Arts term reflection

 Introduction.

This term our class He Tangata have been learning about the arts. Since the start of term three we've been learning about the arts because on September the seventeenth 2015 the whole school was going into Christchurch city to do a massive performance.  When we got to town we went to the Commons and set up a couple of mats for us to sit on we weren't to get wet when we got on the grass. At the Commons there were big grandstands that were set up for the adults to sit on. 

How the performances went and my personal highlights.

While we were at the Commons we all had to be in a play. We had been working on these plays for weeks now and it was about time we showed them to someone. I was in the first part of the play our performance was called singing solo. My favourite part of our play was the dance because personally I like dancing and some of the moves other people in our play came up with were really creative. But the most exciting moment for me was when we were doing the he play at the end. Because that's when my parents arrived.

How did we connect to our audience while performing.

While doing our performances (separate and social) we had to connect with the audience in many different ways. For example while I was doing the play with my group in was on an angle so I was facing the group and the audience at the same time. I also saw that Harry and Ben K were giving hand signals for the audience to come up and dance. 

What maori values did I connect to.

The maori values I connected to were whanaungatanga and manaakitia. I choose manaakitia because I was caring for the people around me and reminding them of their lines.

An unexpected argument

My brother was always annoying me, but tonight was a bit different than other nights. All I can say is something very unexpected came to meet me.

There I was in my room, reading my book. Everything seemed calm but suddenly I thought, it's a bit too quiet. My brother hasn't  annoyed me at all since we got home... strange. Maybe I should just ignore it, regrettingly thinking to myself.

But just then, in the moment, I could hear the footsteps of my little brother Blake running down the hall from a small distance. Then suddenly BAM, my door went flying open!

"Ha ha you're a poopy head hehehe!" My little brother giggled while continuously and drastically hitting me like a maniac.

"Blake get out of my room now, and I mean it!" I ordered at him.

"Never!" he replied.

"Get out!" I furiously shouted  at him, while at the same time threatening him with a big knuckle sandwich; but not quite punching him because I knew the consequences that would come and drag me down. And when I say consequences would come and drag me down, I refer to Mother!

"Aargh get out!" I once again ordered to my brother.

"Hehehe" then he started darting down the hallway.

Then suddenly, boom! Caught red handed by Mother! 

It was like time was frozen. My brother stood still with a small smirk on his face. "Blake why are you running down the hall?" my mum was looking concerned at my brother.

"Mason was hurting me" my brother wined.

"Mason!" my mum shouted.

"Yes..." I moaned.

"Have you been hurting your brother?" Mum said in a annoyed voice.

"No!" I complained.

"Then why is he crying?"

"I don't know!"

"That's it go to your room!"

My brother’s always getting me in trouble, but that was one of my worst moments.

The birth of my little brother

Do you have a younger sibling.  Maybe they’re an annoyance to you and when you try to fight back, they say started it. Or maybe they let you borrow something and then say you stole it, or they sneak into your room and mess it up and you have to clean it. I have a younger brother and this is how he came to be.

It was 2010, June 30 and about 7:00 at night at Christchurch women's hospital. I was five years old at the time and I was about to experience the best thing to ever happen to me... so I thought. But what I didn't know was a sticky surprise would meet me one day! You're probably wondering how I remember the exact time and date? Lets just say it was a life changing experience.

Anyway, back to the story.

I was outside of the patient's room with my Dad because I wasn't allowed to watch the birth of my little brother. Apparently it would be too gory for me.  Like come on why would I think that? Well I guess I was only five. 

While I was sitting outside the room I heard a big belching "Aarrgghh!" that came out of my Mums mouth. Once again, my mother screaming with excruciating pain. Oh the horrible feeling that must be to give birth.

Finally it was all over. I was allowed to come into the room.  Then, there he was, my little baby brother Blake.  My brain was overflowing with raging excitement.

When we got home I was flying of the walls like popcorn in the microwave! It was best day of my life.

Then suddenly in about two years time he said his first proper sentence and the words that came out his mouth were "Mason is a poo-poo!" 

And from then I've always wondered, why  was I excited to have a little brother? Especially one like this? Now he steals and hides my money, he changes the channel when I'm trying to watch TV and worst of all, he comes and destroys my woodwork creations! All just to annoy me! Not my friends, but me!

But, he can be pretty fun from time to time. Like the time he helped me build our tree hut, or that one time he had a nightmare and jumped into my bed, and there was also the time he woke me up at 5:00 in the morning because it was Easter Day .

So I guess that proves having a younger brother isn't so bad after all. What have I learned from all this? To never judge a book by its cover.  Wait let me rephrase that. Never judge a sibling by its cover.

