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Friday, May 30, 2014

Science Roadshow

Last Thursday, some of the intermediate classes went to the Science Roadshow at Tamaki College. It was to show to teach us more about the gases and about how we live. After the show, we got to test out some of their experiments that they made which was pretty cool.

It was a great experience and I enjoyed it. My favourite part was when they popped a balloon with fire and when they burnt down a balloon dog with dried ice and Carbon Dioxide which is why the whole balloon dog shrunk and heated it back up when they blew on it.

The Trumpet Presentation


This is a presentation about the trumpet and how it makes, also about the tuning fork and how to make it louder. I made it this week for my reading activities. I hope you enjoy :-)

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Samoan Language Week

Talofa Lava,
This week is special, it's Samoan Language Week! Pt England School was very privileged to launch the event with Sam Lotu-Iiga. We had a special Assembly on Monday morning with performances from the Samoan Pre-School, our own Senior Samoan Group and the Tamaki College Samoan Group.


When we walked into the hall, there were different seats reserved for special people, big writing up the front saying “Taofi Mau I Au Measina” meaning “Hold fast to your Treasures” While everyone was being seated, some movies made last year for Samoan Language Week were playing on the screen. Mr Burt welcomed us and started off our exciting assembly.


Instead of just the New Zealand Anthem, we also sang the beautiful Samoan National Anthem. The Samoan Pre-school sang some awesome action songs in Samoan before Mr Burt talked a bit about Samoan Language Week. Our Senior Samoan group did their performance which was really cool, something that Sam Lotu-Iiga enjoyed. Tamaki College Samoan Group finished off the performances with their item that they did at Polyfest, a festival where groups from different colleges perform at different stages, Samoan, Tongan, Maori, Cook Island and many more. So their performance was really good.

It has been a great week so far celebrating the Language of Samoa! I hope that people all over New Zealand are celebrating and learning more about Samoa Language. So for now, Tofa Soifua, which means Goodbye!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Sound Explanation

Sound, we use it everyday but do we really know what it is and how it works? Sound works through some of our senses, we hear sound through our ears and we can give or make sound by touching things. But there is much more to it than you would think,  there are different levels and waves, sound waves that can be very interesting so sit back and be ready to be amazed.

When a sound gets sent out, it vibrates the air monocles making sound waves. They travel through the air to our ear drums, vibrating them the vibrations then turn into electrical currents which your brain recognizes as sound.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Steven Adams Article

Steven Adams is a famous New Zealand who is currently playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball team of the National Basketball Association. You may have recognised his last name, yes he is the shot put champion Valerie Adams' brother. He was born on 28 July, 1993 in Roturua so he is 20 years old. The Basket-baller has been in a championship game  where he played as centre, he is #12.


Monday, May 19, 2014

Malawi and Aotearoa Kids

This is a short presentation comparing the life of a kid living in Aotearoa to a kid living in Malawi. I did this for Extension because we are doing the 20Hr Famine and this year the country is Malawi, Africa. I am going to be fasting for 20 hrs for the kids in Malawi so that they can be provided with food, clean water and an education.

My Visual Mihi

Last term, I made a visual Mihi. It shows my culture, beliefs and hobbies. I hope you like it. Also Click Here to look at it on Flickr.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Masterchef Winners Kasey and Karena

Kasey and Karena Bird where the winners of Masterchef NZ 2014. This year’s Masterchef Series was Masterchef Duos and the sisters decided to enter together. The 27 episode long competition was a very exciting series to watch and I am sure to do too.

Masterchief started on 1998 and it has been going for a long time. Since then it has been going on till this very year….. 2014. But finally they have announced the winners. Which were……………… Kasey and Karena Bird.

Kasey and Karena bird were really extraordinary cooks to get that far in the show. They made amazing foods and desserts. I mean who doesn't like desserts? Well I do. Anyway, Kasey and Karena were really fair during the contest. I’m glad that they won!!!!

Echolocation Explanation

Echolocation is something used by animals such as dolphins, bats, whales, birds and shrews to help them find objects using sound. The animals send out a short high pitched sounds and if the sound rebounds back, they know that there is a object in front of them.

Bats have medium vision in the dark, not like other night species who can see perfectly which is why bats need to use echolocation.There are over 900 different kinds of bats worldwide, they are grouped into 2 main groups; Microbats and Megabats. Recently we have been learning about nectar eating bats, Glossophaga Commissaries who of course, eat nectar and help the flowers with pollination. The bats use echolocation lots to find the flowers to get the nectar from them. The nectar eating bats send out short swift bursts through their nostrils or mouths which rebound off the flower and go back to the bats sensitive ears, showing them exactly where the flower is.

But echolocation isn’t just for animals, there is a boy named Ben who is blind but can see using echolocation. He has been blind since he was three years old when he got cancer in his eyes and had to get them removed. Since then he has taught himself how to see things. He sends out short swift sounds just like the bats and the sound rebounds off the object in front of him. Ben did it so much that now he skates freely and he can actually play basketball and get a goal in.

I think that echolocation is a great thing to have for all species, humans including. It helps them so much for everything they do and I think that Ben is very fortunate to have found that out for himself at a young age. (He was only 7 years old when he found echolocation and learnt how to do it).  Perhaps there is more to be discovered and used more fully with all of our senses than we actually use.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Immersion Assembly Term 2 2014

The new Term has started and has started nicely with our Immersion Assembly. The topic for this term is "I like to move it, move it" which is basically science but that sounds better. Each team has a different kind of science topic connected to "Move It"=
Team 1 - The Zoo (How the Zoo Keepers work and what things at the Zoo are also at their homes)
Team 2 - Flight (How things fly) 
Team 3 - Light - (How does light make different colours and where does it come from) 
Team 4 - Buoyancy and Floatation - (Seeing what floats and sinks and how they do it)
Team 5 - Sound - What are the different kinds of sounds and how we hear sounds.

Team 1 showed a movie about when the teachers went to the zoo during the holidays to find out a bit. Ms George then talked about what they were going to do this term
Team 2 Did a dance with the teachers dressed up like a plane, pilot, fairy costumes. Ms She was dressed up as a fairy so she moved the teachers with her wand.
Team 3 teachers dressed up with different colours to represent light while Mrs Barks talked a bit about light.
Team 4 Showed a video about Buoyancy and Floatation and asked questions from the video to everyone.
Team 5 teachers went up and did a dance/song then showed a music video that they made during the holidays.

The hall was set up with helium balloons making a pathway in the middle and along the front of the stage. The different ways the teachers showed their topic was pretty cool. Sound and Science sounds very interesting and I am looking forward to learning about it and I am sure that Term 2 is going to be a great term full of fun and learning.