Take Action For Air Mindmap

This is a mind map of everything I have learned during the Take Action For Air inquiry.

Science Fair Evaluation

Finally, after all these weeks of working on our Science Fair projects, here is the final evaluation!

Term 2 Handwriting Sample

This is my handwriting sample for Term 2.

Book Review- Thursday's Child

Book Review

Thursday’s Child, by Sonya Hartnett 

Thursday’s Child, by Sonya Hartnett,  is the moving story of a family struggling for life in the Great Depression of Australia. It really makes you think about what living in that time must have been like.

The narrator and main character of the book is Harper Flute, who records the struggle of her family- her elder siblings, Devon and Audrey, searching for jobs; her father, steadily becoming an alcoholic; her mother, stuggling to keep the family together; and her younger brother Tin, who compulsively digs a maze of subterranean tunnels, searching for something no one knows anything about...

The book becomes more and more exciting as it goes on, and there is a spectacular finish.  I would recommend this book to advanced readers 11 and above, and I, personally, would rate it 9/10.

Overall, this book is an exciting read which really makes you think.

Basic Facts

One of the things we do on a Monday morning in Maths is we take a 4-minute Basic- Facts test. This term we have been focusing on Division. Here is a graph of my progress so far.

Cross Country

The school Cross-Country took place at the beginning of Term 2- after much training, of course!
I don't usually particularly like long-distance running, but this year I noticed a considerable improvment in my endurance and stamina. It was actually quite enjoyable!

And here is an assessment I completed on how well I believed I did.

Comedy Masks Term 2

In Term 2 for art we have been studying and creating masks inspired by the Ancient Greek comedy and tragedy masks. First, we made a mould out of scrunched-up newspaper. Next, we moulded a clay mask on top of the newspaper, making lots of wrinkles and expression. We then covered the clay mask with first glad wrap and then a thick coating of PVA glue. After that we did papier-mache over the top- a few layers. Once it was dried we painted it and removed the mask from the clay. Here's my finished product!!

Buddies

Every Friday we all go to visit our little buddies in Room 5. My buddy is Florence Landar, or 'Florrie'. She is very friendly, talkative and smart. She learns from me and I learn from her too. it's a really nice break from schoolwork and a fun experience for us both.  Here is a picture of myself reading a picture book to her.

Technicraft

One of the main activities we did in the past 2 terms is Technicraft. The various Technicraft activities include Sewing, Cooking, and Woodwork (for which we have to go on the bus to Wainui Intermediate)  and at school we do French and Music (Ukulele). These past two terms I have done French, Sewing and Ukulele. Here is my reflection on what I did, and also a photo of me playing the ukulele!

Self-Reports

At the end of Term 2 we all did our own Self-Reports. This was to assess what progress we made over the past two terms. This is mine.

The Carbon Cycle Explanation

What is the Carbon Cycle?

Did you know that right now you are breathing out Carbon? Carbon is a natural element which is continuously on the move, and you are a crucial part of the process of moving it. Carbon can be found anywhere on Earth, in all living matter: Humans, animals and plants.The atmosphere also contains Carbon in the form of Carbon Dioxide, or CO2. It is also found dissolved in water, fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, and in rocks. there are many stages of the Carbon cycle. Here are some examples.

Respiration

Respiration is the process of breathing. All living matter breathes in some way. Humans, for example, inhale oxygen and exhale Carbon Dioxide, which then rises back into the atmosphere. When sea animals breathe out, the Carbon Dioxide they release dissolves back into the water. However, plants take in Carbon Dioxide and revert it back to oxygen. This process is called photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis

Plants use the Carbon Dioxide we breathe out from the atmosphere and store it as they grow. They then release fresh oxygen for animals and humans to take down. In this way both plants and animals benefit from the fresh clean air they produce for each other. Ocean plants use the dissolved Carbon in the water for photosynthesis and after fish and other marine life eat the plants, they respirate the Carbon back into the water.

Decomposition

When an animal or plant dies and begins to break down and rot, it releases the Carbon it has been storing back into the atmosphere. Similarly, when ocean plants and marine life die, they break down and become part of the sediment. This is called sedimentation. Shellfish use Carbon to make their shells; when the shells rot they release it back into the water. When land plants die, rot or burn, they become part of the soil. After they rot for long enough they compact.

Compaction

Compaction is when living matter dies, break down and compact together. Over an extremely long period of time - millions of years - it transforms into fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. These are released back into the atmosphere when we use them.

