Year 5

Yiling Gu, Cecilia Bryant, Estelle Lee, Emily Xu, Abby Pisani, Silka Czyniewski, Scarlett Martel, Yuecheng Xu and Geena Cheng, 5E

SOLAR OVEN CHALLENGE YEAR 5 SHOWCASE: THE LORAX

The Lorax Showcase was one of the highlights of my 2021 journey. I had a lot of fun! Our Lorax Showcase was based on the wonderful poem by Dr Seuss and the movie recreated by Chris Renaud. Each of our classes presented a song from the movie and a scene from the book. Many of the props were created from recycled bottles and boxes and so were all of our instruments which we made during a massive workshop day with Junkyard Beats. I took part in the ‘Funeral for a Tree’ scene and presented the group dance. We were required to practise during lunchtimes to make the choreography. We kept working hard and were really proud of how everything turned out. Thank you to the Performing Arts and Year 5 teachers for helping us to put on this show.

Michelle Song, 5P

In Term 2, Year 5 had a challenge to make solar ovens. We were in groups of three or four, and our aim was to melt chocolate in the oven we were going to create, using minimal resources and under time restraints.

We gathered all our information and did some research about which materials would work and which would not. Our group concluded that rice, metal and black absorb heat, which would help make the chocolate melt faster. We used the rice we brought to school – since each group was only given a piece of aluminium foil and had to bring everything else themselves – and wrapped it in aluminum foil. To make the experiment fair, we made sure each group had the same amount of sunlight. When we tested our solar ovens, some chocolates didn’t look like they were melting even though they had already melted inside. Some solar ovens were more successful while others weren’t. We learned lots by making predictions and learning from others and our mistakes. A few of our favourite parts were when we got to eat the chocolate and see the chocolate melt. It was an excellent experience. Celine Cai, 5M and Nicole Fan, 5Y

Year 5

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF MATHEMATICS

On 14 March, we participated in the International Day of Mathematics. This day is dedicated to celebrating mathematics and appreciating how we use it every single day. We did fun mathematics activities all day. Our first task was to solve problems which became progressively harder as we continued. We were coupled with students from the class next to us and the problems covered many themes in mathematics. The time certainly flew and it felt as though it was over before it had even started. Once the activity was completed, the room was filled with enthusiastic discussions around what other groups had answered for different questions. Our second task involved creating a sustainable bin, using only five pieces of A3 paper. We had to use a 1:4 scale to make the task as sustainable as possible. We were split into groups of five from across the floor. We had to design our bin first and agree on a plan. Once the build began, so did the excitement, with the groups running across the floor to grab the small supply of staplers and tape. There was a lot of bargaining throughout the activity to share the limited resources. In the final few minutes of the exercise, each group scrambled to the finish line to complete their bins. Once the bins were created, we were able to walk around the room to appreciate the other builds. It was truly a wonderful day.

Annabella Bayfield, 5E and Leahara Wijesuriya, 5L Once the build began, so did the excitement

Elizabeth Macpherson, 5P, Emma Scott, 5P, Clara Mudaliar, 5P and Isabel Cooke, 5Y Aahana Paliwal, 5M

BLUBBER GLOVE EXPERIMENT

On 29 March, Year 5 performed an experiment to find out whether animal warmth is produced from their blubber as part of our Inquiry unit. In this experiment, the teachers brought out several ice-cold tubs with water as well as ones full of butter. We used butter because it is primarily made of fat and that is pretty much the same as what blubber is made of. First, we were instructed to dip our bare hands into the water to test how cold it was without the blubber. It was quite chilly!

Next, we slowly put a glove on and pushed the butter into the glove and surprisingly our hands stayed warm and dry!

Our hypothesis was correct, when we had the blubber on, we stayed warm just like the animals which live in colder parts of the world. Our reasoning was that blubber was exactly like blankets but only built into your body. Animals have adapted to grow blubber coats in the cold environment. Emily Woods-McConville, 5Y and Harriet Gregory, 5L

Kailin Zhu, 5L

Sophie Kidd, 5L

Year 5

THE AUSTRALIAN GOLD RUSH

During Term 2 we learned about the Australian Gold Rush. We presented our research to the teachers and students after learning all about the gold rush. We used Student Canvas to find the majority of our information and were lucky to have a historian who specialised in the history of the gold rush share her thoughts with us via an online discussion. We also showed some of our learning by writing our thoughts on images from the gold rush, writing letters and facts from different perspectives of people who participated in the gold rush, making Sketchnotes, posters and simply writing facts in our books. On the day of our presentation we visited other classes. We took turns sharing our work with each other which was presented in different ways. I showed my work by making a poster which consisted of the majority of my learning and a couple of pictures. I also made a perspective wheel and a game which was a great success as no one thought of making one and everyone enjoyed playing it. Other people also showed their work on an Adobe Spark Page, a book or in a Minecraft world. I really enjoyed the Term 2 Inquiry unit. Anisha Chabra, 5Y

