Hiwi the Kiwi

Hiwi the Kiwi is a special group that made a visit to our School. They came to promote their care for the ocean and why it is important to care. They taught us things such as how big is the fish we are allowed to take home with us and different kinds of Birds that are soon going to be extinct due to us being lazy enough to not put our rubbish in the bin.

As I entered the School hall with my classroom the Husband and Wife Duo sang us in.  Mr and Mrs Minstrel were there names but that refereed to themselves as Hiwi the Kiwi . They were up on stage with their props. The had things such as pictures of different kind of fish and a guitar and a sound system. The only thing I was told before going into the hall was that a special group by the name of Hiwi the Kiwi we're here to teach us something special. As I sat down I was still in confusion as what they were going to teach us but it had something to do with fishes.

They introduced themselves and their passion for keeping their oceans clean and making sure that the rear birds and fishes were not extinct. They were a husband and wife duo that live in a caravan going around the whole of New Zealand informing others about our ocean. They have been married to each other for 40 years! We sang a lot of songs about fishes and the sea. What I learnt from them was that their is a certain measurement that we have to measure the fish we catch. There a 2 reasons why their is a certain measurement. Reason 1 it is because if the fish is too small it is not fair to the fish we have to give it a chance to grow and also because the more tastier fish are the ones that are not to big and are not too small. Reason 2 in that if the fish is too big and is over the measurement it might have babies and if we kill it it won’t give the babies a chance to be born and to make more babies of their species which may lead to having no more fish.

What I also learnt was when we catch fish and it is too small or too big we are not to chuck it back into the sea roughly. We are to use a wet towel to pick it up and gently place it back in the ocean. The reason behind using a wet towel is that we don’t peel off their scales. There scales are important to them as skin is important to us. If we peel of their scales while they are alive and then chuck them back into the ocean it might cause them to die and they won’t grow well. Here is one of the songs I learnt during Hiwi the Kiwi. Also Kaimoana means Seafood in Maori!

Kaimoana fish for the sea.

Kaimoana to feed the family.

Fish for the future and their will always be

Kaimoana for you and me!

Cross Country

It was Cross Country. One of the most scariest days ever. My heart was beating rapidly. I could feel a strong feeling of nervousness creeping through my blood.

I was confused to as why I was scared as I have done this many times before. I walked in line next to my friend Lucy and we made our way to the starting line. Mr Burt had the starting block in his hands. “ On your marks” he said. “Get set.... GO” he exclaimed. Before the race Lucy and I had already decided to save our energy till we get closer to the finishing line so we jogged lightly. The light jog lead us to be in the middle of the small group of Year 8 girls.

As we jogged lightly I could feel a burning sensation upon my chest. I was already told that if we could feel that it was a message from our bodies to tell us to keep going. I was pleased as I knew I was trying hard. I was going to give this cross country my all.  I kept jogging all the way to the reserve when I came to a stop. As I walked I huffed and puffed non stop. I decided to jog some more. Until I stopped again at the Gate which led us back to our school. It was now time for our second lap.

As I ran past the crowd for the second time I heard words of encouragement being chanted loudly. That gave me the strength to keep on running. This time the burning sensation was heavier than before. I had to complete this run I thought to myself. I kept jogging till I couldn’t feel my legs no more. I then walked slowly as it felt like my carve muscles were stuck together and wouldn’t let me move. I let Lucy keep on running as I wanted her to do her best. I finally reached the gate and jogged this time through the playground and passed the finishing line. A wave of joy rushed through me as I knew I completed this to my best ability.

NZ Silver Medalists

This week in Literacy my group the Louis Sachars have been given an article to read and have had to make the presentation ourselves. This has lead us to understand more about the questions as we come up with the questions. Take a look!

Sleep?

When people hear they word sleep the would probably think that it's a time of rest and quiet but actually there's a lot more to it.

Sleep is what we do to regenerate our energy. We have followed the ancient way of sleeping while the moon is out and being active while the sky is blue. Sleep would be in the top 10 for the most important thing in our life as without it we are more likely to lose memory easily and exclude ourselves from our normal daily activities and also become less aware of things which is very dangerous.

For everyone we all have a certain amount of sleep we need to gain.Babies need at least 10 - 12 hours of sleep with a nap for 3 - 5 hours. Why you may ask. Well as a newborn sleep actually helps them grow. It is also known to make us grow as well. For kids aged to 6 - 13 we need 9 to 11 hours of sleep as we are more active and need more energy. For Adults they need a shorter amount of time which is 7 to 9 hours.

