New Years And How We Celebrate Them Summer Learning Journey Rua Tekau Ma Rima

Today for Summer Learning Journey we had to figure out how other countries celebrate the New Year. 

I had to learn about some countries and put facts into a slide. Then on the Step it up we had to take a photo of ourselves, remove the background, add a picture of the New Year fireworks as the background then add the picture of ourselves with the removed background. I chose to Step up the step it up by making the background a GIF.

I found it interesting that Maori New Year is actually Matariki and it will be an actual public holiday next year. I also found a site that shows each day Matariki is on for the next 30 years. Go check it out here.

Thank you for reading my blog. Here is the Kick Start:

Here is my Stepped up Step it up:

Origami Cubes and Boxes Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Wha

Today for Summer Learning Journey we had to make an origami box and cube.

Origami is made from two Japanese words: Ori which means folded and Kami which means paper. Before that, the art was called orikata which means folded shapes. Did you know that an ancient Japanese legend says if you fold one thousand cranes you will be granted a wish?

I enjoyed making the cube and box because they were both a bit of a challenge. They both turned out almost as good as in the video!

I found it tricky to add all 6 pieces to make the cube because when I put them together two of the pieces were only one colour. So I looked at the video again. I noticed that I put two of the pieces the wrong way up and it made it a lot better!

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are some slides with a few pictures and a video on me making the cube:

My Weather In A Bag Summer Learning Journey Rua Tekau Ma Toru

Today for Summer Learning Journey we had to make weather in a bag. We had to fill a snap-lock bag with water and add some food colouring. Then leave it in the sun for a few hours, taking a photo of its progress every hour. 

The way it was meant to work is: it will heat up and the water will turn to vapour and cause condensation. Then it was meant to drip from the top causing the effect of rain. 

I found it tricky to get the condensation to actually drip. I think this will of been better on a hotter day as today it was raining quite a lot.

I enjoyed looking for the changes every hour. It was quite fun waiting to see what happens next!

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are some slides with photos:

Minecraft - Bees Summer Learning Journey Rua Tekau Ma Rua

Today for Summer Learning Journey we had a Minecraft task. It was about Bees. We learnt all about how bees pollinate and how bees live.

Did you know that all worker bees are female? The boys in the hive are called drones and their job is to pretty much have babies with the queen to reproduce. Did you know that Bees have 5 eyes? They have two big ones, two smaller ones and a really tiny one. Did you know that Bees can taste out of their front feet? Did you know that we would only have four years to live if all bees died?

I enjoyed learning about bees because they are so interesting. They are actually the most studied animal on the planet. That proves that other people think they are interesting too! I really liked this task because it was quite easy and I did not find anything tricky!

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are my photos:

My Stick Figure Animation Summer Learning Journey Rua Tekau Ma Tahi

Today for Summer Learning Journey we had to make a Stick Figure Animation. I had the idea to make a flipbook but I could not find the right amount of pieces of paper to make one so I used the template of the online one.

I used Google Slides and I thought that 1 second per slide was way too slow. Then I remembered that one day in cyber smart the teacher teaching it, Mrs Torrie, taught us a way to make GIFs out of slides on a site called Talltweets. You put in a slide then choose how long each slide is. I made mine 0.3 for each of my 78 slides.

The first time someone made a flipbook animation was in 1832. Did you know the German word for flipbook - Daumenkino, which translates to "thumb cinema" pretty much explains what it is.

I enjoyed making the animation because it was fun coming up with ideas on what to make my stick man do. I wanted to make people laugh with this and I hope I achieved that! 

Next time I want to make this with funny music in the background to add the funny effect. 

Thank you for reading my blog. Here is my GIF:

My Family Fingerprints Summer Learning Journey Rua Tekau

Today for Summer Learning Journey we had to find out what my family's fingerprints were.

There are three types of fingerprints: Arch, Whorl and Loop.

Did you know that people's fingerprints can be different types on each finger? You could have a whorl on one finger and an arch on another and a loop on your thumb!

In 1788 an anatomist Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer was the first person to recognize that fingerprints were unique to each person. This is how police find bad guys. They find fingerprints to try and match them up with someone.

The results on the index finger were: My Mum: Arches, Lily: Whorl, Sebastian: Whorl, Killian: Arches, Teddy: Arches and Myself: Whorl. I suspect my Dad has a Whorl because Mum has arches and maybe it is genetic but Dad was asleep after a night shift so I could not do his fingerprint.

