Last week of homework for the year this week! I’m sure you’re all excited and can’t wait for holidays, but you still have to do your homework. At least you can be creative, using all your knowledge of Asian art to create and decorate your own hand fan.
Holidays and Celebrations (around the world)
This week’s homework is to choose a celebration from another country to tell the class about. This website has a list of countries with some of their more interesting festivals – even the Japanese ”Children’s Day”.
Diwali is called the festival of lights in India. On the third day of Diwali, the festival that marks the end of the Hindu year, Lakshmi is honored. Lakshmi represents good fortune and wealth.
The Rangoli is a sign of welcome. These drawings may be geometric patterns, drawings of Diwa lights (single-flamed lamps), or pictures of symbols. For example, lotus flowers symbolize purity and perfection. Rangoli designs are usually symmetrical and geometrical and can be designed easily using grid paper.
In handwriting this term, we have been practicing using cursive (running writing) to publish this poem. We write one stanza (verse) each week.
The Marvelous Homework and Housework Machine
By: Kenn Nesbitt
Attention all students! Attention all kids!
Hold onto your horses! Hold onto your lids!
We have just exactly the thing that you need
Whenever you’ve way too much homework to read.
The Marvelous Homework & Housework Machine
Will always makes sure that your bedroom is clean.
It loves to write book reports ten pages long,
Then put all your toys away where they belong.
This wonderful gadget will do all your math,
Then mop up your messes and go take your bath.
The Marvelous Homework & Housework Machine
Is truly like no other gizmo you’ve seen.
It hangs up your clothes on their hangers and hooks,
then reads all your boring geography books.
It brings you a pillow to give you a rest,
then brushes your teeth and prepares for your test.
This thing is amazing. I’m sure you’ll agree.
It feeds you dessert while you’re watching T.V.
There’s only one thing this device will not do.
It won’t eat your Brussels sprouts; they’re, like, P.U.
Cool Math For Kids: Brain Benders
This website describes itself as “an amusement park of math and more – especially designed for fun, fun, FUN!“. It’s basically heaps of maths activities in the fun and games style that we love to learn from.
I’ve chosen the brain benders section for you this week, so you can practice your problem solving skills. Try the bridge crossing puzzle, and tell me how you solve it!
The beautiful peacock is the national animal of India. It has a royal blue body and head, with a crest above it’s head. The male has a stunning tale (also called a train) of irridescent green or blue-green feathers covered in a series of eyes visible when the tail is fanned. The female has a mixture of dull green, brown, and grey in her plumage. She lacks the long upper tail feathers of the male but still has a crest.
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written by people all over the world. It’s important to remember that it is helpful but might not be completely accurate (true) because anybody can write it, not just ‘professionals’.
For this week’s homework there is information on each country that I took from Wikipedia for you to ’sort out’.
China on Wikipedia
India on Wikipedia
Japan on Wikipedia
Thailand on Wikipedia
I would love to hear any other interesting facts you discover about these countries – feel free to post some below!
It seems the class has discovered the ‘joy’ of Urban Legends. Lots of scary stories keep being whispered around the school about ghosts, spirits, and all sorts of gruesome things.
We are going to learn some tricks to help us decide when a story like this is true, false, or a little bit of both.
Adam and Jamie are the stars of the show ‘Mythbusters’ who make a living by using the scientific method to test if stories are true or not. Here is a short video from one of their episodes about banana peels.
The scientific process that Mythbusters used is:
The task is, for you to choose either a superstition, and design a way to test if it is true or false – without putting anybody at risk. Then, try using this extra information on spotting an urban legend.
EXPERIMENT
Test subject:
Background research:
Supplies:
Precautions:
Instructions:
Reply in the comments with superstitions and urban legends you know.
There are several legends about how the animals were chosen for the Chinese zodiac. Here are a few video versions.
Here is a video made by kids at another school. Maybe we could try making our own!
Australian War Memorial Discovery Zone
Discovery Zone is like a museum exhibit set up to help children see and understand what it was like to be a soldier in the wars. The photo below is of the museum exhibit, but at the website you will find real pictures of soldiers and wartime.
I chose this site because it is Remembrance Day this week, and it is important to remember soldiers who fought and died in war so our country could be free.
Is beauty real or is it a lie? We get our ideas of what is beautiful from photographs on the computer and websites, on billboards and posters, from magazines, TV and movies.
However, the fashion industry is telling you lies. They makeover the models with heaps of expensive make-up, change their hairstyles, dress them in overpriced top quality clothing, supply shiny jewellery, and hide, remove, or change all the ‘ugly’ bits, all wioth special equipment like fans and lighting. It takes hours!
After all that, they take the photographs and change them on the computer.They make the eyes bigger, change eye color, tidy up the hair, even out the skin colour, brighten lip colour, reshape your face, add makeup, and even make the neck longer and thinner.
People look at the photos and might feel bad. They could think they are obese, because they can’t fit into the dress the model is wearing. They could be jealous because they want to be like the model, or feel betrayed if they find out the models who look so good in the pictures actually ugly or just normal looking. People might try and be as skinny as the models look by stopping eating which would make them sick. They might get teased if they don’t look like a model.
It can’t be good for the model either. They might get allergic to the makeup or the makeup could make their skin bad. They might get poked in the eye with mascara! They could be kidnapped by someone who thought they were so attractive they wanted to keep the model to themselves. People might not believe the real person is the same as the one in the picture.
People should create their own ideas of beauty instead of looking at fantasy images in magazines. They could look at pictures that haven’t been changed of normal people, not just young and beautiful ones. You could look at real people around you (as long as you don’t copy their style completely!). People ld focus on health, happiness, and ‘inner beauty’ instead of what you look like on the outside.
Interactive World Map of World Landmarks
Put your mouse on the red dots, and a landmark from that place will appear in the box. Click on it and information will appear down the bottom. The picture I chose below is about Angkor Wat in Thailand.
‘Sakura Matsuri’ is the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival. It happens in April when the Cherry Blossom trees begin to bloom. This is a time the start of a new year for students and businesses, so Cherry Blossom trees make people think of new beginnings.
Families often make trips around Japan just to see the Cherry Blossoms bloom. They have special parties called ‘hanami’ in parks and gardens just to look at the flowers. Some towns have big festivals to celebrate the beautiful Cherry Blossoms.
On November the 15th in Japan, kids have their own festival called Shichi-Go-San which means 7-5-3. Boys who turn 3 or 5, and girls who turn 3 and 7 get to celebrate it.
They have special clothes to wear. Girls wear ‘kimono’, and when they turn 7 they can wear an ‘obi’ (belt). Boys wear ‘hakama’ pants and ‘haori’ jackets. Parents can’t do the dressing themselves because things have to be tied in special ways. Instead, they need a professional dresser.
They have to go the shrine before they celebrate. There are four parts to the day – purification (cleansing), giving an offering, and prayer, then the celebration and feast.
They get given special ‘longevity candy’ (to wish them a long life) called chitose-ame. The packet has a crane, turtle, and old people to show a long life.
Another important part of Shichi-Go-San is that children no longer have to shave their heads. They can let their hair grow!
In this game, you are given a flag and a choice of countries that it might belong to. You get points on how fast you answer, and lose points if you’re wrong. If you don’t know the answer, then wait a few seconds and clues will start to appear!
You should play the game and post your highest score, see who can get the highest!
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