Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 9:41 am · Filed under Frogs, Video
A little while ago, 2BB entered a Science Competition. We had to create a video that went for 30 seconds that showed something about Science.
We decided to do the Life Cycle of a Frog as a ‘Papermation’. This is a type of animation that none of us had ever done before. Papermation is where you have cardboard cutouts and then animate them using a process called Stop Motion. This is done by moving the cardboard cutouts slightly (or changing them) and then taking a photo.
Our Papermation took a long time to do. We set up a work station at the front of the room. We wanted the camera to be facing down on to the table to get the photos, so we piled up encyclopedias and dictionaries on each side of our backdrop. Then we taped the camera onto a basket and laid it across the piles of books, so that the camera was facing down. We used a program called Monkey Jam to take our photos.
There were 397 individual photos used for the animation. This number of photos takes up around 18 seconds of footage. Then we filmed an introduction and recorded some sounds to put over the video, and then sent it away to the competition.
Click here -> frog-papermation-lo-res-blog-complete to view our finished video.
We found out the other day, that we came second in the Eastern Metropolitan Region against both Primary and Secondary Schools. We all won a certificate each and $200 for the school.
We are very proud of ourselves and had a great time making the video.
- 2BB and Mr B.
Friday, September 12, 2008 at 10:47 am · Filed under Frogs, Stick Insects, Video
Sorry it’s been so long since we updated the blog. We have been very busy though.
It was getting too cold to keep the White Lipped Tree Frogs in the classroom and unfortunately we lost one. It was sad for the class. So Mr B is looking after them at his house until the weather gets a bit warmer.
But Mr B brought in two Brown Tree Frogs that his class last year raised from tadpoles. They are very cute. There is one male and one female. You can tell which one the male is because he has brown on his throat. They can both live in the cold.
The Stick Insects are getting alot bigger. They are in their 5th Instar now. The are very camoflaged and sometimes you can’t see them in the morning. But when we spray the leaves, they rock from side to side. We’ve taken care of them well while Mr B’s wisdom teeth were getting taken out.
We have been busy doing Lego animations of Olympic sports and it’s been really hard to get the movement of the lego. But it’s been really fun. This is how you do it. You do a little movement each time and then take a photo. Here is the first Lego animation that we finished. It had 271 photos and took a long time. We had to do all different sounds and we think the finished product is fantastic!
Check it out HERE: weightlifting-final-blog-size
We still need to do our Macleay’s Spectre documentary. We want to do another documentary on the Brown Tree Frogs as well.
See you soon!
2BB (everyone helped write it, but the information was recorded by Leah and Brittany)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 11:05 am · Filed under Stick Insects, Video
Here is our second documentary. It is on the Goliath Stick Insect.
This one is about 5MB and so will take a little bit to load. Please be patient.
You can download it here: goliath-stick-insect-documentary
(The students that researched this documentary and provided the commentary are listed below. They all did a fantastic job! – Mr B)
by Josh, Jack W, Harry, Bella, Bethany and Ekala.
(It was the funnest day of my life – Josh)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 12:13 pm · Filed under Frogs, Video
We have been working really hard in 2BB to create several documentaries on our class pets.
Today we present the first one to you. It is about White Lipped Tree Frogs.
You can view it by clicking here: white-lipped-tree-frog-documentary
It is around 4.5MB so please be patient while it is downloading.
The video was commentated by Bulend, Jade, Laura, Rohan, Jack, Chloe and Michael. We all helped with the editing. It was the funnest day of Rohan’s life (so he tells us! 
)
By Rohan, Chloe, Jade, Jack, Micheal, Laura and Bulend.
Friday, June 6, 2008 at 1:24 pm · Filed under Frogs, Stick Insects
This morning when we got in, the Goliath Stick Insect was bigger than usual. She had shed her skin overnight. This means that she is in her 4th Instar.
What is an Instar?
An Instar is the stage in development of an insect. It tells us how old they are in between two “ecdyses” (moults).
Here is a photo of our Goliath Stick Insect eating a Gum Leaf. She has been a hungry little girl.
Click on the photo to enlarge it.
The White Lipped Tree Frogs have been eating well. They are growing fast and getting stronger. The frogs have been jumping around the tank lots. One of the frogs nearly fell on the log when one of the reeds bent over. But it didn’t fall, because he was holding on properly.
The tank blanket is working really well. It keeps the tank up to 6 degrees warmer in the morning, which is great news!
