Flying Rockets

 Hola! On Tuesday for science, our hurumanu class finally launched our rockets that we'd been working on for the past few weeks. I worked with Hamid, Risha and Mea. We researched on what would make our rocket fly better and land without issues. 

Many groups added cardboard wings to the sides of their rockets but we did something extra and added another parachute to ours. The landing was much smoother in the end. 

Fantastic Fun Run!

 Hola! On Wednesday, Hornby High School was participating in a Fun Run. Everyone from year 7 to 10 was included. We did the fun run to raise money for KidsCan who help schools all around New Zealand. 

We all met up at Kyle Park and started off at 12:30 by doing some warm-up exercises. In our year group lines (Year 7/8 boys, year 7/8 girls, year 9/10 boys/ years 9/10 girls) we all got ready for the big "race". The fun run wasn't like a triathlon or anything, you could skip it, you could even walk it. Most ran though. 

To start off the fun run, we had to do 2 laps of Kyle Park, and while running teachers would throw coloured powder all over you. If you didn't want the colour thrown at you though, you could run another way. 

After the 2 laps, you had to run down a hill where there would be even more colour. Then you had to jump or go under some hurdles to find yourself in front of a bouncy slide. After you come down, you get big sponges thrown at you or even get sprayed by a water gun. Next, to end it all off, you get a lot more colour thrown.

Blind Ball

 Ni hao! Today in Hurumanu 6 (Health) we got to choose from a blogging choice activity. On the grid, there were 9 activities we could choose from. My friend and I chose to design a new game that could be played with the whole class during wānanga or hurumanu time.

We got a handball and started talking about the type of techniques we could use to make it interesting. At first, we just played normal catch. We kicked it a few times too but it wasn't unique. 

After a while, we didn't really come up with much so we just threw the ball to each other at a long distance.

Acrostic Poem About Me

 Namaste! Today I have created an acrostic poem about me! An acrostic poem is a poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word, message or the alphabet.

Mine poem is based on my name

What is your favourite type of poem?

Tokelauan Language Week

 Mālo ni! Since this week is Tokelauan Language Week. I've decided to make a DLO to teach you some words and phrases. 

Tokelau is a remote group of atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, of which it's a territory. It's usually accessed by boat from Samoa, a trip that can take around 24 hours. Nukunonu atoll contains accommodation and a clear lagoon rich in marine life. Fakaofo has swimming pigs that famously catch fish near its coral reef.

Are you from Tokelau? Do you know anyone from Tokelau?

Goal Setting Term 4

 Bună! Once again, this term, my class has started our goal-setting blogpost. This time, there's a little difference since I've actually explained my biggest achievement from last term. We do this every term so we can set ourselves a goal and try to complete it. 

What goals have you set for the year?

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori

 Kia ora! In honour of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Maori Language Week everyone from my class has made a DLO (Digital Learning Object) teaching our viewers new phrases and words. At the end of my slide, I have attached a waiata which explains to cherish Te Reo. 

Kua mahia e koe tetahi mea hei whakanui i te wiki o te reo māori?

Structure of Hurumanu 5 This Rotation

 Hi! For hurumanu, we've been apart of PE & Maths (hurumanu 5) for over a term now. My class works with 2 other classes, Co and Wh. 

Throughout the past 12 weeks, we've worked on multiple different things. One of the main thing's we have focused on is our pulse and heart rate. At the beginning of the 12 weeks, we did the beep test. After that, we did fitness circuits, running laps of the basketball court to see what our heart rate would be at the end. We also looked into our resting heart rate and our heart rate while we were doing activities. We did start the hurumanu off with doing a singular beep test but we have been practising by doing team beep tests but as our hurumanu is finally coming to an end we'll be doing another singular beep test today see how much we've improved.

On the other hand, we also worked on our math. Since our PE hurumanu also ties in with math we were learning about looking at the area of something. Whether it's the netball court or the basketball court. We got big measuring tapes, looked at the width and the length to see what the area is. 