PYMBLE ARTEFACTS

There are many historical artefacts placed around Pymble Ladies’ College that represent what life was like during 1916 when the school was first opened. There are different types of artefacts, such as trees, buildings, emblems, photographs and many more. There is a building, near the Main Hall, where all the precious artefacts are placed called the Heritage Centre. On 12 May, Year 5 girls went on an exploration around our school looking for different artefacts used during 1916 and other past years. We had our lovely researchers teach us about the wonderful artefacts that can be found in the Artefact Research Room.

In the Artefact Research Room, we looked at old school uniforms, important dates, pictures of past Principals, badges and more. This experience was a very significant one for us as it showed us our school’s past.

I hope that future students will look at this too and maybe one day, significant events from our years will be placed in the Artefact room too!

Imogen Jones, 5L and Feifei Wang, 5P

AUTHOR TALKS

In Term 2 we had an author visit from the wonderful Belinda Murrell. She has written The Lulu Belleseries, The Sun Swords series, The Golden Tower, Pippa’s Island and more. She also told us about how she relates her books to her life, like when she moved with her family to a different country, she wrote Pippa’s Islandbecause in the book Pippa had to move.

Shreya Mahendra, 5Y

As part of Book Week in Term 3 we got to have an online author talk with Jacqueline Harvey. The series of books she has written are called Alice Miranda, Clementine Rose and Kensy and Max.

I think her books are really cool because the main characters are kids and kids are awesome!

She told us lots of funny stories and gave us some great ideas for our own writing.

Valerie Zhao, 5Y

DA VINCI DECATHLON

On 6 May, eight students from Year 5 participated in the da Vinci Decathlon against 153 other schools from around Australia. There were ten areas: English, Maths, Science, Engineering, Ideation, Code Breaking, Legacy, Art and Poetry, Cartography and Creative Producers. The Decathlon is about working together to solve problems and to help us think creatively. We were under time pressure at first but had spare time at the end. It was really fun getting to do a range of different challenges. We also enjoyed getting icy poles at the end of the competition. Overall, we came third in Science, fourth in English and seventh in Ideation. Alina Shi, 5Y and Chloe Shao, 5B

Year 5

UNSTRUCTURED PLAY

Unstructured Play can only be described with one word, fun! This year in Unstructured Play we really enjoyed having the opportunity to use recycled parts, feel free and bond with friends.

This is a really fun way for students to get creative using only the materials available to us and no electronics. In one of the Unstructured Play periods, we made a shop together and traded recycled parts for stones. It was really fun and we got to hang out together and take our minds off the stress of schoolwork.

Unstructured Play is an opportunity to let students all over the Junior School get outside and be creative. The thing we found the best about this subject was that we could enjoy the sunshine, nature, birds and classmates’ laughter. Our favourite period was definitely Unstructured Play! Mea McBurney and Caitlin Stoodley, 5M

CHALLENGE BY CHOICE

At the start of Term 3, while working online, Year 5 started a weekly activity called Challenge By Choice. We were given a table with fun and educational activities for Year 5 students to accomplish. We could choose an activity we were comfortable with and after completing that, we then uploaded it to Seesaw with a detailed explanation for the Challenge By Choice teachers, Mrs King, Mrs Hare and Ms Dignam. We were expected to complete five tasks from the table every term. We were given a variety of fun tasks such as a detailed solar system Sketchnote (a type of way students can show their thinking), making a trophy or a medal for the Tokyo Olympics and many more amazing tasks. At every Challenge by Choice class, the teachers would talk to us about how we were going with a task, or what task we were going to try. After collecting all the information, the teachers would put them into a slide to show our progress. It was such a great and creative opportunity for us to do while learning online.

Katy Jung and Julia Zhu, 5Y

Eva Still, 5P

Year 5

OUTDOOR EDUCATION

At the beginning of the year in Term 1, Year 5 went to Vision Valley and participated in many activities such as archery, the waterslide, orienteering and learning to put up our own tents. For many of the activities, we worked together as a team to complete challenges. As well as that, we did activities that were both fun and educational. We learned all about the different types of knots – we even had a knot tying race at the end! The waterslide was an extremely popular hotspot and the swimming pool felt like a bath of ice.

