THE WATER CYCLE IN ACTION 💦

AIM: To observe the basic processes of the water cycle 💦

EQUIPMENT: 200mL beaker, watch glass, ice cubes, Bunsen burner, tripod, gauze mat

METHOD: 

1. Fill the beaker with approximately 100mL of water and place on a tripod over a Bunsen burner.

2. Fill the watch glass with a few pieces of ice and leave it on the bench.

3. Light the Bunsen and heat the water until it just starts to simmer. Do not boil the water!

4. Turn the Bunsen burner off and gently place the watch glass and ice on top of the beaker.

Fill the beaker with 100ml of water.

Light the bunsen burner.

When the water is simmering, turn off the bunsen burner and put the watch glass on top of the beaker.

There is water vapour clearly visible in the beaker.

The water then begins to condense by dripping.

OBSERVATIONS 💦

We let it heat up until it was brought to a simmer. Then we quickly placed the watch glass of ice on top and we got results immediately. Grey water vapour swirled around in the glass for a few minutes. After those minutes we noticed it was becoming more transparent. Water started dripping from the bottom and there was condensation around the beaker's walls. 

1. State the energy source that drives the water cycle. The energy source is the sun; although in our experiment it was an artificial heat, the Bunsen burner.

2. Is water vapour visible? Yes. The water vapour was swirling around in the beaker before it condensed back into water.

3. Outline two pathways by which water can enter the atmosphere.

a)  Evaporation

b)  Transpiration

4. Explain how water vapour in the atmosphere ends up returning to the surface of the Earth.
The water vapour in the atmosphere, after evaporating, ends up being so cold, that through the process of condensing, it falls to the Earth as precipitation (rain). 

5. List four types of precipitation 🌨️

a) rain 

b) snow 

c) sleet 
d) hail

6. Water 💦 is constantly being evaporated from the sea surface, but the sea level remains fairly constant. Explain why the sea level does not fall. 

Because water cannot escape the atmosphere, the sea level remains the same because no water is leaving, the water is simply going through the process of the water cycle constantly, so it can be being evaporated and precipitated at the same time in different regions

Evaporation - the process of water being converted into gas by heat and travelling upwards. This happened in the beaker.

Transpiration - When moisture travels up from the roots of a plant up into the atmosphere via the stomata (leaves)

KATE EDGER'S LEGACY

Kate Edgar was born in England in 1857. When Kate was young, the family moved to Auckland. She gained permission to study with the top class of boys at the Auckland College and Grammar School. In fact, since she was the only girl in the class, she had to enter with her eyes fixed to the floor. It has been said that the boys were polite to her, but she never spoke to them.
Because the school had connections with the University of New Zealand, Kate could work towards a degree. Kate ended up being a candidate for one of the Maths Scholarships to be awarded at the Examination in May. She gave her age and qualifications but did not say she was a girl - and Kate was accepted.
Making history as the first female in the British Empire to gain this degree, nearly one thousand people attended her graduation, and the Bishop of Auckland gifted her a white camellia flower for her 'unpretending excellence'. 
Kate Edgar then went on to be the first principal for Nelson College for Girls and taught an array of subjects including English Grammar, Science, and Latin. Kate died in 1935. 

1. Explain the difference in attitudes to education today and the time when Kate was a girl. 
Today, girls and boys, and everyone in between, are both encouraged to get themselves an education through high schools and universities across the country. Girls are widely accepted into all universities, just as equal as boys. In fact, in 2009, two-thirds of bachelor degrees were given to women. Evidence shows the tertiary education gender gap between girls and boys increased by about 1 percent per year - with women on top. 
However, back when Kate was a girl, around mid-late 19th century, it was not quite the same. It was the boys that were earning their degrees and allowed to participate in tertiary education. There were no secondary schools for girls in Auckland in the 19th century, in fact. It can be determined that there is a huge difference in attitudes between girls and boy's education between the 19th and 21st century. 

