Short division DLO

 For maths, we had to choose something we couldn't do and learn how to do it. After that, we learnt how to do it and made a DLO (Digital Learning Object) with a partner. I was away when we made the DLO, so I was lucky Miro H did it. Once I got back, I helped finish it though.

I enjoyed getting to learn how to do short division as I used to be able to do it but I couldn't anymore. I didn't find this activity challenging, as it was easy to understand. To be BTB (Better Than Before) we could have added how to do division with remainders because we both knew how to do that.

Paralympic maths - Question 3

 For maths, we have to do the paralympic maths question cards. For the third day, we had to look at the swimming results from different categories, and sort them from fastest to slowest.

I enjoyed getting to sort them because it was easy. I didn't find this challenging. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could have typed my answers for the first row (S12, S10, S13, S9, S11) so they were easier to read.

Paralympic Maths - Question 1

 For Maths we had to complete two challenge cards. This is my post for the first card, as I need a partner for the second card. On the challenge card there was a question we had to answer: What other information could you use to create a graph? You could make a graph about transportation, pets, eye colour, nationality.

I enjoyed getting to make the graph as making graphs is fun. I didn't find it challenging because google sheets make everything really easy to use. To be BTB (Better Than Before), I could have made it on paper.

Questions for Dr. Ashley Bloomfield and Jacinda Ardern

 Today we had to write five questions about lockdown and the delta variant, we would ask Jacinda Ardern or Dr. Ashley Bloomfield if we had the chance. I found this very boring because I couldn't think of many questions.

1. Why didn't we keep our borders closed? We would have never got the delta variant then.

2. Why is the delta variant so contagious?

3. How exactly does the vaccination work?

4. How long until NZ is fully vaccinated?

5. When will lockdown end?

Olympic Research

 Because the Olympics have just happened, we did a research on one of the countries competing in the Olympics. Mrs. Gibson gave us all a letter (I got 'M') and we had to research a country beginning with that letter. I chose the Marshall Islands.

I enjoyed getting to draw the black-footed cat, though I think it looked nicer in the sketch. I found it challenging to find interesting facts. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could make the words easier to read.

Word of the Week - Week One

 After we did our reciprocal reading, we had to do Word of the Week. Word of the Week, or WotW for short, is when you are given three words and you have to answer questions about the word you chose. This week the words were 'gaze', 'personification', and 'juxtaposition'. I chose juxtaposition. The questions you have to answer are:

 - What is your word?

 - What do YOU think the word means?

 - What does the word really mean?

 - Synonyms of your word?

 - Antonyms of your word?

 - Your word in a sentence?

 - [Insert picture of your word here]

I enjoyed getting to look at photos of juxtaposition because they were all very interesting. I found it challenging to put the word in a sentence and I'm not sure if how I used it is correct or not. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could find more antonyms.

The fantasy, the ideal, the reality

 For T-shaped literacy, we had to watch a video and write about five jobs we liked. We had to write pros, cons, training required, and why I might suit us. The jobs I choose were digital artist, animater, teacher, middle-distance athlete, and veternarian.

I enjoyed writing about most of the jobs. I found it challenging to write the pros of being a teacher because there aren't many. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could add more detail to why they all suit me.

Digital artist:

Pros:

• I can do art, which I love!

• I can work from home and when I’m sick

• A qualification is not necessary, but preferred

Cons:

• Sometimes I’ll get art block

• I’ll spend a lot of time looking at computers

• Finding a client is hard

Training:

• None

Why it suits me:

• I enjoy art

• I don’t procrastinate much

• I am good at art

Animator:

Pros: 

• I get to do art

• I can work for movie companies

• Pay is high

• I get to work from home

Cons:

• Animation is frustrating

• I’ll spend EVEN more time looking at computers

• Finding a company to work for will be hard

Training:

• Degree in computer animation

Why it suits me:

• I enjoy art/animation

• I’m good with editing to create animation

Middle distance athlete:

Pros:

• I get a lot of exercise

• I could go to the olympics

Cons:

• Running is tiring

• Travel and equipment needed is expensive

Training:

• Practice in running

Why it suits me:

• I enjoy middle distance running

• I have good stamina

Teacher:

Pros:

• I can help children

• I get to do maths

Cons:

• People can be rowdy and annoying

• I’ll spend a lot of time at work

Training:

• A specialist subject degree followed by a one-year Graduate Diploma of Teaching or a Master of

• Teaching

• Bachelor of Education 

• Bachelor of Teaching conjoint degree

Why it suits me:

• I’m fairly academic

• I enjoy teaching my sister

Veterinarian:

Pros:

• You get to work with animals

• Good pay

• I can do what I like

Cons:

• I might have to get up early in the morning

• May get bitten/kicked/scratched

Training:

• Knowledge of animals and animal diseases

• Animal-handling skills

• Knowledge of animal anatomy, physiology and biology

• Knowledge of biochemistry, microbiology and parasitology

• Skill in treating animals with medicines and performing surgery

• Knowledge of radiography, dentistry and lab methods

Why it suits me:

• I enjoy working with animals

Job profiles

 For literacy, we had to read 3 articles and write job profiles for them. I enjoyed getting to read the text. I found it challenging to work out what to write for the last job. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could add more detail.