For volume, we also looked at the width and length, but,  what is volume? Volume is a book forming part of a work or series, the amount of space that a substance or object occupies, or that is enclosed within a container, loudness/quietness, and measurement of liquid. Volume is the amount of space an object takes up. We were given different places to measure so we could conclude the area and volume.

Our fitness circuits would be filled with all sorts of activities that we had to do for 1 minute. Burpees, shuttles, squats, sit-ups, box jumps, skipping, mountain climbers, push-ups, plus more, it was all there. We would have pieces of paper to write down our result. And every time I completed it I saw an improvement in my results.

Reflection

Personally, I really like hurumanu 5 this term. I got to try stuff I hadn't done before, such as the fitness circuit. One of my favourite things to do was the team beep test where there would be at least 4 in a team and they'd each take turns running. 

Have you ever done the beep test before?

Solar Ovens

 Hola! In Science last Thursday we made solar ovens! In groups of 3-4, we got pieces of cardboard, foil, skewers, and tape.

We could shape it however we wanted to. My group covered our whole structure in the foil. Once done, the teacher gave us a biscuit and two marshmallows each to put inside. We went outside and waited. The result took a while to come so we got magnifying glasses to speed up the process. 

We used the reflection coming through the magnifying glass to burn the marshmallows.

Have you ever made a solar oven?

Tongan Language Week

 Hi! In honor of Tongan Language Week, I have made a DLO teaching you some common words and phrases that you can use. I hope you learn something new from my google slide! Have you ever visited Tonga? If not, do you want to?

World War |

Hi! Recently we have been learning about World War I and how it impacted others. We learnt about how it affected women, kids, teachers and the soldiers themself.

Here's a DLO which consists of both, videos & photos which also explains the great depression.

What do you know about World War I?

Gravity and it's Effects

 Hi! What do you know about gravity? It's basically all around us, like oxygen. We can feel it's effects every day. It makes sure you or just everyday objects aren't floating away. It's also what Sir Isaac Newton formulated when an apple fell on his head. But, back then he didn't realise what type of effects it would have on your body.

Changes To Body

Do you suffer from varicose veins, swollen feet or an aching back? If you responded yes to any of these questions, you are a victim of the inescapable, compressive force of gravity. The results of gravity's constant downward pull on our faces, shoulders, backs, necks, chests, organs, legs and feet are painfully obvious to most of us. Gravity never gives up. We will all experience change to our bodies as a result of life on this planet. The most noticeable effect of gravity on the body is compression of the spine. 

1. Is gravity the same on all planets?

Definitely not. It all comes down to depending on the size, mass and density of the object, the gravitational force it exerts varies. More mass gives you more gravity. For example, if you go to Jupiter you'll be compressed to the size of a basketball due to the strong gravitational pull.

2. How is gravity related to mass?

Like I mentioned before, more mass equals more gravity. Since Mercury is the smallest planet, it has the least about of gravity. Jupiter is the biggest planet, so it has the most amount of gravity.

3. Which planet would you weight the most on? The least?

Bigger the planet, the more you'll weigh. For example, if you weighed 50kg on Mercury you'd weigh 18.9kg but on Jupiter, you'd weigh 117kg. Big difference, I know. 

4. How would your life be different if you lived on a planet with higher gravity? With lower gravity?

Living on a planet with higher gravity would come with more health-related issues. Humans would turn out to be shorter. On the other hand, living in a place with lower gravity would make us weaker, exercise would be necessary in order to maintain a healthy body.

5. What's the difference between mass and weight?

Mass: If you could count up the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in an object (which you probably can't), this would be a measure of the mass. The mass is essentially "how much stuff" is in an object. Common units for mass are the kilogram and the gram. 

Weight: There is a gravitational interaction between objects that have mass. If you consider an object interacting with the Earth, this force is called the weight. The unit for weight is the Newton (same as for any other force).

