Hakuna Matata! | Festival of The Arts 2017

As the performance day nears closer and closer, we are bustling to get our show done! That involves lots and lots of practise, which is exactly what we did today!

We have been learning our cues (i.e when we come onstage) how we come onstage, how to pronounce and act out our lines, and how the show will run in general. So today we had our first run through of the script, which involved a lot of line reading and acting, as well as waiting for our cues. 

Thankfully I don't have a lot of lines to learn, just a few songs which I've nearly learned off my heart already, however all of the actors are learning theirs quickly! The show only had a few bumps along the way. The most difficult thing is not so much the cues or our lines, but acting onstage in front of people can definitely be a nerve racking experience. 

After going through the script a couple times today, it's safe to say that we are on the right track to having a successful show. My next steps are to learn all of my lines and cues off by heart and be able to perform confidently. I also want to work on my duet with Faith, and my calling, as that will be a big part of the show. The barb choir chorus is coming along just fine, and I'm really excited for what we get to perform!

Here are some photos from our recent practises. 

Rafiki Costume Ideas! | Festival of The Arts 2017

It's The Circle of Life! | Festival of The Arts 2017

Today was another jampacked session for Festival of The Arts. We worked on a number of new things; including The Circle of Life Finale,  my Afrikaans call at the beginning, and the Barb choir's harmonies in 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King'. 

I am learning how to be more confident with my singing, especially during my call and duet with my 'Rafiki twin', Faith. 

My goal is to not use my head voice in The Circle of Life and belt it out instead to really open the show really amazingly. My other goal is to learn all of my lyrics and stage positions by the end of next week. Not only do I have to learn an entire song, I have to learn harmonies and be onstage for some of the performance including three musical numbers.

Being Rafiki is much more elegant than first thought - when entering the stage during the finale it is my goal to look elegant and powerful, to hail the homecoming of Simba and his noble lioness, Nala, as they arrive on Pride Rock. 

Rafiki Fact File | Festival of The Arts 2017

This year for Festival of The Arts's 'The Lion King' production, the character I am portraying is Rafiki. 
Rafiki is a wise, old monkey that first appeared in the original Lion King Movie, all the way up to the most recent. 
In this production, Rafiki has a very significant role, particularly in the 'Circle of Life' number at the beginning. You may already have seen the iconic scene - Rafiki proudly holding up Simba, the future king, for all of the land to see on the iconic Pride Rock.

What does Rafiki look like?
Rafiki has a diverse colour palette, including blue around the eyes and a prominent red nose, also sporting a tall stick and vibrant blue fur with a white mane. In the Broadway version of The Lion King, Rafiki can be seen wearing beaded bracelets and long claws for hands and feet. I personally love the design of this character and can't wait to be able to see what I'm wearing!

How does your animal walk and move?
Rafiki's walk is much more of a hobble - much like what you would expect an old, wise monkey or even ancestor to move. Grasping a his tall stick for support, this character hobbles at an unsurprisingly slow speed with a minor limp. 

What are the personality traits of your character?
Rafiki can be defined by many of his peers as wise and ancient - well known for giving cryptic advice and rather cheeky answers to questions. Despite his old age, Rafiki is an energetic character and takes joy in the advice he gives.

The makeup shown on Rafiki in the Broadway production is very bold and colourful, sporting a yellow eye socket, blue cheeks with a sharp white contour, and a red mouth, nose, and forehead region. Don't forget the bold black eyeliner, lips, and spots over the eyes!  

As you can see here, Rafiki adorns long wooden claws, beaded jewellery, and a more cultural twist to their outfit. Extra features include a cool woven crown!

Rafiki wears a belt with various items hanging off of it, frays on their clothing, and a skirt. You can also see the iconic stick - a symbol of wisdom for the old monkey. 

Learn more about Rafiki the wise old monkey by visiting this link. Feel free to leave some feedback in the comments!

All Hail Your Future King! | Festival of The Arts 2017

Today was another session for Festival of The Arts. 

As our performance slowly begins to take its shape, there are a number of things we have to do leading up to the big night. This includes choreography, learning our lines and songs, as well as designing and creating our costumes and props. 

Today was focused on the big 'Circle of Life' number - a part that the whole cast is involved in. I am honoured to be cast as Rafiki, which is the role I longed to play ever since seeing the show.

