For the second half of this term our theme is

Mission to Mars

We started with a day at Enmore Space Training Academy!

Space ice cream!  

We tasted food that astronauts might eat in space. Most of us liked the food, especially the freeze dried ice cream!
 
We tried our hand at mental challenges, wearing a blindfold to see of we could work together as a team.
  

We designed our own space logo based on NASA logos, each encorporating out team names: Enterprise, Apollo, Endeavour and Discovery.

As a team we had to test our building and communication skills with a challenge to build a free standing tower with only newspaper and one piece of tape! We had mixed success!
   
We also work on physical challenges to test our agility, strength, hand-eye coordination and aerobic stamina, all needed for our space mission.

We are now going to explore the geograhy of Mars, what we would need to survive and the technology we would need.

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This half term we are studying ‘What’s in the News’.

This topic will help us explore communication and reporting in the past, present and future.

How do you hear about events locally, nationally and internationally?                Newspapers?           Radio?             TV?          Online?

Our class decided that the most effective way news travels in 2013 is via the internet. We use phones and mobile gadgets to get up to date reports on current events.

Newspapers used to be the main source of information, especially for global events. Here we are comparing newspapers from the past with modern communication.
  

We are learning about the structure of journalistic writing.

Who?       What?     Where?           When ?           Why?

Some people need news on the go! We have designed websites that provide the news stories in brief. We have included links to more information online using hyperlinks.

How do you decide which stories are the most important?
Here is what we think:
 
'We know a story is big news if many people were involved of affected.'
 
'If what happened was a major event, like a large natural disaster such as a hurricane, then people want to know about it.'
 
'Where in the world the event happens makes a difference to how far the news spreads, as it may affect other countries too.' 
 
'Who is involved will cause the story to be bigger. For example does it involve a member of the Royal family, or just a member of the public?' 
 
'How many lives are affect or lost will cause a story to be more important than another.'