I enjoyed looking closely at all the designs because all the whorls and arches looked really cool in the purple play-doh. It had all these tiny lines curving everywhere

I found it tricky to get Teddy (My one-year-old brother) to stay still because he is one and kept moving. So my Mum helped get his fingerprint while I took a picture.

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are the fingerprints:

My Summer Tanka - Poetry Slam - Step It Up - Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Iwa #2

Today for the Summer Learning Journey we had to make Tanka poems.

Tanka's were first written in the seventh century and were one of the first Japanese poems. I thought that Haiku would be older but tankas are 1000 years older!

I enjoyed writing my Tanka because tankas seem really cool to me and they are like haikus which I really like doing. It was also really cool learning that Tanka's were so old yet I am doing one in the distant future of it being invented. I also made a Pivot sentence.

I found it tricky to make what I want to say in the right format. If you don't know, tanka's follow a pattern. Its syllables go from 5 to 7 to 5 again then 7 and 7 again. A few times I thought of something then it was eight syllables so I had to think hard to make it fit and use different words. I used the online thesaurus to help.

Here is my Tanka:

My Summer Haiku - Poetry Slam - Kick Start - Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Iwa

Today for Summer Learning Journey we made summery Haikus. 

Haiku Poems came from Japanese literature during the 17th century. It did not have the name Haiku until the 19th century. I did my Haiku about the beach because it's my favourite part of summer. I thought I would do something different this time so I used Jamboard which I know how to use but do not use it very often.

I enjoyed writing my summer haiku because I could choose pretty much anything summery. I really enjoy making these because I love describing things without saying its name and only being allowed to use a certain amount of syllables is really fun and a bit tricky.

I found it tricky to make my haiku in the right format. If you don't know, haikus follow a pattern. Its syllables go from 5 to 7 then 5 again. A few times I thought of something then it was eight syllables so I had to think hard to make it fit and use different words. I used the online thesaurus to help.

Here is my Summer Haiku:

Scratch Project - Seasonal Greeting Poem Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Waru

Today for the Summer Learning Journey I made a game on Scratch. It was a Seasonal Greeting Card. I used Vector art to make myself, the character in the game. I actually made this at my grandparent's house, so you might hear them in the background if you listen hard enough. I made this interactive card for my Nana and made up a poem.

I enjoyed creating myself on Scratch because I could be as creative as I wanted. Did you know that the character's clothes were the actual clothes I wore today? I wore a weet-bix shirt and purple overalls.

I found it tricky to share my project on scratch because the button that would normally appear did not appear and I could not put it on my blog. I thought about what I should do for a while, and I came up with screencastify. I could record a video of it then put it on my blog. So that is what I have done.

Next time I would add more Christmasy stuff like Christmas trees in the background to give it a more Christmasy look.

Here is my poem:

And here is my game:

A Summery Saturday Morning Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Whetu

Today for Summer Learning Journey I read a book by Margaret Mahy. It was called A Summery Saturday Morning. It is about a bunch of people bringing their two dogs down a windy path and their dogs chase a cat and eight geese.

Margaret Mahy was born on 21st March 1936 and was the eldest of five children growing up. Just like me! Margaret died on 23 July 

I enjoyed making the scene in Minecraft because I could use as much creativity as I wanted. I used an Item called Bone meal to make nature appear when I right-click. It made it easier than putting a load of grass and flowers everywhere and it taking way longer than it should.

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are my slides:

My Timeline And a Cicadas Timeline - Cicadas do Maths Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Ono

Today for the summer learning journey we were learning about the life of a cicada. Did you know that a female cicada lays 200-400 eggs? That's crazy! 

When I was really little at daycare, I loved bugs so much that the teachers called me the "snail whisperer." I had lots of cicada shells in a container. My Mum only got rid of them about a year ago. 

There are 3400 different species of cicadas worldwide. The most common here in New Zealand is the Amphipsalta Zelandica which is 80mm long and is what you have most likely seen around here in summer! Only the boy cicadas sing! 

We were also asked to make a timeline to work out where we think we would be at 17, 34, 51, 68, 85, 102! I found this fun as it made me think about the future and where I will be at that time! 

Next time I would like to do some research and a timeline about the lifecycle of a snail! 

Here are my timelines of both myself and an Amphipsalta Zelandica cicada:

Music Made Of Random Things Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Rima

Today for the Summer Learning Journey we made music out of random things. I made my music out of a grater, whisk, pepper shaker and a cup filled with water.

