SUMMER LEARNING JOURNEY: The Beginning! 🌍

Source: Lee Welch on Twitter

ACTIVITY ONE

According to Māori mythology, much of Aotearoa (New Zealand) was formed when Māui, a powerful demigod, fished it out of the sea. Legend has it that Māui created a magical fish hook from the jawbone of his grandmother and that one day he took his hook, boarded a boat, and rode out into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Once at sea, he threw his magical hook into the water and caught a fish. This ‘fish’ was actually the North Island of New Zealand! In honour of this legend, the North Island of New Zealand is sometimes referred to as Te Ika a Māui or ‘Māui’s fish’ and the South Island of New Zealand is sometimes referred to as Te Waka a Māui or ‘Māui’s canoe’. 

To learn more cool facts about New Zealand, check out the Tourism NZ website. Read the fun facts posted on the website and choose your ‘Top 3.’ On your blog, post your ‘Top 3 Fun Facts’ about NZ.

After visiting the Tourism NZ website, it is safe to say I learned a whole lot of information I didn't already know about our beautiful country of New Zealand. 

My personal favourite fact I discovered on this website was:
The country is part of the Pacific Rim of Fire and its most active volcano is Mount Ruapehu, found in the middle of the North Island.'

Source: National Geographic

I personally found this fact to be quite intriguing because I am partly interested in the stories of natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes, although I've honestly never looked into the science behind it other than in science class. It was for this reason, I decided to look into the Ring of Fire and the science behind it.

The Ring of Fire is a invisible horseshoe-shape that spans 40, 000 km across the Pacific Ocean. It's location is associated with frequent tectonic activity such as earthquakes and volcanoes which occur there more than any other stretch of land or ocean on the globe. The 452 volcanoes located around the Ring of Fire amounts to 75% of all of the volcanoes on Earth. Furthermore, the Ring of Fire has even been near or on the epicentre of over 90% of the world's earthquakes. 

So what is the science behind the Ring of Fire? I took to Google to find out.

A fault line has ruptured the Earth
in Darfield, Canterbury.
Source: Otago Daily Times

The Ring of Fire forms its shape as it is at the meeting point of many lithospheric plates (which compose the outer layer of the Earth's crust) which are constantly sliding, bumping, and moving around each other. The line where these plates meet are also known as fault lines. The Ring of Fire is essentially a band of active fault lines, deep oceanic trenches, and volcanoes (dormant and active). 




Another favourite fact I learned was:
30% of the country is forest.

Source: doc.govt.nz

I was interested in this fact because I go travelling a lot and get to see many forests, especially up and down Te Waipounamu (the South Island), but I never would have thought forest accounted for 30% of Aotearoa. I thought it would be much less, especially due to deforestation which is a big issue in the world right now. Deforestation, if you don't know, is the destruction of forests, often to make space for houses, farms, and other structures. 
The biggest forest in Aotearoa is in Northland, Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island) and is home to two of of the biggest living Kauri in Aotearoa, which I had no idea about.  I thought the rākau in the Ōtautahi Botanical Gardens were enormous, but they're pale in comparison to the Kauri rākau in Waipoua Forest! After reading some articles about this beautiful forest I really want to visit one day and learn more about these fascinating rākau and their history as natives to Aotearoa. Did you know it is an astounding 90 square kilometres in size?

Another fact I found interesting was:
Gisborne is the first city in the world to see the sunrise because it is 496.3 kilometers away from the International Date Line.

Source: mapsofworld.com

This was actually very fascinating to learn! Next time I wake up to a sunrise I will no longer admire the fact that I'm one of the first in the world to see it, because Gisborne has already seen it. 
This got me thinking about the International Date Line. I enjoy working out what time it is in different places in the world and have memorised the time difference in a few places but I've never really learned where or what the International Date Line is... well, apart from that one episode of Zach and Cody. So, I did some proper research.

The International Date Line is an invisible line that runs through the mid-Pacific Ocean. Its purpose is to differentiate one calendar day to the next. For example, Aotearoa and America Samoa are the closest to the International Date Line, so Aotearoa  is the first country to see the new day and America Samoa is the last to see the new day. Say it was midnight on New Year's in Aotearoa, America Samoa would not reach midnight on New Year's for another 24 hours because of the time difference.

ACTIVITY TWO
'The country of New Zealand is made up of two main islands – the North Island and the South Island. Approximately 77% of the New Zealand population live in the North Island. Many of these people (including our Summer Learning Journey design team) live in Auckland city. Auckland is a great place to live with lots of amazing parks, beautiful waterways and stunning scenery to enjoy. It is also a busy, vibrant city with many cafes, museums, galleries and theatres to visit. I feel lucky to call Auckland my ‘hometown.’ 


Now it is time to think about your hometown. What is special about where you live? On your blog, describe your hometown. Be sure to include lots of describing words (adjectives) in your post.

To put it simply, I love Christchurch.
I mean, there are so many things to love! 
Take a walk around the Central City and admire the beautiful artworks by the most inspiring of multimedia artists. From the iconic Chalise that stands proud in the heart of the Cathedral Square, or the many colourful pieces of street art bringing life to the faces of buildings and fences that line the streets. Christchurch is a beautiful city with vibrant nightlife and gorgeous views. 
You can slice through the clear blue water of Akaroa Harbour alongside the ever-so-elegant dolphins, hike up Halswell Quarry and admire it's breathtaking views, or play at the exciting new Margaret Mahy playground in town with the whole family... but what is so different about Christchurch?
What separates our city from the hundreds of others across New Zealand?
It is the bond.
After the earthquakes in 2011, Christchurch teamed together to rebuild not only the buildings, but strengthen the bond we have as citizens. If you have ever visited Christchurch, you can see the bond we have: whether you're a council worker or a construction worker, we have all been through the same devastation that is the 2011 Earthquake, and because of that, we couldn't have become stronger. You can admire the beauty of Christchurch, but there will be nothing more beautiful than the bond we have. Kia Kaha, Christchurch. 

ACTIVITY THREE

Source: flickr.com

'Antarctica is the world’s coldest continent. Even though it is made up of ice, it is also the driest continent in the world. In fact, it hasn’t rained there for nearly 2 million years! It is home to many animals such as whales, seals, birds, and fish. There are no permanent human residents (people who live there all the time) in Antarctica, however scientists do visit and stay in Antarctica for a while to study it.

This year the airline, Air New Zealand, filmed their safety video in Antarctica. They used some fabulous actors from Hornby Primary School in Christchurch. Just like on aeroplanes, we also need to keep safe and be smart online. We need to think about the type of information we are sharing online, who we are sharing information with, and how to have a positive digital footprint.'

On your blog, make a copy of this footprint and, inside the footprint, explain how you create a positive, digital footprint. What do you do to stay smart online?.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my very first post for the Summer Learning Journey 2018. I've learned so much today and I'm really excited to continue the program. Feel free to leave some feedback in the comments as I appreciate every comment I receive. 
- Jaime :)