Maori reflection

What were we learning?

Our class have been learning about Maori culture,ritual and parts of a powhiri.  A powhiri is one of the many Maori rituals.  A powhiri is also a welcoming ceremony  for greeting other iwi.  Iwi is Maori for tribe.  We now know when and how to use a powhiri.

How did I feel the start of the year and how I feel now?

At the start of the year when we started  learning about Maori culture I didn't really know much about what we were about to learn.  So I was unistructural meaning I had one or two ideas about our learning and possibly enjoy it.  At the start of term two I had gained more and more knowledge about Maori ritual.  Meaning I was at a stage called multistructural I had three or more ideas in my head.  And at the end of term two I was relational.  Meaning I had three or more ideas in my head and I could relate them I could sometimes also get some of my ideas and then make a even better idea.

What changed the way I feel?

The thing that changed the way I feel now is the point that since we have been learning about Maori ritual for quite a while now so I've been getting used to it.  Which built me more and more confidence.  The reason why I think it's important for me to participate in this ritual is because it's important for me to know these are reasons I need to know these things.

• In case someone asks me to give them info about Maori culture

• In case I have to go to a Marae

• In case someone want me to sing them a waita

Here's the link to the poroporoaki and mihi whakatuo.

https://soundcloud.com/waimairisounds/mihi-whakatau-for-ht-blogs

https://soundcloud.com/waimairisounds/poroporoaki-for-ht-blogs

Science reflection

This term we have been learning how to be a scientist.  A quality of a scientist I showed was using evidence.  I did this by

• Checking the bank stability

• Seeing how much sediment was at the bottom of the stream

• Looking at the stream flow

• Checking the shade over the stream

• Looking at how far the buffer of vegetation

• Checking what plants are surrounding the area

• Seeing the thickness of the algae in stream

• Looking at what types of invertebrates were living in the area

We also had to investigate.  We investigated.

• Water health

• The invertebrates

• The algae in the stream

We had to make tough decisions.  Like.

• What job to take

• Who to listen to

• Who to sit next to

We also had to critique.  Here's some of my critiques.

• Suggesting improvements

• Asking to help them with Certain Thing

Healthy waterways report

Christchurch waterways.

Here in Christchurch there are many waterways. Some are natural and some manmade.

If they are natural waterways they are things like streams, rivers, ponds, and many more

But if there manmade it could be something like a stream dug out into someone's garden, stormwater system, or pipe system.

Groundwater connects to springs and the pipe system so we can have pure water. It is like that so we can stay hydrated. It makes me wonder if the water were to be contaminated what would we do about it and how. Springs connect to aquifers. It is like that to give us fresh water. It makes me wonder how is the water so fresh.

The rainwater goes he vinto the grass and the dirt is like a filter.  All the yucky stuff stays in the dirt and is left behind.  The fresh rainwater travels into our aquifers. It takes around 100 years for the fresh water to get to our taps, but it is clean. It makes me wonder how does the stuff underground work as a filter?

We have a flat area in Christchurch where the water is draining the city's water. It is getting mucky and water doesn’t clean itself.  It is like that because of how swampy the area is.  I wonder how we could help our waterways there?

Freshwater Ecosystems

Habitats.

A natural habitat would be something like a forest or the ocean.  There is no such thing as a habitat for robots because that would scare away the wildlife in the area.  Here's a fun fact: houses are like habitats for humans.

Freshwater creature connections.

Eel/tuna connect to the freshwater crayfish because the eel eats the crayfish.  Canterbury mud fish connect to the mayfly larvae because the mud fish eats the mayfly larvae.  The common bully connects to the submerged plants because the plants give the fish a good home and shade.  Eel/tuna connect to mayfly larvae because the eel eats the mayfly larvae.

The paradise duck connects to vegetation because the paradise duck feeds on on vegetation and makes a shelter. Everything is connected in some way.

Why these connections are important.

Because they all live in a ecosystem.   A ecosystem is something where if you take out one thing from it, lots of the other things in ecosystem might die or have to leave. If you made something extinct the thing that relies on it might not know where to go and become extinct too, as well as something that relies on that thing and it would keep going on.  And that's why these and many more connections are important.

Testing our waterways.

Our class have been to many waterways in Christchurch.   For example one I went to is the lake at Styx reserve, but also Dudley creek and the stormwater drain.  We used the  “In-stream and riparian habitat survey” chart to investigate and describe the quality of the area/habitat around the waterways. To look at the turbidity in water we got a a big long plastic tube.   There were measurements on the side of the tube like a ruler to tell us how murky it was. We also looked for macroinvertebrates we used a technical retrieval device (a sieve on a stick).   We also had to sort the macroinvertebrates so the predators wouldn't eat the herbivores, and to sort them we used miniature retrieval device.