Most humans on the surface of the Earth can get away with saying either "weight" or "mass" because they are proportional to each other. If you know the mass of something (m), then the weight (W) can be found as:

6. How do boats float?

The oxygen inside a ship is much less dense than water.  The average density of the total volume of the ship and everything inside of it (including the air) must be less than the same volume of water. As a ship is set in water, it pushes down and displaces an amount of water equal to its weight. The closer the total density of the ship is to the density of the same volume of water, the greater the amount of the ship that will be in the water. If the average density of the ship is greater than the density of water, then the ship will sink beneath the surface of the water.

Sphero's - Science

 Hi! Today in Science, we used Spheros. We had to use paper to make a course. My partner and I decided to cut out triangles so the robot could travel in a zig-zag pattern. We decided from either blocks or drawing. The block one was where you actually had to code out what you wanted the sphero to do. On the other side, with the drawing part, you had to draw out where you wanted the robot to go.

The videos and pictures are not currently uploading but I will edit this blog post later when it's possible.

Kindness Acrostic Poem

 Hola! Last week in class we got a task to make either a rap, song, digital poster or poem about kindness. A couple of friends and I decided on an acrostic poem. Read below and give us feedback! 

How do you show kindness?

Self Introduction - Japanese

 Konnichi wa! Today in Japanese we created our self-introductions but of course, in Japanese. Read below and find out more about me. Leave me feedback! Also, do you know how to speak Japanese, if not, would you learn the unique language?

Hajimemashite　ohayougozaimasu.            Watashi wa namae wa shureiya desu.

Nice to meet you, good morning.                  My name is Shreya.

ni juu san desu.                                              kuraisutochaachi ni sunde imasu.

I’m 13 years old.                                              I live in Christchurch.

denwa bangou wa zero hachi zero zero no yon ni go no ichi nana kyuu desu.

(My) phone number is 0800-425-179.

Indo kara kimashita.                                          Nettobooru ga suki desu.

I come from India.                                                    I like netball.

suugaku ga suki janai desu.                  douzo youroshiku onegaishimasu.

I don’t like Maths.                              (Please be nice to me) / Nice to meet you.

Gold Rush Chinese Miners & Discrimination

Salve! Today in Social Science I'll be telling you about the Chinese Miners and Discrimination in the 1800s and onwards. 

Here are four things I discovered about Chinese miners.

- Some Chinese miners became well known in their communities

- Chinese miners were paid less and there were about 7000 of them.

- In a small rural county in the Guangdong province of China, far away from the hustle and bustle of big cities, the homelands of the first Chinese settlers to came to New Zealand. 

- About 5000 Chinese miners migrated to the Goldfields of Central Otago in the 1860s.

- Most of the Chinese didn't speak English, and they preferred to build small stone houses away from the other miners. They often had their own shops, run by their own people. Working patiently through the pile of rocks they left behind, some Chinese miners were rewarded with gold, but mainly remained poor and far away from a home they never saw again.

And, here are four things I learnt about discrimination in the 1800s.

Discrimination is treating someone differently or unfairly because of their skin, race, age, gender, politics, gender identity, religion, the way they look, a past criminal record, the person's lifestyle, their choice of clothing, their age or their disabilities whether they are a member of or fit in with a social group, social class, social status or caste, and many other reasons.

- There was a common belief that the Chinese carried infectious diseases and were dirty and unhygienic.

-  The relatively restrained nature of anti-Chinese legislation and the virtual absence of collective violent protest against them scarcely indicate that the mass of colonists hated the Chinese. 

- The Chinese were also believed to threaten to swamp the European population.

- Also, the immigrants were believed to be associated with gambling, opium smoking and people said that they never contributed to the New Zealand economy.

Navigation in Space

Chào! In Science today I will be answering some questions about navigation in space and also, just space in general. Leave me some feedback! If you got the chance, would you ever visit  space? 🪐

1. What is a solar system? The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of the objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest are the eight planets, with the remainder being smaller objects, the dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies.

2. What is a star? Describe a Nebula A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some nebulae (more than one nebula) come from the gas and dust thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form.

