Starch Art

“Art made from Starch?”  Last week Friday, My class and I had to make art with starch made from corn.  I know it sounds weird but I was very excited.  It was a new technique for me to make art.

To make the art, we had to draw a sketch of the New Zealand landscape.  I chose a picture with a mountain in it because I liked how the sun was behind the mountain.  We then had to go to the hall so the starch could be made.  The starch was made from corn powder and hot water.  

I then had to set up tables so everyone could take a seat and make their starch art.  When the starch was finished, everyone who had a sketch done was allowed to put starch on it.  When the starch was put on my art, it was still hot so I could see steam coming from it.  From the way the starch looked, I would say it looked like goo.  

I also had to put dye on my art so the teachers put dye on the starch to rub.  Rubbing my hands on the starch felt rather nice.  It was soft, gooey and also warm so my fingers were relaxed.  I had to rub my hands on the art where the starch was placed.  There also was a problem where if you leave the starch on your artwork for a long time, it would get cold and hard.  We had to put different colours on the art so what we had to do was wash our hands in a bin filled with water.  Imagine that!  It was cleaned so I didn’t worry.

With the art done and looking nice, we had to leave the artwork in our classrooms until Monday.  Before we did that, we had to carefully carry the art with newspaper to the classroom.  I was a little bit worried because the wind was trying to make my art fly away like someone was trying to steal it.  

When I went back on Monday to check on my artwork, it looked great.  I had to remove from the newspaper and that was quite hard.  The art got stuck on the newspaper like it was like glued on.  It was hard because the art ripped a tiny bit so I had to make sure there were no rips.

Speech

Cellphones.  Do they belong in class or not?  Cellphones belonging in class is a battle of good reasons and bad reasons.  Their are reasons why they are good and reasons why they are bad.  I am going to tell you the good reason and the bad reasons.  Here are the good reasons.

Agreements

My first reason why cell phones should be allowed in class because you don't know when disaster will strike.  If it does strike, they can call their parents or the police.  Also if the students are hurt or sick, they can call their parents to take them home.

My second reason is that using a cell phone may be helpful in class.  The students can research information on the topics they are learning to help them like the Pyramids of Egypt.  That is sounds like a hard topic to research.

Lastly, in some schools, many students don’t have Netbooks or Chromebooks so if they bring their own cell phones to school, it can help them learn and it should be just like using a Netbook.  Except for the size.

Finally, the reason why you are listening, the reasons for cellphones not belonging in class.

Disagreements

My first reason for not allowing cell phones in school is because they can be very distracting.  They can be holding the class up when everyone else is trying to listen and learn.  This can be bad for students because when they are listening, they are not learning.

My second reasons is if cell phones are allowed in class, students can be doing the sneaky move of cheating, searching google for answers on their basic fact tests or other tests important to their school work.  They might be having the phone in an invisible location in their desks, pretending to do something.

Finally, one of the reasons I think is the most important is that students may be talking to their friends by texting each other.  It doesn't sound bad but when they are texting, they are ignoring the face to face talk.  They could be right next to each other and instead of face to face talk, they might text each other.  

In my opinion, I think that cellphones do not belong in class because of the reasons above.  They can stop students from learning things.

Athletics

Athletics                                                       Samuel

Everyday from Monday to Thursday, most of the classes go to the field to do cross country but my class goes after morning tea so we have more space.  We do cross country because we need to get fit for the athletics coming up.

After morning tea, we all got ready to go to cross country.  Before we went to cross country, we had to make sure our school work was finished.  We only went for 15 minutes so we had to use it before we go to class.  Sometimes it was bad because some of the kids were being silly and we had to go back to class.

Before running the cross country,  we had a warm up.  We all had to run to the fence on the side of the track, touch it and run back to our starting point.  There was many kids who chose to walk instead of run or jog so it wasn’t a warm up for them.  

When the warm up is finished, we were split up into teams of 4 which had 4 people waiting at points to run.  Who over was the first person to run, had to give the baton the other students waiting at the spots.  Then they had to run to the others so that team would come first.  The people that were waiting had to face where they were running with the hand at behind their back to receive the baton.

On most of the cross country races, I was always was the first one to run.  It was tricky to come first because I was racing with my friends and some of them were fast.  When I was split into a team, we came second or first.  It was cool because I sometimes had fast runners and they usually win the race for the team.

Near the end of the time, we use the last minutes to do some relays.  The relays were in year groups so I raced with fast students.  I was lucky because I am quite fast so I sometimes beat them.  After we do relays, we then go back to the class and carry on with our work.

