Year Eight Graduation 2016

On Wednesday night, the year eight graduation took place at the Pakuranga Sailing Club. Everyone showed up looking pretty and handsome. First had a dinner in the dinning room. Lasagna and salad which was the main course. After the delicious dinner was the dessert. The pavlova and ice cream for dessert was so sweet. After Mr Grady presented the graduation certificates to all the years eights .Then it was time to dance. The boys kindly ask a girl to dance as the first songs played. It was a fun night and amazing night.

Teaching Mrs Anderson

Manu and I taught Mrs Anderson how to play capture the flag, We explained what the rules are and strategies that you could use to win. We drew out a picture of the field and where the players are supposed be.

2016 Collage Reflection

Since the year has nearly come to a end, LS2 have created a photo reflection of the year. Eric and I put together a collage that showcases the events that have happened this year also adding the work we did in class. This year has been so fun with all the things happening every term.

Labyrinth Movie Breakdown

Yesterday on Monday, we started a class activity about Labyrinth, a 1986 movie starring David Bowie(as Jareth). Mz Kirkpatrick talked with us about the types of camera angle that they use in movies. We then broke down the movie to learning about foreshadow(giving hints/clues) and find things like the character introductions.

Launching Rockets at Tamaki College

Today we were building our rockets at Tamaki College. We were finishing our rockets and preparing for launch off. We had to attach a paper streamer to a string which was going to be taped to the nosecone of our rockets and the other end taped to the rocket. Mr Dunn showed us how the nose of the rocket will deploy and cause resistance to the rocket when it comes back down for less impact. Next we had to add the engine and blutack. The engine was going to be placed inside the bottom of the rocket and the blutack was for the weight balance or else it will spin out of control. Mr Dunn then guided us the the launch area where we will test our rockets. Lining up to test my rocket, and unsure of what will happen when I launch my rocket. Watching everyone else's rocket launch was an amazing observation. The stream of gas that followed the rocket as it leaped into the clouds. Some of the rockets didn't go as planned and either didn't deploy the nose cone, or the fin came of. Then there were some that were successful and shot straight into the the skies. This wouldn't of happened without Mr Dunn and a bit of help from Mrs Ferguson.

Trip to Tahuna Torea

Yesterday the whole senior school went to Tahuna Torea Reserve to study the habitat of the Kuaka. We saw the environment and mudflats where they rest. It was a fun time observing the view. I work collaboratively with my group to create to projects that reflect our day yesterday.

Kuaka Reading

Today we had a class reading activity about the kuaka (bar tailed godwit) migration. We were put into groups from the day before and continued a reading matrix chart. We then had a discussion about the types of transport that were/are used today, thirty years and one hundred years ago. Then one finished we, read a text about the kuaka migration using the reciprocal reading prompt(it is when everyone in the group get a turn a being the leader and asks their group questions like predictions, clarifying and summarising)

Rockets Technology

On Friday we have been learning about rockets at Tamaki College. This slideshow is activity about the straw rockets that we made. We have record our information from our test flights and results and then have evaluated it. First we had to make a hypothesis and a aim of the activity. First we made and tested our rockets with no fins on. Then we tried two, then four. Everyone's results were because of the way they made their straw rocket. We then had a competition to find out which rocket could fly the furthest.

Tamaki College Visit

On Friday after our Tech session, we were learning about rockets with Mr Dunn. We were going  to learn about rockets since it is relevant to our term topic of Flight. In our first part of learning(before lunch) we were introduced to straw rockets. It is basically a straw that goes inside a another straw which is sealed at one end and then is powered by our mouth when we blow through the straw. Then after Lunch we made real rockets out of cardboard which was already cut out and needed to be glued together. We worked in pairs which was better and worked collaboratively. Then as our session was coming to a end, Mr Dunn took us outside onto the school field to test his rocket that was premade. The results were surprising and the launch didn't go as planned because the top came of incorrectly. We then tested a 3D printed rocket(named, "Carrot") and this really surprised everyone. The launch was successful and the rocket blasted of into the sky and not returning. Thanks to Mr Dunn and Mrs Ferguson from Tamaki College for the fun and amazing time at the college to learn about flight.

Third Hockey Session

In our three hockey sessions we have had with the hockey instructors(Carly and Amelia) we have learnt a lot of new skills and techniques. We have learnt that when we grip the stick our right hand should go at the bottom of the handle and our left is on the end of the handle. When you dribble the ball, the stick should be close to the ball like magnet and dribbling it side to side. We have also learnt that to do a proper tackle(take the ball of another player, you have to bend down low and put the stick down and swing underneath the other stick to steal the ball. Another tip I learnt was that by juggling(bouncing) the ball on the flat side of the stick will practice our control skills. I would like to thank the Auckland Sport for organizing these sessions for us to learn about hockey.