Day #4: Swimming with the Sharks

Day #4: Swimming with the Sharks

By the end of Day #3, you have seen a lot of the north island of New Zealand.  Hopefully you have enjoyed it and you’re excited for the next phase of your journey – the ferry trip across the Cook Strait from the bottom of the north island to the top of the south island. You will spend the next two days exploring the south island before you head back up to Auckland, via Wellington (the capital city of New Zealand).

http://www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/interisland-ferry/

Activity 1: When you arrive in the south island, Curious Kiwi rents a shuttle van and drives your group from Picton (the town where the ferry dropped you off) to a beautiful beach on the opposite side of the island. The beach area is called Golden Bay and, at one end of the bay, is a stunning area called Farewell Spit.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

Farewell Spit has been in the news recently as a number of whales accidentally swam into the spit and became stuck on the beach. They were unable to swim back to the ocean because the water was too shallow. Many local people tried to save the ‘beached’ whales. Please follow this Farewell Spit link to learn more about what happened. On your blog, describe what the local people did to try and save the beached whales.

The Local people try to save the whales by keeping them wet by throwing buckets of water, tipping water bottles ,filling little containers with water and using wet towels to keep them nice and wet.

Activity 2: After a morning of learning about beached whales in Golden Bay, you and your group are driven to a nearby town, Nelson, to watch a special movie called ‘Whale rider.’ It is a famous movie about a young girl who was born and raised in New Zealand. Watch the following movie trailers for Whale Rider: Whale Rider trailer #1 and Whale Rider Trailer #2 and then write a summary of the movie on your blog. What is it about? Be sure to also give the movie a rating out of 5 based on the trailer [1 = bad movie, 2 = okay movie, 3 = pretty good, 4 = good movie, 5 = excellent movie].

This short video I’ve watched is about a little girl challenging herself so she can become a Whale Rider. She wanted to be like the other chief back in the days, she wanted to become like the boys because she knows that the boy’s Maori tradition things is a bit harder than the Girls powhiri, so she ask her dad to train her to become a whale rider and her dad said yes

Few days later, she went to the beach and she found a whale stranded upon the shore just laying there, her and the family was so worried about the whale just lying there on the shore. She started to pray and sang, she was praying for the whale to be still alive. She ended up climbing on top of the whale and started to rub the whale, she waited and hoping the whale is still ok, after 12 seconds the whale was moving. It took her along the ocean and under the water.

http://www.incrementa.ca/leadership-succession-whale-rider/

When ‘Whale Rider’ finishes, you and your tour group enjoy a delicious meal in downtown Nelson before heading back to your hotel. You need to go to bed early because you have to get up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to travel back to Farewell Spit to see a group (pod) of Hector’s Dolphins. It is going to be an early morning!

Bonus Activity: Hector’s dolphins are a very special native animal found only in New Zealand. They are the smallest dolphin in the world measuring 1.5 metres long and they are quite rare. Sadly, many Hector’s dolphins are killed every year when they get caught in large fishing nets and can’t escape. Some people have argued that fishermen shouldn’t be allowed to fish in Farewell Spit in order to protect the dolphins living there. What do you think? On your blog, tell us whether you think that fishing in Farewell Spit should be banned (stopped).

I think we should stop killing our beautiful sea creatures because they have lives to live to. If we kill them now there wouldn't be any left of their kind. I know fising brings us food but did you know you are eating living animals that can live a life too.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/hector-s-dolphin

Bonus Activity: 10 points

Day #3: Wild Eyes

Day #3: Wild Eyes

You have now woken up after a long, comfortable sleep at your hotel in Dargaville. You’re ready for another day of adventuring! Today, you will drive around the North island and be introduced to amazing animals that live here in New Zealand. Some are native and some are non-native. Native animals are animals that normally live in New Zealand. Non-native animals are animals that were brought into New Zealand from another country. Examples of native New Zealand animals are the kakapo, the kiwi, the kea parrot, the yellow eyed penguin and the pekapeka bat.

Activity 1: Curious Kiwi, a native New Zealand bird, is your tour guide for today. He is going to take you to visit the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park where many of his aunties and uncles currently live. The bird park is a five hour drive from Dargaville so you hit the road right after breakfast and arrive in Otorohanga at lunch time. As you walk through the birdhouse you learn about the work being done to conserve and protect the native birds of New Zealand. Let’s imagine that you decide to help out by ‘adopting’ a native animal. Visit the Adopt a Critter page on the Otorohanga bird house website to choose one animal to ‘adopt.’ On your blog, tell us the name of the animal that you chose and a little bit about them. What kind of animal are they? What do they eat? Where do they normally live? You can use Google to help you with your research.

The animal that i chose was a great spotted kiwi. The great spotted kiwi are flightless, they are like Ratites, This kiwi is highly aggressive, they are nocturnal (They are active at night) and there are very little of the great spotted  kiwi. That means that they are endangered.

Activity 2: After your great visit to the Otorohanga bird house it is time to hop back onto the bus and head towards the Hawke’s Bay – your resting place for the evening. Hawke’s Bay is a beautiful region of New Zealand. It is known for its wineries and gorgeous scenery. When you arrive in Napier, the largest city in the region, you go for a walk through Waitangi Regional Park and notice that many of the leaves on the native trees have been damaged. Curious Kiwi tells you that they were damaged by possums, non-native predators, from Australia. People in New Zealand are working hard to trap and kill these predators. Their goal is to remove all of the possums (and other predators) by 2050. Go to the ‘Predator Free 2050 website’ to read more about their work.