Making A Chain

Making a Chain

WALT: 1) Write a recount.

           2) Integrate maths and writing.

On Monday morning, our class made some paper chains.  The purpose for making paper chains was to see who could make the longest chain out of A5 paper.  We had to cut the paper to make the longest chain.  We also had to make a pattern with the two A5 papers, red and green.  My partner was Munokoa.

The first thing we had to do was to estimate how long each of our paper chains were.  When I estimated mine, I thought it was going to be at least 3 metre long because of how I was going to cut it.  The pattern we decided to make was 3 green and 3 red.

Next, Munokoa and I had to think about how long we were going to cut the strips.  We decided to use the width of the A5 papers so that we could get short but thin strips to make our chain long.  It was a good idea because most of the other students cut their strips into big and fat strips.  

Thereafter, we all finished our chains.  We then measured how long each one was using a metre ruler.  Munokoa and I made the longest chain.  It measured 3 metres and 20 cm.  My estimation for my chain was at least 3 metres long so I think I had the closest estimation.

Finally, we recorded each of the chains we made in our class.  By recording the measurements of the chains, we compared all of the chains students made in the class.  The longest was 3 metres and 20 cm and the shortest was 86 cm.

Although my chain was the longest, it was the thinnest chain out of all the other chains.  Everyone else made a chain the was short but was bigger than ours.  I learned that if you make cut smaller strips to make a chain, the smaller the longer and the bigger the shorter.

Lengths of Chains

Length of Chains

WALT: 1) Arrange length in order.

           2) Find mean, median, mode, range.

           3) Explain the differences in length.

Pairs	Length of Chain in centimetres
Ben and Dion	86
Wesley and Koliata	169
Lorenzo and Liam	170
Ifa and Tane	192
Alyssa and Shanelle	192
Andrea and Lana	200
Ketura and Serena	220
Stephanie and Cherish	286
Petuana and Yazmin	304
Munokoa and Samuel	320
Viliami and Howard	383

Mean of this table is 230.  

Median of this 200.

Mode of this table is 192.

Range of this table is 297.

I think most of the chains have a different measurement because of how the students made them.  The shortest chain was Ben and Dion having a measurement of 86 centimetres and I think it was short because they cut the strips into big strips.  The longest chain was Viliami and Howard’s measuring 383 centimetres.  To make it that long, they had to cut the strip into thin strips.  The difference is that if you cut the strips bigger, your chain will get smaller but if you cut the strips into thin strips, your chain will get longer.

Samoan Artwork

Jonah Lomu Comic

Reading E-asttle test 2015

On my 2015 reading e-asttle test, I got a 4B.  I am not very proud of the result but it still is good.  I would have liked to got a 4A or 4P.  I am also under the nz mean for my year level.  That is why I am not really proud about my result.  But I did get a 4 so that was good.  At least I got 4 not a 3.  Nextime I do this, I would like to get a 4 or at least a 5.

Maths E-asttle Test 2015

This is my 2015 e-asttle maths test.  I am not proud of the results because I got a 3P.  I am also not very proud of my result because I am under the nz mean for my year level.  For this test, I would have liked to get at least a 4 because I am a year 8 and that is good for when I go to college.  This means I still have some learning to do.  Nextime I do this test, I would like to get at least a 4.  

Paris Attack

When I heard Paris got attacked, I was sad because Paris was one of the places I would like to go and suddenly, it got bombed and many people died.  I was worried because a friend of mine lives their and she might have got hurt.  I just want to hope that there is no more attacks.

Shape Mods

This game is called Shape Mods.  This game is all about coordinates.  In this game, you have to try and make the green shape land exactly on the red shape to make it the same.  I think this game really helps people who are learning about about shapes and reflection.  If you want to play this game, click on the link: http://www.mathplayground.com/ShapeMods/ShapeMods.html

Armageddon Day

“Bang, Bang, Crash.”  I woke up to some sounds in my living room.  When I walked to the living room, my brother was playing some shooting game.  It was 11:50 am when I looked at my watch.  I grabbed a drink of refreshing ice tea when I heard “SAMUEL!!”

My brother scared me from behind.  The ice tea splashed all over my face.  He told me if I was ready so I said “Ready for what?”  He said we were going to go to Armageddon at the ASB showgrounds.  I dropped the bottle with excitement.  I quickly rushed to my room and got changed.  When I left the room, I saw him all dressed up looking like a fool.

