Mental Health Awareness Week 💪

     

     

Save The Whales 🐳

                       

As part of my Science today, I created a Google Slide demonstrating the importance of saving the whales, as well as information on what is being done to save them. 
Feel free to leave a comment below. 

My Metalwork Creation

This term in technology, I was in the design tech room. Our big project was to make a car. This car would be powered with a small electric motor, made mostly out of different kinds of alumnium and metal, and would be able to run on it's own.

This project was very fun to make. My favourite part would have to be the soldering; melting a special type of metal with a hot tool, then 'welding' two parts of metal together. An example of soldering on the car was attaching the number plate to the metal. 

After I got back from the Koru Games, I created a detachable trailer as an extra feature to the car. 

The trailer :O

This is the switch that makes the electric motor turn off and on. 

This is what the car looks like with the trailer :O

The electric motor looked like this, at the back of the car. 

Another feature on the car includes a personalised number plate. 

This post is a part of my Summer Blogging Competition 2017. I would really like to do well on this as I enjoy blogging in my spare time, so feel free to leave a comment below, including what place in the world you came from if you are international! :) 

Gymnastics Term 3

What was my favourite thing about gymnastics this term?
My favourite thing was the parallel bars because I thought I did good on them, although they were difficult. 

Drama Performance Plot

Focus
Someone is being bullied.

Action
A girl moves away and the girls that stays is being bullied by two other girls. 

Roles
Alliah - Bully 
Chloe - Bully
Jaime - Girl that moves away
Jaylin - Girl that stays

Tension
The tension is that a girl gets bullied because one girl, that used to protect her, had to move away. However, a new girl moves to the school and they become best friends. 

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

Chernobyl was a deadly nuclear disaster that occurred 30 years ago, in 1986, in Pripyat, Ukraine. The incident killed 31 people instantly, and deemed the town inhabitable, as the abandoned plant is still releasing radiation. 

 

At the time of the disaster, there was no containment building to trap the radiation, which rained down on large regions of Belarus, the U.K, the United States, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. The plant is now covered by a 'sarcophagus' dome, made of concrete and steel. 

350,000 people were evacuated, and moved to places where they could live after the incident. 

There are two official causes for the incident.

The first cause, was blamed on the power plant operators at the time, as the event occurred during a late night safety test. The test included a simulated blackout power-failure, and cooling, auto-control, and power reduction safety systems were deliberately turned off to do so. 

"The developers of the reactor plant considered this combination of events to be impossible and therefore did not allow for the creation of emergency protection systems capable of preventing the combination of events that led to the crisis, namely the intentional disabling of emergency protection equipment plus the violation of operating procedures. Thus the primary cause of the accident was the extremely improbable combination of rule infringement plus the operational routine allowed by the power station staff."

The second cause blamed deficiencies in operating instructions and design. There were previous reports of structural flaws of the plant, caused by negligence during the power plant's construction - such as split concrete layers - which were never acted upon. 

Kaitiakitanga | Animal Conservation Issues in New Zealand

What is kaitiakitanga?
Guardianship and protection. 
For example, Tane, the god of the forest, is a Kaitiakitana because he protects the forest. 

List some introduced species in New Zealand.
Rabbits
Possums
Rats
Stoats
Ferrets
Weasels
Goats
Tahr
Red deer
Wallabies
Pigs

What does introduced species mean?
A species that is not native to the country, and have either been accidentally or deliberately transported to the country. 

Why were these species brought to New Zealand?
Animals can be introduced for a number of reasons - including their fur, for food, and for sports.

Why have their numbers (population) exploded?
Animals, such as rabbits, breed quickly. One female rabbit can have 45 kits (baby rabbits) in one year alone. Certain species have been legally protected from hunting, causing population numbers to rise. 

What effects do they have on native plants and animals in New Zealand?
The production losses across New Zealand caused by animals are millions of dollars. They eat and destroy vegetation and undergrowth in forests, damaging native trees and destroying large portions of land. 

How is D.O.C (Department of Conservation) trying to get rid of them?
They are trying to remove animals by using poison, traps, gassing, destroying their burrows, shooting them, hunting with dogs, deporting and preventing them to enter certain areas. They are also now allowing hunting of certain animals. 

Rabbits and red deer

Rabbits were introduced to New Zealand for food (to be hunted for meat) and sport, however this backfired as the animals soon became pests and damaging to the environment. 
Red deer were introduced for sport in New Zealand, by European settlers, between 1861 and 1919.
Rabbits breed quickly. One female rabbit can have 45 kits (baby rabbits) in one year alone. 
Red deer soon became legally protected for hunting. This meant less deer were killed, causing population numbers to increase rapidly. 
18 years ago, the production losses across New Zealand caused by rabbits were approximately $50 million dollars. They eat and destroy vegetation all across New Zealand, and has never grown back. 
The Red deer ate out undergrowth in forests, damaging trees and slowing rainfall runoff.
They are trying to remove rabbits by using poison, traps, gassing, destroying their burrows, shooting them, and hunting with dogs.
To remove red deer, the Department of Conservation are deporting them from Northland and other places, preventing them from entering certain places, and controlling red deer in several parks. They are also now allowing hunting of the animal. 

Gymnastics | 12.09.17

What do I want to achieve by the end of this period?
Complete a simple routine on the beams. 

Did I achieve what I wanted to achieve?
No. I didn't get to do the activity I wanted to do. 

Different Types Of Choirs

This morning, after returning from my favourite event of the year, the Music Festival's rehearsal, we were given the task of writing about two different types of choirs.

1. Gospel choir
"Gospel music is deeply rooted in the rich traditions of the African-American church. During the late 1800s, African-American churches in the southern United States started fusing various styles of music into their worship services, including African-American spirituals, hymns, and sacred songs."

2. Jazz choir
"A vocal jazz ensemble usually consists of the choir, normally made up of 8–16 singers, and a Rhythm section most often consisting of a pianist, a bassist, a guitarist, and a drummer. Singers either each hold a microphone or sing with area microphones."

The Science of Senses (Practical)

For this experiment, we had to be blindfolded. A partner lead us around the room, giving us small bites of food for the 'taste' area, and letting us feel and smell items in ice cream containers. This demonstrated how differently we taste/smell/feel things if one of our sense are taken away - in this instance, it was sight we lost. 

Taste (class list)
1. Vegemite
2. Apple Sauce
3. Cornflakes
4. Marshmallows
5. Sour bears

Smell - 4/4
1. Vinegar
4. Banana 
6. Chocolate
7. Red onion

Touch - 9/10
1. Grass 
2. Pegs 
3. Pine cones 
4. Ping pong ball 
5. Buttons 
6. String 
7. Cotton wool 
8. Pebbles x
9. Marbles
10. Pipe cleaners

Special thanks to Nadia and Shonte for being my awesome partners!