To be a comic book artist you need to . . .

Be creative

Be resilient

Be determined

Be good at writing

Have a degree in art

To work at NASA you need to . . .

Have a degree in science

Have a degree in technology

Have a degree in engineering

Go through two years of training

Communicate well with others

Work well in a team

To be a temporary structure builder you need to . . .

Be able to problem solve

Buzz quiz video

 

For T-shaped literacy, we had to do the Buzz quiz and then create a video talking about the result we got. I got polar bear, but I looked through the answers and thought I should be a tawny owl or cat. The Buzz Quiz was quite easy to do, and it was easy to understand. You get given an animal as a result and told what your animal does. Take the Buzz quiz here: Buzz quiz! I enjoyed getting to take the quiz, as it was easy to do. I found it challenging to decide what to write because I didn't know what to say. I think this turned out good though. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could work on the timing of things in the video. View the video below!

Five jobs that New Zealanders should apply for

 As year 7 and 8's our class has to look at careers. Today we read an article containing 20 jobs an NZ person should study and apply for. Afterwards, we had to create fact files for 5 of the jobs, and write what has changed in the job since lockdown as the article was written in 2019.

I enjoyed getting to write about veterinarians because I already knew quite a bit about vets. I found it challenging to chose the fifth job. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could add some photos or describe what the job is.

1. Veterinarian

• You get to work with animals a lot

• There’s good salary

• There’s multiple fields you can work in (Equine, canine, feline)

• You may get bitten, scratched, or kicked

• You’ll see a lot of blood, and sometimes may not be able to help the animal

• What’s changed? This job hasn’t changed much as vets continued working during lockdown. Pet

• owners still brought their pets in so there was no loss of work.

2. Medical doctor

• You’re helping save lives

• Great salary

• You can work overseas

• Night shifts, working on holidays

• You may get emotionally attached to a patient

• What’s changed? Doctors had to work during lockdown treating people with COVID-19. Because

• of this, they were exposed to people with symptoms of COVID-19 so they had a higher chance of

• catching it. 

3. Chef

• You get to experiment with making food

• You can be creative with what you make

• There’s plenty of overseas options

• You have to do a lot of lifting, walking, and moving around

• What’s changed? Chefs didn’t have to work during lockdown as no one was going out to

• restaurants. Other than that, not much has changed.

4. Teacher

• You get to work with children

• Children can sometimes be insufferable

• Parents may complain

• You have to do a lot of work in your own time

• You do a lot of problem-solving

• What’s changed? During lockdown, teachers had to work out how to teach digitally, but they were

• still teaching. Nothing has really changed except they have to keep hand sanitiser in their

• classroom.

5. Radiographer

• You’ll get to help treat people

• There’s a good salary

• You may be exposed to radiation

• You may have to work on holidays

What’s changed? Not much really as people still came in during lockdown.

Jackdaw - I Am David

After we finished reading out books for novel study we had to create a 'jackdaw'. A jackdaw is something our teacher made, and it's a poster showing the characters, theme, plot, setting, and moral (If there's one) in your book. 

I enjoyed getting to read the book and create the jackdaw. I found it challenging to pick a layout.

Energy Inquiries - Black holes

 For our energy inquiries, Miro G and I decided to study the energy around black holes. As well as answering five questions we had to create a model to show it. For our model, we made a 'black hole' and drew something before attaching them to strings. There's a hole in the side of our model which you can stick your hand in to 'suck' the objects in the 'black hole'.

I enjoyed getting to make the model because I got to do the drawings and I love drawing. I found it challenging to pick five questions because we couldn't work out the fifth one. To be BTB (Better Than Before) we could have repainted the model so it looks nicer.

Scott Base - Weekly quiz, week 5

 After doing the weekly quiz this week I chose to research Scott Base. When we did the quiz I was very surprised because quite a few people didn't know where Scott Base was! I found so many facts that I could include them all. In the end, I chose four facts- Where and what is Scott Base, why is Scott Base green, when can you visit Scott Base, and how can you get to Scott Base. Mrs. Gibson, our teacher decided that we could get 200 house points if our blog post and caption were mistake-free. This meant that there were no spelling mistakes, no incorrect punctuation, and it all made sense!

