For Jess

If Jesus was born nowdays...

End of Year Christmas Post

What did you expect...?

Thanks for a great year Flamelambs (and adopted Flamelambs, you know who you are.) Have a great Christmas and enjoy the sheer terror in 2011 of being the youngest in school again. Keep sending comments through and I'll add them to the discussion thread.

Si usted traduce este sus vacaciones deben ser realmente aburridas.

Last Homework of the Year

Yes, you read it correctly! You have two writing tasks to finish off the year. The first is a two page reflection of your primary school years. Write about your memories; the good, the bad, the ugly. You may share this piece with the class if you wish. The second piece is TOP SECRET. If you are unsure of what the details are, see your teacher.

How to beat the kiwis next time

As contributed by el. Thanks.

Melbourne Cup

Another year, another Cup. To celebrate the winner, here's a tenuous link...

All Saints Day tomorrow

Just a reminder that we are celebrating All Saints Day tomorrow. You can wear your sports uniform if you wish!

More Limericks

There once was a lady named Sue,
She grew and grew and grew,
She was so tall
She crashed through a wall,
The cow she squashed said "Moo!"

There was a person called Sean
His car had a funky horn
It went beepity beep
And scared the sheep,
Poor Sean wished he'd never been born.

One day young Alex just laughed
At nothing that's funny or daft,
She rofl'ed and giggled,
Smirked, smiled and wiggled,
Non stop until she barfed.

There was a young girl called Lizzy,
Who always spun till dizzy,
She fell on the ground,
With a great big pound,
And was forever known to be tizzy.

There was a young boy named Connor,
Who always fought with honour,
He heard one day,
To his great dismay,
That his best mate, Johnny's a gonna!

Limericks

There once was a boy called Sean,

Who loved to eat his corn,

He was given some bacon,

That made him breakin',

And he said, "I want my corn."

An elephant said to Olie,

"I have to point out your folly;
That thing that you found,

by your foot on the ground,

Was my poop and not a lolly!"

There once was a boy named Max,

Who liked to play with an axe,

He took it to Olie's,

And fell over brollys,

Now they play with the fax.

There was a boy called Quick Nick

Who always liked to play tricks

He pushed poor Bek

Off the edge of a deck

Then ran away quite slick.

There was a man called Nick

Who came from a town called Tick

He loved to run around

And made a big sound

That town was good with bricks.

There was a boy called Tom,

Who was close friends with Dom,

Dom Tom did ditch,

But now Dom is rich,

Tom now wants to be friends with Dom.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Well done TW. A pivot rendition of Jack and the Beanstalk.

A Christmas Carol (Muppet Version)

We have just finished the first stave of ACC. Here's the Muppet interpretation of Marley's ghost. Note that they have taken poetic licence and used two Marley's, but they stay relatively true to the message, chains and all. Enjoy.

Clays of our Lives

Someone asked what do the teachers do on pupil free days. We make claymation films, like this one! 9 seconds of footage, 96 photos.

Study Ladder Homework Is Now Up

Mr Fraser said this afternoon that some were stressed about Study Ladder not being refreshed. It now has been. Enjoy.

Disco, Visitors and Monday

I hope that everyone enjoyed Friday's disco; my ears have just stopped throbbing from the music. We have had a new country visiting the site; Taiwan. Just a reminder, Monday is a student free day where the teachers still have to come to school. I know that many of you will be disappointed, but it's OK, school's back on on Tuesday!

Examples of Stop Motion From Last Year

Our Class Skeleton

An example of stop motion using the awesome skeleton we made.

Just Another Rainy Monday

Welcome back to school on a particularly rainy day; how good is this weather? If you didn't come today, you missed the fitness session...a walk in the rain through the flooded oval and the new "swimming pool" in the senior fort. Congratulations to Team Funnybone who scored the most points last week. They get to select our working music this week.

Smell Like a Monster

Remember the Old Spice ad? Here's another take...

Stop Motion Samples

Some examples of stop motion for inspiration.

Term 4

Welcome back everyone. I know that you all had a good holiday and are looking forward to your last 9 weeks of primary school. It will be busy, but I know you'll all cope.

Back to school tomorrow!