 I have a solo in the Circle of Life and was naturally very excited to play the role. I'm also working with Faith, as we are sharing the role and get to sing the solo together onstage. As we went outside and began learning the choreography, I was hardly nervous, but I'm expecting that to all change on the night! 

I've already learned what parts I am going to sing, and how to express myself on stage. As Rafiki I have to use big arm movements, be dramatic, and 'draw the audience in'. 

I really enjoy the number we're all doing and I've definitely found a new passion for acting and performing. I can't wait for tomorrow's rehearsal!

My next steps are to learn the Afrikaans/Zulu call I am doing, be able to sing this confidently onstage, and work on my 'movements' to make me look more like an animal. Here are some pictures of today's rehearsal! 

Character Profile Writing | My Best Friend

First draft:

Thesis: 
It is with no question, that my best friend Samantha Roger is no short of interesting and unique. 

Physical Description:
Long, wavy, dirty blonde hair cascades past her shoulders; blue eyes like swimming pools that you can dive in and get lost in forever. Her skin is light, like the colour of snow - soft and pale. 

Behaviour:
Samantha, in most means, an introvert. Kept to herself, in a dark corner of her room, as she talks to her friends online, all distractions from the outside world blocked out, just how she prefers. She takes time as she focuses on writing her fantasy novels, or perhaps shading in a particular area as she sketches. When surrounded by friends, Samantha is loud and outgoing, pleasurable to be around - however when the curtains are drawn everything goes back to where it was again. 

Reputation:
To people outside of her respectable friendship ring, Samantha may seem drawn in and shy - attributes shared rather evenly between her accompanists. Inside the group, however, it is clear to see that she’s not always what she seems. Having a reputation as the ‘good girl’ of the group, which shows in and around the classroom, Samantha is giggly and girly, cheerful yet mature, known for her talented sketches, the carefully-woven words of her fantasy novels, and of course, love of the Hamilton musical!

Artefacts:
It is a rarity to see Samantha without her trusty sketchbook, and her love for art shows this. Another possession is her Chromebook, which she does everything in, much like a journal holding secrets. On weekends she will sport coloured eye shadow and a bright lip, on weekdays her face is clean and bare. Makeup is yet another treasure to her; having owning chests of powders, creams and shadows - and it is this that makes Samantha truly unique. 

Thesis Confirmed:
It is with these facts, skills and attributes of Samantha Rogers, that I certainly believe she is an interesting and unique personality; and I am blessed to have her in my life. 

Feedback: 

Thesis feedback from Nadia:

Hi Jaime, I really like how this is a very short and simple start to your character portrait! This is a great start! One thing that you could change are the words that you used (interesting and unique) I think that you could use different vocab for this particular part.

Physical description feedback from Nadia:

I like the range of vocab that you have used, but I think that you could use a different range of sentence structure in your description.

Behaviour feedback from Nadia:

You have described Samantha's behaviour very well, one thing that I think that you could change is the size of your sentences. I notice that you use the same amount of words in your sentences. Maybe you could change this.

Reputation feedback from Nadia:

I really like how you describe Sam’s reputation, but I think that you could use different vocab just to paint a more vivid  picture.

Artefacts feedback from Nadia:

I absolutely love how you wrote this paragraph, you have used a great range of vocabulary. Great job.

Thesis confirmed from Nadia:

This is also very good, a great finish to a great picture of words.

I used Nadia's feedback to then construct my final piece of writing. I made sure to edit my sentence length and replace some of my boring words with interesting ones, using a thesaurus.

It is with no question, that my best friend, Samantha Rogers is no short of quirky, ingenious, compelling and unique.

Long, wavy, dirty blonde hair cascades elegantly past her shoulders. Her sparkling blue eyes are like swimming pools that you can dive in and get lost in forever. Her skin is soft, pale and light, like the colour of snow.

Samantha, in most means, is an introvert, tending to keep to herself. Often she is found in a dark corner of her room, as she talks to her friends online, all distractions from the outside world blocked out. This is just how she prefers it. Samantha takes time as she focuses on writing her fantasy novels, or perhaps shading in a particular area as she sketches. When surrounded by friends, Samantha is loud and outgoing, pleasurable to be around. However, when the curtains are drawn, everything goes back to where it was again.

