded the history of our fictional company.
Another group worked on researching about diving equipment and procedures for diving in Antarctica. We received another email from management reminding us that we all needed our diving certificates renewed, and that involved proving recent diving experience and having all diving equipment checked. After doing their research, this working group decided to lead the whole team in a diving equipment check and then took us all on an imagined dive in Antarctic waters.
Diving Equipment Checklist.
“Just some advice, when you put your flippers on walk backwards so you don’t trip over….my assistants Julius and Robbie have their equipment on correctly so watch them…” Max talking as he led us on a team dive and diving equipment check.
“Diving in Antarctic is very dangerous because it is below 1 degree Celsius. You need to drill two holes in the ice because a seal sometimes uses one up! There needs to be two people to help one person diving. The rescuers need to be ready in their diving equipment to dive in and rescue if they need to. They need to have an extra layer so that they’re warmer! Not like normal diving!” Write up by Max.
The third working group did some research about life on board a research vessel. They then used drama to put together a ‘filmed’ interview with 3 scientists about the work they did on the boat, the gear they had to wear, what the food was like, and what their favourite thing was about living on the boat. We agreed to believe that we were watching a filmed interview as this group performed their interview to us. Next week we will try to make a real recording of this interview.
Day 5: Morning: Company Mission Statement and Key Values
This morning we talked as a group about having a mission statement for our company. We talked about Muritai School’s mission statement ‘Muritai Students will be the best that they can be’, and we identified and discussed some of the school’s key values, which included values of working well together, respecting and caring for each other, looking after the environment, and respecting things Maori.
We talked about why the school values things Maori and we had a great discussion!
“It is part of our culture”
“It is important in New Zealand”
“The Maori were here first…and we signed a Treaty”
“If we didn’t use the language in New Zealand it might become extinct”
We learnt that in New Zealand many companies value things Maori to help protect the Maori language and culture, and to honour the Treaty of Waitangi.
We brainstormed ideas for a mission statement as a whole group, worked in small groups to try and put our ideas into one sentence, and then had a small working group to pull everyone’s ideas together to come up with our final mission statement. It was a big job to get all the words just right, but we are all really pleased with what we have come up with.
NZ COSSA’S Mission Statement:
‘We explore and investigate so that the sea world around New Zealand can be protected for the future.’
Key Company Values:
• We work hard to be the best scientists we can be
• We research and give people information about the sea around New Zealand so that is can be protected.
• We do our best to look out for endangered species of fish.
• We work as a team and respect each other.
• We respect things Maori because it is part of New Zealand’s culture and the Treaty of Waitangi.
After talking about valuing things Maori in our company we talked about ways a company could reflect this value. We thought we could use the online Maori dictionary to find Maori words to express some of our key company values. We found a number of Maori words to do with protecting, cherishing, and caring for the sea environment.
Georgia suggested we email Mr Chadwick to see if he could put some of the Maori words we chose (‘tai’ meaning sea, ‘taonga’ meaning treasures/things we cherish, and ‘kaitiaki’ meaning caring and protecting for the future) into a sentence to be a part of our mission statement. We are looking forward to hearing back from him!
Some of us are also going to have a go at designing a logo for our company.
“A logo is a picture or a symbol, which represents what company it is.” Tim.
We are looking forward to seeing some designs next week.
We talked about why the school values things Maori and we had a great discussion!
“It is part of our culture”
“It is important in New Zealand”
“The Maori were here first…and we signed a Treaty”
“If we didn’t use the language in New Zealand it might become extinct”
We learnt that in New Zealand many companies value things Maori to help protect the Maori language and culture, and to honour the Treaty of Waitangi.
We brainstormed ideas for a mission statement as a whole group, worked in small groups to try and put our ideas into one sentence, and then had a small working group to pull everyone’s ideas together to come up with our final mission statement. It was a big job to get all the words just right, but we are all really pleased with what we have come up with.
NZ COSSA’S Mission Statement:
‘We explore and investigate so that the sea world around New Zealand can be protected for the future.’
Key Company Values:
• We work hard to be the best scientists we can be
• We research and give people information about the sea around New Zealand so that is can be protected.
• We do our best to look out for endangered species of fish.
• We work as a team and respect each other.
• We respect things Maori because it is part of New Zealand’s culture and the Treaty of Waitangi.
After talking about valuing things Maori in our company we talked about ways a company could reflect this value. We thought we could use the online Maori dictionary to find Maori words to express some of our key company values. We found a number of Maori words to do with protecting, cherishing, and caring for the sea environment.
Georgia suggested we email Mr Chadwick to see if he could put some of the Maori words we chose (‘tai’ meaning sea, ‘taonga’ meaning treasures/things we cherish, and ‘kaitiaki’ meaning caring and protecting for the future) into a sentence to be a part of our mission statement. We are looking forward to hearing back from him!
Some of us are also going to have a go at designing a logo for our company.
“A logo is a picture or a symbol, which represents what company it is.” Tim.
We are looking forward to seeing some designs next week.
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