Hope everyone's ready for the final term. Looking forward to hearing about everyone's holidays. Such a big weekend too with the Pies getting up (finally) and the NRL final this arvo. Oh, and another new international site visitor, this time from Azerbaijan. Where is it? Look it up!

Why The Wallabies Will Never Beat The All Blacks

We know that they're a good team, but have a look at their skills. Maybe we should use some of these drills for our teams...?

Holiday Post

Hope that everyone is having a good holiday. Just to keep the posts ticking over, I thought I'd call for some of your input. Firstly, for those who get bored in holidays, (and end up reading class blogs) what is your number 1 boredom buster? And secondly, 3/4 of the way through the year, what have you learnt? (This does not, in any way, need to be serious, however if you want to go that way, go ahead.)

Holiday Boredom Busters

(From comments)

1) Annoy my older sister! That's how I bust the boredom

The List Grows

Final day of term 3. Have a good holiday everyone! And as we go, a warm welcome to our new visitors, Canada, Germany and Great Britain.

Maths Games

Here we go. Best times so far - Div Racer - JK - 55.49 Multiplication Racer - EL - 51.69

http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

Market Day

Congratulations to all stall holders in the 2010 Market Day. From all accounts, it was a success. Mrs H will reveal tomorrow how much money was raised. Our next task is to start thinking what Legacy item we will leave for the school.

Market Day

Tomorrow it's on, the Year 7 Market Day. Good luck to all stall holders.

Graph Paper

Here's the site I used to generate the graph paper. If you want to make a bigger sheet, play around with the settings.

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/

If Sri Lanka Confused You...

A visit from Singapore. Keep those different countries coming!

NZ Earthquake

Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected in the recent Christchurch earthquakes.

Happy Father's Day

A little belated, perhaps, but a Happy Father's Day to all Dads out there. In honour of them all, a little Dad humour...

IN THE HOUSE

'Pull my finger!'

...

If someone coughs, "It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in".

...

When squeezing past in the hallway and saying "excuse me please" - the reply from Dad will be to lock you in a bear hug and shout "I thought you said SQUEEZE ME".

...

Before retiring to the bathroom for a 'number two', 'give the sewage plant a ring...let them know there's one on its way!'

...

'Dad I'm hungry' ... 'Hi hungry I'm dad'.

...

'I'm proud of you son, I'm a wit, but you're still only half as good as me!'

...

'I´m off' ... 'I wondered what the smell was!'

...

After you are struggling with something for a while, your Dad asks "Can I give you a hand?" You say yes and then he starts a slow clap.

...

When phone ringing Dad says 'If it's for me don't answer it.'

...

Me: I'm thirsty.
Dad: Hi, I'm Friday!

...

Me: I'm hungry.
Dad: I'm Germany, pleased to meet you.

...

Me: It's going to a cold night tonight.
Dad: Yes, and a dark one too.

...

After watching you fall over: "Have a nice trip!"

...

Mum asks Dad to 'put the kettle on' and Dad replies 'I don't think it will fit!'

...

'Put the cat out' ... 'I didn't realise it was on fire'

...

Answers the phone by saying 'Hello, Statue?'

I know...gold! These, and a lot more come from http://www.dadsbadjokes.com/.

Welcome Sri Lanka

Another day, another country. Welcome to our Sri Lankan visitor.

Homework for Week 8

Week Eight's homework grid. A lot of work is due over the coming weeks; stay on top of it!

Friday's Excursion

Hope that you all had a good day on Friday. The performance of Hitler's Daughter was brilliant, and it seemed as if the entire audience was carried along by the story. If you want to leave feedback for the show, or find out more information, follow the link.


http://monkeybaa.com.au/hitlers-daughter.html#



On another note, who knew that one of our teachers was on such good terms with the Premier?

Brian Falkner

Author of The Real Thing, The Tomorrow Code and Brainjack, to name a few, Captain Brian Falkner spoke to us today about his writing and how he comes up with his ideas. Have a look at his website HERE and remember, don't push the button.

Welcome to the Dentist

Been fun watching the dentist assemble his van using the dentist drill.

Remember, stay still in the chair!

Homework for Week 7

Rubbish Collectors

As mentioned in class, this site may help with your Photostory.

http://www.pbase.com/maciekda/stungmeanchey2005

You're dropped!