3. How do stars die? Most stars take millions of years to die. When a star like the Sun has burned all of its hydrogen fuel, it expands to become a red giant. This may be millions of kilometres across - big enough to swallow the planets, Mercury and Venus.

After puffing off its outer layers, the star collapses to form a very dense white dwarf. One teaspoon of material from a white dwarf would weigh up to 100 tonnes. Over billions of years, the white dwarf cools and becomes invisible.

Stars heavier than eight times the mass of the Sun end their lives very suddenly. When they run out of fuel, they swell into red supergiants. They try to keep alive by burning different fuels, but this only works for a few million years. Then they blow themselves apart in a huge supernova explosion.

4. Is there an up or down in space? There is an up and down in space. "Down" is simply the direction gravity is pulling you, and "up" is just the opposite direction. Since there is gravity everywhere in space, there is also an up and down everywhere in space. Gravity is a centrally attractive force, so "going down" means falling or being pulled towards the center of the nearest massive object. If you are in space and the earth is the nearest astronomical object, you fall towards the earth. Down is therefore towards the earth's center and up is away from the earth's center when close to the earth.

5. How can stars be used to navigate? By learning where the stars are in the night sky with your palm facing towards the sky you can figure out where you're going. Some primitive tribes accomplished amazing feats of pathfinding using only the sky as their guide. The Māori came to New Zealand from eastern Polynesia, probably in several waves between the years 1280 to 1300. With no instruments or tables to consult, they very carefully observed the night sky as well as local weather patterns and ocean currents. 

Bonus Questions

1. What does the word spaghettification mean? Spaghettification means theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole.

2. Find 3 facts about a black hole 

1. You Can’t Directly See a Black Hole

A black hole is called a black hole because of its colour, especially since light can’t escape. What we can see, though, is the effects of a black hole. Analyzing the surrounding area of a black hole, we can see its effects upon its environment. For example, a star that’s close enough to a black hole can be seen being ripped apart.

2. Our Milky Way Probably Has a Black Hole

But, don’t be alarmed, Earth isn’t in danger! The major black hole that astronomists believe to be within our Milky Way is light years away from Earth.

3. Dying Stars Lead to Stellar Black Holes

The death of large stars leads to black holes because a star’s gravity will overwhelm the star’s natural pressure that it maintains to keep its shape. When the pressure from the nuclear reactions collapses, gravity overwhelms and collapses the star’s core, and the star’s other layers are thrown off into space, and this process is also known as a supernova. The remainder of the core collapses, a spot overcome by density and without volume – a black hole.

Gold Mining & Discrimination in the 1800s

Bună! This week we started learning about the Gold Rush in New Zealand. In the 19th century discovering gold was a way out of poverty. From the 1860s gold rush followed gold rush, and thousands flocked to the fields. Only a lucky few found riches in the rock. However, the collective value of the gold was discovered kick-started the young colony's economy. Gold was the making of early New Zealand.                                                                         

One of the main locations was Gabriel's Gully, located in the South Island, it's now filled with greenery and I believe no one resides there anymore. You can still visit the monumental location and go on an interpretation walk, there's historical sightseeing.

A short video of Gabriel's Gully

Six Photographs

Hi! Last week we read a journal which consisted of 6 different stories which had pictures that were taken before the 1900s. I have made a Powtoon which explains the journal in more detail.

If you have any feedback, let me know. Also, have you ever seen or even used, an ancient camera?

Goal Setting 2020

Aloha! Yesterday we created our goal setting document. We wrote about what we want to achieve by the end of the term and the end of the year. 

Arts Kete

Konnichiwa! For the past few weeks, I have been working on some bird art. We first started it off with choosing a bird, we chose Tieke. We traced a picture of it on a large piece of paper. When that was all finished we got fake feathers and layered them on with double-sided tape. This was the end result, we still have a little bit more to do.

