Living Ties

Evan and Senny show off their new natural school ties as they get up and close with the butterflies.

Last week saw the Year 7's annual trip to the Otago Museum and the Physics Department at the University of Otago.

The students worked their way around two labs at the university focusing on forces and light. The forces challenge, was to create the tallest tower using pipe cleaners which would support a give weight. There was a lot of thought given to how they would join, build and support their structures.

The other lab which looked at light and energy is always a big hit as the children create circuits with lights, buzzers and fans. They also get to play and explore with the light spectrum and of course the highlight of the lab is the Van der Graaf Generator.

We would like to thank Dr Esther Haines for all her work she has done with our children through outreach at the Physics Department and at Tahuna over the past 10 years. Dr Haines is retiring from the University this semester and we wish her all the best for her retirement.

At the museum the students explored the hands on activities at Tūhura as well as the butterfly house. Clearly some of the butterflies fancy themselves as neck ties or they were just trying to blend in to escape.