We can sleep in different ways. For example we can have a light sleep also known as a nap and also a deep sleep which is what we do at night. The differences between a light sleep and a deep sleep is very easy to find out. In a light sleep we sometimes are still able to hear things while sleeping and also wake up faster than a deep sleep. A deep sleep is a longer sleep and a bit more important than the light sleep. A deep sleep is when we can’t feel or hear anything and has to be pushed a few times to be awaken.

Remember to get your sleep!

Russia banned from the Olympics (Our Opinion)

This week in Reading we have read 3 articles based upon the drug use of Russia in the Olympics. My group Louis Sachars have used a Padlet to express their own opinions on what they think about this situation. Take a look!

Created with Padlet

How our Muscles Work

This is an explanation about how our muscles function and why they do what they do. We have a total of 640 muscles in our body. Each muscle belongs to one of the three kinds.  The Skeletal, Cardiac and smooth muscles. Each all have a special job in our bodies that you might not even know they do.

The skeletal muscles are also called voluntary muscles. They are voluntary because we decide when to move them and how to move them. They are attached to our bones by what we call tendons. Bones, tendons and muscles all give our body strength. The are all part of the skeletal system which is controlled by our nervous system.

The Cardiac muscle is also called the heart. The Cardiac muscle has the special job of contracting and relaxing to pump blood throughout the whole body. The heart muscle is also known as the myocardium.

The last type of muscle is the smooth muscles which also have another name called the involuntary muscles. That means they work without you even telling them to or even trying.  They are found inside the walls of the stomach, the intestine and the bladder. The very hollow organs. They sit in between the outer covering and the inner lining. These walls help the food be processed through the stomach... Another way the could work is for example if you vomit they work by pushing the food from the stomach back through the esophagus and out the mouth. Next time when you eat you now know what happens to your food!

Training for Success

This week in reading we are learning about a girl named Phoebe Edwards.
She is a very athletic girl who has won loads of competitions. In the book
training for success it tells us about how she trains to win the big events.
Take a look!

How the Olympics came to be

The Olympics is known to be the one of the best sporting event that has ever happened. They bring the best athletes from 206 countries together every four years to compete in competitions to win medals for their countries. This explanation will tell you how the Olympics came to be and the changes it’s been through over time.

It started as a religious way to honor the Olympian God Zeus. He was a 13 meter tall statue that lived in the temple of Zeus in Olympia Greece. The first ever Olympic games started in 776 BC (before Christ). Only one event happened in the first 13 Olympics. It was the 200 meter run. Only men participated as women were prohibited for religious reasons. It took them a long 60 years to finally add 2 more events to the Olympics. It consisted of the pentathlon and a longer race. The pentathlon consisted of the long jump, the discus throw, the javelin throw, and a wrestling match between the two athletes who won the previous four events. Soon after the Roman emperor Theodosius strictly banned the Olympics to be in the honor of Zeus as he was a christian. This rule occurred after the death of Christ in the year 393.

So that was the end of the Olympics. Until 2 thousand years later it was brought back to life by Baron Pierre De Coubertin. In 1892 he attended a sporting conference and suggested to revive the Olympic games and that it may still happen every four years. They declined his request. They met up again in 1896 and he then tried to pursue his request and 79 delegates from 9 countries approved his request. This is Olympics are now called the Modern Olympics because it relates to the past Olympics.

On the 15th of April 1896 the first ever modern Olympics were held. Some of the ancient sports were no longer in the Olympics such as nude running, chariot races and more. They added new sports such as basketball, swimming and many more modern games. Today Olympians train hard for four years. Today the Olympics is held in honor of their countries and the themselves. It is a fun event that everyone looks forward to. It has had over 8,200,000 spectators and will still have the title of the best sporting event in the world.

Why do our muscles get tired?

In reading we are learning about muscle fatigue. Muscle fatigue is the pain
you feel after excising or sports that require lots of body movement.
We learnt lots of facts about muscle fatigue and how to avoid muscle fatigue.
Take a look!

We are the Champions

This term in Team 5 our theme is we are the champions. We are looking
at the body parts of our body and the food we need to help us become champions.
This is related to the Olympics and also the bodies of the athletes. Take a look!