Fair Chocolate

Bula! Today I read a journal about a Chocolate factory here in Christchurch. For my reading task, I made a poster. I used Canva to make the poster.

Have you ever used Canva?

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Kia Ora and today I'll be showing you a biteable I made about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It shows the timeline of what happened at the beginning of when the Polynesians arrived Aotearoa to 2018 when Jacinda Ardern spent a few days at Waitangi. It's also the longest visit of any prime minister so far!

What do you know about Waitangi Day? Let me know!

Te Tiriti o Waitangi on Biteable.

How long do year ⅞ students exercise for?

Bula! In class, we have been asking questions and making bar graphs in Maths. The question that would gather statistical information is "How long do year 7/8 students exercise for?"  

        

Is Sodium good for you?

Kamusta! In Health today we learnt about Sodium, aka, salt. It's in almost everything. We need it to live a healthy life but at the same time eating too much of it can be unhealthy. Today, we had to rate 13 packaged foods depending on how much salt we think they have in them. Something interesting I learnt today was that 2 Minute Noodles actually don't have a lot of sodium included.

How, much sodium do you think a teenager should consume daily?

Explorers on The Sunrise

Oi! I recently read a story about the Polynesians who came to New Zealand hundreds of years ago. They migrated to the North Island in the thirteenth century, aka in the year 1280. I've answered some questions below!

1. What challenges did travellers face when the only way to travel long

distances across the sea were by canoe?

Some of the many challenges the voyagers could face were starvation if they ended up having for little food for everyone to share amongst themselves and they have multiple days ahead of them.

Dehydration could also be a problem. As we all know sea salt is in most waters around the world and salt makes you even more dehydrated. If the voyagers ended up drinking all the rainwater and had to start drinking seawater in order to survive, there could be a risk of tired men and women having no energy.

Although both of those challenges can be unlikely since the leaders made sure no one made bad decisions that could harm the safety of others. 

2. Imagine being on a canoe with dozens of people for weeks. What would

make it hard? What would help make it easier?

In my opinion, there are quite a few pros and cons. Even though most people who go on the canoe are mature there can be times where one gets annoyed or tired of another. Or, there can be a person who doesn’t put as much effort in as the others. 

A pro is that all the voyagers are kind of like your family and while there’s a storm and everyone’s resting it could be the perfect time to go to the person you’re closest to and just talk with them. 

I have a feeling you wouldn’t get bored as easily and that would make the trip seem not too long if you’re basically always busy with a job and helping others.  

3. Do you know of other cultures where people have travelled long distances to settle in other places? What traditions and customs are evidence of that?

In the 1600s the British landed on Indian land. The first biggest strike from the British on India was the defeat of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daulah, at the hands of Robert Clive in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. They also drained India of its wealth and later on conquered the huge country.

4. Explain the difference between ancestors and descendants in your own words

Descendants are people or things that came from an ancestor, for example, “He’s a descendant of Queen Elizabeth”. 

While on the other hand, ancestor is a person who lived a long time ago, for example, “Her ancestors can be traced back to Queen Mary”

How the Moriori people came to be

Kia ora! In my hurumanu called "Who are we", we researched about the Moriori people came to be and how they created their own unique culture. Look through the DLO below to find out more information!

The Cons of Sugar

Hi guys! Today in Hurumanu, we saw a video about sugar. It's highly addictive and most people love it. In this blog post, I will be answering some questions that were asked throughout the video.

What is the maximum teaspoons of sugar we should have daily? 6 teaspoons are the maximum amount of sugar you should have on a daily basis in order to stay moderately healthy.

Is it healthier to eat a whole orange than to drink a glass of orange juice? It is healthier to eat an orange because the fruit has more fibres in it and fewer teaspoons of sugar compared to juice.

What are 3 ways we can avoid eating too much sugar? 

1. Don't drink fizzy drinks before eating since it makes you eat more.

2. Drink more water 

3. If you are craving some type of juice, sugar-free drinks are a  good alternative.

What are 3 bad things that can happen to our bodies if we eat too much sugar?