Lieutenant Eggbert, that is. Well done on your egg drops today. Did your's survive? Or, more importantly, did yours make the video?

Another new country...

Another day, another new country visiting this humble blog. Welcome to.....New Zealand.

Open Day

News is just in that people at the Year Seven Open Day are currently reading this blog. Just an example of the up to date technology of the school. Enjoy the upcoming debate.

And Another

Just to keep fresh posts going, a visit from the Russian Federation. Good luck to the debaters tomarrow. And to the unfortunate eggs.

Welcome Italy

A first for the UFL blog; an Italian visitor. Only one, but it's a start!

What if our country was invaded?

Today we read Home and Away by John Marsden and discussed what we would do if Australia was invaded. We discussed the plight of refugees and how the current political leaders have said they will deal with the issue of "boat people".John Marsden presents two views on this scenario in his book and the upcoming film, "Tomorrow When the War Began".

Eggbert Presentation

Present your capsule.
What materials did you use?
Why? (ie: what are the properties of these materials and what makes them beneficial to the task?)
Tests - What were the results of your testing?
Did you make any modifications? Why / why not?
Hypothesis - What will happen tomorrow (when you drop the egg)? Why do you believe this? (Use scientific terminology)

Homework Grid - Week 6

Here it is! And to keep you entertained, here's the Ketchup Song (thanks to AT)

Gold, Gold, Gold!

Congratulations to our super Senior Girls' Choir on their gold medal performance. Best of luck with the Choral choir.

Cyber Safety

Although I can't validate the authenticity of this story, the lesson it teaches is quite real. Take the time to read it.


After tossing her books into the lounge, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:

ByAngel213:
Hi.. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:
LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel213:

Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:
Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that have you?

ByAngel213:
Of course not I'm not stupid you know.

GoTo123:
Did you have a basketball game after school today?

ByAngel213:
Yes and we won!!

GoTo123:
That's great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213:
We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL

GoTo123:
What is your team called?

ByAngel213:
We are the Top Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.

GoTo1 23:
Did you score?

ByAngel213:
No I play defence. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!

GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile.......GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.

Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age: 13
State where she lived: New South Wales

Hobbies: basketball, chorus, skating and going to the shops. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Charlestown because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. Every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played basketball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Top Cats. Her favourite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the St Mary's High School . She had told him all this in the conversations they had on-line. He had enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the park that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the ball games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so overprotective.

By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.

Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her position to see a man watching her closely.

He was leaning against the fence behind base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.

After the game, he sat on a bench while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.

Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon 's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room.

'Shannon, come here,' her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the park sitting on the lounge.

'Sit down,' her father began, 'this man has just told us a most interesting story about you.'

Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!

'Do you know who I am,Shannon ?' the man asked.

'No,' Shannon answered.

'I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123.'

Shannon was stunned. 'That's impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's 14. And he lives in Sydney !'

The man smiled. 'I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true. You see, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze.'

Shannon was stunned. 'You mean you don't live in Sydney ?'

He laughed. 'No, I live in Taree. It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?'

She nodded.

'I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there on-line.. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?'

'It's a promise!'

That night Shannon and her Dad and Mum all knelt down together and thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.

War Breaks out in the World Game

Breaking news: Reports have come back about a brutal SOSE lesson where all out fighting broke out over a paperclip and a pair of scissors. Dary firmly says that it was NOT her fault that Hesko doesn't have an arm anymore.

Clever Billboard Ads

From the Lab today, here are some other examples of clever advertising.

Positions Vacant

As requested, here are copies of the Position Descriptions for UFL. They are linked to last year's site, so ignore the reference to Frankville.

CLICK HERE

Homework Week 4

Homework this week is brought to you by homework hero.

Captain Eggbert

R U DRIVING?

Are you looking to earn your driver's licence in UFL? Follow the link below to practise the questions. Use the General Test which has 30 questions. A pass mark will be 90%, that is, 27 or above.

TEST LINK

Old Spice

Advert from today's technology lesson.

