Brilliant Box Making

 Hi readers!

For maths, we have been learning a bit about nets. For anyone who does not what a net is, it a 2d piece of paper that can fold up into a 3d shape.

So we were tasked to make a box that could fit what we were given. Some people were given biscuits, some were given chocolate, and some were given lollies. I was given 3 chocolates, two were milk chocolate, and 1 was a boost. 

So I decided to make a cube where they were stacked on top of each other.

This was my net.

I made a net for a cube. I had to measure everything to make sure it all would fit perfectly. I then cut it up folded it up and taped it. I put the chocolate in there and it fits perfectly, then I tied a nice ribbon around it. Here is what it looks like.

It turned out nice but the ribbon just kept falling off.

Have you made a 3d shape with a net before?

Until next time!

Hangi

 Hi Readers

Like I said in an earlier blog post, we have been learning about the Maori culture. We have been talking about a Hangi. Which is when a roast is cooked underground. This originated in NZ and it is now a big part of the Maori culture.

You start your hangi by digging a hole in the ground big enough to fit all your food. Then you light the wood and volcanic rocks on fire. It is best to use volcanic rocks as normal rocks may explode. Then you can start preparing the food. Put the food that you wish to cook nearby. Clear away any wood that is still burning. A good time to start this process is when the rocks are white. Place the stones side by side in the hole. Then starting hitting the rock with a wet sack to create steam. Then start putting your meat in the hole, on the second layer, place the vegetables. Then put a wet sheet covering the food and make sure that it is covering the sides of the pit, not touching any stones. Then place the wet sacks over the food. Then cover the whole thing with dirt, make sure no dirt gets on your food. wait about three hours and then uncover food, being careful you don't get dirt on your food. Then take the food out and enjoy that hangi!

Here is the poster Jhana and I made,

Have you had a hangi before? If you have done it, does it taste good?

Until next time!

Magnificent Maori Culture

Hi readers!

For inquiry, we have been learning about the Maori culture. We did a task that was to learn about three things (Haka, Korowai, and Ta Moko) and write about how they have changed over time. I did this project with Jhana. These things are important to the Maori culture, which is why we did it.

Ta moko is a type of tattoo. People put it on there face and body using bone tools, and ink. It shows a social rank, and different tribes have different designs.

The Haka is a Maori war dance the maori people perform. It is most famous from the All blacks performing it before their rugby games.

The korowai is a maori clock made of feathers (Paper and real) tassels etc... It shows social status, and many leaders wear them.

 

There it is.

Do you know much about the maori culture? Have heard of these before? Have you tried doing the hake or have you ever worn a korowai?

Until next time!

My holidays + The start of term!

Hi readers!

How were your holidays and what did you do? Anything interesting? or did you just lounge around at home? (seems pretty good to me)

My family and I went to Punakaiki. We did lots of things, like walks. We also went caving, which was really fun, but a bit scary because it was completely dark and we needed our phone torches to help us see. We also went to the beach and we saw some very cool stones, which we took home. We also went out to eat a lot, and we did a treetops walk, which was scary, but very fun. We also stopped at Greymouth and went shopping!

Since it is the end of the first week, we have already done a lot of work. 

I am going to show you what I did for maths yesterday. We did tessellation. We had to use a variety of shapes to make a tessellation. A tessellation is a group of shapes that fit together with no gaps.

I made a tessellation with triangles, squares, and diamonds.

Here it is.

What have you been doing over the holidays? What have done so far this term?

Until next time!

It's NZ Sign Language Week

 Hi Readers!

Today we have been learning a bit about NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) because of the fact that it is NZSL week!

NZSL is an official language for deaf people in NZ. It became an official language in 2006. NZSL is the language of the deaf New Zealander. Other countries have their own sign language as it is similar to countries having different languages. 

The first deaf school was opened in Christchurch in 1878 but in 1880 a group of teachers in Italy decided to ban the language. All deaf schools in NZ stopped teaching SL. This meant that if children were caught using SL, they would be punished. I was once again allowed in 2006. NZSL is a combination of hand shapes, facial expressions, and body movements.

NZSL is the natural language of the Deaf community in New Zealand; it reflects New Zealand culture by including signs for Maori terminology and concepts, which can not be found in other sign languages or countries.

As one of the country’s official languages, more than 24,000 New Zealanders use NZSL daily. It is also the 12th most frequently used language out of approximately 190 languages currently used in New Zealand (Since 2006).

So at school, we went on a site and learned many different things in sign languages like colours, fruits, numbers, letters, our name, more. 

Every time we get something right, we got a token, this is how many tokens it got.

Here our some letters in Sign Language

What your name in SL? Do you know NZSL? Did you know it was NZSL?

Until next time!

Creatively Coding a PSA

 Hi Readers!

For the past two weeks, we have been making a PSA on a website called codster. If you don't know what a PSA is it means Public Service Announcement. We had to make a PSA about any issue and make it on codster. 

I decided to make mine on bullying because I know that it is a big issue worldwide and it needs to be stopped.

Here is my python code for the PSA

It may look hard, but it is actually pretty easy to understand after you have been using it for a while. 

Because in some states it is illegal to share your work on a blog, there is no way I can embed my animation on my blog, so instead, I will just show you a series of pictures that would happen if watched and interacted with the animation

What do you think? Have you ever stood up to a bully before? What's the most interesting PSA you have seen before? 

Until next time!

Cool Carnival Games

 Hi readers!

In Numeracy (maths) we have been learning about gambling and the risk of it. One of the things we have done is played these online carnival games. They are all about gambling and how easy it is to lose everything.

Here are some screenshots of some of the carnival games.

Some are harder to win than others and I ended up with a total of 87 points, a paper clip, and a pin. We also did some other things about gambling. We made dice for Australia and New Zealand. The Australian dice had 1 miss and 5 goals because of there shooting percentages and NZ had 2 misses and 4 goals because of their shooting percentage. We then rolled a dice and did a tally chart of the number of misses and goals of each country. In some NZ won and in other Australia won.

Have you gambled before?

Until next time!