I enjoyed getting to read so many different websites because they were all very interesting! I found it challenging to chose which facts to do, and how to lay out my post. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could add a few more facts by changing the layout and size of the text. 

Sea snake in northland - Weekly quiz

 After doing this week's weekly quiz, I decided to research the yellow-bellied sea snake found in Northland. It was the SECOND one found in the past ten days. I enjoyed getting to research the native sea snake, as this story was surprising. I found it challenging to find facts about it. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could add more facts.

A few days ago the second yellow-bellied sea snake was found, less than 10 days since the one found before that. This is extremely strange because the snake found before these two was found in 2018

An 11 year old boy was with is family when they found the snake. They put it in a bag and drove to the local dairy to ask what it was. After they found it it was a highly venomous snake they put it in a buket of sea water and started the drive to their family home. After the hour the snake was dead so they cut off it’s head

Clinton Duffy, technical advisor for marine species at the depatment of consevation said “Yellow-bellied sea snakes should not be handled because they are highly venomous and a bite from one is likely to be fatal without access to snake anti-venom. However, bites from them are extremely rare because their fangs are small and located at the back of their mouths."

Maori contingent poster

 For my third, and final, ANZAC task, I decided to make a poster encouraging people to join the Maori contingent. All art is by me if you were wondering. I enjoyed getting to draw this as I don't normally draw humans. I found it challenging to chose inspiring words. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could have done this on paper before soaking it in coffee and burning the edges. I would have done that but I didn't have much time as I was at kid lit.

Poppy Growing Animation

 For my second ANZAC task, I decided to do an animation of a poppy growing.  In artist speak, it's a PMV style short-frame animation. For those that aren't artists, it's a short animation with gaps between frames. I enjoyed getting to create this because I love drawing. I found it challenging to animate it because the smallest space between frames was 1 second when I wanted to do 0.3 seconds. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could make it longer or use a gif make to animate it with shorter FPS (Frames Per Second).

Taika Waititi voices Ralph the rabbit in a new film

For my second weekly quiz activity, I chose to research Taika Waititi voice acting as Ralph the rabbit in a new film telling people to stop cosmetic testing on animals.  I enjoyed getting to watch the short film as it was very heartbreaking. I found it challenging to think of what to write because I had so many ideas but not enough room. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could make it a slide rather than a drawing.

Egyptian City - Mini Research

 After doing the weekly quiz yesterday we had to create a DLO (Digital Learning Object) from one of the answers. I chose to do a 'lost' city that was found buried under the sands near Luxor in Egypt. I enjoyed getting to research this amazing city. I found it challenging to make the DLO because I didn't know what to make. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could make the DLO longer and add more detail.

Digital Dig

 Our teacher, Mrs. Gibson, does the DFI every Wednesday. One of the activities she had to do was the digital dig. When she came back to school we had to complete the same digital dig. This took us about 2 hours spread over two weeks. If you are unsure what the random drawing is I'll explain: We had to create a drawing showing something we are looking forward to learning this year. I'm looking forward to learning more about school. I enjoyed getting to create the drawing. I found it challenging to create a poster for the last thing. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could make my poster more detailed.

Morse code facts

 

..-. --- .-. / --- ..- .-. / .- -. --.. .- -.-. / .-. . ... . .- .-. -.-. .... --..-- / --- -. . / --- ..-. / - .... . / .- -.-. - .. ...- .. - .. . ... / .-- .- ... / - --- / ... .... .- .-. . / --- -. . / ..-. .- -.-. - / -.-- --- ..- / ..-. --- ..- -. -.. / --- ..- - / .- -... --- ..- - / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / .. -. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . .-.-.- / .. -. ... - . .- -.. / --- ..-. / -.. --- .. -. --. / --- -. . / ..-. .- -.-. - --..-- / .. / -.. .. -.. / - .-- --- .-.-.- / .- ..-. - . .-. / -.-- --- ..- / .-.. --- --- -.- / .- - / - .... . / ..-. .- -.-. - ... / -.-- --- ..- / -.-. .- -. / ... . . / - .... . / . -. --. .-.. .. ... .... / ...- . .-. ... .. --- -. .-.-.- / - .... .. ... / .. ... / ... --- / -.-- --- ..- / -.-. .- -. / ..- -. -.. . .-. ... - .- -. -.. / .-- .... .- - / .. / .-- .-. --- - . / .-- .. - .... --- ..- - / ... .--. . -. -.. .. -. --. / .... --- ..- .-. ... / -.. . -.-. --- -.. .. -. --. / .. - .-.-.- / .. / . -. .--- --- -.-- . -.. / --. . - - .. -. --. / - --- / .-- .-. .. - . / .. -. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / -... . -.-. .- ..- ... . / .. .----. ...- . / -. . ...- . .-. / -.. --- -. . / .. - / -... . ..-. --- .-. . .-.-.- / .. / ..-. --- ..- -. -.. / .. - / -.-. .... .- .-.. .-.. . -. --. .. -. --. / - --- / .--. .. -.-. -.- / .-- .... .- - / ..-. .- -.-. - / - --- / -.. --- .-.-.- / - --- / -... . / -... - -... / -.--. -... . - - . .-. / - .... .- -. / -... . ..-. --- .-. . -.--.- / .. / -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. / -- .- -.- . / .. - / .-.. --- --- -.- / -. .. -.-. . .-. .-.-.-

