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Sunday, 23 December 2018

Week 1, Day 5: Blink and You´ll Miss It - SLJ



Activity 1: Towering Timbers [4 points]
There is a long and rich history of logging in New Zealand. Logging involves cutting down trees. The people who cut them down are called loggers. The trees that they cut down are
sold and used to build things (eg. houses), to make products (eg. paper), and to generate
(create) heat and power. Over the past two centuries, many of the trees in New Zealand
have been cut down by loggers.
Left: NZ native forest          Right: A logged forest

Some people like logging because it creates jobs for the loggers and generates money
for New Zealand while others are against (opposed to) logging. Many of those opposed are
worried that logging will damage the environment. It might also force animals who live in
trees (eg. owls) to find new homes.
What do you think about logging?
On your blog tell us whether you think logging should be allowed in New Zealand.
Be sure to provide at least two reasons to support your argument.
My opinion about logging!
I get that people need jobs and are beginning to create more, but after reading the text of
long and rich history of logging everything made my choice turn right upside down. The
answer I chose was an absolute No! I decided to choose this answer as its not helping our
native animals who live in the trees we are suddenly deciding to cut off. Another reason is
that by 1840, the European settlement started forest covered around half of New Zealand,
A few years later (150 years) logging reduced the remaining forests by half. My final reason
is because our environment is too beautiful to be destroyed and I really think most of us
are enjoying it so far, and it´ll be sad to see it all fall apart. Did you know that Loggers usually
earn upto $40k - $65k per year, The job opportunities are working out very good for all
loggers and their length of training usually requires 1 year of it. Logging does mean so
much to people who definitely need a job but for my opinion and probably some others, I
think we should stop destroying our forests and scaring our native animals away as
you´re just making everything worse to the us and mostly our animals.   
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Activity 2: Living on the Edge [4 points]
While it can get quite cold in New Zealand, it rarely drops below freezing (00C). Most of
the time the temperature in New Zealand is pretty mild. This is not the case in the tundra.
The tundra is an area of land (biome) that is cold, dry and completely treeless. Did you know
that the average temperature in the tundra is -280C?
Over the past few years, however, the temperature in the tundra has been rising and the
weather has been changing. Let’s imagine that your teacher decides to take you on a class
trip to the tundra before the weather changes too much and you aren’t able to go.
On your blog, write a letter to your best friend or a family member telling them about
your trip to the tundra. To earn full points your letter must have a greeting (eg. Dear…)
followed by 5 – 6 sentences of information about what your experience.
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Activity 3: Going, going….gone [10 points]

Over the years, scientists have made some surprising discoveries. One of
these discoveries is that we have entire cities (e.g. Jakarta, Indonesia and Venice, Italy) that
are slowly sinking into the ocean. Scientists believe that, one day, the cities will disappear
completely under the water. Yikes!
Some of the residents (people living in the cities) have taken pictures of their neighbourhoods
and written stories about their lives in order to make a record of what ‘life was like’ in their city
before it disappeared.
Let’s imagine that New Zealand was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean next week
(Eek!). Before it sinks you are asked to write a blog post telling people what life was like in
New Zealand in 2018.
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On your blog, post a description of life in New Zealand in 2018. Please remember
that the people who read your post will have never been to New Zealand or even seen
a picture so it is your job to ‘paint a picture’ of New Zealand using your words.
You can also post pictures, if you wish. Be sure to fully attribute the pictures.
Life Here In New Zealand!

The time has now come, both islands are about to SINK in just a week. Everyone is now endangered.
There is absolutely no time left in the world to come, please cancel your flights, forget about coming
and ¨RUN¨. There is loads of people finding a way to get out of here but it just won´t work,
airplanes/helicopters have vanished and everything has been crushed. There is nowhere to go and
nowhere to hide, everyone is in DEEP TROUBLE ¨can anyone help¨. Life here now in New Zealand
is very messy and crazy, people are running and screaming, cars are on fire and there are huge
strucks which is a sign that our island is sinking. Everyone only has an hour left together, how will
we ever get through? Thank you for this awesome life, Love you´s all!

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Task Description:

For this task I was to tell you´s weather I would like to become a logger, write a note to someone for
my visit to Tundra, and lastly write a description about New Zealand sinking. I really hope you all
enjoyed my final task of week 1 and that I encouraged a lot of you to do things and things you
shouldn´t. Overall this final week came out to an amazing blast. Enjoy my final blog post of the week!