I was laughing at him but he said “no time for laughter, we have to go to Armageddon.”  I put on my shoes and jumped into his car.  We finally arrived at Armageddon.  The entrance was packed with people making getting in long.  He then told me that we got a free pass to get into Armageddon and said to say thank you to my sister for getting it.  There was also some more people who dressed up costumes.

After a long queue, we both finally got into Armageddon.  It was amazing.  It was just like the last time I went.  There were food stands to our right and people taking photos to our left.  Inside the ASB showgrounds was even better.  People were selling things and there were many events to watch and participate in.  There was one event that my brother and I were really interested called League Of Legends but sadly, it was not there this year.  Devastated, we looked for free things and played some games.

Watching all of those shows and playing all those games made us hungry.  We stopped at a burrito stall and ordered some of their best burritos.  When they were delivered to us, I could smell the flavours in the burrito.  I could eat it in one bite.  One bite of the burrito made my teeth get warm.  I tried to get another one but my brother said “No we have to go.”  I was sad because Armageddon was really cool and I didn't want to leave.  

After a long drive back home I laid down on the couch and took a rest.  I looked at my watch and it was 3:50 pm.  I wasn’t that sad because I got free things.  The free things were to be used in games on the internet so after I used them, I was happy.

All Blacks at Victoria Park

When the All Blacks won the RWC final against Australia, they came back to New Zealand.  I wish I was there to celebrate at Victoria Park.  It would have been cool to the see the All Black rugby players.  I just wish next time, it was not during school so I could have gone.  Or the school could have taken me.

Double Bar Graph

WALT: create a double bar graph.

Watch             Did not watch

B      G            B      G

10     5            3       7

Today, my class collected some data on who watched the RWC final and who didn’t.  We collected the data in the morning by students putting up their hands to who watched it and didn’t watch it.  It was clear that the boys were the most people in the class to watch the RWC final.  I think the boys watched the RWC final more because they like to play rugby and I think the girls weren't very interested in it so only some watched it.  On Friday, we had to predict the score on the game and Robin predicted the score 32 to All Blacks and 17 to the Australians.  That was very close.  

Improving my recount writing

Walk to Glen Innes Centre

“Who wants to go to GI centre with me?” I asked.  I got many people to say “I’ll come.”  It was almost 3:00.  Just 5 more minutes until the bell.  “BRRRRIIINGGGGG!” goes the bell.  My friends and I got ready to go to the GI centre.

We crossed the road to take the long footpath down to the place we used to do cross country.  It was majestic because there were birds chirping and the wind moving the trees.  There was no bad things happening.  The path was a bit twisty but atleast I was safe.  

Close to the GI centre, we jumped over a small fence to get  there faster.  There were cars whizzing past us.  I also saw many chip packets on the ground where I walked.  It was sad people didn’t put their rubbish.  We all were talking about what we were going to do at GI centre.  

“Almost there guys.” I said.  There was a WOF by the gas station that I recognized because my older sister used to work there.  There also was the gas station that sold the best slushies I know of.  We then had to cross the road to get to the other path.  The cars stopped for us and we walked on.  There were many shops including pizza hut, one of my favourite shops.  

We walked up the path to the GI centre.  There were many cars to our left and a two dollar shop to our right.  When we were walking up the path, there were many delicious smells.  The smells made me get hungry so I bought some chicken and chips for us to eat.  We took a rest on one of the benches in the GI centre.  There were hair salons if anyone wanted a haircut and some other shops we could buy things.

All Around The Rugby World Cup Recount

                                          All Around The Rugby World Cup Recount

WALT: write a recount on our topic study.

All around the Rugby World Cup was our topic study.  We started this topic in week 1 term 3.  All around the RWC was about the countries that are participating in the RWC.  We had to learn about the country's going to the RWC and what pools they are in.  

In the RWC, there are 4 pools and 5 countries in each pool.  This means that there are 20 countries in the RWC 2015.  The RWC 2015 is going to be played in England.  Twickenham Stadium will host the final RWC game.  I had to learn about 4 countries.  They are USA, Japan, Romania and England.  I had to learn about that country that tourists will want to know like currency.  

When I was done with the countries, I had to make a bookmark.  The bookmark was all about the RWC.  I had to put New Zealand underneath those 4 countries and found the different things about the 4 countries.  I have to give the bookmarks to some students at our school so they could learn some facts about the countries.

I learned a lot of facts of the RWC 2015 and the countries that are going to play in the RWC.  Since I know a lot about the RWC 2015, I will know what countries are in each pool and what 2 countries are going to verse.  

