Room 6 2015: ANZAC Week

In the first week of Term 2 Room 6 delved into an Inquiry to answer this question -

What is ANZAC Day?

These are some of the main things we learned:

· ANZAC Day marks the date when New Zealand and Australian troops landed in Gallipoli in Turkey on 25^th April 1915 during the First World War.

· ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.

· Over 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died as a result of a horrific World War 1 battle at Gallipoli Peninsula.

· Since then, on ANZAC Day, we have been remembering them and all the other New Zealand servicemen and women who have died in wars since.

· Every year on ANZAC Day, dawn parades are held all over New Zealand to remember our ancestors – grandparents, great grandparents, and great, great grandparents – and the sacrifices they made.

· This year is 2015 and marks 100 years since the battle at Gallipoli.

· Poppies are significant to ANZAC Day because they were the first plants to flower in the mud of the battlefields in Flanders where some of the worst battles took place.

· ANZAC biscuits were made by NZ mothers, wives, and girlfriends and sent to the men serving in the war. These long-lasting, tasty and healthy biscuits were originally called ‘soldiers biscuits’, but after Gallipoli they were renamed ‘ANZAC Biscuits’.

· ‘LEST WE FORGET’ is an expression used as a warning not to forget those who died in war.

Room 6 became engaged in some very thought provoking discussion. One book in particular - 'Jim's Letters', written by Glyn Harper, really helped put things in perspective. Here's Mr Jones in the middle of one such discussion.