Our Special Visitor!

Today we had a special visitor in our class for the afternoon...Imogen's Mum (Mrs Blundell)! She came in to give us an insight into her daily job where she is a Doctor in the emergency department of the Rotorua hospital.

Mrs Blundell brought in a life size skeleton (which Richard quickly named 'Henry) and taught us a lot about our bones and what happens when we injure them. She answered lots of our questions about being sick and looking after our bodies, including talking about donating organs and having special operations such as heart or kidney transplants. We learnt all about our heart and even got to observe and feel a deer's heart and a pig's eye! We also had the opportunity to practise tying slings on each other and listening to each other's hearts through a stethoscope.

Thank you so much for coming into Room 12 this afternoon Mrs Blundell. We really enjoyed learning from you and value being able to learn about our human bodies from an expert! We particularly liked how you answered all of our questions and let us have a go at some of the practical skills doctors have to do everyday. Thank you!!

Who Dunnit?

This afternoon we explored forensic science. In groups we firstly practised four key skills used to find analyse evidence in crime scenes. These included:

* Finger printing

* Handwriting analysis

* Fabric analysis using magnifying glasses and microscopes

* Solubility and pH tests

After learning how to conduct these tests, we were then given a crime scenario that we had to solve. This provided us with an evidence kit, suspect information and interview notes, as well as a background to the crime committed. 

We collaborated so well in our groups and all managed to use the evidence to prove which suspect committed the crime! Ka pai tamariki :)