Lieutenant Eggbert - Science and Technology Task

Lt. Eggbert, the famous pilot of the Sunny Queen Air Force is in trouble! He is to perform in the annual Air Show Scramble, a mad dash aerobatics show before millions of speggtators!
His problem? Last year, Commander Flegg, Lt. Eggbert’s close friend, crashed his plane. Fortunately he ejected before impact, but without a parachute or safety device, he was fried before you could say, “Sunny side up please.”
Last night you received a phone call from a frantic egg.
“Professor?”
“Speaking.”
“It’s me, Eggbert.”
“Oh yes. Hello Egghead.”
“Why you .......”
“Only yolking!”
“Sure. You crack me up. Look professor, I need your help.” Eggbert told you all about the air show and finally came to his reason for calling.
“Professor, can you build me a safety device?”
“Sure. When’s the airshow?”
“December, but I need the device by Thursday 19th August. Can you do it?”
You answer yes. As you hung up, your mind started ticking. By 19th August, you must construct a safety device which will protect Lt. Eggbert from a fall. You will test it by dropping it over the verandah of your school, with Lt. Eggbert inside. Although he is a hard boiled character, he is as raw as the supermarket commoners. Air force officials will assess you on the following:
1) A 1 to 2 minute speech re. your device
2) Design, include plans
3) Lt. Eggbert’s appearance and
4) Whether or not the Lt. cracks!!!!!!!!


THIS MESSAGE WILL NOT EGGSPLODE IN 5 SECONDS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Add your comments to the Wall - CLICK HERE

Homework for Week 3

Don't forget that Monday is free dress day. Remember to include something green.

Photography Tips

From your tech class, here are some pointers for great photos.

1) Experiment - Use different positioning, tilt the camera, go high, go low
2) Background - Make sure that your background compliments your subject. Be aware of colour, lighting, people in the background and possible distractions.
3) Hold the camera steady. Use two hands, a tripod if possible or a steady post.
4) Get in close. Try to use the zoom minimally.
5) Take lots of photos. You can then discard the rubbish.
6) Balance your shots of people, places and things.
7) Use focal lock to focus on the subject of your picture.
8) Learn the different modes of your camera and what they do. Choose the appropriate mode for your shot.

Burger Men - An endangered species

Hopefully after today you are starting to get some ideas for your Eggbert capsule. I'd now like us all to take a minute to remember the Burger Men who did not last the afternoon.

Coin Toss Experiment - What to include

Aim – What was the purpose of the experiment? What was it trying to prove / disprove?
Hypothesis – An educated guess as to what will happen. Back up your guess with logical reasoning.
Materials – A list of what materials were used for the experiment.
Method – Dot points or numbered list of the steps taken to conduct the experiment. (Note – this does not include calculating the averages or graphing the results)
Results – Your data set and graph
SWDTTU? – Explain any assumptions that were made. Interpret your results. What do they tell you? Do the support of disprove your hypothesis?

Homework Grid - Term 3 Week 2

Here it is for all the fans.

Out of the Blue...

RED WINS THE ATHLETICS. WHO DA THUNK IT! Luckily I don't have to find another green song, and present to you a Split Enz classic.

A Terrible Eggsperience

Electronic Learning Centre - AKA Sticky Wall

If the World was a Village of 100 People

This video looks at the world's population in a different light. We live in a world of approx. 6.77 billion people, that's 6,770,000,000. To give you an idea of how big that number is, if someone in the class "accidentally" printed off 6,770,000,000 pages on the photocopier, the stack of paper would stand about 677 km high, extending to the outer limits of Earth's atmosphere, it would cost $270m in black and white copies and would take approximately 214 years to print at 1 page per second.

MATHS ROCKS!

If, however, big numbers fry your mind, this vid takes world statistics and condenses them proportionately, imagining the world to be a village of 100 people.

Watch, reflect and feel free to respond.

Myna

Had a go today? Here's the link to Myna. Send some links back with your creations.

Mum Solution

Here's the full solution for MUM 2010. Use it to develop your news broadcast.

