Mental+Edge

toc =media type="custom" key="9789300"= = Explanation = Mental Edge: the development of creative, critical and caring thinking skills including an emphasis on questioning and metacognition. From: [|GKP]

During the first two weeks the kids have been learning about all of the above types of thinking and in particular have engaged in activities that have fostered their creative thinking skills.

We researched creativity and found many different ideas associated with its meaning. In conclusion the kids came up with a few generalisations and in particular decided that creativity is: //about making connections, not always inventing something new but being open to trying new ways of doing things. It is about looking for different solutions to problems and being flexible in your thinking, being a risk-taker.//

There are 4 main areas in creative thinking, therefore we have been looking at:

Fluency
This is the ability to come up with a large amount of ideas. Here is an example of what you can do to become fluent in your thinking - have a go: List things that jump. See how many ideas you can come up with in 3 minutes.

Flexibility
This is the ability to come up with a variety of ideas. Here is an example to help you - have a go: List as many uses as you can for a brick. See how many ideas you can come up with in 3 minutes. What different types of ideas did you come up with?

**Originality**
This is the ability to come up with new and original ideas. The example above with the uses of a brick could also conjure up original ideas. They do not have to be able to actually work. An example could be - a hairbrush for a giant.

Elaboration
This is adding to and expanding the ideas you have. For example, you may start with a squiggle on your page. Add to it to come up with something new and different. Keep adding to it to change it and maybe add words to it also.

Creativity =Photos= Here are some photos showing the kids engaged in mental edge activities:

=Junior Class= The Tikipunga Kids then shared their puppets with the junior class at Tikipunga School: media type="custom" key="9870545" =Invention Key= In this exercise, the kids were given situations that they had to solve using known implements, eg. You have been assigned the job of collecting moon sample from the surface of the moon, using a toothpick, Elvis Presley's guitar, a calculator and a badminton racquet. Explain how your expedition will be successful. Here are some of the creative "invention key" work:
 * [[image:IMG_0941-1.JPG width="143" height="192" align="center" caption="Ben and Campbell concentrate on their construction"]] || [[image:IMG_0944-1.JPG width="150" height="192" align="center" caption="Ben and Campbell working to make their construction higher"]] || [[image:IMG_0948-1.JPG width="184" height="185" align="center" caption="Kaleb and Kayla work hard to attach their construction to the table"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_0950.JPG width="162" height="152" align="center" caption="Kaleb, Kayla and Brady attach the strings to the table"]] || [[image:IMG_0956-1.JPG width="197" height="200" align="center" caption="The finished product."]] || [[image:IMG_1223.JPG width="188" height="187" align="center" caption="Spongebob finished"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1255.JPG width="174" height="102" align="center" caption="A finished bird puppet with moving wings"]] || [[image:IMG_1320.JPG width="195" height="152" align="center" caption="Kayla with the finished puppet with moving eyes"]] || [[image:IMG_1301.JPG width="189" height="142" align="center" caption="A finished puppet with moving head"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1292.JPG width="384" height="288"]] || [[image:IMG_1293.JPG width="320" height="240"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1294.JPG width="384" height="288"]] ||  ||

What If? Key
In this exercise the students had to think critically about a situation that would not be practical but invokes a lot of thought. Here was their task:

What if humans could only see things in black and white? Below are some of their most creative and critical thoughts (Dargaville students only):