Dear Ms Parkes

25 September 2015

Dear Ms Parkes,

Thank you for helping me with my writing.  I found an improvement in my writing than last year.  Also for some suggestions to my teacher to help with my writing.

I really enjoyed writing the diamante poem because it was a new thing for me.  I also enjoyed it because we watched the videos about the snake and the Black Piranha and it helped me describe the creatures with new words.

I also understood the meaning of a simple, compound and complex sentence.  Thanks to you and my teacher, I have learned to use them to make my writing better and improve my writing.

I still will need some help adding some compound and complex sentences in my writing to improve it.  I appreciate you helping me improve my writing.

Yours Sincerely,

Samuel

E-asttle Maths Term 3 2015

On my e-asttle for term 3 2015, I got a 3A.  On my e-asttle test, I am also under the national standard.  I just have to work on my maths so I can get a higher score.  I also just need to get at least a 4B.  I should be a 4 because I am a year 8.  To get above the national standard and a 4B, I will have to look and the To Be Achieved and my Gaps.  

New NZ Flag

I choose the first flag to be the new flag for New Zealand because I like the colours black and white. This flag represents New Zealand because it has a silver fern on it and the silver fern is a traditional plant in the Maori culture and the Maori are popular in New Zealand.  I think this flag should be our new New Zealand flag.

Diamante Poem

Decimat Place Value

WALT: understand place value in decimals using decimats.

First picture divided into Tenths.

Second picture divided into Hundredths.

Third picture divided into Thousandths.

The game we played we quite easy.  If the person rolled a four on the first dice.  Then when your roll the second dice and you get a tenth, you have to colour in four tenths of the decimat.  In the game, you also have to use different colours if you have to colour the same decimat.  For example, if you used red to colour the tenths decimat, you have to use a different colour to colour in the tenths decimat.  The game helped me a lot because I learned what decimat to colour in when the dice was rolled.  It was very fun to learn and fun to play.  

4 by 4 Poem Comic

Mug Design

WALT: design our own NZ Milo mug.  

This is the mug design for our art.  We had to make a mug that had New Zealand designs on it to prove that is is from New Zealand.  On my design, I used Maori words instead of drawings because using words is easier and it also shows that the mug is from New Zealand.  We first had to draw four or more designs on paper then choose one that we had to do on our mug.  Then we had to draw the design on the mug and then use a marker to complete the design.  

Poem About Me

Good gamer sniping endlessly

Smart student working hard

Fast runner exceeding limits

Learning sportsman scoring goals

Stage 7 Prototec

This is my test results for my Prototec Basic Facts.  In this test, I did stage 7.  I got 3 of them all correct but just the fractions and percentage part.  That means I have to learn more about fractions and percentages.  If I learn them I will get 100% and I will move on to Stage 8.

Hockey

Today, our class went to learn Hockey.  Our coach was Lydia.  The first thing we had to know was to keep the hockey stick below your knees.  We also had to use the flat side of the stick not the round side.  We then played a game that relates to traffic lights.  Green was to hit the ball, red was to stop and yellow slow down.  Lydia also included 2 more colours, purple and silver.  Purple was to go backwards and silver was to go fast. I enjoyed hockey and would like to play again.

The Last Day

WALT: write a recount.

On July the 19th 2015, was the last day of the holidays.  All I did at my friends house for the last day was just, playing games.  I was at my friends house for the whole weekend and it was time for me to go back to my house.

I first had lunch to prepare for my big bike ride.  I was going with my friend, my friends mother, my sister and her french friend.  I had baked beans in a croissant for lunch.  The croissant I had was crunchy and the baked beans were perfect.  It was weird eating the croissant seeing my friend eat because he took bit by bit.  Me on the other hand just took a big piece and stuffed it in my mouth.  I think they could know that I liked croissants.

After that, I got ready for the bike ride.  I didn’t have a bike so I used my friends brothers bike.  His bike was perfect for me.  I also used his helmet.  I was surprised because the helmet tightly squeezed my head and my friends brother was 16 years old!  I don't know how my friends brother could wear a helmet like that.  With everything set, we went on our bike ride.

We went on the bike ride because if I went by car, my last day would be at home doing nothing so the bike ride was able to make my last day fun...with a bit of exercise as well.  We were going to town because that’s where the train station is.  On the bike ride, we went over hills and down hills.  It was very fun because I went so fast, the brakes squealed as they turned red.  