To people outside of her respectable friendship ring, at first glance Samantha could perhaps seem drawn in and apprehensive - attributes divided amongst her friends. Inside the group, however, it is clear to see that she’s not always what she seems. Having a reputation as the ‘good girl’ of the group, which shows not only inside the classroom, but also in those rares occurrences when she dares to step outside her house. Samantha is giggly and fun-loving, preppy yet mature. She is known for her sketches, the carefully-woven words of her Wattpad fantasy novels, and of course, fondness for the Hamilton musical. Don’t forget her love for the quirky personalities of YouTubers Thomas Sanders and Dodie Clark, either!

Samantha has a passion for art, and the black leather sketchbook always tucked safely under the crook of her arm proves this. Another possession of hers is her Chromebook, which she does everything and anything on, no fail, much like a journal holding secrets. On weekends she will sport coloured eyeshadow and a bright lip colour, but on schooldays her face is immaculately clean and bare. Makeup is yet another treasure for her; having owning chests of powders, creams and shadows. It is this that makes Samantha truly creative and distinguished.

It is with these facts, skills and attributes of Samantha Rogers, that I certainly stand by my belief that she has an interesting, quirky, and unique personality. I am immensely thankful to have Samantha as such an amazing friend for the past nine years.

I then gave myself a self assessment using a Writing Rubric. I gave myself an R5 for both sentences and vocabulary because I believe that I could have used a larger variety of sentences, and better words. However, I gave myself an R7 for punctuation as I believe I used a large range of it correctly.

Danger at The Lemon Farm | Interactive Pick a Path Story!

This was created using Google Forms! This was a fun experience and I'm really happy to have learned how to do this!

Science of The Arts 2017 | Sound Waves 💥

Aim: I want to find out about what sound waves are.

Research: A sound wave can be defined as a wave, invisible to the human eye, that can travel through all different forms of mediums; a medium can be air, a body of water, walls, doors, glass, wood, etc. Certain mediums are better to be heard through than others. The only place sound cannot be heard is in outer space, due to the lack of air in the atmosphere. 

How are sound waves generated?
Sound waves are generated by a vibration, which disturb the molecules around the source. An example of this is human vocal cords. When air passes through your vocal cords, a process called phonation, they vibrate and produce the sound waves that are heard by other humans as your voice. Sound waves are unable travel forever. This is because they eventually lose energy, weaken and distort.

What is pitch? 💭
All pitches of sound are generated by the length (short or long) of these sound waves. This term is called "wavelengths". The longer the wavelength, the deeper and lower pitch. The shorter the wavelength, the higher the pitch. 
The way pitch is measured is by the amount of wavelengths travelling through the air every second. This is called 'frequency.' Humans can hear frequencies (numbers of wavelengths) from 20 Hz up to 20,000 Hz. 
Frequencies below 20 Hz are called 'infrasonic', while frequencies above 20,000 Hz are  called 'ultra sonic'. 

Experiment 💥: 
The famous scientist named Robert Boyle conducted an experiment to demonstrate sound waves back in the 17th century. Boyle placed a ringing alarm clock inside a large glass car with a 'valve' on top. He used a vacuum pump to remove the air, and by doing this he demonstrated how sound needs air to be carried. 

Equipment to conduct the experiment:
- Alarm clock or cellphone
- Large glass jar with valve
- Vacuum pump

Equipment for the vacuum pump:
- Mason jar (with 5mm hole in centre of lid)
- Syringe
- One way valve (bike valves)
- 5mm flexible tubing 


Method: 💣💥
1. Place the ringing phone or alarm clock inside of the jar with the lid on as tight as possible, ensuring no air can escape or get inside.

2. Using the vacuum pump through the hole in the lid, 
suck of all the air out of the jar. Make sure there is no gap between the hole and pump to ensure no air can get in. The alarm clock's ringing will fade out as more air is sucked out and sound waves are distorted.
3. As the air is released back into the jar, the ringing will be able to be heard again as the air becomes a medium to allow sound waves to travel.

Below is what the experiment looks like in action - with proper equipment!






Explanation
My experiment was successful after a number of attempts, and definitely displayed how sound waves work. 