When we arrived at the hall, everyone was carrying large bags and even small suitcases. We walked to the bus in a single file line and loaded the bus with many bags and people. We all slept in cabins for one night and tents the other night. We had cereal when we were in tents and gourmet food when we were in the cabins.

We learned all about the different types of knots - we even had a knot tying race at the end!

Heidi Ferreira, Harriet Gregory, Eden Connors, Tia Pillai, Mischa Baba, Ayla Gortan, Imogen Jones and Sierra Borean, 5L

We had an extremely exciting and great experience at Vision Valley, and it would be great to return again someday. Megan Chia, 5M and Aurora Zhang, 5P

Scarlett Wong, Celine Soo, Aria Cheng, Sophie Kidd, Abigail Hung and Sally Zhou, 5L Callista Eskenazi, Olivia Skeen, Erika Zhao, Kailin Zhu, Irisa Han, Allison Wang and Sarah Joung, 5L

MIND BODY SPIRIT DAY

At the end of Term 3, Mrs Brown, Mrs Davey and Mrs Bird ran a special day online for us called Mind Body Spirit Day. In the morning during Compass, we got to “bring your pet to roll call!” Each class got to see their classmates' dogs, cats and many more animals. Next up, we made some gratitude containers with Mrs Brown and Mrs Davey. After a quick break, we made some delicious Rocky Road. Some people made it with milk chocolate, while others made it with white and we had different fillings. We then had a super fun STEM challenge where you had to make your own toys or ones that were based on other toys with recycled materials. For a quick break, we did some relaxing meditations and then got back to work by continuing our STEM challenge. We quickly packed up our finished masterpieces and got ready for some mindfulness with Frieda and Danielle. We worked on our breathing, taking deep breaths in and out. After lunch, we settled into library, talking about books and recommending them to each other. At the end of the day, we got to do ‘get up and be active’ where we did some tricky but fun sports challenges, such as trying to roll around in a 360º motion without making a toilet paper roll fall off your foot and balancing on one foot and trying to pick up a folded piece of paper off the ground. It was a super fun-filled day.

Lily Xing and Claudia Sherlock, 5E

Year 5

ONLINE BAKING

While online Year 5 girls got to bake delightful treats each week, from cupcakes to pizza and honey joys to pancakes. It was a time we all looked forward to each week! It was always a thrill to find out what we were baking next. In the last week of Term 3, all students had the opportunity to lead the baking. For some it was really hard to decide what we were going to bake because there were so many delicious treats we could make. There were baked doughnuts, apple crumble, watermelon ice blocks, brookies and so much more. Overall, baking as a Year 5 group was so much fun! We had a blast at baking creations. We would like to thank all the teachers for their time and effort in putting together this wonderful opportunity!

Heidi Ferreira and Sophie Kidd, 5L

ONLINE LEARNING

In 2021, NSW spent 106 days in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For 63 of those days, we were learning online. Our teachers worked hard to develop programs to ensure that we not only continued to learn what we needed to, but that we all remained happy and connected with one another.

Each week we took part in a cooking class led by one of our Masterchef-quality teachers. We all enjoyed making Oreo cheesecakes led by Chef Aikman because they tasted delicious and they melted in our mouths. Some subjects like Mathematics and Literacy were much the same online, but others were a little more challenging. While we missed playing team sports with our friends, like we usually would in PE, we learned new skills like how to juggle! Practising mindfulness each day allowed us to disconnect from our screens and relax in different ways, including meditation and taking walks in nature. Learning online allowed everyone to understand technology and how it operates which will help us for the rest of our schooling. Gemma Dixon and Pia Vandeleur, 5P

CHOOSE KIND AND CHOOSE CHANGE

In Year 5, we did Choose Kind and Choose Change posters collaboratively. The teachers cut out letters and stuck them on the paper with Blu Tack. We then used marbles to roll the paint on the paper once and then a handprint. After all the girls had a turn rolling a marble on the paper the teachers took off the letters and put the poster on the wall in the Learning Café. It looked really pretty and colourful! We made these posters because Choose Kind and Choose Change was the whole school focus for Semester 1. We unfortunately couldn’t do them in Semester 2 as we were online however it was great to see the poster and our collaborative efforts when we returned to campus halfway through Term 4. Isabel Chang and Ella Gao, 5Y