Then we went under the harbor bridge.  The bridge was on top of our heads so we could hear cars and bikes roaring like it was millions of war planes.  Then we had to go on the footpath and ride our bikes near the roads.  We then reached a bridge near town that goes down when boats go away and when boats come, it opens.  We we lucky that it was down.  When we went over the bridge, we got ice cream.

We got ice cream at a place where you can choose any of your favorite toppings and put them on you ice cream.  We then put our bikes somewhere safe and walked to the train station in Britomart.  I had to say goodbye to my friends mother and him because my sister and I had to catch a train back to glen innes.  We had to wait 20 minutes for the train.  That was the end of the bike ride.

When I got home, I quickly emptied my bag and hugged my mum.

5 Golden Fish

WALT: write an impactful introduction to our Maori Myth.

“Wake up, Wake up!”  shouted a Maori fisherman.  One fisherman was trying to wake up his fellow fishing buddy.  He got ready and rushed to the waka.  Waiting for him were 3 patient but hungry looking fisherman.  He grabbed his net and climbed aboard the waka ready to fish at the Tasman sea.  

The 4 men climbed into the waka and set sail for the Tasman sea.  On their journey, they found an excellent spot to do some fishing.  There was a ray of sunlight beaming down, clear water and many Ika.  There were 5 golden Ika circling around the ray of sunlight.  One of the fisherman said that 5 golden fish were the best fish to eat.  He said that they could feed the iwi for billions of years.  

When one of the fisherman heard about the fish, he quickly grabbed his fishing net and caught the 5 golden ika.  When he returned to the iwi, he left the ika by the bonfire and got ready to eat the fish.  When they cooked the ika, they ate the fish and threw the fish bones and scales into the sea. Tangaroa, the god of the sea was insulted, and the next day  when the fisherman went fishing, they found no ika and no source of food in the Tasman sea. Since the iwi disrespected Tangaroa, the 5 golden ika could not feed them for billions of years so the iwi started to get hungry.

One of the fisherman then started to think about the bones and the scales they threw into the sea.  He had a plan to clean the sea so the iwi helped him clean up the bones and scales.  When they all cleaned the sea, they were restless.  They were just thinking about their hunger, staring at the sea endlessly.  The fisherman then got their gear and went fishing.  They saw 5 golden ika and caught them.  They went back to the iwi and cooked the ika.  This time, they put the bones and the scales in a bucket and used them for things they could make.  

The iwi were no longer hungry.  They learned from Tangaroa that if they wanted resources for their iwi, they had to respect the gods.

Fraction Adding and Subtracting

WALT: add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers.

This game is called Speedway.  In this game, you have to get the correct answer to come first.  You have to answer fractions like 1/4 + 2/4 = 3/4.  Every time you choose the correct answer, you gain a speed boost that will help you come first.  I came second on this game because I didn't answer the last question to get the speed boost so Computer 10 came first.  I would like to play more games like this so I can get first nextime.

Fizzing And Foaming Art

This is the art I made for Fizzing and Foaming.  We did this because it was part of our science experiment where we put mentos into different cups and bottles coke was poured in.

Ratio Blaster

Today, we are learning to solve problems in proportions.  This game is called Ratio Blaster.  In this game, you have to find the equal ratio that match the ratio and shoot it.  For example, 1 to 2 is equal to 5/10.  This game was a bit hard for me because I still need to learn more about ratio and proportion.  I got 10 hits and 5 misses.  I would like to play more games like this because I want to learn more about ratio and proportion.

Ratio and Proportions

In this game, we are learning to solve problems in ratio and proportion.  In this game, you are given a problem and you have to solve it.  You will have to learn your multiplication and ratios.  In this problem, the answer is 4.  I got the answer by 2 x 2 = 4, and 4 x 1 = 4.  This game was challenging for me because the problems get harder.  That is why I only got 1 correct.  I will need more practise on ratios and proportions.

Punctuation Game

This game is all about punctuation and sentences.  In this game, you get a sentence for every level and you have to try and put the correct punctuation into the sentence.  In this level, I used commas and a full stop.  This game is very good because when you complete a level, it tells you where to put the punctuations.  This game is very fun and good to play.  I would like to play more games like this.  

Equation Problem

Today, we learned about make a word sentence for equation problems.  We had to choose a equation and write a problem for it.  Then we had to figure out the answer.  I chose from easy to hard.  I chose the easy one to get knowledge of the equation.  Then I moved to a harder equation to challenge myself.  It was a bit easy but there were other ones that were harder.  I would like to learn more like this.

Basketball With Yuron