Last term, I was asked to join a group of 3 other Rāwhiti Yr 7-8 students (with a lot of help by Whaea Elizabeth) that had decided to compete in a competition where you have to build an aquarium in Minecraft. The restrictions are: there is only one main exhibit (other tanks optional), the main exhibit must only be creatures that NZ creatures and it must help visitors to the to the Kelly Tarltons National Aquarium to better understand marine life in and around our oceans.

First, we spent lots of time researching different NZ marine animals, researching types of aquariums and finding NZ marine animal resource packs. After we had lots of information we started grouping it together on jamboards and docs. We then made a list of different animals that could be part of our exhibit, they had to be able to be housed in a n aquarium, they had to live in a similar salinity, temperature, and not attack each other. Meanwhile we broke into groups and made our own sketched aquariums on grid paper. Next, we cut out the good ideas from each aquarium and made a new one, this was our final aquarium idea. Partway through the aquarium designing process we decided that the main exhibit would be a jellyfish, in the end we decided that it would be the Lions Mane Jellyfish.

We then created a world on Minecraft and picked an area. After that, we placed blocks in diagonal and horizontal lines so we could build the outline from the aquarium we drew on the grid paper easier. This was very difficult, as it was so easy to get the lines just one block wrong and you would have to start that part over. When we finally managed to get everything right, everyone else started working on the aquarium, while I was given the task of giving color to the Lions Mane Jellyfish mob that we had also created because I am good at things like that.

I worked on the color for hours, looking at pictures, giving it its base colors, doing and redoing layer after layer to add more detail, then finally adding little bits of color on top of the layers to make it look more real. The others also spent hours working on the aquarium and they were chosen for this job because they are fast and skilled Minecraft builders. They had created one of the coolest builds I have ever seen! There were heaps of tanks and rock pools, they even had a second level  and a food and water management area for the Lions Mane Jellyfish enclosure.

Next, we put in the Lions Mane Jellyfish in the main tank, before moving on to the recording and videoing stage. The recording was a lot harder than we thought, as it took heaps of tries before we could get the words right. As for the videoing, we got heaps of kids together to pretend to be people viewing the aquarium, before taking video upon video. When at last we got the recording and videoing right, we put it all together and, after some editing, it looked pretty good. We didn’t sign up thinking we would win it, but imagine our surprise when we had got the top of our age group! We had won!

Today I created a slideshow to display different Māori sentences that are used commonly around and on Christmas Day. I was cool because I like to learn Māori and always welcome an opportunity to learn more of it. My favourite sentence is: let’s unwrap the presents – kia hura tātou i ngā taonga. What is yours?

What Māori sentences do you know? It’s OK if you don’t know any, but if you do, feel free to share them with me in the comments below.

Meri Kirihimete!

I don’t really need to explain because I created a DLO to explain it.

Here it is:

What have I learned about this Term in Kaupapa Matua?

I have learned about reasons to look after our ocean. Half the class made posters about why we should protect the ocean from plastic and how we can help. I learnt a lot about how we can not pollute the ocean. Did you know that about 70% of the Earth is covered by water, most of this is the ocean, and if this gets too polluted that is 70% percent of the Earth that has become a wasteland.

What have I learned about being a Kaitiaki so far?

I have learnt that being a kaitiaki means doing what you can to help or protect something. I have also come to understand that to be a kaitiaki you don’t need to be a company that donates trees to parks, or run a volunteering day, you only need to do something small to show kaitiakitanga. You can be a kaitiaki by simply showing up to a workday, or even just trying to recycle your trash. Even if everybody just did something small to help, the change in the world would be phenomenal. At the start of the term I learnt about being ready for learning and then learnt about being kind to myself and the classroom. After that we learnt about being kind to our playground, we then went out and cleaned the bike track. After that we went out on day trips and cleaned the beach and Thompson Park. We learnt about conservation of the ocean, and NZ birds by learning how to trap them at camp.

What have I learned in class this year about conservation?

I have learnt that you have to be the change you want to see in the world, so instead of littering this beautiful planet, instead decide to make a change and start recycling more. I also wrote about why I think honey bees deserve to be protected. Did you know that even though they are not on the endangered list, scientists think they will be extinct soon.

What have I learned in class this year about the ocean?

I have learnt that the ocean provides many medicines and resources that are in many things we use in our daily lives. I also learnt that the ocean provides more oxygen than the trees. The trees survive because of water, so technically all the oxygen is created by the ocean. The ocean also is the sanctuary of a lot of the planet’s animals, so we must be careful, or the rubbish we carelessly throw on the ground gathers in storm drains and is washed out to sea. There they will continue to kill marine animals and damage marine ecosystems. That is why we need to change our ways and stop littering.

If I could relearn something I did this year in Kaupapa Matua. What would it be and why?

I would like to relearn about animals in trouble and how we can save them, which we slightly covered by learning about how to save the honey bee. The Yr 7/8s also covered this by going to camp by making trackers, seeing how they helped, how to work the traps, what they catch, how beech trees help, and lots more. This was really interesting as I learnt so much.

Today I created a blog post about how to reply to ‘who?’ questions correctly. Whaea Jasmine wrote on the whiteboard a table thing to help, which is what is written below. I also wrote down some questions and answers using the table that give you an example of how to say them. I found this quite interesting, as I am still working on this.

