PAL Day At Paihia School

On the last day of last term all of Paihia got to participate in a “P(hysical)A(ctivity)L(eader) dayP(hysical)A(ctivity)L(eader)” as a fun thing to do for the last day. A PAL day is a sports  day that is ran and organised completely by the tuakana of our school. Some students A Pal day is a sports event that is run and organized completely by the tuakana of our school.

Some students in Te Ngahere were hosting all kinds of games to play like darts(the BIG version), obstacles and soccer. Being a PAL I got to host a game along with my friend Breeze and we choose to do Dodgeball.

The part I enjoyed the most was getting to see all the different types of games that groups were hosting(my favourite was the bike/scooter race.) The hardest challenge I experienced was trying not to get frustrated when the people in our rotation weren’t paying attention while we spoke. To overcome this my buddy and I persevered and tried ignoring the kids that didn’t want to listen.

Something I would do next time is to make sure we have everything prepared beforehand so we weren’t just winging it.

Does your school do sports days like our PAL days?

Oh, No I got Scammed ( How To Avoid getting Scammed or Phished online)

In Te Ngahere we have been learning to avoid Scams and Phishing when we go online. I think this is really important because I know people who have easily been scammed because of pop-ups and emails. This is actually a challenge that was given to us by Manaiakalani. 

One way they try to scam you is by using an unsafe site and then they proceed to ask for your personal information(eg: your g-mail log in) and since they’re using an unsafe site they can easily see what you wrote. To avoid this you look at the lock pad at the top next to the tab bar and if there is a red line through it then it’s unsafe.

Something new that I learnt is that EVERY POPUP IS BAD because they duplicate themselves and they could give you a virus. 

I found this very difficult to do at first because I only included some of the information on why the email/pop-up was fake or legit.

Did my DLO help you with avoiding Scams and Phishing? ”

Hurt Your Head With These Rebus Challenges

In Te Ngahere we have been doing Rebus challenges every Friday. A Rebus puzzle is a puzzle that includes images and words, they try to test your brain by trying to make you think outside the box. For each puzzle, you try to decode it and figure out what it ends up saying. It’s usually a famous saying of some sort.

We were given these during lockdown and since our class liked them so much we got to try them in class.

We get 9 to do every  Friday and it definitely shows how different people’s minds work because some puzzles were easier for some people to solve and others were harder for people to solve.

 I thought that these were really fun to do because the more you end up solving the easier it gets to solve others.  The best part of these puzzles is probably the very satisfying feeling you get when you do end up solving a puzzle. 

There are also some rebus puzzles here for you to try:

Which one did you find the hardest to resolve?

Bio Poem

In Te Ngahere for Tuhituhi we have been learning to create  a bio poem about someone special in our lives.  A bio poem is a poem written about someone. We could write about anyone like your mum, dad sister or aunty. 

I chose to write about my eldest sister because she was who I thought inspired me the most. 

We had to use a template to write a poem too.  We also had to include things like name three things they say all the time, etc...

The easiest part was thinking of a something that my sister likes because she likes most things. The difficult part was trying to think of something that my sister says a lot because she hardly repeats anything.

Have you ever created a poem like this?

100 word story The frozen Palace

During lockdown we got to  choose what to post about for blogging so I decided to write a 100 word story. This story was based on this image from Pobble 365 “The Frozen Palace”. 

I thought this would be interesting to do for a blog post because I enjoy writing narrative stories. It ended up being easy to write and good to do when you’re bored.

What are you doing during quarantine?

4 Shot Movie

In Te Ngahere we have started making movies. To help us make these movies we started of by making mini movies that include 4 shots, an establishing shot , a long shot, medium shot and a close up shot. An establishing shot includes the setting and where the story is happening. A long shot usually introduces  your characters. A medium shot shows more detail of what your characters are doing. The close shot usually shows what the characters attention is focussed on.

Something I think my group did well was working quickly and efficiently because in the time of 25 minutes my group and I were able to finish our movie that includes the 4 shots. Something I think we could’ve done better is to spend more of our time planning so that we knew what we were doing as soon as we started filming.

The easiest part as taking a picture of the whole library as our establishing shot. The hardest part was trying to actually come  up with the plan/idea for our movie.

Have you ever created a mini movie before?

I am Hope

This week in Te Ngahere we had the privilege to have someone called Tai come to talk to us about mental health. He was a representative from the “I am Hope” foundation which is a charity that helps Kiwis with mental health. Tai told us that mental health is just as important as physical health and that it was ok not to know much about mental health because he didn’t really understand it too until he was 22. 

He used his own story to help us understand the struggles that people with bad mental health can go through. For example he talked about a traumatic event he went through that put him in a bad place and how he got through that. Tai  goes and visits schools, communities etc.. and  shares the story he just shared with us to try and let people know that there is somewhere to go if they need. Something the “I am hope” foundation has done is try to make counselling free for Kiwis under 25 so that help is more accessible.