For our ANZAC research, one of the activities was to share one fact you found out about morse code in morse code. Instead of doing one fact, I did two. After you look at the facts you can see the English version. This is so you can understand what I wrote without spending hours decoding it. I enjoyed getting to write in morse code because I've never done it before. I found it challenging to pick what fact to do. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could make it look nicer.

How Tokelau gets their energy

 For T-shaped literacy, we had to make a DLO (Digital Learning Object) explaining how Tokelau made their energy. Before making the DLO we had to read three articles (One Two Three). I enjoyed reading the articles because they were very informative and I learned things I hadn't known before. I found it challenging to explain why the Tokelauan council decided to change to solar energy. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could add more colour. (Miro's idea)

Solar Energy Ideas For Paroa School

 For our T-shaped literacy, we had to create a model of a part in our school and then add ways we could use solar energy to improve our chosen area. Miro H and I chose the pool/changing room area. Our ideas were black paint, solar panels, and solar tubes. Creating our model was hard but we both agree it looks great! I enjoyed getting to make the model. I found it challenging to work out what the price would be. To be BTB (Better Than Before) we could make the video longer and add more reasons why we should get solar panels/tubes.

Solar Energy

 At school, we had to brainstorm how the wind and sun affect us in our daily lives. I had a lot less time than other students because I had to go to a bus monitor meeting. After we had done that we had to watch a short video that was in Maori. The video was about Tawhirimatea (Maori god of wind) and what he did with the wind. I enjoyed getting the write my ideas down because I had a lot of ideas. I found it challenging to write about the sun because I had fewer ideas for that half. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could have added some more ideas like wind helps with sailing, birds, and destroys umbrellas.

LM - Tidy Drive

Since I had done the post we needed to do, I had to complete one of the cyber smart challenges. I picked the one titled 'Tidy drive'. You had to sort the fake drive before sorting your personal drive. I enjoyed getting to tidy MY drive because it was already tidy. I found it challenging with some of the fake drive because I didn't know what went in writing and what went in reading with things like 'Book review'. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could put some of my folders into other folders.

LM - Energy Mobile

 For T-shaped literacy, we had to make a mobile showing the different types of energy. I didn't do all the types but I did potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, solar, wind, and light. I'm happy with the end result as it looks interesting, all the pieces are different heights, the pieces spin slowly, and that it's balanced. I enjoyed getting to draw the pictures (Using kleki.com) especially the flame. I found it challenging to think of colours to use for the words. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could add more types of energy like chemical or hydro.

Photo's of the mobile. Sorry, they're bad quality, I had trouble holding my Chromebook up.

Energy - Potential VS Kinetic

 For T-shaped literacy, we had to watch a video explaining the difference between potential and kinetic energy. It included rollercoaster models, bow and arrows, pogo sticks, and microphones. I enjoyed getting to watch the video because it taught me a lot. I found it challenging to describe the variables for kinetic energy. To be BTB (Better Than Before) I could go into more detail for the first question- What is the difference between potential and kinetic energy?

What is the difference between kinetic and potential energy?

Potential energy is energy that will potentially be used, and kinetic energy is energy of motion.

What variable(s) determine the amount of kinetic energy?

The more potential energy there is, the more kinetic energy there will be. The faster an object is moving, the more kinetic energy there will be.

What variable(s) determine the amount of potential energy?

The higher the object is, the more potential energy it gains because it has further to go down. If you were to drop an egg from one meter it would break because it had a lot of potential energy that was turned into kinetic energy. But if you dropped an egg from 3 meters it would be absolutely pulverised because there was more potential energy stored, meaning that when it fell it was faster because the potential energy was turned into kinetic energy.

Explain how energy is transformed in a spring

When the spring is pressed together it holds potential energy. When the ends are released the potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy, making the spring bounce.