Last week, I asked a class of 7 year olds how we could find out what the weather was like in Sydney. The heat was coming in through the windows, the sun was obviously shining outside. “Mobile phone?” said the first child to pipe up.

The seductiveness of e-tech means, even at a young age, people ignore or discount their own senses, their own ability to find out first hand, to think for themselves or consult a human being. Some of you may remember the Leunig cartoon which showed a family watching the sun set on television while, through the window, the sun was setting, unwatched.
​
What’s the difference between tools and technologies? There’s an interesting take on that question here: http://reflexions.typepad.com/files/the-difference-between-tools-and-technologies-090309.pdf

​In STEM, the Stage 3 children have been trying to work out which simple tool works best to help them cut pop sticks. This activity is not just about teaching children how to safely work with tools, or even about how to make a model with simple materials; it’s about how tools have shaped the built environment and, in turn,  how we think about the world and our capacity to change it. - mjp

We are Filomena (blonde) and Francesca (brunette).
We are the STEM phasmids – interesting specimens of the insect world.

You may ask: if we are Australians, why do we have Italian names?
Well, our parents were Italophiles. We eat gum leaves but sometimes we dream of living in an olive grove.

Those of you who have been studying the living world this term may have had the opportunity to hold us.

But now to the point of our letter: we need your help!
Over the summer holidays, there will be no one to care for us.
If you would like to take either of us home in the next few weeks, then please write a letter addressing it to Filomena or Francesca.

The letter needs to:

• explain why you should be chosen and how you will look after one of us
• say that a grown-up in the family agrees
• state your name and phone number so you can be contacted
• be sent to the website, www.handsupnow.com.

 
The winner will have submitted a letter which is persuasive and covers all the above points.
If you are successful, you will be contacted in the next few weeks to take one of us home.
Good luck!

P.S. At least one of the chickens hatched at the school has begun laying eggs. Thanks Lorenzo for the news!

It's Science Week and the Australian Museum hosts the Science Festival.
Experiments with water? Tick.
Bubbling liquid nitrogen? Tick.
Phasmids on the loose? Tick.
We were there to see it all. Check out the photo gallery.

Early this week, ten eggs were delivered in an incubator. Many of us were asking the same question: When will they hatch? By the end of Tuesday, there was still no change, although some of us with sharp eyes thought they had seen one or two eggs wobble ever so slightly.

On Wednesday morning, two exhausted chicks had emerged from their eggs. By the end of the day, there were seven fluffy chicks cheeping at the three remaining eggs as if to say, "Come on slow coaches!" Healthy chicks are moved from the incubator to the brooder where they can drink water, eat food pellets and scratch around in the wood shavings. A light bulb will keep them warm.

In the week commencing 16th May, there will be a cardboard post box near the chicks. Families who would like the chance to take home a pair of chicks at the end of the week should post a letter in this box. The letter is to be written by an adult explaining that the family is prepared to give the chicks a good home. It should include contact details. If there are many offers from families, we will select a small number at random and contact them. - mjp.