Making A Circuit X2

For our 5th topic we were making a bit more advanced circuit. This time we were using a voltmeter and a switch to see how high the energy was. It was quite confusing at first because we had so many wires so honestly I just improvised. Getting the switch and voltmeter to work was definitely the hardest part to get right. I had to rearrange wires this way and that way for it to finally work. 

Everybody then had to draw a diagram of their circuit with the amount of wires they used, personally mine looked decent. 

Saving Energy 🔌

This week's topic was about saving energy, we had to list things and places that use quite a lot of energy. Our list included phones, malls, the airport and the hospital too. For our experiment we had to make a bulb light up using two wires, a battery and a bulb circuit. I learnt that for the bulb to light up you have to put the positive wire with the negative. 


Once we completed our experiment we watched a clip  about how we can decrease our use of energy, in the video it talked about how heat rise from global warming can destroy earth and people should carpool to use less energy! 

As we know Thomas Edison was the first person to create a light bulb, but over the years people have made other less energy using versions like the LED. The LED uses 85% less energy and can last 15 years or longer!!
 

Creative Minds

Most of us kiwi's are able to DIY a lot of random items and transform them into beautiful things. I mean like we did come up with pavlova and some other incredible ideas!! I don't know how but we are just good at coming up with solutions in bad situations, kiwi kids have a huge imagination.

A 15 year old boy named Stanley made his own mountain bike course because biking is what he loves to do and he always has fun doing it. Since he couldn't really go out during lockdown he decided he would make his own personal course. Overall it's small and simple but looks fun to try out, this is what Stanley created!!

Volleyball !!

Today we had our first lesson for volleyball, our coach's name was Elena. Our  focus was on setting the ball. When you hear about setting in volley it sounds easy but honestly it's not. You have to have you hands and fingers in the right placement and try push the ball high into the air without using your palms. 

After we did some drills and warm ups we split into teams and started playing king of the court. During king of the court you just play normal volleyball and see who wins, then the winners verse each other and whoever wins become the king of the court!! For our first match playing king of the court my team won, but I showed sportsmanship by saying good game and not rubbing it in everyone's faces.

Earthworms

Our focus for our class yesterday was to do with earthworms. We discussed what the worms do for our garden and how they give nutrients. Mrs Sharma then gave us about 4-5 worms to look at, we had to write about how they behaved outside of the dirt and measure their size.

Before we took a look at the earthworms we watched a video and had to write down at least 5 new words we learnt. In the video there was a girl named Emma, she said that finding earthworms were her passion. A life hack she gave was, if you mix mustard powder and water then put it in the soil the earthworms's skin gets irritated and they rise to the surface.

Water Crisis

Since it's been raining quite a lot this week most people in New Zealand think they'll be allowed to use their garden hoses very soon, the problem is they still don't realize that we are on a water shortage. We are thankful that rain has started pouring down but it's not enough to cover all the lakes and rivers.

Right now the lakes are less than 50% full. They should be around 90 percent full near the start of November before summer begins. If rain doesn't fall more often we could be looking at a dry spring. That means all the flowers and things that usually blossom in spring probably won't this year because they could die from dryness.

PLASTIC !!

Our first topic for science was plastic, we discussed what single use, recycling and reusable plastic was. Single plastic is when you can only use it once, recycling is taking something and making another thing out of it and reusable plastic is just being able to store things in it continuously.

Each of us received our own science project book, in our books we write down things from our class and have to make sure we keep it up to date. Making sure we don't lose it is also important because it is our responsibility! Mrs. Sharma made us watch a video about plastic and how it's travelling to our waters, some people even learnt a new word - Biodegradable. Biodegradable is a type of plastic that can be decomposed meaning it can break down into the soil and gives it nutrients.

Back At School !!

Coming back to school in the middle of the term feels quite different. Having to wake up early has been difficult since I'm still not used to the routine. Usually I would have extra time to get in a few more minutes of sleep, but now I actually have to wake up on time!

Being at school is weird now, only because there isn't that many students around. My class so far has 4-5 people everyday. To top it off we have separate areas to play in, so I can't really talk to my other friends from the other intermediate class. I'm not used to being here at school, probably in a week or two it'll begin to feel normal again. Other than that school is fine, we still work hard, get things done and it's actually relaxing to find out you completed most of your work. Time really does fly by when you are focused!!

Science 🔮

Today we had our first lesson of science for tech basically an introduction, unfortunately we couldn't do it in person but at least we still got to have a class. We talked about 3 different areas of science (chemistry, biology & physics). Our teacher Mrs. Sharma made us watch a video about a lady named Alex Dempsey, she is a coral reef ecologist. An ecologist is someone who studies about the environment as well as people and animals!🐬

I am looking forward to being in science for the next few weeks, to learn something new and try out experiments and things like that. Mrs. Sharma is a good teacher so I'm positive I'll enjoy learning in science class!! I can't wait to start experimenting with a bunch of random things.😁

Yummy Nachos !!

Since we are still inside our houses my siblings and I decided to make something together, we made nachos. We just had to give a list for our mum to get the things that were missing. It took her sometime but it was all worth it.

After everything was prepared we had to resemble and put the cheese on, next time I suggest we should leave the chips on the side so it doesn't get soggy. Overall, it was delightful and honestly not that difficult to make!

New Zealand First Online Market 👍

Our country has officially opened the first online supermarket, this is all for the purpose of the coronavirus. The new online countdown opened in Penrose, Auckland.