2. Find out where the term 'blue stocking' came from.
Blue stocking was a term used to describe 'intellectual' women who would rather discuss things such as social issues than things such as embroidery or housework. Talking about anything other than 'women issues' was frowned upon as it wasn't ladylike. The name originates from the 'Blue Stocking Society', a social and educational movement lead by women in the mid 18th century. From then on it was common for women to be called a blue stocking if they would discuss these frowned-upon topics. 

3. Describe how females in Kate's day were expected to behave.
Most prominently, society did not think girls should deserve the same educational opportunities as boys; apart from a small array of subjects including drawing, cooking, sewing, housework, etc. This was because it was thought the study of academic subjects would make a women's brain could harm and inflame their brains. The sole purpose of women's lives were not to be educated, but to find a husband, have children, and serve him. It wasn't as if they could get out of their marriage either - it was very, very rare for women to be granted divorces up until the very late 18th century. In summary, women did not have the same rights as men and had to behave very, very differently in oppose to them. 

4. Write "Kate Edger" in a vertical column down your page. Beside each letter of her name write one word beginning with that letter that you associate with her. Beside each word put a piece of proof to back up your decision. 

Knowledgeable; for being able to teach an array of subjects. 
Academic; for her skillful capability in all areas of school
Teacher; for her many years teaching.
Educated; for many years spent in tertiary and secondary education.

Encouraging; a quality that she, as a teacher, must have had.
Determined to receive the education she deserves.
Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.
Eager to receive her education; eager to give and teach.
Recognised for her heroic, history-making achievements.

5. Discuss the links between a white camellia, Kate, and the aim of the Urangi. 
White camellia flowers symbolise adoration, and are typically given to people who are well-liked. Kate Edgar is just one of the women who have been gifted white camellias in return for their wonderful achievements, because she is very well-liked by many. The aim of the Urangi at Auckland University is to 'create and maintain a positive, productive learning environment in which all persons treat each other with respect'. Kate links to this because, simply, she showed all of these skills effortlessly at both Nelson College and her private secondary school in Wellington. Perhaps it was one of her goals. But what we do know is that Kate excelled at these skills with tremendous accomplishment. 

6. Web search: Emily Siedeberg was the first female doctor in New Zealand. Ethel Benjamin was the first female lawyer in New Zealand and in the British Empire. Find out how they, like Kate Edger, helped to change society's attitudes.
By becoming the first female doctor and lawyer in New Zealand/British Empire, these powerful women have accomplished history-making acts. Men once believed that women were incapable of achievements such as these; but these women defeated the odds. Society changed from men thinking poorly of women's academic skills, to actually being proved wrong: and that yes, women can do anything men can do. 

THE FAIR TRADING ACT

Rights of Consumers and Responsibilities of Producers

1. What is the Fair Trading Act? 
The Fair Trading Act prevents consumers from unfair and misleading trade practises, fake information in advertisements (for example, lying about where it comes from) and deceptive conduct being carried out by businesses. In other words it protects New Zealand consumers from being tricked or mislead by businesses when they post unreliable, deceptive, or false information. 

2. What is the commerce commission's goal?
The commerce commission's role is to put laws in place surrounding fair trading between businesses and consumers. Their aim is to keep New Zealand consumers satisfied when businesses are confident and markets are reliable and working well. 

3. Who besides the commission are responsible for the act and can take their own legal action?
The commerce commission call themselves a self-enforcing act, which means consumers have the rights to take legal action and demand that the business fixes the situation.

4. Who are the two types of groups the act applies to?
The act applies to businesses and consumers.  

_



Understanding your compliance obligations

1. What do the acts apply to?

The Fair Trading Act applies to anyone in the trade industry, from small businesses to large businesses. All consumers are protected by the Fair Trading Act when buying from any business.

2. Whose shoes must the business put themselves into?

They should put themselves in the consumer's shoes to ensure that they are being reliable and fair. 

3. What is the commission empowered to do?

Enforce laws protecting customers from being mislead, tricked, deceived by false or unreliable information put out by producers. 

Reporting a business

1. If you need to report a business, what can you do?

You can make a complaint to the commerce commission by calling 800 943 600 or email contact@comcom.govt.nz. From there, the commission will investigate the business. 

Why is it good to know your rights?