I enjoyed making lots of noise because quite often babies are asleep so we need to stay a bit quiet. So I made sure I asked before making so much noise! This activity was really fun, easy and I could not find anything hard.

Next time I would try and make it longer than 11 seconds long because most songs are about 3 minutes long. To make it more like a real song I'll need to make it longer.

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are my slides:

My Bridge Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Wha

Today for the Summer Learning Journey I made a bridge. It was a beam bridge with a few things holding it up underneath. I thought at first that I would not be able to stand on it. I could in the end though!

We learnt about tension and compression. Tension is a force that stretches something and compression is a force that squeezes something.

There were four different bridges to choose from; beam, arch, truss and suspension. The beam has a long bit that people drive or walk on and it had long sticks that went all the way down into the ground below. Arch, like its name, has an arch under it to keep it up. Truss has two sticks going down into the ground and also has a lot of triangles on the top stopping people from driving or walking off. Suspension, has two sticks going through the bit people drive on and being connected by curving wires.

I enjoyed making the Duplo because it was really easy and it was not at all hard. I could not find anything tricky in this task because it was so easy and I could understand it really well!

Next time I would use paper to make the bridge and balance rocks on it to make it a bit more interesting than a piece of wood on a bit of oversized lego.

Thank you for reading my blog, here are my slides:

Here is how a beam bridge works. C is compression and T is tension 

Magic Maths Kick Start Summer Learning Journey Tekau ma Toru

Today I was making sure I had done everything for the Summer Learning Journey. I came across the magic maths. I noticed that I forgot to do the Kick Start and only did the step it up. So today I chose to do that activity.

I enjoyed doing the trick on my sister because she picked a really high number for one of them to see if it would still work. It did! Somehow it still answered the same as it would of if she put 3. This kick start activity was quite easy, fun and I did not find anything tricky.

Next time I would try with more numbers and different siblings.

Thank you for reading my blog, Here are the magic tricks:

Kennings - Summer Learning Journey Poetry Slam Takau Ma Rua

Yesterday for the Summer Learning Journey we had a poetry slam task. It was to do Kennings about Summer. I decided to make my kennings about my favourite place to go to in Summer. Can you guess what it is?

Kennings are often used in poetry for effect. Two words are put together to make one. one example of kennings that we use all the time is Ankle-biter which is used for describing a toddler.

I found this activity really easy, fun and I really enjoyed describing my favourite place. I did not find anything challenging about this activity.

Next time I would add even more descriptive words. I would use words that I don't use very often.

Thank you for reading my blog, Here are my kennings:

Make Something That Floats! - Nanogirl Summer Learning Journey Tekau Ma Tahi

Today for a Nanogirl task we had to make something that floats on water. I decided to see which boat holds the most amount of stones. 

The way boats float is caused by how much air is inside of them. Nanogirl explained this by showing us with tin foil and rolling it into a  ball, it sank! Then she had it flat and it floated! Magic? No! The reason for this is because the rolled tin foil weighs more than the water and there is also no air inside it to balance it out because air weighs way less than water. The flat one has a lot more space around it to make it float and also is not too bunched up and heavy.

The types of boats I made were. Traditional that kind of looked like a hat, a canoe that looked a lot better in the video than it did when I made it, the one Nanogirl made, and one made of straws hot glued together.

I found it hardest to make the canoe, it had lots of very complicated folds but I persevered and got there in the end. The straws one was the easiest to make because it was just hot glue. 

Thank you for reading my blog. Here is my hypothesis and the results of my boats:

Magic Maths With Playing Cards Summer Learning Journey Tekau

Today I had some fun making magic tricks for the Summer Learning Journey. The first one was the one taught in the Summer Learning Journey lesson. The second one I learnt from a Tom Games book. And the third my Mum taught me from when she was a child.

I found it tricky to do the transitions fast because I only just learnt them and could not get them faster in a few of them. So I just did it slowly to make sure did them right.

Next time I would learn to do the magic tricks right and fast to make it look a lot better. 

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are my slides:

My Aunty Stephanie - Family History Summer Learning Journey Iwa

Today for the Summer Learning Journey I had to interview a family member with a few questions about them. I chose my Aunty Stephanie because she is really inspirational. And she has the same birthday as me!

I found it tricky to write down some of her answers because the questions were asking things like her full name and birth date with the day month and year. So I chose to be cyber smart and not answer them so specifically.