People who eat too much sugar are at

                                                                                                       risk of heart disease, liver disease and diabetes type 2.

Interview with Mark Watney

Interview with Mark The Martian

List 5 questions you would like to ask Mark….record his answers, then write a 

News Report based on his answers. Use the handout to help you remember the plot.

Questions and answers.

Did you think you were going to survive at all? “Well… yes, at the beginning I definitely thought I wasn’t going to make it. But since I’m so amazing and smart I found ways to grow my own food and survive.”

On a scale of 1 to 100 how happy were you when you finally saw humans again? “Oh my god! I was so happy that I finally got to see the crew again, I remember the moment like it was yesterday. Telling them about everything I did was hectic.”

Was using the bio-waste disgusting? “YES! It always smelt. I’d like to never do that again. Such a nightmare.”

When you pierced through your suit were you regretting anything? “I mean there was a moment where I was thinking everything was going to go wrong. “

Did being a botanist help in any way? Definitely. I wouldn’t have 

 

News Report:

e.g. Well known tennis player, Tony Rutene, landed in the wrong town for his latest tennis tournament. He was stuck there with no transport, no money, no food and no communications. His teammates had no idea where he was and after a week gave him up for dead because he was unable to access a phone or computer given that everyone in the town was in lockdown. Noone travelled out of their bubble and it was only by chance that a helicopter flew over and saw Tony’s message in a vacant plot. ‘HELP!’ The pilot landed on the plot and at a safe distance was able to sort Tony out and fly him back home to his relieved family and teammates.

Write your draft news report here:

Well known astronaut, Mark Watney, has been stranded on Mars. A huge sandstorm was planned to pass the area where the crew was going to be landing. As the hours grew the storm grew stronger and it was described to be no longer safe. Nasa is also trying their best in order for them to be able to communicate with Mark. People believe his death on Mars is inevitable.

The Martian

“The Martian” (2015)

 

Prior Knowledge: Before watching, what do you predict this movie might be about just from the title and the movie poster??????

I think The Martian is about a guy getting abandoned on the planet Mars and he has to grow food on a planet where nothing grows. He uses his spaceship and builds solar panels to collect energy.

10 minutes: Pause. What have you noticed so far? Fill in as many of these categories as you can: 

Characters: Martinez, Commander Lewis, Mark Watney, and 2 others

Setting: On Mars, mission area. 

What have you seen? Three details

  Mark survived the storm but the people at NASA have no clue. 

   The dust on Mars looks very different from the sand on Earth.

   Mark got hit by a satellite.  

What important events have happened? Record big moments as you watch.

Mark wakes up in Mars to discover a pole from an antenna is lodged into his lower abdomen. He creates a plan to grow food on a planet where nothing grows. He burned hydrogen to make water. He also used vacuum-packed human waste and mixed it with soil to make fertiliser. Radioactive waste from the spaceship they came in was made into a heater for the rover. NASA discovers that he’s alive but they’re not able to communicate.

Mark and NASA work together so they’re able to talk to each other. NASA decides to not tell the crew that Mark is alive for 2 whole months. 7 months pass and NASA communicated with Mark. The crew that was on the Hermes had to orbit the Earth in order

Mark travels in the MAV, the tarp on top of spaceship blows off. He’s forced to cut his suit so the oxygen in his suit makes him blow into space. Commander Lewis goes down in a chair to catch Mark. In the end, Mark Watney is brought into the spaceship.

Ending: what happened? Mark returns back to Earth with the crew. Years later, he gives advice to people and explains how to survive on Mars.

Did any of your predictions come true? Yes, we were correct!

Samoan Language Week

Talofa! Since this week is Samoan Language Week my friends and I made a DLO explaining the Samoan culture! Hope you like it!

Have you ever visited Samoa? Let me know :)

Life On Mars

Ni Hao! Last week we started Hurumanu 3 which is about Science and Writing. We got told to research about either the Biosphere, some Mars facts, what living on the planet would be like, the Mars rovers and the movie, "The Martian". I worked on a DLO with Nevaeh, Risha and Michaela where we wrote down each of our theories about when humans will land on Mars.

