Emil and the Detectives

This week we went to see Emil and the Detectives at the National Theatre in London. Emil and his friends were great actors even though they were only children. . I was also amazed at their confidence to stand up to a crowd of over 1000 people.

 

The basic plot was about Emil going to visit his Grandma in Berlin. He starts on the train with two nice normal ladies, a sheep,  and one very suspicious man . The man turned out to be  called... Mr Snow. His character was obnoxious  and his voice very patronising. On the train he tells Emil to try and get some sleep but being an criminal he steals 140 Marks from Emil's pocket.  Emil was taking his mother's savings to Grandma as a gift. The rest of the story was about Emil and his friends going on an adventure to  get the money back. The play was set in Berlin in 1929 when kids were seen as a nuisance.

My favourite parts were when Emil went down into the sewers. Ladders came up from the floor and down from the ceiling which gave the impression that he was climbing down. Other scenery that I really liked was the lighting in the sewer tunnel. It looked like the tunnel of doom went on forever. 

There was a lot of tension in the play. Scary stories about Berlin were told at the start to warn Emil about the dangers of the city and his nightmares soon came true when flick knives appeared. The music helped to create suspense.  There were funny parts too, for example when the cast ran through the audience. I was also surprised when at one point money fell from the ceiling.

One of my  favourite characters was actually a girl called Pony. Her character was  really feisty and she  stood up for herself. I was a bit surprised at some of her strong language though. 

During the interval we asked the members of the audience who didn't have children with them if they were enjoying the show. They replied that it was a great show for all ages and that they liked the music.  It was a bit like a pantomime as there were some jokes that were for adults that I didn't really get.

I had a brilliant evening and would thoroughly recommend this show to people of all ages.

                                                                                                      

Natural dyes and paints

Yesterday I went to Firstsite, Colchester and worked with natural paints. First I needed inspiration so I headed to the roman mosaic to look at the patterns. I created a design of my own that represented water and lightning. 

Then I transferred the pattern onto special foam using a cotton wool bud with no cotton wool on. I choose a blue dye which looked like the night sky.

 

 I printed it onto different colours of paper.

The artist, Nabil Ali, told me that the dyes were created using natural materials. He used stinging nettles, madder, and egg shells.

When I got home I made my own dye. I picked some beetroot from the garden then cleaned and chopped it into little pieces. Next I cooked it and then waited for it to cool. 

It was quite runny and the image didn't really work well.  I tried it on different paper and that worked better. I was surprised that it was red and not purple as I expected.

Next time I might try a sharp pencil for the lines and normal lino painting ink as it seems stickier. 

Another great day at Firstsite.http://www.firstsite.uk.net/

 http://www.nabilali.co.uk/home.html

Avocados!

My avocados are growing well aren't they? The tallest one from tip to pip is 51cm. The tree can grow up to 20 m. That's 40 times more. That won't fit in my house!


They are known as The Alligator Pear because their skin is rough like an alligators and it is shaped like a pear.

Fact
Mexico produces most of the worlds avocados.

Weird fact
In Ethiopia avocados are made into juice by mixing with sugar and milk and then served with Vimto and a slice of lemon. Yuk!

The Willow Pattern Story

I've discovered stop motion animation this week. 

I was surprised that after hours and hours of hard labour the whole video only lasted 55 seconds.  I took 271 pictures. 

I used free 'Stop Motion'  on my ipad. It was easy to us. You could easily edit and upload the scenes. 

The hardest part was getting the people to stand up. It was also really difficult to add music. I also found it hard to move the birds. I would use strings next time.

I can't wait to see the new Lego movie. i wonder how many shots that took.

Review of Aquila Magazine

 

Aquila Magazine Review by Lex

The blogging brothers were sent a few Aquila magazines last month to review. I've finally got around to looking at them after reading all my Christmas books. ( By the way my favourite was Hunger Games) The magazine is aimed at bright 8-12 year olds. It is 'designed to provide children with challenges and of course, fun'. Aquila Magazine

I'd seen an advert for Aquila  inside other magazines but was not keen on subscribing as the drawn front covers looked like the magazine was for children younger than me. I received one with a photo on the cover and was more drawn to that one.

Each issue has a particular focus. I particularly enjoyed the one on Planets because this was my topic at school. There were space facts and lots of science activities but also maths puzzles, stories, making activities and games.

The magazine is aimed at smart 8-12 year ols. I don't think many 8 year olds could read this. Also a 12 year old wouldn't be seen dead reading a magazine with the drawn front covers. The cover and the contents do not match at all.