I first attempted to create a bell vacuum jar at home. The equipment I used for this was a mason jar with a hole in the lid and 10ml syringes. The bell jar didn't work. The reason for this is that the syringes were not big enough to suck all of the air out of the jar. For example if the syringes had a volume of 60ml, the volume would be large enough to suck all of the air out of the car. The 10ml syringe's volume was too small to be able to successful suck all of the air out of the jar.  
After realising my mistake and looking for a syringe with a larger volume, I eventually found a balloon pump. The pump had an approximate 100ml volume and would be able to suck all of the air out of my jar.
However, this also failed. My first mistake is that the seal I made around the jar's hole and pump was not air tight. I had to use a resource like blue tack or slime to make sure it was air tight and no air could escape. My second mistake was that the balloon pump was the incorrect way. The way I was holding it resulted in air being pushed into the jar, not out. I recognised my mistakes and was able to conduct a successful experiment.
The seal I used was Blue Tack, which was air tight. I held the pump differently to suck the air out, and got to use a real bell jar for the experiment.
On my first attempt of the experiment, there was a small mistake as I didn't put the phone on an object. Sound waves travel through materials and so it could still be heard because the sound was travelling through the table. 

The pump was able to suck most of the air out of the jar. The phone inside making a noise lowered in noise considerably, so even though the pump's volume was not big enough to suck all of the air out of the jar, it got most of it out. The lack of air in the jar resulted in the jar being stuck to the table, because there was a vacuum.

Why did this happen?
Sound waves travel though a range of different things, including air. The seals on both the bottom and valve of the jar were air tight, and so when the pump began to suck out the air, the sound did not have anything to travel through. No air in the jar meant vibrations, which sound is made from, could not occur. 
As the air was released back into the jar, the sound waves had something to travel through and could be heard again. The phone could not be heard ringing because of the lack of the medium, in this case it was air, to carry the sound waves inside of the jar. 

It's a Lion! | Festival of The Arts 2017

Today was the second session of Festival of The Arts. 

I learned a range of different vocal warms up, as well as what the Broadway show looked and sounded like after watching a video. I instantly fell in love with everything about it - from the costume and makeup to the powerful voices and characters they portray, I'm so excited to be able to be part of the show. In fact, I changed my mind. I don't want to stage crew anymore. I want to sing in the show, which is something I never thought I would ever do because I've never really been part of such a performance like this. 

So I was so excited when me and two of my close friends were chosen to audition for a singing role for the performance. It was unexpected but I really hope that I did well and can get a part I want. My favourite character is Rafiki - the Broadway show featured a woman as this role with such a strong, powerful voice that I would love to do onstage. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0OdIcCQG9I

Above is a link to a YouTube video of the Broadway performance. As you can see, the set is absolutely amazing. The colour palette is so unique and I loved the prop giraffes, elephants and cheetahs. The vocals are absolutely incredible, and it added to the show enormously. Everything about this performance is amazing. 

This is a photo of Rafiki on Broadway. Her outfit is wildly creative and magnificent - effortlessly capturing the stunning African beauty that 'The Lion King' is all about. 

Rafiki isn't on the official casting role, but I would love to be able to play Simba. I'm really proud of myself for stepping up and taking such a big step - signing up and auditioning for a singing role. This is something out of my comfort zone but I couldn't be more excited for it!

Think Globally, Act Locally: Global Warming

Think Globally, Act Locally

If planet Earth was being judged in a solar system competition, there is no question that one of our setbacks would be the effects of global warming on our planet.

Global warming has become very topical in the last few hundred years, particularly after the election of Donald J. Trump. The recently-sworn in U.S president insists that the entire concept global warming is merely a hoax; created by China to make ‘U.S manufacturing uncompetitive’. However, this has been proven wrong by scientists. Global warming is very true, and, sorry to break it to you, Trump, but the fact that it snowed outside The White House this October doesn’t mean anything. The entire world as we know it is heating up rapidly, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

So, why is global warming happening anyway? Well, global warming is the result of excess smoke and gases released into the atmosphere; an act done only by humans. Invisible to the human eye, this has caused a thick layer of gas to form around the Earth’s atmosphere, which has the ability to allow in heat, as well as trap it in it. This ‘gas trapping’ is actually called the greenhouse effect, and it is very real. Scientists have explained that this gas layer allows in heat to radiate in from outside our atmosphere, but cannot release the heat. As a result from the heat, the world is warming quickly, melting icebergs, drying up rivers, and slowly, but surely, destroying the beautiful ecosystem around us. While scientists aren’t exactly able to predict the temperature of the following years, they can predict that the average teacher will rise even more quickly as the rates of greenhouse gases rise in today’s society. By 2020, the Earth will be one degree hotter, which might not seem like the biggest deal for Trump, but will actually melt icebergs and dry up rivers across the entire nation. Sorry to break it to you like this, Mr President, but deciding not to help France’s efforts to save our planet isn’t really going to help you - or really anyone on the planet, at all.