It is important to know your rights as a consumer because you may end up having to pay more than intended for your purchase, or be stuck with a faulty product or unfair contract. When producers set a certain price for a product they may attempt to hide hidden surcharges that the consumer is unaware of. The consumer will then end up paying more than intended because of this unreliable information. Furthermore, when online shopping it is possible for a retailer to sell you a faulty product without any information regarding it. Or hide certain information inside contracts (small text etc.) As a consumer it is important to know your rights to fix the situation if these things ever happen to you, or prevent it from occurring in the first place. For example, I buy a fridge from Fisher and Paykel. But when I receive it, the product is faulty. If a customer does not know their rights they will not know how, or if, they're allowed to get their money back or get the fridge replaced by the retailers. Knowing your rights, to be able to take legal action in these cases, can prevent the producer from getting away with it illegally and ripping you off. This is a much better outcome than having to pay more than intended, have a faulty product or unfair contract. 

BULLYING IN NEW ZEALAND 🇳🇿

Bullying can be recognised in a number of ways:
It is when one or more people purposely target another person either online or in real life. They might call them names and make fun of them, or more non-verbally, attack and punch them. Online bullying is called cyber-bullying, and is recognised by mean messages, sharing degrading photos of someone else, etc. 

How can you determine whether is it just bullying or teasing? 
1. It happens more than once.
2. There is an unbalance of power (2 against 1 etc.) 
3. It is always on purpose. 

This is useful to understand because...
Bullying can happen anywhere to anyone - in the workplace, in public, particularly in schools etc. Even if it doesn't happen to you, it useful to recognise bullying in order to put a stop to it and help out someone else who is being bullied. In New Zealand bullying is even more common than in some other countries - evident when teen suicide rates were released. New Zealand has the highest teen suicide rate, and in  most cases, they're often driven by bullying, either online or in real life. Furthermore, international studies suggest New Zealand has the second highest bullying rate in the world. So this is evidence that bullying is an important thing to recognise in New Zealand because it happens so much. 

I felt sad watching the videos about bullying because I can imagine what the bully must be going through, fighting their own battles. But at the same time I feel sad for the people who are being bullied because they may feel terrible. I made a connection with the video because I've been bullied before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ3m78oJnaM

The key messages I took from the video include: words hurt more than you may think. Bullying can happen anywhere, it can even happen to adults in the workplace and not just in schools. 

I think that it is important to stop bullying because it can lead to long-term consequences affecting the mental health sector of New Zealand society. Mental health is a huge struggle in New Zealand and it's one that the government is trying to crack down on, especially on teens, where most of the bullying takes place.

GOOGLE DRAWING ART

Today in digital tech we were given the task of using Google Drawing to produce a graphic television set. Our goal was to focus on line weight and width, color, and layering to create a high quality drawing that looks like the original graphic example we were given.

I think I did pretty well on this, however it was difficult to add in the lines as I had to draw them individually before I realised I could simply duplicate them. I think I used colour appropriately. I think I will regret posting the Johnny Johnny graphic in about three days though. 

:) 

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS FOR BUSINESS ⭐️

                  

What am I learning?
I am learning skills that can help improve the success and quality of our business while working with others.

INSPIRING WRITERS WORKSHOP ✨

WARNING: Contains a bit of foul language (sorry).

On Thursday, myself and a lot of my classmates were granted the opportunity to visit the University of Canterbury to participate in the Inspiring Writers Workshop presented by WORD Christchurch as part of their writing festival 2018. We all had a great time and I certainly came home inspired to write not only my usual narrative and poetry, but make an attempt at some science writing and rap. 