Human Impact

All this Carbon is plenty on it’s own, but we are adding a lot to it. For example, we take out and burn fossil fuels to create fuels for cars and other means of transport. Also, we burn it for electric power. This is called combustion. As you can imagine, this causes a major change in Carbon Dioxide levels. However, that is not all. We also cause a lot of damage by way of deforestation. Deforestation is when we cut down trees to make wood to fuel fires, build houses, make paper, or burnt to make room for farms. As well as impacting the lives of creatures living in the trees, this releases lots of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. We also don’t get as much fresh oxygen from the trees. Burning fossil fuels, deforestation and hunting to many animals are all letting drastic amounts of excess Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere, leading to global warming, changing the world’s climate and melts the polar ice caps.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Carbon cycle is an essential part of the way the world works. We are letting out to much excess Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. Therefore, if we reduce the amount of energy we use, we can help reduce the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and help the environment we’re in.

By Margarita

What Makes Teachers Grumpy? Explanation

What makes teachers grumpy?

Every single one of us, at some point in our lives, will have encountered a grumpy teacher.  They are very common in most schools and almost every day one will be in your midst, guaranteed.

Teachers get grumpy for various reasons and mostly they are apparently because of you. For example, teachers might get grumpy if they hear too much chat about bands, cute boys and the mall. However, if you talk instead about Einstein and his theory of relativity they are most likely to let you off. Another common reason is the classroom left in a mess after school. This is understandable as they have to pick it up themselves. Homework books left in for too late will also set them off and in this case you might be tempted to hide underneath the tables. Telling children to do something a hundred times in a row is also a big one. Sometimes, though, they get angry for no apparent reason and this is probably because they forgot their coffee in the morning, stayed up too late the night before or the sweets hidden at the back of their draw have run out.

If any of this occurs at any time during your class time, you are advised to keep well out of their way. Tell others to stop if they are provoking the teacher too much. On the occasion were it gets to the point were he or she is getting a bit too angry you should place your head between your legs and breathe deeply. You should then warn people in your class not to do whatever you think the teacher thought they did ever again.

Teachers get grumpy in different ways and some are worse than others. There is the common type of simply shouting and turning red in the face. Another type is the killing-with-their-eyes and speaking in an icy-calm tone. This is slightly more dangerous. The last one is the sad, crying, you’ve-let-me-down type which is possibly the worst as it makes you feel bad.

The next time your teacher gets grumpy, calmly observe the stages of anger. Firstly, the teacher’s face gets flushed. This is were the phrase ‘ steam poured out of their ears’ originates from. Next, they start speaking in a carefully controlled voice which soon begins to shake. Lastly comes the typical stage which will be either of the ones listed above.

Hopefully, you will now understand the reason behind your teacher’s outbursts and try to avoid doing anything which might inflame the temper. Teacher’s reasons for getting angry are perfectly understandable and you will not get harmed unless you intervene in a rude manner. We must look after our teachers, as without them we would not learn as well as we do.

So, in conclusion, teachers are important and we should not anger them on purpose as this annoys them greatly. Also an important thing to know is: If in doubt, be quiet!

By Margarita

The Water Cycle Explanation

What is the Water Cycle?

Have you ever wondered why it rains? How it occurs? Where it comes from? Then this is your chance to find out. The water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, is the continuous process of water rising as gas into the air, and then falling as rain or snow.

The source of rain, or the accumulation of water, is in the oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers. It evaporates as water vapour, which we can’t see,and rises off the surface of the water. Water vapour can also rise off the leaves of trees ( Transpiration ). Think of evaporated water as very thin steam which is invisible to the naked eye.

Next, the vapour goes through condensation. This is when the gas turns to tiny water droplets; forming a cloud. As the cloud meets the cool air above the ground more and more droplets gather in the cloud until the cloud can hold out no longer and the droplets fall as rain.

There are many versions of a cloud, and depending on the amount of droplets inside, it can become either a Cirrus (light, fluffy spread out clouds) or a Cumulus, which is the typical rain cloud. You might also  encounter the Cumulonimbus cloud, which is the bringer of thunderstorms and heavy rain.

Precipitation, or the releasing of water to the ground, can come in many forms: rain, hail or snow. It then forms part of glaciers, soaks into the ground as groundwater, or, of course, falls back into seas, lakes or rivers. Then the whole cycle begins again.

In conclusion, the water or hydrological cycle is the never-ending spiral of water turning from liquid to gas to liquid again. Without water, without the cleansing rain, our water would be dirty and not good enough to drink, therefore the water cycle is an essential part of the way Earth works.

By Margarita and Kees