Science Fair

Photos taken by Mrs Hogg and James Voss


This is a photovisi I did on the Science Fair.

Update on Science Fair

Last week, on Tuesday, the people from our school went to Waikato University for the Prize Giving Evening. I was really lucky and surprised to get one.

Our school did really well, with at least one prize in every category we entered, except for Open Class Photography. We had two 1st places, around two to three 2cnd places, a few thirds, and quite a few Highly Commended, which I was lucky enough to get.
Hunter (http://hunterroom10.blogspot.co.nz/) won the overall Physical World Category, and Danielle (http://danielleroom10.blogspot.co.nz/) won the special award for the best board with an agricultural theme.


We also won the school shield for the best overall entry from a school, which Mrs Hogg was chuffed about.

Well Done to everyone who entered, and a big thank you to everyone who helped with the Science Fair this year!

Waikato Science Fair

Last week on Friday, the people from my school, including me, went to Hamilton Gardens for the Waikato Science Fair. We got interviewed about our projects, and were free to wonder around and look at everyone else's exhibits.

At our school, to got into the Waikato Science Fair, you had to get through the Berkley one. I was extremely surprised and grateful to get through, as everyone did a really good job. Completing a Science Fair project, especially if it's your first is a really big achievement.


As well people who entered a board, there were also some really amazing Scientific Drawings and Photography from Berkley as well.

I think our whole school did an amazing job, and we should all be really proud.


While I'm here, I would like to say a few thank yous. Mrs Hogg, for keeping track of my work, proof-reading, and getting the guillotine for everyone in the class.

Mrs Dromgool, for helping me develop my initial idea, and letting me borrow some equipment.


My mum, for using your highlighting skills when proof-reading my work, and helping me with presenting my board.

And finally, my dad, with out you, my Science Fair would have been reduced to a baking soda and vinegar volcano. You helped me with all things technical, proof-read and proof-read again my work, and put up with hundreds upon thousands of questions, most of them repeated, because I had forgotten the answer.

Thank you to you all, I couldn't have done it without you!

Orchestra Festival

At Berkley, we have a school Orchestra, which I play flute in. Last week on Thursday, we travelled to Te Awamutu Intermediate School, to be a part of the Primary and Intermediate Orchestra Festival, which was also a competition.

We played first, at around 10:00am, and we played five songs, which were:

- Indian Chant and Dance
- Royals by Lorde
- Raiders March  From Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones
- Thinking Out Loud  by Ed Sheeran
- Pirates of the Caribbean  A medley of the Black Pearl and The Medallion Calls.

Berkley went well, we got a Silver Award. The judge for the Intermediate competition was the conductor of the Waikato Symphonic Orchestra, Rupert D'Cruze.

Overall, it was a nice day out, and I definitely enjoyed it.

If You Were a....

I decided to do a post on if I was an animal or bird or plant, what would I be? If you would like to say what you would like to be, please comment.



If I was a bird....
I would be barn owl because they have amazing hearing, can see really well and are formidable predators. To me, they look elegant and graceful when they are flying.
I would also want to be an hawk because I would love to be able to fly high, and just glide. I also love the colours on there feathers, and they look fierce, like warriors.

a Barn owl

A hawk

                      











If I was a an animal....
I would be a panda. I love there fur, and although they are slow, the way they move.  I know they are capable of attacking ferociously, which is another reason they have always been one of my favourite animals.

If I was a sea creature...
I would be a dolphin. They are clever and playful, and are fast swimmers. I love the way they swim. I would either want to be a Spinner dolphin, or a Fraser's as they both look sleek, fast and powerful. 

If I was a plant...

I would be Lady Anne's lace, which is a flower. It is a weed, but I have always found it graceful, and I love it's smell. We have a lot around our house, which is why I have learnt to appreciate it.

If I was a mythical creature...

I would be a fairy. Once again, I have always wanted to fly, and doing magic would be a bonus.

I would also want to be a dragon, like the one from the Eragon series. Christopher Paolini's drawings of them are exactly what I would I would imagine a dragon to look like.

1000 cranes

At school recently, as the 70th anniversary has recently been, we read a story about a young active girl living in Japan, who got leukaemia from the radiation 9 years after the bombing. Her friend folded her a golden crane, and told her how when a sick person folds a thousand cranes, they get a wish. She then proceeded to fold a thousand, before she died. She unfortunately only got to 694 before she passed away. But, her legacy lived on. Her friends and family folded the remaining cranes, and she got buried with 1000 cranes. They then set up a fundraiser, and made a statue with the girl holding a golden crane in her hand. In scripted into the base of the statue is the words,
" This is our prayer, this is our cry; peace to the world."
Which our whole class found touching. There is now a origami folding class by the statue, and there are now thousands of cranes under the statue.

So, we decided to fold a thousand cranes. By the first day we had almost 200, so we were pretty determined! We have now 999 and Mrs Hogg is folding the thousandth this evening in gold paper.

Click here for more information on Mrs Hogg's blog.

Science Fair

Hello, sorry I haven't written a post in a while!



In class last term and the beginning of this term, my class have been working on our separate Science Fair projects. We have all spent most of last term, our holidays, and this first week to get our projects completed. Most of us are almost completed, all of us are busy cutting, gluing, backing and printing, finishing off our Science Fair boards to a high standard.



My project started off badly, as it didn't work at all. But once I changed my method, it started to work. (Which I was extremely grateful for!) I have now almost completed my board, I'm just cutting and gluing. 
My aim was : To investigate whether you can play a simple tune by altering sound waves with coloured light."
My actual experiment was connecting a speaker to a solar panel through a parallel circuit. (click here for a good website that explains them well) I then shone a torch into a solar panel, and the light waves caused the vibrations in the speaker to change the pitch. I then shone different coloured lights, to see if this caused different pitches in note. This did work, however, I did not get a definite note for each colour. The colours I used were red, green, yellow and blue, as these are four of the colours that makes up white light. 


While I'm here, I would like to say a few thank you's. Mrs Hogg, for keeping track of my work, proof-reading, and getting the guillotine for everyone in the class.

Mrs Dromgool, for helping me develop my initial idea, and letting me borrow some equipments.


My mum, for using your highlighting skills when proof-reading my work, and helping me with presenting my board.

And finally, my dad, with out you, my Science Fair would have been reduced to a baking soda and vinegar volcano. You helped me with all things technical, proof-read and proof-read again my work, and put up with hundreds upon thousands of questions, most of them repeated, because I had forgotten the answer.

Thank you to you all, I couldn't have done it without you!