Week 1, Day 4: More Than Meets The Eye - SLJ

Activity 1: Scaling New Heights [4 points]
Aotearoa New Zealand is a country of mountains and valleys, dense forests, and sparkling
oceans. At the centre of the South Island sits the tallest mountain in the country,
Aoraki Mt Cook. It is the place where Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the top
(summit) of Mt Everest, learned how to climb mountains. It was pretty difficult for him, at
first, but Sir Edmund Hillary did not give up and, in 1953, he achieved this dream of
climbing Mt Everest. His face can now be found on the New Zealand $5 note!
Let’s imagine that you met Sir Edmund Hillary in real life and were able to interview him.
On your blog, post five questions that you would like to ask Sir Edmund Hillary about his life.
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Activity 2: Pancakes and Maple Syrup? [4 points]
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to many spectacular sights and natural wonders. One of
these is the Punakaiki Rocks and Blowholes located on the West Coast of the South Island.
The Punakaiki rocks attract tourists from all over the world who are keen to see these
amazing rock formations. Many people think that they look like pancakes stacked on top
of one another. Pancakes are one of my favourite foods! They are delicious and pretty easy
to make.
For this activity you are asked to choose one of your favourite foods. On your blog, write the
name of your favourite food and then tell us how to make it. You may need to ask a family
member, friend or Google (!) for help, if you do not normally make this food for yourself.
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Activity 3: Salt and Pepper [5 + 5 possible bonus points]
Deep in the heart of Bolivia (a country in South America) lies a natural wonder unlike
anything else. It is a massive area of salt, over 10 000 km2 large, that is referred to as the
Uyuni Salt Flats.
Tourists who visit the flats often stay in hotels made completely out of salt (salt hotels). This
is not the only unique hotel that you will find around the world. In fact, you can stay in
hotels made entirely of ice (ice hotels) or glass (glass hotel). Let’s imagine that you were
given enough money to build your very own hotel.
On your blog tell us where you would build your hotel and what you would use to build it. For an extra five points, use Google Drawings to design one room in your hotel. You can also use a paper and pencil to draw your room, take a picture of the drawing, and post it on your blog.


Task Description:
For this task I was told to create a built and useful hotel, ways of showing people to make a Butter Chicken on rice, and pretending that I was giving Sir Edmund Hilary an interview, only asking him 5 questions. This task was very fun and I really enjoyed doing it. I really hope I get to continue enjoying these posts and I get more of these sort of tasks. I really enjoy this years Summer blogging as its been amazing and incredible. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year:

Saturday, 22 December 2018

Week 1, Day 3: Awesome Animals - SLJ

In New Zealand we have many unusual animals. One of the most unusual is the kiwi bird - a
bird that does not have wings and can not fly. Pretty strange, eh?! J.K. Rowling, the author
of the Harry Potter books, has recently written a new book about strange or unusual
animals called ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.’
For this activity, please watch this cool book trailer. Year 7 and Year 8 students in South
Auckland, New Zealand helped to make it. Once you have watched the video, use your
imagination and create your very own beast. What does your beast look, smell, feel, and
sound like?
On your blog, post a description of your beast. Use interesting adjectives (describing words)
to tell us about your beast.
Task:
After designing my beast I finally realised it’s not quite a beast, but at least I have one to
show you. The Beast I have has all the information you need to know in the piece of
drawing. Hope you enjoy!  
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We have a number of small lizards (geckos and skinks) living in New Zealand. One of the
least common is the Chevron Skink. According to the Department of Conservation,
Chevron Skinks live mostly on two islands - Great Barrier Island and Little Barrier Island.
These islands are ‘animal reserves.’ Very few people, other than staff working for the
New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC), are allowed to live there. The DOC
staff are called ‘Rangers.’ Their job is to protect the wildlife (animals and plants) living on
the island.
Would you like to be a DOC ranger and live with the animals on Great Barrier Island?
On your blog list three pros (good things) and three cons (bad things) about working as a
DOC ranger. At the bottom of your post, tell us whether you would like to be a DOC Ranger
or not.

DOC Ranger - Yes or No ?
If I was able to visit Great Barrier Island, my answer would have to be a yes, I chose this
answer because of their amazing views, incredible locations and there huts fit any
sized family. My other reason is because there are hundreds of places to go to including
to see the wildlife animals. Even though I’m not that kind of an animal person I would
love to see those animals who I’ve never seen in real life before. I really loved this task as
I got to see who is protecting our native animals and who is creating these sort of
amazing locations people actually go to. Overall I would love to visit Great Barrier Island.
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Activity 3: The WWF: World Wildlife Fund [10 points]
In 1961, a number of people came together to start an organisation called the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The main goal of this organisation was/is to
protect life on earth. Hundreds of WWF staff work in countries all over the world trying to
protect our planet and the animals who live here. To learn more about their amazing work,
click on one of the two video links below.
Clip #2: Tigers
Once you have watched the video, go to your blog and, using full sentences, tell us:
1) The name of the animal the WWF is working to save.
2) What the WWF is doing to help the animal.
3) What, if any, success they have had protecting the animal.