My favourite part was when he mentioned someone called Elliot who he met that helped him more than he ever thought without even knowing. Elliot is a person who played a major part of Tai’s story and he doesn’t even know.

Something that I learnt from his talk is everyone has something called an inner critique and your voice of reason which is like your minds two voices. I think I could see this information in the future so I know to listen to my reason of voice more.

Do you know much about mental health?

Science Fair Mania

Kia ora in Te Ngahere we have recently been focussing a lot of our attention on our Science Fair which started last term and ended yesterday. We started our Science Fair with rewinding some of the people in our classes memory by learning about the scientific method. The scientific method is a series of steps that involves creating a hypothesis, Testing your hypothesis etc… For this we had to create an infographic that explains the steps in our own words.

When we started the science fair we had to pick a question or topic first. In my group was Breeze and Mahana and we choose to test the absorbency of toilet paper.

We also learnt about different types of variables like controlled variables which are the part of your experiment that you are keeping the same. In our science experiment the controlled variable was the two sheets of toilet paper we used every time. 

Something I would have done differently was the fair test part because we only used 2 ply and three ply so it wasn’t really fair. I would also try to manage my time a bit better so everything I did was to the best standard.

I think I used my hoe of Tu maia and Kaha to help me not give up and to keep  on track.

Have you ever participated in a science fair?

 

Shrinking Island

 On the first day of Term 3 In Te Ngahere we tried another Taskmaster challenge instead of getting straight into work this challenge was called shrinking Island. We had to get into groups of 4-5 for the first round of this challenge. The rules were simple, you had two sheets of newspaper and your whole group has to be able to fit on the island without holding onto anything. The next round was even harder because the island shrunk by halving the page.

 Once you think all your group are on the paper you are allowed to call to be judged. The teachers then count and you have to be able to all stand for 5 seconds. The challenge was to see how much your island can shrink before one of your group members falls or touches the floor. The group still standing with the small island wins.

After the first go we were allowed to try different groups. One of the biggest things we reflected on was that if you have big feet do not pair up with someone else with big feet but unfortunately some people still did that.

Have you ever tried a Task Master Challenge before?

Cybersmart

 In Te Ngahere we have been learning to create a DLO that catches the attention our readers. The purpose of this was to help make readers want to read our Blog post. Here is my DLO about Technology that I made to add to my post that doesn't have a DLO.

This is my post with no DLO Technology

Do you think this DLO goes better with my post?

Dot Plot Graphs

In Te Ngahere we have been learning to analyze and make dot plot graphs. First we had to look at the data of how far Rm1 threw a tennis ball. Next we had to think of statements we could say about the graphs. Then we had to create our own dot plot using the data we were given from how far rm 2 threw there tennis balls. We also had to read statements and decide if they were True or False.

At first when I read the True of false statement that we focussed on I didn’t understand the word “range” in this case so I couldn’t answer the question because I thought it meant how far they threw the ball. I then found out that to find the range you take the highest Value and the lowest value than you find the difference and that is the range. 

Something I could have done better in my DLO is to refer back to both of the dot plot graphs when I was talking about them so it was easy to understand what I was talking about. To elaborate in my Screencast i just showed the True and false questions but now I know that it would’ve been easier to understand if I did show the graphs too.

Have you ever created a dot plot graph before?

The Great Marble Challenge Take #2

In Te Ngahere we have been creating marble ramps. We had a first run through than we got to re-attempt this challenge a few weeks later. For this challenge we got to give our marble ramp another shot and we could either start from scratch or improve our original ramp. My group decided to work on our 1st ramp. We could choose either a smaller marble or a large one. The marbles were a variable as the smaller marble stopped before the large one and the larger marble continued rolling after the small marble had stopped. We are doing to this to help us to prepare for the up-coming science fair his term. Something I did different this time was using a different sized marble and also we added glue to the bottom to slow the marble down.

My group did really well this time compared to the first time because the first attempt we did only got 7 points and this time we got 21 points which I think is a really good improvement.

The part I enjoyed the most was getting to test out other people's ramp and see how clear their instructions were. 

Have you ever created a marble run or ramp?

Help Save The Kauri!!!!

Last week in Te Ngahere we had the privilege to get a visit from someone called Aunty(Whaea) Stella who came to talk to us about Kauri Dieback. Kauri Dieback is a disease that infects Kauri. First we got to take a look at one of the most popular Kauri Tree, Tane Mahuta and his brother, Kairaru. We then got told a story of how our ancestors cut down so much of the Kauri tree to haul them away overseas that only a small percentage of them are left. Which is why we should try preserve the ones we have left.