For me there was far too much information that was not really that interesting. If the same information was in smaller chunks and presented differently I may have read it and enjoyed it.

I really liked the joke section and I'd not seen these before.

Book titles:
Danger by Luke Out
Sweets by Candy Cane
In the garden by Rose Plant

The back page has a article called' Who told you that? ' and the idea is that it tells the truth about sayings. For example. ' Dogs only wag their tails when they are happy' We all think this is true but it is not the case. The article explains that dogs are trying to communicate with you. I really enjoyed these.

This magazine would make a great alternative to Google to find out homework facts on a particular topic.

I think this magazine would work in schools. In my classroom we read after lunch and I think being allowed to read a magazine (educational) would make a change. Even reluctant readers might be interested. 

To sum up... give it a go, it might be for you.

Queso Blanco!

by Oscar 

Today I made some cheese.

Ingredients 

4 pints of full fat milk

3/4 teaspoon citric acid 

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 muslin

1 thermometer

colander

big pot

spoons

First of all I made the citric acid solution with 25ml of boiled water. Then I heated all of the milk and stirred it so it didn't burn. I clipped the thermometer onto the pan and waited until it got to 185 F. Then I added the citric acid solution and stirred it until the curds and whey separated. The acid makes the protein tangle up to make the curds and the whey was the watery stuff left behind. I  I poured the mixture into a muslin cloth over a colander. I squeezed the bag of curds to get of the liquid out. I then hung it over the kitchen tap to make sure all the liquid dripped out. 

After an hour it was ready to eat. BUT we needed crackers! 

While we waited I made some savory crackers.

Ingredients 

100g butter

1 egg

100g self raising flour

grated cheese

I used mums electric mixer to mix the egg and butter. I love using this machine it's fun. Then I added the flour and mixed it. I grated then added some cheese and made little balls of mixture. I baked them for 15 minutes. Mum made me use half of the mixture for mine and she added chopped sun dried tomatoes to her mixture.Mum's was really wet though and we weren't sure it was going to work.

TASTING! 

Our queso blanco was really plain. It did not taste of anything at all. Next time I will add some herbs maybe rosemary.  

The biscuits were really cheesy and delicious. I ate three straight from the oven. Next time I would push the shapes flatter as they were more like lumps than biscuits.

A BOY AND HIS GLUE GUN!

I only burnt my fingers once, but it was worth it.

This is my model of the rocket that'll take the astronauts to mars.

I've been fascinated by the new mission to Mars - Mars One . The plan is to send people to Mars to set up a base camp. They will be constructing living pods and work areas. They will need to overcome many problems with the natural environment. For homework we were asked to create a model of the Mars Operation.





My mum has collected a giant bag of' 'rubbish'. I tipped it out and started sifting through it to find interesting shapes and sizes. I grabbed a fruit shoot lid and four wall plugs to create the booster rockets at the back.  I used two small lemonade bottles to create engines and a silicone sealant nozzle for the nose cone. A coat hanger created wings and a balanced base. If you look closely you might spot two plastic knives, buttons and pegs. 

Normal glue wasn't going to stick this junk together, I needed something with more kick! This is when my mum introduced me to the wonders of the glue gun! No more child friendly glue sticks! This weapon of 'construction' is hot, dangerous and a tad scary. You squeeze the trigger of doom and a molten stream of glue begins to pour out. You have to work quickly and safely as it solidifies at the speed of light! Unfortunately strings of sticky glue form at this point in the process and have the habit of burning fingers.

To finish off the rocket I had to spray the 'booster rockets' red and the rest silver. I used a cardboard box to protect the surroundings and sprayed it outside to protect my health!



I was on a roll so decided to create the new Mars One colony.

I created a pressurized dome out of cling film and chicken wire. This will withstand the increased pressure on Mars and also protect the astronauts from space debris.

This will also protect the astronauts from the temperature extremes. 

Inside I have created living spaces that are pumped with oxygen made from splitting water atoms. The water comes from Martian ice caps. Water will also be used to grow plants using hydroponics. I created the tress by cutting sponges into tree shapes and dipping them in paint.Then I used the left over sponge pieces to create moon rocks.

Electricity will be created using solar power and methane gas from human sewage. (This will also be put onto the plants as fertilizer). I used drinking straws to create the solar panels and pipes.

The carbon dioxide will be removed from the air by a CO2 scrubber that uses chemicals. I made all the pods and machinery using cake tubs and jelly pots sprayed silver.

I have loved using the glue gun and i have started to plan another model.