Here are some more photos of our little froggies.
Click on photo to enlarge.
Click on photo to enlarge
By Jade, Brittany, Josh, Bethany, Michael and Mr B.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 3:12 pm · Filed under Plants
Today, 2BB helped the environment by planting some trees. We went down to the bike path behind the school and some people from the council showed us how to plant trees.
We planted the plants because they help the animals and minibeasts. It helps give them food and shelter.
Did you know that there are Sugar Gliders in Rowville? Hopefully some of these guys will live in the trees we planted some day.
We planted 97 plants in half an hour.
This is how you do it:
- Dig a hole. It has to be deep so if we get heavy rain, it doesn’t wash the plant away.
- Pull the roots off the bottom of the plant pot.
- Give the pot a little squeeze.
- Put your fingers like a ‘V’ and put the plant between your fingers.
- Tip the plant upside down and shake it. If it doesn’t come out you can pat it on the top, or bang it lightly on your shoe to loosen it.
- Clear the hole and then carefully put the plant in.
- Cover the gaps with dirt and mulch and press down firmly to keep the plant nice and snug.
- Watch it grow and make sure you look after it.
Some of the holes had ‘Water Crystals’ in them to help the plant grow. When it rains the water goes into the water crystal. The roots grow into the water crystal and can get the water just like a drink.
The water crystals can last for 20 years.
It was a lot of fun and some people hadn’t done it before and they really liked it.
By 2BB and Mr B.
Monday, May 26, 2008 at 6:03 pm · Filed under Frogs, Video
On the 23rd May, we fed the White Lipped Tree Frogs.
We fed them small crickets. It was fun to see them jump around the tank. One of our frogs is quite fat. We think it’s eaten three or more crickets.
Click here to see a larger photo.
Here is a video of what happened.
Feeding the Frogs
It is a 2.5MB file, so may take some time to load.
The commentry was done by Harry, Laura and Chloe. The bad David Attenborough impression was done by Mr B. Sorry
The second bit of news today is:
The frogs have been pretty cold during the night because of the weather. So we tried to think of something to keep them warm while we weren’t here.
Laura’s mum came up with a great idea for a “Tank Blanket”. So she made up a blanket. Laura helped with the pinning and the machine sewing. The sides are made of Polarfleece and the top is made of a cotton material that will breathe. There is an extra Polarfleece part to cover up a bit of the top if it is too cold.
We all think it looks great! A big thanks to Nikki for making it! 
Here is a photo:
Click here to see a larger photo.
By Laura, Harry and Chloe.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 8:09 pm · Filed under Frogs
Today was a very lucky day. It is the first day with frogs in our class. We have 6 frogs in our class. They are White Lipped Tree Frogs (Litoria infrafrenta – Mr B)
Mr B picked them up from a nice lady called Mrs. Walker. She is from another school.
We have 3 green frogs and 3 brown frogs.
They change colour like a Chameleon. When they are on a log, the change to brown, when they are on a leaf, they change to green.
Frogs eat crickets, cockroaches, spiders, mice (if the frog is big enough) and any smaller bugs that the frog sees moving.
To have a frog you need to have a tank, a water heater, light some logs for them to sit on, some rocks. You can also have a water filter if you want. We have a heat mat under the tank to keep it warm in the night time.
We can’t hold them because we might damage their skin, but they are very cute and jumpy.
Here are some photos that Mr B took of our little frogs in their new home.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
We are really happy to have them in our classroom!
By Rohan, Leah, Charlotte
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 7:41 pm · Filed under Stick Insects
Here are some photos of our Stick Insects.
Macleay Spectre
Click to enlarge
.
Goliath Stick Insect
Click to enlarge
.
They are both females and so we can keep them outside of their tank. This is because they don’t fly away.
We need to give them fresh leaves every couple of days. They need to be sprayed 5 times a day.
Mr.B has to give you permission to go over the white line around the spot where they are.
We love our Stick Insects.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 5:56 pm · Filed under Stick Insects and tagged: Stick Insects
For our Minibeast unit last term, we got some Stick Insects for class pets.
Unfortunately some died because they were soooooooo small.
But we have two that survived and now they are getting big and strong.
The species we have are the:
Macleay’s Spectre
and the Goliath
They love eating lots of fresh leaves from Gum Trees.
We like when we spray water on them. They need this to drink.
See you soon!
2BB
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