Term 1

This term has gone by so quickly, and I have remembered so much learning from last year that I'm kind of glad the term has ended. This term has been really busy with camp, Japanese students, and school activities that school has been really fun. We are in the last week of term and last week was back to work after camp which was super fun. This week is only a four day week which means no school on Friday :). This term I have learnt a lot in maths from integers (negative and positive numbers) to standard form and scientific notation. This term we have also had our first three inter-house sports which were: minor games, swimming, and the most recent summer games. My house Puniu is currently coming in 4th place which is not where we usually are on the leader board. Waipa is coming third, Mangapiko second and Waikato 1st. 

On Thursdays we have all the school activities like extension art, band, guitar, rock band, etc. I am involved in three activities which is extension art in the morning, guitar in the middle block, and robotic in the afternoon. Extension art this year has been going really well as I also did it last year so I already have a little bit more practice than most of the people in there. Everyone in extension art is already a good artist, but sometimes Mrs. Dixon gives them a little bit of a hand which is fine as everyone needs help sometimes. Guitar has been really well and we have been given some of the harder music to work on this year. I have been progressing well, and have been practicing heaps at home to make sure that I improve and get it right. Robotics was a little step out of my comfort Zone as I had wanted to do it, liked maths, and I like playing with robots so I thought I would give it a go. Robotics has been really fun with Mr. Graham as our teacher. I have learn heaps on how to control and program the spheros that we have.

Term one has been really fun so far and I can't wait for term 2.

Wellington Camp

Our class camp this year was for an entire week from Sunday to Friday. Sunday and Friday was traveling and Monday to Thursday was activities.
Monday was fun as we learnt about rare and common birds to New Zealand and how that the only mammal non-predator in NZ is the Short-Tailed bat. This was at Zealandia which is a native reserve a lot like Magatautari which is another native reserve. We learnt that some species are native to NZ, but are also endemic to our country which means they are found no where else in the world like the Kiwi. We also went to the Holocaust center where we heard a real child survivor recap her experience in WW2 as a four year old child put in a holding camp. Her name is Vera and she is part Jewish and she is about 65 years old now. We also went to Weta Workshop where we saw some of the stuff they used to make movies and even touch some of it.
Tuesday we went to Carter Observatory where we did a quiz and also watched a movie about all the satellites and the stars and the Sun and Moon. To get to Parliament we went down the cable cars and then walked the rest of the way. There we saw where the MP's do all their debates and saw photos of the mace. After that it we went to the Wahine disaster museum where a lady named Kathrine came and talked to us about what happened that day that the Wahine crashed into Barrett Reef and then capsized in the Port of Wellington.
Wednesday was really fun as first we went to Capital E ONTV where we did a show called once upon a crime and filmed it twice and the first one went onto YouTube and both are on the Capital E website which anyone can view. In the Media lab next door to ONTV was where we made a virtual reality world. First we made the landscape of the world where we had smooth, up and down, and also paint to height. Next we found textures (paints) that we liked and painted our world the way we wanted it with as many colors and textures as we wanted. After that we had to place our camera in our world so that our viewer could have the best experience possible. Then we got to do the fun part which is putting props in to the world around the camera to make it look more lively and positioning the sun. After that we all walked over to Te Papa Bug Lab also done by Weta Workshop and had a bug debate and a look around the exhibition which was really cool. In the bug debate we thought and talked about if we should wipe-out Mosquitoes. At fist I voted yes we should wipe-out all Mosquitoes, but when we got to the final vote I changed to no because Mosquitoes are pollinators like bees. In the exhibit there were four domes in which each dome had a different animal. In the first dome was a Orchid Mantis which is a lot like Praying Mantis, but instead it looks like a flower. The second dome was Dragonfly's, the third was a Jewel wasp and in the last was a type of bee. We were lucky after that as we got to go to the H2O Extreme water park where there were hydro-slides, lazy river, and wave pools.
Thursday we went to the Zoo and had a awesome time looking around and seeing all the amazing animals that where there. We also meet Jess one of the Zoo keepers there at Wellington zoo. We had a learning session with her and learnt about the things that help keep animal alive in the wild. After that we also got to see her give the monkeys some walnuts and watch them crack them open. Nearly everyone went and got something from the shop there and I got a stuffed cheetah. After that we went and did snorkeling with a lady named Sarah. Although the water was cold it was really fun to see all the amazing fish and aneamies that where there in Island bay. We saw lots of aneamies and little fish and we even saw a big Blue Moki.
Camp was really fun and exciting for me and everyone that went on it. I would like to say a big thank you to Gale who drove our bus for us and also acted as one of the parent helpers, all the parents that went on camp as all of you did a really good job with cooking and looking after all us kids. Finally I want to thank our teacher Mrs. Crowe for organizing the entire camp and also putting up with all of us.