oh room sixteen !

In Class students have been working on creating some fantastic poetry inspired by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Here is an example of his writing:

  Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market by Pablo Neruda

 Here, among the market vegetables, this torpedo from the ocean depths, a missile that swam, now lying in front of me dead. Surrounded by the earth's green froth —these lettuces, bunches of carrots— only you lived through the sea's truth, survived the unknown, the unfathomable darkness, the depths of the sea, the great abyss, le grand abîme, only you: varnished black-pitched witness to that deepest night. Only you: dark bullet barreled from the depths, carrying only your one wound, but resurgent, always renewed, locked into the current, fins fletched like wings in the torrent, in the coursing of the underwater dark, like a grieving arrow, sea-javelin, a nerveless oiled harpoon. Dead in front of me, catafalqued king of my own ocean; once sappy as a sprung fir in the green turmoil, once seed to sea-quake, tidal wave, now simply dead remains; in the whole market yours was the only shape left with purpose or direction in this jumbled ruin of nature; you are a solitary man of war among these frail vegetables, your flanks and prow black and slippery as if you were still a well-oiled ship of the wind, the only true machine of the sea: unflawed, undefiled, navigating now the waters of death.

Students have been exploring why selfies are "dangerous" and are making up their own opinion on the issue. Students have used the 4Cs to guide their research, but also have thought about how best to share their learning. Jahnaya and Georgie made a great display including selfies they took, and created their own explanation of what the issue is. Aimee and Layla put together a great poster from their research. I liked the way Kaylie saved the environment by using Google docs and not printing out any images! Her display shows her great thinking and her coming to terms with using google drawing.

 

We got a whole column published in the Nelson Mail. What a great way for students to show that they are engaged citizens who are prepared to share their opinions on issues that matter to them. I loved the huge buzz of excitement the class got when they saw their names in print, some even took a quick photo on their phones to show their parents! I was really impressed by the quality of the writing that the students put together after Kate Davidson, from the Nelson Mail, came to discuss with the class the excitement of being a journalist. The students then looked at the paper's coverage of a local issue - the redevelopment of Rocks Road and wrote their own informed opinion.

TASK 1
Watch this video
CLICK HERE

What are some of the problems that housing faces in the future?
Answer in a brainstorm in your maths book

Read this article
CLICK HERE
What are some important things to think about for a future house?
Answer in your maths book

The Driving Question
How can we design a house that meets people’s needs in 2075?


The Scenario and Challenge
The challenge in this project is for you and your group to examine four trends—population
growth, urbanization, energy efficiency, and changing tastes in design—that
will affect the kind of houses that people live in by 2075. You will create a floor plan and
basic model of a house of the future that reflects these four shifts, and then deliver your
design and give evidence of your thinking in the form of a 10 minute presentation about
why your house will be necessary and useful in the future. The format for the talk can vary,
but it is suggested that the presentation follow the guidelines for a TED-like talk in which
you give short presentations that focus on the future and innovation.

Your model house must accommodate a family of four. It can be a stand-alone dwelling, be part of a cluster, and use any shapes. Room for a vehicle or outdoor space is optional. The project is designed
to encouraged creativity and imagination.

You will create a floor plan, a basic model sketch, and a 10-minute presentation as your
final products. The floor plan and model should convey key geometric concepts and show
how geometry was used to construct the floor plan and model.

You will work in teams of three to four to create presentations that should include three
elements:

1. The model
2. An explanation and defence of design choices
3. An overview of why the design would help solve housing problems in the future.

Ideally, the presentation will be digital, in the form of a Prezi, PowerPoint, Google
Presentation or something more inventive. The plans that accompany the model must
include key geometric information showing that you understand formal constructions.
You must show that they can answer the Driving Question by demonstrating that your
‘house of the future’ accounts for population growth, urbanization, energy efficiency, and
future design trends.

Students will now follow a line of inquiry of their choosing into the world cup to produce their own graphs about the world cup.

One of the things that I love about teaching is constantly being challenged by students about why we are learning certain things. Obviously the World Cup is a great opportunity to see some of the world's greatest footballers showing their talent and encouraging students to value sports! But I feel that when asked "why are we learning this", the infographic above really helps to show why.

The world cup is really important to millions of people around the world.

Over the next two days, your job is to analyse the information in the videos below and the infographics in class, gather your own information from a class survey and create a graph.