Results and Suggested Changes

The stormwater drain behind Waimairi school is in poor health.  We saw that 75% of the bottom of the drain was covered in mud. Invertebrates don't like mud, they prefer stones and rocks so they can hide from other predators. Also, if it gets in their lungs they could suffocate.  So out of 8 I score a 2 that means a very bad score for the stream bottom.

We also saw that about half of the bank was eroding away making dirt fall on the invertebrates and they could get trapped and die because they wouldn't be able to breath.  To prevent the stream bank from eroding, planting trees would keep the stream bank together because of their long thick sturdy roots.  Out of 8 I scored a 4 so far that means a not so good score.

Another thing our class looked at was the shade over the stream. Invertebrates need shade to keep cool because if it's too high of a temperature the invertebrates will leave and have to live somewhere else.  To get more shade I suggest  planting more plants like bushes and trees.  Out of 8 I would score a 2 meaning not much shade over the stream. Our class were also looking at what types of plants were surrounding the stream.  There was mostly just grass and bare ground around the stream. Like I mentioned earlier, planting new trees and plants will help make this better.

Chirpy

So there I was, with  my family walking home from a fancy dinner at a restaurant. Everything seemed normal. As my little brother and I were scampering home I noticed, as I peeked through the window, that the cat was trying to get something from underneath the couch. So my brother and I walked in through the door as silent as an anaconda so we wouldn't bother the cat. Then suddenly right out of the blue bang! A mysterious black object emerged from under the couch.

The unknown object zoomed up to the roof like the time I was chased by a ram in one of my dreams. Then something fell off the object.  It was a leg then I realized it was bird. Then I remembered the mouldy bread in the cupboard. So I quickly grabbed it, through it out the door and the bird was gone. But the cat was still going ballistic.

Huh! Wow, it was all a dream. Was it an awfully crazy dream or was it nightmare? Well, good thing it wasn’t real … or was it? Dun dun dunnn.

water rap

This is a rap we put together to give people a message to look after our local waterways.  We hope you learn something from this and we hope you enjoy the song.  

Click here to listen:

water rap

Autumn at waimairi school

Leafs lay limp

And pile in a mountain

Feeling crusty like wontons,

Rustling through the wind.

Flowers drown in on-and-off showers,

Looking dead and sad,

Drooping down to the ground.

People stomp in muddy puddles

Making tsunamis in tiny puddles

Swarming around people's shoes.

Mud spreads across the grass like butter on toast.

Smell mashed grass mixes with various things and

Smudges on people playing sports.

Rain dribbles on my face and drips in to my shoes

Feel  dew drops shiver down my spine

Goose bumps overwhelm me.

Wind gusts through the bushes and

Seeing the branches dance

As beauty fills the air.

But one bunch of flowers bloom in no notice

Smells more perfect than last nights dinner

As walking past the sign of spring in this leafy mine field.

Exercising at camp

Exercising is always a big hassle especially right when you wake up. Well, here my guide to exercise in the morning. First of all, if you know tomorrow morning you’re going to do some working out straight when you wake up, make sure that the day before you make a wake up plan, like setting an alarm to wake up early so you can get ready.

Oh, unless you’re at school camp of course.

Then you’re doomed.

Awe man I hate running. So there you have it the first excuse to get out of running (actually - not really). So the best way to skip running is a fake injury for example. Your teacher asks you to go for a jog, so you say “I can't because I hurt my leg”.  Then that should walk and oh unless she finds out you’re lying, then I'll just say it won't be pretty.

Getting ready for exercise in the morning, come on. Boring! I'm so glad I don't have to go through that any more.

Birdlingsflat beach

Temperature

Freezing cold, I can’t feel my face at all.

Wind

Gusts through the sky. My hood is up, offering protection.

Sun

Shines through patches in the clouds.

Waves

Scatter and mash up the sand.

Gems

Shift underneath my feet, like rushing trains.

A Paper Bag

Springs up into the air like a rabbit.

The worst plane trip ever

I remember the the smell of various liquids and foods haunting me. I remember I could see people flickering through pages and watching movies on laptops for hours and hours. I also remember the most uncomfortable seats in the world attacking my bottom like when you have worms. I remember I could hear clings and clashes coming closer and closer and then finally the lunch lady was here. I also remember dry tasteless snacks overwhelming my mouth. And finally I remember thinking about how long this horrific trip will really be. And there you go the worst plane trip ever.