In 1-2 days, we'll be watching The Maritan and I'll be reviewing it on my blog so keep an eye out for that!

If you had the chance to move or visit Mars would you go?
In my opinion, I would 100% go, staying on the ISS is kind of a dream of mine.

Making Ends Meet

Kamusta! During the lockdown, all the year 7 & 8's had to complete Math, Writing and Reading activities. For Math, we had to create a meal plan for a family of 4. We had to decide what everyone was going to be eating for a week. In the slide, I wrote down the exact measurements of every ingredient and wrote down how to make the meal.

Pandemic - The Deadly Flu of 1918

Guten Tag! Today I read a text about the 1918 Pandemic and decided to make a Biteable stating the main events. I hope you enjoy!

Do you consider the current virus to be more dangerous or the Spanish flu?
Pandemic on Biteable.

La Casa de Papel - Writing

Buenos días, buenas tardes or buenas noches. In writing, we were given a task to pick out of Horror, Fantasy and Action. We had to create a script for the next blockbuster film. An idea came to my mind. I had currently finished watching a show called "Money Heist" on Netflix and it was FULL of action, so I got inspired. Click through my slideshow below to read my story and get to know a little bit more about the show!

What character do you relate to the most? Who's personality were you most drawn to and why? Let me know in the comments, bye!

Science On The Ice

Kamusta! For this week in Reading, we have to choose a text and do an activity. I chose a text called "Science On The Ice" and I decided to make my own book cover!


        Hope you like it! If you had the chance to visit Antarctica would you go? If so, why? Let me know in the comments!

The Midnight Gang Book Review!!

Talofa! Since all the schools are closed our teachers gave the students work to do from home. So in this blog post, I will be reviewing a book by one of my all-time favourite authors!

The title of the book is The Midnight Gang and David Walliams is the author. I chose to read The Midnight Gang because all of David's books are filled with humour and colourful illustrations. Also, his books are filled with the wackiest of stories that makes me, and probably other people too, want to read it more!

My favourite part in the book is right towards the end. Sally, who is 10 can't leave the hospital due to her condition but all she wants is a normal life. All of the other members of The Midnight Gang and Porter work together to make her dreams come true.

Here are all of the characters in the book
- Amber
- Tom
- Robin
- George
- Sally
- Porter
- Nelly
- Cod

I would recommend The Midnight Gang to anyone who's a fan of Roald Dahl and Geronimo Stilton. All of their books are filled with made-up words and their own humour. The illustrations are also amazing! All of their books have a hook that makes you keep on reading.

Also, there is a movie based off of this exact book and David Walliams even stars in it! I rate both the movie and the book a 10/10. Ciao!

Mexican Week Challenge

Hola! For food tech this week it was Mexican week! We Mexican mince dip and quesadillas using tortillas with chilli beans and vegetables. I work with the vegetarian group so our mince dip obviously didn't have any meat in it.

Mexican Mince Dip
The Mexican dip tasted really nice. There were the right amount of vegetables and I could really taste the taco seasoning. Also, the cream cheese made the meal even better, it just added a good amount of creaminess. Overall, it was really good and it's something I could possibly make for my own family.

Quesadilla
Now onto our second meal. Preparing it honestly wasn't even as hard as I thought it would be, really simple in my opinion. Anyways, I liked some of the chunkiness of it and I feel like the sauce and the red onions we used helped bring out the real flavour!

CARR Values Screencastify

Hola! Yesterday a couple of friends and I made a poster about Hornby High School's values. But today we made a screencastify reading out what we had written. Hope you like it! What are the values at your school?

Haiku Screencastify

Aloha! For homeroom, we got given the task to create a document explaining what a haiku is. Then we had to video ourselves reading what we had written including our own haiku about anything we wanted. Here's my video!

Rice ball challenge!