What exactly can we do locally to help this? Surprisingly, using up water can affect global warming a lot. So turn your tap off while brushing your teeth, take shorter showers, and make an effort to use less water. This reduces carbon pollution, too, and can be extremely beneficial in saving energy across the world. The EPA predicts that millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity could be saved if 1 in 100 American homes became ‘water wise’. The effect of this in New Zealand would be even better.

Another thing you can do to help is replace your house’s light bulbs with LED’s. This kind of lightbulbs uses up to 80% less energy than regular lightbulbs. Not only will it save electricity, you can save an additional $125 per year. Think about it: you can save money and the planet at the exact same time, why wouldn’t you do it?

And so, we should ask ourselves, in one hundred years, when our children are living in poverty-stricken world of toxic gas and nuclear explosions, of inescapable heat and a broken economy, would you ever think back to 2017 and regret not helping saving the planet?

New Zealand and The Continental Drift

Welcome to Festival of The Arts 2017: Musical Theatre

Today was our first session for Festival of The Arts 2017. This year I chose to do Musical Theatre, because last year getting to do the lights for the performance was lots of fun and I'd like to do it again. 

A performance of the award winning 'Lion King' musical. 

Although the final product will be a performance of The Lion King, when signing up for musical theatre, you're really signing up to do three things; singing, dancing, and acting.

First of all, we did some whole-class movement to warm our bodies up. We got into a circle and played some games, such as Tequila and Magic Mover. 

Secondly, we did some singing.
Our vocal warms up lasted a few minutes to warm up our vocal chords and prepare us for singing. Then we got into two groups - altos and sopranos, and sang a short song from the Lion King. I was a soprano and my role was to do a high part of the song. The altos did the rhythm with their feet and did the low part of the song. 

Another thing we did was choreography, as there will be a lot of dancing involved. Lining up in rows, Ms Beer first taught us choreography to the song "Can't Stop The Feeling". I really, really enjoyed doing this part as I think I can learn dances quickly, and they were really cool dance moves. The second dance we did was, "Thriller," by Michael Jackson. In this we sort of had to act like zombies, which was really fun and different from other things I've done.

Even though I'm hopefully going to sign up as stage crew, doing these warm ups and dances were super fun and I'm super pumped for the show!

Google Slides Pixel Art

Today in our Cybersmart lesson we learned about how to use Google Slides. At the end we even got to create our own pixel art. Here's a tutorial on how to do it. 

Next, I pressed the Ctrl key, highlighted all the columns I wanted to resize, right clicked and click "Resize columns". The pixel size I was used was '23'. 

I then used the 'fill tool' and used a reference to create my design. It took about five minutes, and I'm really proud of it. Here's a full screenshot of how to make your Google Sheet Pixel Art.

First off, create a new Google Sheet.

Next, press 'Ctrl' and click on the top column to select it. 

 Drag your cursor across the top columns to highlight the area you want to resize.

 Rightclick and press 'resize selected columns'. 

 To get the best result, put your column width at 23 instead of the default 100. 

There you have it! Simply use the fill tool on the tool bar to create your design. There are endless possibilities with this so have fun! 

Plants & Animals of The Jurassic and Triassic Periods

Animals 

1. Pterodactyl, from the Jurassic period.

2. Archaeopteryx, from the Jurassic period. 

3. Plesiosaurs, from the Jurassic period. 

4. Ichthyosaur, from the Triassic period.


5. Therapsids, from the Triassic period.


6. Protoavis, from the Triassic period.



Plants

1. Glossopteris, from the Triassic Period.


2. Conifers, from the Triassic period.


3. Ginkgo, from the Triassic period.


4. Gymnosperms, from the Jurassic period.


5. Cycads, from the Jurassic period.


6. Bennettitales, from the Jurassic period.