Since everybody is in quarantine it is being estimated that there will be at least  7,500 orders a week just from our Auckland region. They will be employing 200 people and including 106 new jobs! The online countdown will be open 24/7, only because so many people need food during this lockdown.

This is a great opportunity for everyone because now people won't be in packed stores, which can spread the virus even faster.

Level 4 Lock down 😷 !!

Our country has now moved into the official lock down. We were all informed that we are transitioning into Level 4. This means YOU HAVE TO STAY HOME !! 

Staying home will just decrease the chance of the virus spreading. Physical contact with your family is allowed but if you are sick even with just a cough please try your best to stay away, especially from old people. This is only because it affects them more than it does to the younger ones.

Last night helicopters went around spraying disinfectant in the air. The disinfectant will help to slow down the process of it spreading. Make sure that if you do go outside for emergency reasons you stay 2 meters apart from people.

Crocodiles In New Zealand Zoo's

There is a rule that they will be allowing more crocodiles at the Zoo's all over Aotearoa.

Under this rule, crocodiles and their eggs will be imported from countries in Asia and the Pacific. Currently our country is only receiving crocodiles from Australia. They will be allowing a bigger range of their species too! 

The animals and eggs have to be raised captive first, meaning that they want the crocodiles  being kept in for a while. They are doing this just so it doesn't end up attacking the zookeepers. Just like humans, they will have to be held in isolation first for 30 days and be disease free before being imported to our country. 

Stuffed Egg 🍳

Today our dish was to make a stuffed egg. It was consisted of eggs, cucumber, tomato, lettuce and some unsweetened yoghurt. The eggs had to be made hard boiled and the yolk was used in the stuffing. We got the opportunity to add a garlic and herb or smokey barbeque spice.

I personally struggled when it came to peeling of the egg shells because I was afraid that I would mess up. When it came to the cucumber I was was quite confident because I am experienced with using a knife. The presentation looked spectacular but the taste wasn't as good as I expected.

British Flagstaff Cut Down 175 Years Ago

Last week people were celebrating 175 years since Hone Heke a Maori leader, cut down the flagpole at Kororareka. Back in 1845 was when two Ngapuhi chiefs Hone Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti came together and cut down the British flagstaff. This is what began the flagstaff war.

Hone Heke was very concerned about the British taking over and how they were controlling the Maori. The chairperson Deb Rewiri from Kororareka said that this was a chance for them to celebrate the legacy that Hone Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti lived.

Rewiri also said that the commemoration gave the people a chance to remember their tribes and not forget where they came from.

Pest Control Lesson

Today the intermediates had a pest control lesson with our guide from Hamlin's Hill, Frazer. Frazer came and helped us set up traps around our school to find what pests are around.

We also received bags full of different things like traps and chew cards, and all 26 of us and the two teachers were so lucky to get a footprint tunnel each. All the traps we were given by Frazer we decided to put behind our multipurpose room, it was decided to be put there because it is a place where nobody goes and leads to peoples homes underneath the gates.

My part to play when we were setting up the traps was to put a footprint tunnel down with the help of Pita and Winnie. Winnie put in the peanut butter that we know the smell will attract the pest.

Vegetarian Curry

Yesterday in food tech I made an Indian vegetarian curry. For me it wasn't the best thing because it made me feel a bit sick.

While making the curry we weren't completely satisfied of how it was looking, but then it started to form and look better bit by bit. Since Mrs Hamer, our food tech teacher didn't want to many kitchens running she made us work in a group of three. This meant some people from our school had to join a group with the St Pius X.

After creating our meal, we had to then start our evaluation sheet. An evaluation sheet basically helps  the teacher to know how you feel, and if you enjoyed the food. Each week we fill out two evaluations, if we don't finish it by our next tech class we have to finish it during our class to make sure we are up to date.

Predator Free !!

The government has made a new plan to get rid of predators that were introduced to our country. These are animals like stoats, possums and rats, they decided to do this because they are damaging the environment.

They have been calling for some type of strategy for their goal. Now what matters is that there is some funding behind the plan that can help them to achieve this. By 2050 they want to have gotten rid of all these harmful animals and pests, just so our country is safe and not being damaged.

For me, knowing the government came up this idea is such a big issue because I'm pretty sure it will make a big impact to our country.

Hamlin's Hill

Have you ever seen a hill near Sylvia Park and thought it was Mt Wellington? Well that is actually a hill, and to be exact Hamlin's Hill. That is where both the intermediate classes went to learn new ways we can trap pests and get rid of them.

Our guide for our trip was Fraizer, he is a zookeeper from Auckland Zoo and we were honored to have had him help us! The scariest trap for me would be the A-24 pest trap, the A-24 has to contain peanut butter or bait that will attract the pest inside, so when they touch the bait something goes in their neck and causes them to die.

Everytime we walked and saw ribbons we had to remember pink was for pest and blue was for clues. Fraizer had a navigator and it helped us reach our destination at the top of the hill. From the hill we could see the Manukau Harbour out south down to Rangitoto Island.

New Zealand Confirms Coronavirus

It has now been confirmed that New Zealand has had its first victim to catch the Coronavirus.

Last week Friday, Jacinda Ardern our prime minister announced that someone in New Zealand caught the deadly disease. New Zealand has now become the 48th country in the world to catch the virus, the patient who caught the disease is in their 60's and recently just came back to New Zealand from Bali.

They arrived in Auckland on Wednesday and got home before the family called the Ministry of Health. The patient was being treated in Auckland Hospital but has now been released. They were put in a pressured room so that nobody else in the hospital would catch the virus.