Because my Aunty Stephanie is in Wellington and we had to call her, I found an image online of her doing archery so I added that image off the internet to my slide.

Thank you for reading my blog. Here is my slide:

Forced Perspective Photography Summer Learning Journey Wharu

Last week for the Summer Learning Journey we made forced perspective photography. This was so fun! Forced perspective photography is an optical illusion. you make things look bigger or smaller depending on how close to the camera they are. If you want something to appear big, you bring it closer to the camera. If you want them to appear small you make them further away from the camera. 

Did you know that forced perspective was used in the Harry Potter movies to make Hagrid look bigger than everyone else?

I enjoyed taking the photos because they were really fun and easy to make and I could be creative. My favourite photo is the sunshine in a jar because the BFG phizzwizard dream from the book by Roald Dahl inspired me to take that photo. 

I found it tricky to do it at first because it was hard to tell my siblings where to go and for them to stay still long enough for me to take a photo. I found it easier to move my camera to a better place, and even easier just not taking a photo of people and only taking a photo of things instead. 

Next time I would take more pictures because it was so fun to make and I could easily make more.

Here is the BFGs Phizzwizard:

Here is how I made it:

Here is some fun I had with my siblings and a few inanimate objects:

Vector Art Summer Learning Journey Whetu

Yesterday for Summer Learning Journey we were making vector art. I could not finish it due to seeing it late at night. But for the step it up we had to make a superhero using vector. I learnt how to use Vector art on scratch. Vector art makes your art seem more smooth. Using scratch you can choose between Vector art and Bitmap art. Bitmap is not as good and when zoomed up it is really pixelated. I also used scratch to make my vector art. Not google Drawings.

I enjoyed making my superheroes because they turned out super funny looking! I did Captain Underpants and Batman and Captain Underpants was closest to normal! Batman just looked like a funny looking person with a mask in a black costume!

I found it tricky to make them look normal because they kind of just looked like blobs with faces. So I used a special tool on scratch to move circles into body shapes like legs, arms, face and the body. I also found it tricky to make them say their quotes like "Tra la laaa" for Captain Underpants. So I searched it up and found an image with the right code. I found it really quickly and I am shocked I did not already know the code because it was so easy!

Next time I would make up my own superhero and not an already made up one. I had an idea for a sock superhero called Super Sock Finder that would find a pair of socks when you need them and can't find a pair! I thought it wouldn't be able to save the world but it would be able to save me because I can never find two socks at most times!

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are my Superheroes:

Captain Underpants:

Batman:

Minecraft Hour Of Code Summer Learning Journey Ono

Today I was looking through this years Minecraft tasks to see if they were there this year. I saw that one had come out yesterday and had a look. I joined into the world and I really liked how the person who made this had done so much building! I loved how there was the apollo 11, huge buildings like the sphinx in Egypt and we had to try to build a pyramid! There was also a very long path with Cavemen, it had a dog that we had to return to a Caveman! 

Did you know, NASA launched the Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969? The Apollo 11 crew had three men on board. Neil Armstrong the Mission Commander, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin the lunar module pilot ( Who inspired Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story ) and Michael Collins the command module pilot.

Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza in 85 years between 2589 and 2504 Before Christ? About 10,000 people were building them and 4,000 of them were slaves. the Giza is still there today! 

Did you know, people started taming dogs more than 30,000 years ago which is more than 10,000 years before people tamed horses? The first dog ever to be tamed was the Bonn-Oberkassel dog. It looked quite like a wolf. It was tamed between 14,000 and 29,000 years ago.

I found it tricky to figure out where the small buttons were to push and open things like secret rooms because they were really well hidden. Especially in the Nasa one, Egypt one and Caveman one. I had to just explore looking for gold blocks with red buttons. Which, I gotta say, was pretty hard!

Next time I would try to take more screenshots of the buttons on gold blocks to show you what I was talking about because you would probably have no idea what I am talking about! I would also show you the images of the buildings to show you how amazing they are!

Thank you for reading my blog. Here are some slides with a few screenshots:

E hia ngā mea? - How Many things Are There? Summer Learning Journey Rima

Today for the Summer Learning Journey we were making flashcards for kids to learn to count in Te Reo. 

Te Reo is really important to learn as it is our native language. I really want to learn more because I think it is very cool and honours our country. 