Thanks for reading,

Heath 🙂

Today I finished creating a slideshow to display Rāwhiti School’s R.I.S.E Values. They are what the school tries to demonstrate daily. They are:

Resilience (sometimes resourceful) – Tapatahi

Integrity – Wairuatanga

Success – Angitu

Empathy – Manaakitanga

I found it interesting as I wasn’t sure what some of the values meant. Here is a slideshow to show what I have learnt and what I already know about The Rāwhiti R.I.S.E Values.

Have you been upholding the school values lately? Tell me about a time you have in the comments below!

Cheers,

Heath 🙂

When harvesting, only harvest when you are calm and the weather is good, only take the tupuna rau and cut it on a diagonal angle so it doesn’t collect water and rot.

Recently, some people came over to Rawhiti school to teach us about the science in Harakeke and Ti Kouka. First, they introduced themselves before giving us some things made with Harakeke to pass around. There was a pair of pāraerae (sandals) and some shin guards. We then talked about innovation and how Māori were great innovations, using the resources at hand and continually improving things.

Next, they showed us how to extract muka (stringy fibres) before doing a strength test with a bunch of muka strings forming one big string, about 0.75 cm thick. It turned out it could hold up to 28 kgs! After that, we used a razor to shave little bits of harakeke of a big piece and put some on a microscope slide. We then observed them under the microscope and we could see the muka and other parts, we could even see the bundles of chloroplasts (the cells that make food for the plant using photosynthesis). Lastly, we were instructed to create solar panel using only glass, a few chemicals and some chloroplasts from a Harakeke plant. When we tested them for electricity, we could see it generating some when in the light!

I think this was a great experience to have had as I have definitely learnt a lot from my short time with them. Have you ever used a microscope? Answer in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

Heath 🙂

Kia ora koutou,

I tenei ra, kei te ako au i te Reo Maori. Kei te pānuitia me te kōrerohia me te whakautu nga pātai ahau i te mahi kei roto i te Reo Maori anake. He ako ahau i etahi kupu.

Anei etahi whakatauira:

haeana – to iron

whakareri – to prepare

mātaotao – to cool

Tuatahi, kei te panuitia ahau i te mahi. Tuarua, kei te kōrerohia nga kupu me rekoata toku korero. Tuatoru, kei te whakautu nga patai in roto i te Reo Maori.

Anei tāku mahi:

Kia ora koutou, today I have just finished writing my next persuasive writing text, as you can see it is about ice cream sundae being the best. I really enjoy writing and every time I learn something new. This was fun and I hope I can write some more persuasive writing texts. Here it is:

Why Ice Cream Sundae is the Best Dessert –

In my opinion the ice cream sundae is the best dessert because it has many ingredients in it which makes it taste exquisite. I also think it is the best dessert because it also has many textures from all those different ingredients. Another reason is that it looks delicious with all its swirling patterns of Passion Fruit juice and the spherical lumps of ice cream with the odd flake sticking out. I will explain these reasons better in my body of information.

The ice cream sundae is the best because of all the many delicious flavors combining together to make it taste absolutely awesome. This is my favorite thing about the ice cream sundae.

In addition to that reason, I also have another reason why it is the best dessert, it is it’s many textures. I find I really enjoy it when it’s silky smooth ice cream combines with the crunchy crackeryness of a flake in my mouth.

One reason why it is good is because of how it looks. The lumps of cool ice cream neatly piled on top of each other with intertwining drizzles of Passion Fruit juice and chocolate sauce. On top of that there is crisp flake sticking out of the side and the cherry on top.

Another reason why everyone should enjoy this treat is because it can change to suit the desires of almost everyone. It is not like a cake with certain measurements and particular ingredients, it can be changed and modified at will. For example, if you disliked chocolate, you could do a different type of ice cream and have no chocolate sauce.

This is why ice cream sundaes are the best dessert ever. Did you know that the Passion Fruit in the Passion Fruit juice actually helps stop heart disease, keeps it healthy and gives you better circulation. This is why I believe that ice cream sundaes are the best dessert.

Were you persuaded by my text to believe that the ice cream sundae is the best dessert? Tell me in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

Heath :7(_)3

Kia ora koutou, yesterday I competed in Cantamaths 2023. For those of you who don’t know what Cantamaths is, it is a mathematics competition done in Christchurch by year 6 to 10 students. A school can decide to put forward a team of 4 to enter. They have to answer as many very challenging maths questions as possible in 30 mins. Each question is worth 5 points and first to 100 wins. I found Cantamaths very hard and I was quite nervous. In my team there was: Jakob, Olivia, Lyshia (our runner) and me.

As soon as the competition started, it was a mad rush to see who would finish first. Some groups were super fast, by the time we had got 15 points, some groups had got 80 points! Our team worked really well together, in the last 5 mins we got another 15 points. At the end we were told that we had got 35 points, which is the average score. This is also pretty good for our first time.

As I went home, even though my brain was dead, I couldn’t help but to do maths with the things around me! I am really happy that I was invited to join the group as I learnt a lot of things from this and the practises Nogo had to prepare us with while preparing for the big day. What is the biggest academic achievement that you have completed? Tell me in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

Heath :7(_)3