'black-blind' or 'white-blind' but not colourblind. || Spongebob would be black! ||
 * There would be no fashion. || 3D movies would not be able to be made. || There would be no "Wow" factor. || Racism may drop. || No-one would fight over clothes - like one t-shirt of one colour left. || The word 'colour' may no longer exist. || You wouldn't know the difference between a sewage pond and a clean water pond. || The world would be dull and more people could suffer from depression. || We would still have black and white TVs. || The rainbow would be boring. ||
 * It could be difficult to distinguish between animals. || It would be hard to know which is your car. || Computers may not have been invented. || Nature would be boring. || We would all have either black or white eyes and black or white hair. || Traffic lights would be difficult to read. || A lot of technology may not have been invented. || There would be no such thing as colour blindness. || You could only get clothes in 2 colours. || Industries would not be so big as many rely on colours for their goods. ||
 * The forest would be very dark. || The moon would be hard to see. || People wouldn't have to dye their hair. || It would hard to tell the difference between night and day. || Many artists who are famous now may not have been discovered. || Fires might be hard to see or control. || There would only be black and white paint. || It might be hard to find a bad guy. || Many houses might look the same so you might find it hard to know which is yours. || It might be hard to see boats out on the sea so collisions might happen more. ||
 * The Mona Lisa may not be so famous or may not even exist. || Camouflague would be easy peasy. || Coloured pencils wouldn't exist. || Creativity mightn't exist. || Fashion would be simple. || Jewels would remain unknown. || There would be pretty much no smell. || Day and night would be very similar. || We wouldn't waste so much ink. || Houses would look the same, eg. carpets and curtains. ||
 * You wouldn't know that you were sunburnt except by the feel of it. || The sun would look black. || You wouldn't be able to tell the land from the sea. || You couldn't see some things as they would blend into the background. || If you collect things that might all look the same. || You wouldn't know if you won a first, second or third place. || Old people's hair would look the same as young people's hair. || You wouldn't tell if food was cooked properly, eg. burnt toast. || You might be
 * You could get away with not cleaning your teeth! || We wouldn't be able to see storm clouds or tornadoes easily. || It would be difficult for doctors to distinguish different blood types. || Planes might crash into each other more often. || The famous Ford statement will come back into existence. || It would be easier to see at night. || It might be difficult to spot dangerous animals. || All school uniforms would be the same. || There wouldn't be much of a choice for your favourite colour. || You would have to rely more heavily on smell, hearing and touch. ||
 * It would change scientists perspectives on living things. || We wouldn't know about hot and cold planets. || It would be difficult to know much about diseases such as melanoma as you wouldn't know what is causing the harm. || The risk of being blind would be higher. || If you are mixing chemicals you might mix the wrong thing causing more disasters. || Your eyesight wouldn't be as good. || Night vision goggles wouldn't be as effective. || There wouldn't be so many painters. || It would be difficult to identify plants. || You wouldn't see stars at night. ||
 * You wouldn't be able to tell if food was off or not causing more people to be sick. || Maybe colourblind people would be able to see colours. || Things like carrots and turnips would be hard to distinguish. || There would be less names for animals as they may look the same, eg. zebras and horses. || Animals may not be killed as much as their coats would be the same colour. || Babies may get switched more often at birth. || Everyone may need to wear glasses. || Books would look like old-time books because nothing would be able to change. || Sports would change because it would be hard to see the ball, eg. in cricket. ||  ||

Imagination
In this exercise the kids were given a ripped piece of paper. They all received the same shape and had to create picture of some sort with their piece. You can be the judge of the originality of these creations. Look closely for the shape that is the starting point of each picture:

A slightly different shape but same idea for the different classes:
 * [[image:IMG_1399-1.JPG width="202" height="266" caption="A medieval castle"]] || [[image:IMG_1398-1.JPG width="221" height="279" caption="Clouds behind the Eiffel Tower"]] || [[image:IMG_1401-1.JPG width="237" height="282" caption="Hang-gliding"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1402-1.JPG width="186" height="200"]] || [[image:IMG_1403-1.JPG width="195" height="297"]] || [[image:IMG_1404-1.JPG width="211" height="269"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1405-1.JPG width="240" height="389"]] || [[image:IMG_1406-1.JPG width="235" height="148"]] || [[image:IMG_1400.JPG width="217" height="258"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1407-1.JPG width="201" height="331" caption="An Easter Island statue"]] || [[image:IMG_1423-1.JPG width="221" height="309"]] || [[image:IMG_1422-1.JPG width="240" height="290" caption="Hogwart's Graveyard"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1417-1.JPG width="194" height="221" caption="Folded into a rocket"]] || [[image:IMG_1416-1.JPG width="215" height="222" caption="An environmental poster"]] || [[image:IMG_1412-1.JPG width="192" height="260" caption="A treasure trove"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1410-1.JPG width="182" height="208" caption="A fun slide"]] || [[image:IMG_1409.JPG width="223" height="193"]] || [[image:IMG_1408-1.JPG width="175" height="212" caption="A hula skirt"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1411-1.JPG width="192" height="256" caption="A sad reality"]] || [[image:IMG_1397-1.JPG width="194" height="292"]] || [[image:IMG_1396-1.JPG width="203" height="236" caption="The Statue of Liberty"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1395-1.JPG width="240" height="320" caption="Add another shape the same"]] || [[image:IMG_1394-1.JPG width="250" height="289" caption="Folded to make a table and chairs"]] ||  ||

What is a "Crocododdlebugaboo"?
Task: Draw a Crocododdlebugaboo. Elaborate your idea by adding labels and telling us what it does, where it is found and what it looks like. Here are some of the amazing creatures:


 * [[image:IMG_1495.JPG width="384" height="288"]] || [[image:IMG_1496.JPG width="386" height="291"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1497.JPG width="384" height="289"]] || [[image:IMG_1493.JPG width="393" height="297"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1492.JPG width="384" height="288"]] || [[image:IMG_1491.JPG width="384" height="288"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1499.JPG width="320" height="425"]] || [[image:IMG_1490.JPG width="384" height="288"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_1489.JPG width="384" height="249"]] || [[image:IMG_1487.JPG width="384" height="436"]] ||

What Happened the Next Day?
For this activity the kids had to choose a well known story (preferably a nursery rhyme or a fairy tale) and make a change to tell what happens next. There were some very humorous and clever stories.

Here are a few:

Danielle C:
media type="custom" key="9072722"

Caitlin K:
media type="custom" key="9033042"

Tamer:
media type="custom" key="9072710"

Danielle K:
Danielle drew her story as a a cartoon but this is how the story went: Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again || Little Miss Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Little Miss Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Little Miss Humpty together again || Baby Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Baby Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Baby Humpty together again || Super hero Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Super hero Humpty together again || Harry Potter Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Harry Potter Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Harry Potter Humpty together again || Supermodel Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Supermodel Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Supermodel Humpty together again || Hard boiled Humpty Dumpty had a great fall The king couldn't be bothered trying to put him together again, so he ate him for breakfast! ||  ||   ||
 * Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
 * Super hero Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
 * Hard boiled Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall

Construction Key
The Tikipunga kids one week and then the Dargaville kids another week, were involved in a technology challenge. They were given a certain amount of materials and had 3 minutes to collect them. These were: 6 sheets of newspaper, 2 iceblock sticks, 1 metre sellotape, 1 metre string, 6 small boxes, 2 paper cups and the choice of doubling one of those. Mission - To build the tallest construction you can in 30 minutes. The construction must be free-standing and the measurement will go from the floor to the tallest part of your construction.

**Mission completed?** - Some teams found this mission quite hard but all persisted to come up with a construction. Here are some of the teams completing this mission:

Tikipunga Kids
kids || ||  ||
 * Tikipunga
 * [[image:IMG_0020.JPG width="227" height="169" caption="Liam persisting with his group's construction"]] || [[image:IMG_0034.JPG width="210" height="278" caption="Kahu, James and Benny with mission accomplished"]] || [[image:IMG_0019.JPG width="230" height="172" caption="TJ carefully adding another layer"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_0040.JPG width="198" height="284" caption="Too tall to photograph all at once!"]] || [[image:IMG_0082.JPG width="198" height="274" caption="Campbell adds more"]] || [[image:IMG_0084.JPG width="227" height="169" caption="A sturdy base"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_0086.JPG width="210" height="280" caption="Kaleb stablises his team's construction"]] || [[image:IMG_0038.JPG width="227" height="169" caption="As tall as the cupboard!"]] ||  ||

Northern Wairoa Kids
Wairoa kids || ||  || =Easter= For most of this week I was sick in bed and so the kids had a wonderful relieving teaching. They had asked if they could have Easter-type activities to do. Here is one story which was in response to this thinking task:
 * Northern
 * [[image:IMG_0143.JPG width="256" height="192" caption="Another stable beginning"]] || [[image:IMG_0126.JPG width="240" height="182" caption="Cooper and the 2 Lukes collaborate on their structure"]] || [[image:IMG_0124.JPG width="256" height="192" caption="Concentration by Tamer, Grace and Laura"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_0123.JPG width="256" height="192" caption="Darryn and Conor working well together"]] || ﻿[[image:IMG_0129.JPG width="256" height="192" caption="Danielle and Tania work hard while Caitlin supervises!"]] || [[image:IMG_0138.JPG width="231" height="383" caption="A very high construction which managed to stay standing"]] ||

//In another dimension on the other side of the Universe, the Easter symbol is actually a shining golden dinosaur. Create an intriguing legend that explains the origin of this symbol.// The Easter Dino: A long time ago, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I'm sure you've heard that velociraptors stole eggs. Scientists tell you they eat them, but that isn't true! They take the eggs to a far off kingdom, where The Easter Dino lives. He decorates the eggs with footprints and vines, coats them in mud, and brings them to the velociraptors who store them for Easter, and then they around, giving eggs to all the Dinosaurs.

They say that when the meteor hit Earth, the Easter Dino stayed behind, trying to save all of the eggs. Some people believe that, and some say he is still alive, getting foxes to steal chicken eggs for him and then he decorates them with more modern things, such as ribbons or edible paints. And instead of coating them in mud, he coats them in delicious chocolate and sends the foxes out to give happiness for the children of the earth.

Nobody knows where the Easter Dino lives, but every Easter, there is an incredible roar and it starts raining chocolate eggs! After the egg-rain stops, there is a shadow of a Dinosaur, walking away with an army of foxes, running off to their burrows with chocolate eggs.