Shockwave on the Shoreline
Climate change is caused by a tiny change in temperature. In 2020 average temperatures in Australia will be just 1.5°C higher than in 1900. However a small change in average temperature can make a big difference to our lives. There will be a lot more days over 35°C, more severe droughts, more intense rain and more floods. It also affects our oceans as warmer sea temperatures impact on marine life such as seaweed.
Like most of us, the inhabitants of the small seaside town of Mallacoota in East Gippsland knew little about their underwater kelp forest. But they certainly knew what lived there - abalone. The wild east coast of Victoria had an abundance of the shellfish and for fifty years the townspeople had been harvesting abalone commercially. When the State Government limited the number of abalone licences to just 71, the shellfish became a multi-million dollar business and the town’s most important industry, supporting a range of businesses such as boat dealers and refrigeration companies.
Tourism also flourished. The pristine nature of East Gippsland, the subtropical rainforest in Croajingolong National Park, the inlet estuary consisting of Top Lake and Bottom Lake, wildflowers, boating, fishing, walking the wilderness coast, swimming, bird-watching, and surfing attracted visitors every year. Flush with money the tourism operators also moved up-market renovating their un-insulated homes with heated bathrooms, laundries and central heating for those cold Gippsland nights.
Over the years, Mallacoota became hooked on consumerism. In fact when home theatres with plasma and LCD screens went on the market the concept was so enthusiastically embraced by the town the local cinema was forced to close.
With every appliance on standby contributing up to another 15% of each household’s electricity usage, the surge in electricity use was dramatic. The amount of electricity the town used increased so sharply, the electricity supplier upgraded the cable.
Mallacoota was only a tiny player in this buying spree. With a steadily rising stock market and no world war in 60 years, wealthy societies around the globe rushed to buy the latest gadget or appliance designed to make life easier. But it also dramatically increased people’s reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and coal, releasing more and more carbon into the atmosphere, enhancing the greenhouse effect which trapped the planet’s heat.
The warming atmosphere increased the flow of the East Australian Current (EAC) that flows down from the Coral Sea every spring and summer. If the EAC isn't there, the water temperature drops from a tolerable 18 ºC in September to a bone-tingling 12 ºC, the ocean temperature at the same latitude across the Pacific in Chile. But sea-temperature records showed that this warm current is pushing further south, warming the usually cooler waters off south-eastern Australia. Between 1944 and 1999 rises of 1.5 to 2.3ºC were measured in minimum sea-surface temperatures from NSW to Tasmania. This temperature change had a big impact on the large kelp forest off Mallacoota.
Kelp forests provided habitat for an enormous range of sea creatures such as sponges, fish, rays, sea stars, seadragons, crabs, crayfish and abalone, all of whom play a vital part in the local marine ecology. In the 1970s, riding in with the warmer water, came urchin larvae of the Long-Spined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) now able to survive at these more southerly latitudes. The Long-Spined Sea Urchin eats every kind of seaweed and when conditions are good they can destroy entire kelp beds. By May 2010 the exploding population of Sea Urchins had destroyed the kelp habitat of the Mallacoota abalone, leaving little in their wake. This did not bode well for the Weedy Seadragon who also lived in the kelp.
While initially distraught, the Manager of the Co-op, Gazza Breezely, saw opportunity in the crisis. He decided to turn the abalone processing plant into a temporary Sea Urchin processing plant and sell the highly priced delicacy in the Japanese market. Co-op members were sworn to secrecy. Without the kelp the resource would not last in such numbers. The Co-op needed to tie up their export contracts so they could make a fortune before the outside world cottoned on, or before the resource disappeared.
But things did not go as planned for the Co-op. The Weedy Seadragon is Victoria’s marine faunal emblem. Every ten years the Seadragon’s population is counted by volunteers. In April, the Eastern Seaboard Marine Authority (ESMA) asked the local Eco-Tourism Committee to report on the growth in Seadragon numbers. Unaware of the destruction of the kelp forest the ETC President, Emily Vasilopoulos, asked abalone fisherman Gazza Breezely and local surfer turned businessman Stevie Poynter to do a count.
Mallacoota is still a small town and in a small town people tend to stick together. On May 16 the two men reported the complete absence of the Weedy Seadragon from the area. They made no mention of the destruction of the kelp forest.
For the ambitious Emily Vasilopoulos, losing the State’s emblem was a disastrous career move. On the evening of May 17, 2010 Emily placed an emergency call to Catchment Headquarters to report the murder.
VICTIM: Weedy Seadragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus,
VILLAIN: Rising temperatures
CRIME SITE: Genoa catchment, Mallacoota Victoria