Next she told us how Kauri Dieback works and how easily we can spread it by simply walking through the Ngahere. To prove her point she used her own dog named “Oi” as an example by putting his paws in mud and letting him trample on a piece of paper showing how much dirt he could spread in a short amount of time. That is why we should look after our animals properly to prevent the spread of Kauri Dieback.

We were also told that to try stop the spreading Dieback ourselves we need to spray and scrub our shoes clean so that no mud is left using the cleaning stations because the Ngahere is our home and we don’t want anyone walking in like that. 

Do you know what Kauri Dieback Is?

All About The Scientific Method

 

In Te Ngahere we have been learning about the Scientific Method. We have been learning this to help us prepare for the future science fair. 

For this, we had to create an infographic that explains the step of the

Scientific method in our own words. In this infographic we had to

include pictures that are relevant to the step we are explaining.

A way I could use this in the future is to apply the scientific method

to our Science fair project to help make us successful.

Something I did well was choosing appropriate images for my

infographic so they match. Something I could do better is explaining

each step in my own words.

Did my infographic help you learn about the Scientific Method?

Sharing My Experiance at the Science roadshow

On Monday Te Ngahere had the privilge to go to Bay Of Islands College for a science roadshow. The reason we did this was because we have a science fair comingup soon and this roadshow showed us what that fair will be like.
 In this science show they had all kinds of different exhibits my favourite one was the Bernoulli blower and in this exhibit we got to put objects with different weights at the bottom and if they were light enough they would shoot up with the help of a strong fan. Something I learned from this roadshow was that gasses although they aren’t visible can take up a lot more space then liquids.
I found this experience really interesting and fun because it taught me a lot and it gave me a better understanding for the science fair in the future.
Did your school participate in the Science Roadshow?

The Great Marble Ramp Challenge

The last few weeks in Te Ngahere we have been learning how to construct a marble ramp. We had to create a marble ramp using whatever materials we could find. We got to choose groups of 2-3. The objective was for the marble to stop exactly 110cm or 1.1m  from the end of your ramp. The reason we are doing this is because we have a Science fair coming up soon so we are using this challenge to prepare for that.

On competition day we are not allowed to touch our ramps because we will not be operating it, someone else will be. We also had to create specific instructions on how to operate our ramp.

A variable I made to my ramp was the angle it was on. To elaborate I had my ramp on a steep angle at first but that caused the marble to roll faster and past 1.1metres so we put it on a flatter angle which made it go slower.

Do you think you could create a successful marble ramp?

Sharing My Experiance at Technology

 Last week in Te Ngahere the year 7’s and 8’s got to go to technology at Moerewa School. This term the 8’s are in Wood work with Mr. E and the year 7’s are in cooking with Whaea Dot. I’m a year 8 so I’m in woodworks and we are making our own waka. First we had to measure our wood then using the power tools we cut the wood out. Once that was done we got to glue another piece of wood onto our waka. The other piece of wood is going to be for the bottom of our waka. The next thing I have to do is shape the bottom of my waka using a tool called a plane. The challenging part of this was trying to cut a straightline into the wood when I was using the power tools. The part I found easy was glueing the two pieces of wood together. Does your school have Technology classes?

Converting Between Decimals, Fractions and Percentages

In Te Ngahere for maths we have been learning to convert fractions into decimals and percentages. We started off by getting a strip of paper that was one metre long or 100cms long. Next we had to split the paper into fractions so one paper was split into 5ths and one into quarters and so on. We then had to figure out the decimal point and percentage of each piece on our papers(Eg: the paper that was divided into 5ths, each piece was worth 20% or 0.2).

The challenging part when we did this was trying to make sure that each piece was the same size and making sure I measured them accurately. The easy part was figuring out the percentage of each piece. 

Have you ever learned how to convert between decimals, fractions and percentages?

The Ugly Side Of Social Media

In Te Ngahere we have been learning how to stay safe while using online apps. Since there are so many online sites that let you talk to strangers we have been trying to make sure that we do not put out the wrong information.

First we watched a video that involved a 12 year old girl that talks to an adult online that lies about his identity and says hes a 13yr old boy. Then some photos that she posted online were found by bullies at school and they used the pictures to embarrass the girl. 

We had to make a DLO that explains what to do and what not to do online. 

This activity  taught me that we should be cautious with which information we choose to put on our social media accounts. It also taught me to be careful on who I talk to on the internet. 

Does your school learn how to stay safe online?

If I were a….

In Te Ngahere we have been doing a few “if I Were” poems for Panui. Each day a little bit of the poem would be revealed and we had to use the words from the text and our general knowledge to try and identify what the author was describing. The purpose of these poems are to teach us to  understand what we’re reading even though they are not stated in the text.

Something I found challenging in these poems was trying to clearly explain what I thought the thing was without just using the words from the text. The part I found easy was choosing the one I thought matched the poem the most.

Have you ever done something similar to these poems?