Kon'nichiwa! On Wednesdays and Fridays, my class takes part in Food Technology. 2 weeks were in Italy so for our 2 sessions we made pasta! But last week were in Japan and made sushi! Here's some information about mine.

What was the texture of the rice?
- It was fragile.
- It was also very soft.

What did it smell like?
- It smelt like the vinegar our teacher put into the rice.
- The smell of the nori was also strong.

What did it taste like?
- I put wasabi in mine and you could really taste the hint of spice.
- Out of all vegetables, the capsicum stood out to me the most.

What were the flavours
- There was a range of different flavours from the vegetables, the vinegar, and the nori.

What was the colour of the rice ball?
- All the ingredients were covered with rice but at the bottom, some carrots peeked through most rice balls.

My Athletics Reflection

Kamusta! Last week on Friday it was athletics day. People competed against each other if they had chosen or some people competed for fun if they had chosen social. And like last year I chose social. 

I competed in every activity there was but my timing and results weren't counted. Discus and shotput was my favourite. They're both easy to throw and I know the right techniques to make it go further. 

While waiting for athletics day to arrive in PE we did 60 or 100-metre sprints, shot put, long jump, high jump, and more. I wasn't amazing at all the activities we did but I was okay at most and was pretty proud of my results. I wouldn't like anything to be different than what it is now, I liked how we split the groups and weren't always a big bunch. 

My Goals For This Year/Term

Hola! At the start of this year all year 7, 8s and 9s wrote down their goals for this term. You had to explain your short term goals (for the term) and long term goals (for the year). At the end of the term, we will revisit the document again and reflect on whether we achieved our goals or not.

Graduate Profile DLO

Hola! At Hornby High School we have a thing called the Graduate Profile. A few days ago our teacher gave us a task to make a DLO about it. The Powtoon we made explains what the Graduate Profile is and we chose 2 areas in profile to talk about. Here is the DLO!

What I did in the Summer Holidays

On the first day of 2020, my cousins decided to go to Arthur's Pass. I didn't expect it to take soo long to drive there. We occasionally had to stop a couple of times throughout the few hours since someone always started getting carsick.

We stopped at a lake with mountains surrounding to get a bit of fresh air. There were families camping and jet skiing. I took a couple of pictures and then we further and further. My cousin then quickly spotted a Kea. After we drove up some kind of hill we saw a few more just flying and bouncing around.

In the end, we FINALLY reached Arthur's Pass. It was a beautiful sight with nature all around us. But then my aunty started feeling sick AGAIN. We figured it was best to just walk around a little more, take a couple of pictures and start heading home again.

On the way back we stopped at Castle Hill, my cousins and I tried to climb up the huge rocks. As the sun was slowly starting to go down we started to climb down. It was such a pretty sight. I highly suggest you go to all the places that I went to.

Speaking My Truth

Bula! Hurumanu has started and my class, Tz,  is combined with Co and Wh. We are all participating in Drama. Since we started we haven't done complicated stuff, but let me tell you about the things we have done so far. 

We had been working on a couple of sheets. One of them was about where you had to draw a granny and on the back of the sheet you had to answer questions about grannies, some like, "Grannies need _____", Grannies like _____", Grannies dislike ______" and so on. 

Our second sheet was called "Role on the wall", it was where you had to draw a gingerbread man like shape on the paper and inside of the drawing you had to write down some facts about yourself that affect you mentally. For example, you could write, "I'm scared of spiders", "I'm scared of the ocean" and more. But on the outside of the drawing, you had to write facts about your appearance, you could write, "My hair is curly" or "I have short hair".

On Mondays and Tuesdays, we have Drama and always 2 periods of it. One of the periods is with Mrs Clark and the other one with Matua Morehu. With Matua, we play games where everybody walks around the room without touching or talking to anyone. We also play a game where we sit in a circle facing the outside and we have to count to 10. The catch is you don't know who's going to say the number so if 2 people end up saying the same number you have to start over.