Ice Art Summer Learning Journey Wha Tekau Ma Ono

Yesterday for Summer Learning Journey we made ice art. We had to go and collect things from nature and then place them in water which we put into the freezer overnight

This task was inspired by Russian artist Evgeny Honour, who makes resin animals that look like they are ice! As soon as I read the activity I remembered we have these bug cupcake silicone moulds which I thought would be perfect for this activity, so I got to work looking for some little bits from nature outside my home. 

For the step it up activity we had to learn about the rule of thirds which means you have the focus or your photography or art to the third of the picture, not centred. I did this activity in a container but I found it really difficult to keep the flowers from floating away so it didn't turn out exactly how I planned because even once it was in the freezer it had moved a little bit so I am not really that happy with how it looks now. If I did it again I would try with a little bit less water so the flowers have less water to float away in. I had designed the ice art to have what looked like a flowering plant growing at the third mark. We were also to use the rule of odds, which means that you always put an odd number of everything there so everything inside my ice art is an odd number!  

Even though I used cooled boiled water, the water was a bit cloudy coming out of the freezer. maybe next time I would put the boiled water in the fridge after so that it's really cold boiled water!

I am really happy with how the dragonfly turned out, I think that's my favourite one! The ladybird got a bit more cloudy and I used light flowers in it so it's harder to see the flowers inside it. 

Thank you for reading my blog, Here is my ice art:

Snails

Today we have nothing to blog. So I wanted to do something. I wrote a big fact file about snails. I enjoyed writing about them because I used to love them. Also it was new learning for me. I found it tricky to find what it ate because it would just say the same thing. "They eat almost everything." I clicked on a few more sites and more information came up. Here it is:

Snails

Snails are known as Pest. To me, a pet. I used to pick them up at daycare and try to take them home. ( I was not allowed! ) But I thought I should share some cool facts about them. Here we go:

Diet

A snail is actually herbivorous, carnivorous, omnivorous, and detritivorous. So they eat pretty much everything. Here are a few examples of what they eat. Worms, vegetation, rotting vegetation, animal waste, fungus, and even other snails.

Habitat

It usually lives in forests but is also found near rivers, streams, shrublands, and gardens. To help them survive in these hot and humid conditions, this snail has adapted to it. Snails have made their habitat all over the world, including the Arctic and Antarctic oceans.

Wow Facts

A snail can sleep for three years. They might be the inspiration for cupid. The world's smallest snail can fit through the eye of a needle

Grasshopper out of Nature

This week for art I had to make art out of plants and sticks. So I took some sticks, leaves, flowers and long grass then I made a Grasshopper. (I Love Bugs!) I used Sticks for legs, long grass for the body, flowers for the eyes and avocado tree leaves for the wings. I enjoyed making the grasshopper because I made something in nature OUT of nature. I found it tricky to find that stuff I wanted to use because there was not must on our lawn. Here it is: 

Create a Bug

Today for my summer learning journey I had to make a Bug out of things in my garden. So I made a clicking beetle. I find lots of clicking beetles at night because we have christmas lights. It is amazing how when they spread out their wings they just hover off. The ones I find are usually black but I made it look colourful.

I liked finding the stuff because it was the easiest bit.

It was hard to make the bug because it kept flying off with the wind

Here is what I tried to make:

Here is what I made:

Praying Mantis Egg

Yesterday I found a pregnant praying mantis on a bush. I picked it up and put it near my bag at morning tea. My chromebook case was open and it must have crawled into it. When I saw it at lunch time I thought it was dead when I opened it to see an egg in it! I told my friend that it laid an egg and she told me to tell a teacher. It was definitely an egg! It did not seem to care about it's egg so
I enjoyed helping to make a home for it.
I found it easy to let it free.
I found it tricky to make the box like it's the habitat of a praying mantis.
Here are some photos of the praying mantis and egg before I let the praying mantis go.

Yucky Bugs

Today I was learning about yucky bugs. I chose to make a butterfly because I found a butterfly but it died today. I made the wings out of orange card and a black felt. I made the body out of bobby pins and hair ties. I stuck the body to the wings with sticky tape.
I found it easy to make the wings black.
I found it tricky to use the string to make it look like it is floating.
My digital learning object shows that I can take a photo on my chromebook.
The coolest bug is the New Zealand leaf vein slug. When you are asleep they poop on and clean your seat. Centipedes are useful predators. They live on the soil and leaf litter and especially in compost bins. Ants eat the bird poop on your deck.