At the workshop, our first lecture was from a lovely woman named Laurie Winkless, who is a science writer originally from Ireland but now resides in Wellington, New Zealand. What is a science writer you may ask? A science writer is a writer whose job is to explain scientific theories, experiments, general information and translate this information into simpler words for the... less-scientifically-wise public. A way I could explain it to kids is, science writers are the authors behind Sci Pads and other science textbooks - through the use of basic words and definitions, they can teach otherwise complex scientific information to the general public and younger pupils. 
Laurie talked about how she became a science writer. Growing up, she was always a lover of science, but she never planned to become a science writer. After internships at the Kennedy Space Centre and a lot of studying about astrophysics etc, she started a secret blog dedicated to her science work. Through the use of Twitter, Laurie was able to grow more confident with her writing until she was approached by a publisher. After a long 2 year period of writing, planning, and more writing, this publisher (who she said was a lovely man named Mark) ended up publishing her very first book, Science in The City. 
Science in The City is a book about the science... behind cities. For example, all the tunnels underneath the ground, the importance of trees in large cities, etc. One piece of information that really interested me was what she explained to be fatbergs. Fatbergs are basically a congealed mass made up of non-biodegradable things that really shouldn't be put down sewer drains - I'm talking diapers, wet wipes, grease, etc. Fatbergs block sewer drains, and it often takes a long time to get them out. They're found in drains all over the word, including in four of New Zealand's cities, Laurie told us. She talks about the science behind fatbergs and the importance of not putting non-biodegradable items down drains in Science in The City. 
One tip Laurie gave us writers was to practise, practise, and practise. She explained that it was how she got to where she is today and talked about how it really does honestly help improve your writing. This was a really fun, interesting lecture for me personally and I can now say I'm a pretty big fan of Laurie Winkless.

After a short tour of the university, and Chloe being told to shut up in the library, we returned to the lecture hall to attend talks from Juno Dawson, Hollie McNish, and Omar Musa. 

Juno Dawson is a thriller author who read the first chapter or so of her book, Clean. To be very honest, it sounds like an amazing book so far. Clean tells the story of Lexi, a drug addict, and her journey to a rehab centre. I've read countless books about going to rehab before and they've all been pretty similar (but still amazing) but to my surprise, the first part of Clean that we read was much different to them all. Juno explained that Lexi was a really interesting and fun character to create and write about, so much in fact that it took her an astounding two years to ever start writing again. 
Next, Juno read us the very first part of her very-own episode of the BBC's Doctor Who, which she very impressively wrote all by herself. As Juno is someone who grew up writing imaginary episodes of the show, it is so awesome to see her success as a young author. Doctor Who is a very good TV show in my opinion, so despite the fact it will probably be months before it finally airs in New Zealand, I'm excited to watch Juno's episode!

"My shoulders are fucking delicious,"
- the wise words of Hollie McNish, a British poet who was our second guest speaker. She is, obviously, a poet, and loves doing it. She read a few of her poems - one about growing up as a teenager without technology and how free it felt without the risk of photos getting leaked online, and some about her experience as a young mother. My favourite of her poems was about her daughter, who, as she explained, sat in front of a full-length mirror one day, clapping and laughing at her own baby body. This inspired Hollie to write a poem at that moment about body positivity, "My body is amazing," is just one of the few quotes from that poem. Her last poem, which was quite amusing for pretty much everyone in the lecture theatre, was written about her shoulders, which Hollie describes as "fucking delicious". Her shoulders are her personal favourite body part of hers; adorned with freckles, she says. I enjoyed Hollie's talk because I love writing poetry myself, not that I'd ever share it with the world, and she definitely inspired me to write - despite my long lasting writer's block I've had for the past month.



Our last talk was from a Malaysian-Australian rapper and slam poet, Omar Musa. He entertained and inspired us with a few of his own extremely-powerful raps/poetry, including one about his favourite Malaysian curry ("this stuff is hot, woo" is a prominent line in that certain rap). He also moved us with a rap/song about his own experience with depression and emotions and how he learned to 'keep playing'. Despite my less-extensive knowledge of the rap world, or slam poetry for that matter, I thoroughly enjoyed Omar's speech, and it moved me to know that someone else who suffered from depression could help others through it at the same time. 

That brings us to the end of the writing workshop blogspot. I think everyone of us could say that we came out of that ready to write some more. I really, really admired all of the guest speakers that flew over to New Zealand to talk to all these secondary schools, and the stories that came with them. 

Were you at the writer's workshop? Did you enjoy it, and who was your favourite speaker? Let me know in the comments. 
:)) 

sneaky mid yawn shot