MOVEMENT DEFINITIONS:
A change in position or location
A particular action or way of changing place or position
A group or groups of people acting as one
A main section in a musical piece
MOVEMENT BIG IDEAS:
Movement creates change
Movement requires energy
Movement can be controlled or uncontrolled (involuntary)
This term we looked at a variety of topics under the concept of movement.
Hands - We started by looking at hands - how do they move, what do we use them for? We looked at examples of artists who studied hands (Escher, Da Vinci, Durer, Michaelangelo), we looked at hand dominance and tested whether we used our left or right hand more for certain activities, we looked at the mechanisms and science of hands (bones, tendons, muscles) and looked at people who had designed prosthetic hands. 
Animal movement - We looked at how animals move - specifically cats. We looked at members of the cat family and looked at similarities and differences. What does their body language tell us? How are they able to land softly and on their feet? How do they move and why?
Transport - we thought about how goods are moved around the world. Where do things come from? How do they get to us? This website is fascinating - it shows a real time map of sea traffic around the world. We looked at historical transport routes such as the silk road and the spice route and how trade routes began. We looked at more modern transport inventions such as the maglev train and electric vehicles (although did you know that electric cars were first created in 1888?!), we made graphs of how vehicles at our homes are powered and discivered that we have more petrol and diesel vehicles than hybrid and electric vehicles.
Motion in the ocean - for world ocean day we looked at ocean currents, waves etc. We explored how the temperature and salinity of the water effects movement and learnt about 'thermohaline circulation'. We looked at how this ocean movement effects animals and people who use the ocean, as well as rubbish that falls into the ocean. Children enjoyed exploring this website that shows wind, currents etc We looked at how scientists learnt more about ocean currents when a container with several thousand rubber ducks was washed off a container ship in the middle of the pacific ocean in 1992. The ducks landed on coastlines around the globe, causing scientists to think more about ocean currents.
Social Movement - groups of people working together to make a change in society. We looked at examples of this in world history - acting out the Rosa Parks story from America, and looking at various movements in NZ - our local Protect Whangaparaoa Rockpools protest and petition that some children have been involved in, the Young Ocean Explorers campaign to write letters to the government asking for more protection for the ocean (several Quest children took part in this), to historical events such as Te Puea Hērangi's fight for Maori rights, and Kate Sheppard's fight for Women's rights to vote.
Nomads - we looked at people around the world who move around and thought about reasons they might have a nomadic lifestyle - to find food for themselves or their animals, to find work, to travel and explore. We thought of the pros and cons of nomadic life.
Migration - we ooked at animal that migrate - specifically the bar tailed godwit that migrates to NZ each year from Alaska. Again we thought about why animals migrate, looked at scientists theiries and studies about how they navigate, and thought about possible issues for animals that migrate. Tamariki studied other animals that migrate.
Moving pictures - we looked at the origin of 'moving pictures' and optical illusions, and had fun creating flipbooks and thaumatropes. We looked at how technology has changed movie making over the years. Did you know that Toy Story was the first animated feature film that was created with digital animation techniques? That was back in 1995.
This simple flip book instruction is fun to try - there is definitely an art to it!
This term's learning has hopefully exposed children to a wide variety of ideas to do with varying aspects of movement. We have challenged ourselves to try new things, research, share ideas, and create interesting new ideas.
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