On your blog, tell us whether you agree that New Zealand should be predator free. In your opinion,  it right to kill all of the predators (eg. possums) or should we just leave them alone? On your blog tell us what you think and give us, at least, three reasons why you think this way.

I  agree with New Zealand because, if we kill all the predators all the preys will be happy and they will live long.

To learn more about the Moa bird go to the bonus activity for today!

Bonus Activity: A really cool new website called Wild Eyes has recently been launched in New Zealand. It is a programme for students who want to complete fun activities (called ‘mis sions’), take pictures and post them on the Wild Eyes site. For this bonus activity, go to the Wild Eyes site and complete the ‘Giant Moa Discovery’ mission. To earn full points you must post a picture of your Moa on the Wild Eyes website and on your personal blog site. The Wild Eyes team and I can’t wait to see what you create!

Here is the image that i made with the Wild Eyes website

Bonus Activity: 20 points

Day 2: New Zealand by Land and Sea

Day #2: New Zealand by Land and Sea

After a short ride through Auckland it is time to start exploring the rest of the country. Today you are going to venture around the north island of New Zealand to look at active volcanoes, gorgeous beaches, windswept coastline and lush, green bush. As a group, you will start at Rangitoto, the largest volcano in New Zealand before driving west to Karekare, a stunning beach on the outskirts of Auckland. You will finish the day by driving north to visit Tane Mahuta, the oldest living kauri tree in New Zealand.

Activity 1: After a very busy day of sightseeing you and your group drive from Tane Mahuta to your hotel in Dargaville. When you arrive you decide to sit down and record your thoughts in your travel diary.

Before you start writing, take a minute to read more about Rangitoto island, Karekare beach and Tane Mahuta.  On your blog, tell us which of the three places you most enjoyed visiting and why.

The Rangitoto summit walk is awesome because there are lots of trees and bushes and we got to see the view of the amazing auckland city. I wonder if my group is keen enough to go for another walk.

Karekare beach is one of the most spectacular beaches in Auckland and my group and i had the chance to see what it is like in real life.

Activity 2 . As an island nation, New Zealand is completely surrounded by water. It is the perfect place for people who like to swim or to sail! While in Dargaville, recovering from your busy day of sightseeing, you notice a number sailboats going by. One of the boats is manned by a young German girl named Laura Dekker. At the age of fourteen she sailed around the world the entire world by herself. You can watch a short video clip about her adventures here: Laura Dekker sailing trip.

Let’s imagine that you had the chance to interview Laura while in Dargaville. On your blog post five questions that you would ask her.

1. What inspired you to sail ?
2. Who taught you how to be a sailor ?
3. Did you beat your parents time ?
4. If you didn’t choose sailing, what will you be doing now ?
5. How long have you been a sailor ?

Bonus Activity = 10 points

When you finish your interview with Laura, you decide to keep on interviewing people. For this activity, your task is to conduct a real interview with an actual member of your family. Please ask them to think about their five (5) favourite things to do in the out-of-doors. They can be things that they enjoy doing on land or in the water. Post the list of outdoor activities on your blog.

1. Play tag/tiggy
2. Pet  our cats
3. Play rugby
4. Run around
5. swinming

Bonus Activity = 10 points

Day 1:PURE New Zealand

WLJ- Day 1: PURE New Zealand  

Day 1:PURE New Zealand

Go to the Tourism New Zealand website and click on the ‘Facts - New Zealand People’ tab. Read about the people of New Zealand and then choose three interesting facts to post on your blog. The facts must be written in your own words. Do not simply copy and paste the facts from the website☺.

Activity 1 : Today, of the 4.4 Million kiwis, approximately, 69 percent of Europeans, 14.6 percent of indigenous Maori's, percent of Asians and 6.9 percent of Pacific Islanders.

Over Four hundred years ago, Maori people voyaged Thousands of miles across the unknown Pacific ocean until they stumbled upon New Zealand. According to Maori, the first explorer to reach New Zealand was Kupe.

The people in New Zealand love the water they especially love kayaking, windsurfing and rowing scene. Over 15 percent of New Zealand family's own there own boat.

Activity 2: I am going to show you five fun activities you from the Video. The breakfast from the Elliott Stables    2. Exploring the Major city Attraction.

3.To drive to the Native Rain forest of the Waikakahi Rangers.  

4.Going to Piha Beach.   5.To go to the Auckland Domain.

Bonus activities=8 points

Last year, the Prime Minister of New Zealand suggested that we should replace the flag with a new, updated design. He invited everyone in New Zealand to come up with their own flag design and submit it.

For this activity, it is your turn to design a new flag. Use any drawing programme that you wish. I would recommend using the Flag Designer website. It allows you to create a flag in three easy steps.

  Here Is the flag that i created with the Flag designer.

This flag is part of the old flag white some of the union jacks and One of the stars that have been turned into a yellow. So this is basically the old flag will just an update.

Bonus activity=8 points

Military style Fitness

Today, Room 10  had fitness with Rm 8. Mrs Raj and Mrs Pome’e took us for military style fitness.

We got into a circle and did some warm ups. After that, we had to get in three groups. We had to run around the court acting like military people, saying our group chants.

At the end, Rm 8 and Rm 10 had a tie, and we all had fun.

Multiplication and Division

Today in Maths, My group and I, solved a maths problem using Place value partitioning

Animal cinquain

Shark

Vigilant, stealthy

Swimming, splashing, eating

I hope I don’t get eaten by the shark  

Blood!!!