1) The name of the animal the WWF is working to save?

 The animal WWF is working to save are the baby seals, also known for cubs. WWF are
working to save them as there are only about 360 individual seals left in the world. Our
cubs are only dying due to no shelter and of course other predators coming along and
eating them.  
 2) What the WWF is doing to help the animal?

The WWF is helping our cubs by building a long snowbank for all adult seals to
give their cubs birth. After creating the snowbank everything had just started
becoming better and better, for us and especially for the seals. Without the
snowbank every single cub will probably have not been here right at this moment.
The WWF is definitely doing their best of saving our seals and without them
none of this would’ve happened.   
 3) What, if any, success they have had protecting the animal?

The WWF team had all the success in the world as this routine they just created
( The snowbank ) is working really well for everyone, mainly the seals. Its
awesome how they created this snowbank as its helped the parents of the cubs
by giving birth instead of having to give the cubs birth with open snow. I think the
WWF team did an amazing job with this snowbank and helping out the seals and
their cubs.
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Task Description:

For day 3 of week 1 we were to create our own beast, write our pros and cons and finally write about the world wildlife fund. Todays task was surprisingly fun in many different ways
and I really enjoyed every part of this weeks blogging. I really hope you also enjoyed and
feel free to comment below. Don´t forget to visit other peoples blogs and enjoy this years
summer holidays. Early Merry Christmas from me to all of you.



Friday, 21 December 2018

Week 1, Day 2: Forest Life - SLJ

In New Zealand, one of the largest and longest living endemic trees is the
NZ Kauri tree. Kauri are mainly found in three regions of New Zealand: the
Coromandel, Auckland and Northland. The largest Kauri tree in the country is in
the Waipoua Forest in Northland. It is called Tāne Mahuta. Some people refer to it
as the ‘Lord of the Forest.’
Would you like to be one of those people who got to see Tāne Mahuta in real life?
Why or why not?
On your blog, tell us whether you would like to go and visit Tāne Mahuta one day. Be sure to tell us why you do (or do not) want to visit this endemic tree
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If I was able to visit the Kauri tree ( Tāne Mahuta´s tree ) It would be a huge
privilege to visit it, as the Kauri tree is the tallest in New Zealand and it's a place
where I´ve never experienced before. Did you know that Kauri forest is located in
the North island at Waipoua Forest. Although it's quiet a walk through a lot of trees +
Bushes I would really enjoy the fitness walks and mother nature as itś surrounding
us. Visiting this place in real life I would feel really hipped that I've finally got to visit
the place and everything around and about it. The first thing I would do as soon as
I got there would be to explore the area, take loads of photo´s and to just relax and
enjoy the view of the forest. Overall I recommend everyone to visit this incredible,
beautiful place and hope to get everyone up and getting some exercise for that
walk to the Kauri Tree.
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Activity 2: Fabulous Ferns [4 points] 
One of the most common plants found in New Zealand forests is the fern. It is a
special, iconic symbol of New Zealand. You will find pictures of ferns on the jerseys
of many famous sporting teams in New Zealand, including the
New Zealand All Blacks. Did you know that many of these teams also have the
word ‘fern’ in their name? Use your best researching skills to find three New
Zealand sporting teams who use the word ‘fern’ in their title.
On your blog list three sports teams that have the word ‘fern’ in their title. Beside
each team’s name, post a picture of their uniform. Then, at the bottom of your
blog post tell us which of the three uniforms you like best and why.

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Activity 3: Weird and Wonderful [10 points]
New Zealand is just one of many countries that has amazing plants and trees.
In fact, the African desert is home to some pretty incredible plants, like the cactus.
Some cacti are able to survive on as little as 3 millilitres (ml) of water a day. Wow!
Let’s imagine that you are given a cactus for your birthday. To keep it alive,
you must give it 3 ml of water every day.
Over one full year, how much water will you need to give your cactus plant?
On your blog, tell us how to solve this maths problem. You can write your answer
in words, use a Sketchpad image, or post a video explaining how you would figure
it out. Be sure to give us your final answer in millilitres (ml).
As you can see, in this task we were to explain and solve, how much water we will
have to give the Cactus water for one whole year? Here is my answer and my way
to solve this maths problem. Enjoy!

Task Description:
Because I didn't have that much things to do today I was really wanting to blog some more but after doing all these activities it made me want to have a sleep. Overall I really loved doing these activities especially the cactus one as my favourite subjects are P.E and maths. I really enjoyed todays task which really made my day fun and enjoyable. Hope you enjoy day 2 of Week 1's activity of SLJ and hope to see you come back for more! Thanks for reading and really hope you enjoyed!