Did you know that speaking Te Reo used to be banned in some mainstream New Zealand schools? I think that's really sad and I am glad that they aren't like that now and are embracing our culture. One of my favourite things at school is Kapa Haka. 

I chose all the things in the slides because they all remind me of summer! What reminds you of summer? 

I found it tricky to pronounce some of the words. I had to practice a lot and I hope that I got them all right! 

Thank you for reading my blog and here are my flashcards on slides! 

Geome-Tree Triangle Art Summer Learning Journey Wha

Today for Summer Learning Journey I made a Geome-tree. I think that was a well-planned play on words! I learnt about three different types of triangles. One Scalene, Which most right-angled triangles are and no sides are the same. Two Isosceles, Which is also known as an acute triangle and only two sides are the same. And the Equilateral, Which is the same on every side and you see them all the time. 

I enjoyed making the geome-tree. I added the three triangles, then I added a Square and an Oval. A square has four equal sides and an Oval looks a bit like an egg. So I kinda collaged them together to make them.

I found it tricky to make the scalene triangles because I kept accidentally making isosceles triangles by accident! 

All up I made 15 of each triangle for my tree and then added 10 squares and 8 ovals. 

Thank you for reading my blog. Here is my working out and my Geome-Tree:

Paper Plane - Something that Flies Summer Learning Journey Toru

Today for Summer Learning Journey I saw that There was a Nanogirl task I could do. It was making something that flies. I made a few paper aeroplanes and raced them on a hill near my house. I did a hypothesis on which one would win. 

I find it really interesting the way paper planes fly. Do you know how they fly? When the air under the wing is pushing up harder than the air over it is pushing down, the plane goes up and stays up. It is this difference in pressure that makes the paper plane fly and it works the same for real planes too!

I found it very tricky to throw these in the very strong winds here in Gisborne today. I am going to try doing this task again when the weather is nicer another day to see if I get different results! 

Here are my slides with my hypothesis and results:

Radial Balanced Flower Mandala Summer Leaning Journey Rua #2

Yesterday's Summer learning journey was to do a radial balanced flower mandala. I went straight to the step it up and did a stop motion so today I did the normal one because I like doing these tasks. Radial Balance means symmetry in several directions. No matter which way you look at it, it will look the same. Like if you look at an O on every side it will be the same!

I found it tricky to find flowers that were not rotten and dead because at the moment there is a storm where I am in Gisborne! It's Bruising the flowers and killing them.

Next time I would add more flowers to make it more detailed and bigger.

Thank you for reading my blog and here is my photo:

Radial Balanced Flower Mandala Summer Learning Journey Rua

Today in my summer learning journey I made a stop motion animation with a radial mandala using flowers, leaves and other materials found outside. Did you know, stop motion animation is how they make some cartoons? I never knew that until today! 

I chose to use the flowers I used because that was what was in my garden outside. My favourite of all the flowers was the yellow rose that I used a few of the petals from. We had to make it with radial symmetry which means it looks the same all the way around no matter what angle you look at it from. 

Stop motion uses images. you take a photo of each thing then move something a tiny bit by bit and take photos. together all the photos make a video. 

I found it tricky to add music to the stop motion because I would usually use WeVideo to make it but I have used it too much and have reached my limit so can't use it anymore. I ended up using Movavi. Another challenge I came across making this video was my camera is on my laptop built in but I needed to make a video from above. I had to think hard about it and then remembered over lockdown my brother had to use a plug in web cam. I used his plug in web cam and faced it downwards so I could make my stop motion. 

Thank you for reading my blog, so here is my video!

And here is how I made it. 

Poetry Slam Summer Learning Journey Tahi

Yesterday, Summer Learning Journey sent out a task. It was really late at night because I still had school, So I chose to do it today. It is a Poetry Slam. A Poetry Slam is like a competition with a panel of judges and an audience. I made a slide with ideas for poems including summer. We watched poetry slams from Solli Raphael, Daisy Lavea-Timo, Marina Alefosio and Joshua Iosefo We did this to make it easier for us to know what to make or poem about and helpful words. I like doing this because I like finding interesting words meaning the same thing. 

Did you know, that we use brainstorming in school before writing to make it easier so we don't have to think right on the spot?

I found it tricky to think of some images I could do for softly and gently. So I thought of ways you can be soft or gentle and that's how I chose to do an image of someone petting a bunny.

Next time I would focus on camping as my subject for the words.

Thank you for reading my blog, Here are my Slides: