Laraw_3008 Blog

Introduction:

In the world today the earth is facing many problems and some are caused due to human activity. If you’ve done research on the environment before you have probably came across the saying “There is no planet B” this means that there is no second earth and we should do our best to protect it. In this piece of writing I will tell you about 3 different problems in the environment and how you could help.

Pollution:

Pollution is a very common problem and because it’s so common there’s also different types the first one I will talk about is air pollution. Air pollution is different chemicals being created and being shot out into the sky, this is created by human activity and is mostly made from buildings like factories. The second pollution topic is water pollution, this is when rubbish or unwanted things go into our ocean. This is another human activity millions of people throw rubbish into the ocean and the numbers prove it. It is said that every year over 8 million tones of plastic goes into our ocean. Pollution is a big problem and how you can help is by picking up rubbish, learning how to recycle or not using products that release gas or chemicals into the air.

Deforestation:

Deforestation happens all over the globe and most of it is human activity but some of it is caused by climate change or global warming. Trees give us oxygen and all these forests getting destroyed could cancel out clean air in certain areas completely. Not only are the trees being destroyed but also the animals that live there natural habitats are being taken away from them and some animals either can’t make it out fast enough or have terrible injuries. Forests can grow back after being destroyed but that can often take up to decades so something you could do to help are join a community that specializes in growing back forests, growing plants in your backyard or donating to experts.

Ocean acidification:

Ocean acidification is mostly about the ocean absorbing chemicals from the atmosphere and here’s how it happens. First the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the air which can be up to 30% and once absorbed the chemicals go into the ocean. When the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the seawater a reaction happens where it forms with the molecules and creates carbonic acid. This can also break down into hydrogen ion and bicarbonate. These chemicals decrease the seawaters pH levels which is bad because it stops coral and plants like seaweed from growing which is what a lot of fish feed on. Ways you can help is stopping air pollution and sending gas into the air, or using your gas powered vehicles less.

Conclusion:

All these environmental problems could change our earths future lucky for us we still have time make a difference. These problems could change the world for the worse. Kaitiakitanga means guardianship to our land and sea, live by that motto and change the world for the better not for the worse.

With circular craters in the water,

Being there just makes you warmer.

The puhinui sings its own song,

dancing and flowing singing along.

The streams graceful elegant chorus,

The water and nature just seems enormous.

The peace the scenes just let it fade,

No thoughts no worries just create.

For years the gardens school has done tree planting for the community towards helping the environment. This year a group of year 7s and 8s traveled to Miss Fowler farm in Clevedon to do some tree planting. We all meet at school in the morning did the roll and got the bus heading to the farm. The bus ride was and as we were pulling up to Miss Fowler farm me and my friends were playing a game of how many horses we could spot because there were a lot. When we got there we sat down to have a quick morning tea and got ready to do planting. We started heading over to where we were going to plant the trees and meet this lady that works for trees for survival and she gave us a quick tutorial on how to plant the tress. After the lady was done explaining we got straight to it, I’m pretty sure we had over 700 trees to plant in 1 day which is a big task. A small problem came up later about people not planting the trees properly but it was all sorted out in the end. After about 3 hours of work we finally had which was sausage sizzle also known as delicious. When we were finished lunch we were all chilling and getting packed up to go back to school. The bus arrived a couple minutes later and took us back to school it was a fun ride back. By the time we came back to school we had just enough time to get changed out of our P.E. Gear and head back to class before the bell rings. Tree planting was so fun and I enjoyed it a lot hopefully I’ll get another chance to do it next year.

Introduction:

Our launch subject this term is Kaitiakitanga which means to protect and help the environment, or to provide guardianship to the land and sea. In our first launch workshops we started looking at what we can do to help the environment and what is harming the environment. After learning more in launch classes Miss Rowland announced the we were going on a field trip to Tōtara park and the botanical gardens. But first I will tell you about the differences and similarities about both gardens or parks.

Paragraph 1: The differences and similarities

Totara park and the botanical gardens have many similarities mostly about the scenery and plants but they also have many differences. First the differences Totara park has more green plants and more trees where the botanical gardens has mostly flowers and all kinds of different plants with different colors. Totara park has more interactive trails because you are able to bike or scooter through the park but are unable in the botanical gardens. Some of the similarities are that they are both parks and gardens and they also both have playgrounds. Totara park has the more traditional children’s playground but the botanical gardens has an interactive children’s garden right by the African plants. This is only some of the similarities but there are many more also including differences as well.

Paragraph 2: Tōtara Park

Our first trip was to Tōtara park. We arrived at school in the morning  and met in the hall to take the roll. Miss Rowland took attendance and sorted us into our groups for the day. After we were in our groups we headed out to start walking to Tōtara park. Earlier that day we had downloaded an app called seek which helped us identify what all the different plants were and their names. We did a very long walk and climbed at least 200 stairs, but one of my favorite parts was when Mrs Van Tonder found a wētā and it was so cool seeing one in person.

Paragraph 3: The botanical gardens

Next Tuesday we went off to the botanical gardens. The same thing happened in the morning for Tōtara park. We arrived in the morning and sat on the basketball court. After the teachers were done doing the roll and were all sorted we started our long walk down to the botanical gardens gate, which took us about 20 minutes. When we got there we went to sit right outside the cafe and got sorted into our groups for the day. I was put in a group with one of my friends Mya and her mum. Miss Rowland gave us a alphabet scavenger hunt and we set off.

Paragraph 4: The scavenger hunt

After Miss Rowland gave us instructions we got straight to it starting with the scavenger hunt. We had a lot of easy letters knocked out straight away but really struggled with letters like t, y and especially the letter u. While doing the scavenger hunt we found out something very weird and it was that the labels for the plants in the botanical gardens did not match the names we got on the seek app. Even though we had a lot of bumps along the way we still finished and we’re one of the only groups to finish.

Paragraph 5: The storm water trail

After finishing the scavenger hunt all the groups gathered back together to have morning tea. After eating morning tea we set off to go do the storm water trail. We found the sites and took photos to look at and think about later. At this point we were done looking at the storm water trail and hung out at this flower garden until we had to head back. After that we started walking back to the botanical gardens cafe to go back to school as a class. We got back and Miss Rowland did the roll and we all started walking back to school.

Conclusion:

After another 20 minute walk back to school we carried on the rest of the day like normal. But it was really fun and we learnt a lot of cool things that I never knew about. Overall it was a great experience.

Introduction

Do you know who Peter Jackson is. He is an inspirational film director with many successful movies but what about his personal life have a read and find out more.

His Early Life

Peter Jackson was born in Wellington New Zealand in a small village called Pukerua Bay. He has no siblings and his parents and Joan Kuck and William Jackson. He was born on the 31st of October 1961 on the same day as Halloween. Peter Jackson always had a passion for movies, directing, and producing . At 16 years old he got his first job at a photo engraver at Wellington newspaper for 7 years long .

The Start of Directing

Since Peter Jackson had a passion for directing at 26 years old he decided to put that to the test. In 1987 Peter made the movie Bad Taste which is a horror comedy film and it was a success. In 1989 he made Meet the feebles which is a comedy musical . A film that’s basically a parody of the Muppets Show which showcases puppets. He then made a zombie movie called Brain Dead in 1992 which is a horror comedy film . Back in the day these movies weren’t as popular bu5 later in life he gets more famous and popular.

He’s Taking Off

Peter Jackson’s first big movie was the Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Rings . As an adult he loved the author J.R.R. Tolkien and was so fascinated by the lord of the rings that’s also where Peter got the Lord of the Rings inspiration. Peter Jackson was not the only person who was fascinated by the lord of the rings. A man named Ralph Bakshi  made the Lord of the rings and animated film which also struck Peter. Another one of Peters Successful movies is the Hobbit which he also got inspired by J.R.R. for his book on the hobbit. Peters most popular movies and the ones that mostly made him famous are the lord of the rings series, the hobbit series and King Kong which leads us to now.

Peter Jackson Now

Peter Jackson now is known for his famous movies and tv shows but since then he found a wife and together they made a family. He now has 2 children with his spouse Fran Walsh. The names of his children are Katie, and Billy Jackson and he’s currently 62 years old. He lives just outside of Masterton in the Jackson estate and has a movie soon to come out called Untitled adventures of Tintin Sequel.

Conclusion

Peter Jackson has been a big inspiration to all kiwis in New Zealand and has gotten so many big achievements with monetary donations to New Zealand. Along with a New Zealand order of merit with him getting knighted twice in 2002 and 2010. He also is the highest profile kiwi billionaire with a net worth of 1.5 billion United States dollars. It just goes to show that even if you come from a small country with not a lot of famous people you can still make it. Peter Jackson was a genius from his early life all the way to now. In conclusion he’s a great director and producer with amazing movies.

On Wednesday week 8 all the Kāhu students and some kids from other haporis went to polyfest.

We traveled there on bus and when we got there we sat in front of the main stage to get information on how the day will go. Then after the schools picked one person to have a dance off with everyone else. After that all the schools went off to different stages and the gardens headed to the diversity stage. It was really cool and we saw some Indian groups, Filipino groups, Chinese, and Fijian groups after watching a couple of performances we went to the Māori stage. It was really cool but we were up in the stands so we couldn’t really see or hear anything. After that we walked around for a bit and I got chocolate covered strawberries. Lastly we went back to the main stage and did a challenge before we went on to the bus and went back to school.

An ocean full of mysteries or maybe full of sorrow.

Seaweed waving and fishes flying and coral not full but hollow.

Deep dark blue or maybe black depends how far you go.

A scream of fear or a light of joy tells your mind yes or no.

Fish as small as little ants or fish big like whales.

A colorful rainbow and magical sights all coming down like hale.

Just look around you’ll see some magic and a big spritz of fun.

Schools of fish who like to hide aah! So some decide to run.

Coral all colors and dolphins swimming and starfish really mellow.

Graceful dancers sweet sweet melody and things that jiggle like jello.

Sun shining and shimmering lights all through the glistening water.

Beautiful sights and colorful lights and pretty pearl filled oysters.