Home Economics - Japan

In home economics, we are learning about Japan. Something I have learnt about Japanese culture is that Tea Ceremonies are a symbol of respect and purity.  Compared to the majority of people in New Zealand, the Japanese take much longer to prepare food and put tones of effort into it. In Japan, it is common to have rice for every meal, whereas in New Zealand it isn't as common.

Another task we had to do in home ec was research rice, from this we now have to compose three questions someone else is able to answer. Here are my questions:

1. Why is brown rice healthier than white rice?
2. What colour is wild rice? 
3. Why is rice such common food? 

English - Critical Literacy - Musicals

Vocab - Stereotypes, Construction, Bias, Gender, Masculinity, Femininity

Masculinity stereotypes -

• Strong
• Manly
• Tough
• Brave 
• Aggressive
• Athletic
• Tall
• Work
• Blue 

Femanity stereotypes -

• Calm 
• Makeup
• Clean
• Small
• Quite  
• Passive 
• Delicate 
• Sensitive 
• Dress
• Soft 
• Pink

Somewhere that's green -

• Soft voice
• cleaning 
• man doing the mowing
• dress
• girl is cooking 

11. How are adults constructed in this text? Women are seen as cleaners and cookers whereas the men have more "masculine" jobs. The women are seen to be cleaning and doing jobs around the house with their hair all done and wearing dresses.

28. What kind of social reality does this text portray? Women have to do more feminine jobs while men are able to do the jobs seen more manly. The women are also perfect with her hair and dress immaculately.

29. How does this text construct a version of reality?  It constructs a version of reality as stereotyping someone based on whether they are a man or a woman was extremely common a few years ago and we are only now starting to not judge someone based on their gender.

27. What view of the world is the text present? The text shows us that in their world girls have to stick to the girly roles and the men have to stick to manly roles.

Legally Blonde - 

• dress 
• the only girl assumed to be dumb
• wants job
• not as soft and more confident. 

11. How are adults constructed in this text? The girl was seen as a dumb blonde, which isn't actually smart. She is seen as determined and doesn't have many of the stereotypical feminine traits

28. What kind of social reality does this text portray? The girl isn't judged by here gender instead she was judged on how well she did in school.

29. How does this text construct a version of reality?  Gender isn't how people are judged

27. What view of the world is the text present?

Art - Mural Research Thing

In art we had to do a research task about murals, here is my work:

Find a mural timelapse:

Artist name: Dan Kitchener

Art Location: 45th street/Butler street Pittsburgh, America 

My Comment: I chose this work because the colours caught my eyes as I was looking for a time-lapse. I like the detail of the work, how all the colours look together and I kinda like how chaotic it looks.

Find another mural:

Artist Name: Tess Sheerin

Where Arist is from: Tess Sheerin is from Raglan, NewZealand. She is an environmental activist as well as being an artist. 

My Comment: I chose this work because I like how it is simple and still spreads a message. I like how the background makes the seal stand out more and I like how the background colours correlate with the colours used for the trash. 

Home Economics - Souvlaki

In Home Economics we made Souvlaki. As usual, I worked with Cortney, Tana and Gabe. I think our group did a good job of distributing the jobs out evenly as we all ended up with jobs we were able to complete and that went with our skills in the kitchen. My job was to prepare and cook the beef that went in the souvlaki. The thing I think our group struggled with was cleaning as for some reason no one was really in the mood to clean as well as we normally do. Next time we could clean as we went along to make it easier for us in the end. We got to put whatever we wanted out of the food we had prepared. In my souvlaki, I put beef, lettuce, tomatoes and greek yoghurt. I thought that our groups' souvlaki turned out pretty well and I liked that we were able to add our own things in our own souvlaki. Unfortunately, no one in our group remembered to take photos otherwise I would have shared what the souvlaki looked like.

Physical Education - Gymnastics

In PE we have been doing gymnastics. In the 3 lessons we have had so far we have been getting used to the equipment and learning/practising some of the skills. The majority of my time in gymnastics has been spent on either the floor or the bars as they don't require taking socks off. Apparently, we were supposed to film our routine but none of our class got told this so no one filmed any routines. Although we didn't film our routines we still had to answer questions on how we felt like we are going to gymnastics so far. Here are the questions and my answers.

Something I did well? Something I think I did well was learning the routine for the floor as I can do the majority of the tricks and I also think I did a good job of learning new skills.
Something I could work on? I think I could work my handstand roll out as I don't have enough control to do the roll at the end.
How could I improve? I could improve my gymnastics skills by gaining more confidence as sometimes I doubt myself making me think I am unable to do a skill.


 Here is a step by step demonstration of what I am trying to work on.

Our whole goal in gymnastics was to eventually be able to complete a sequence. Jordy and I choose to focus on the floor. After a period we were able to successfully remember the routine.  The order of the routine was arabesque, cartwheel, forward roll, jump full turn the finish with a backward roll. The next period we filmed our routines, but we were a bit embarrassed so they aren't as good as they could've been. Unfortunately, the videos were unable to be sent at this point in time but I assure you that as soon as the video is able to be sent I will post it on my blog.

Learner Matrix - English

In English, we have been trying to improve our self-directed learning.  The first thing we had to do was highlight parts of the matrix in either green, meaning we feel like we do this or in yellow, which means we need to work on it. I wasn't sure about if I was already doing a few of these things but I tried my best to do it as accurately as possible. Here is my learner matrix:

We had to make a goal about one of the aspects we don't already do so I decided to do mine of having a positive attitude because I sometimes freak myself out when it isn't necessary. I also think it would be a good time to practice this aspect as creative writing isn't my favourite part of English.  My goal is to think positively about my work instead of doubting myself and my abilities. 

Figurative Language - Idioms

Figurative Language - First task

Figurative Language - Onomatopoeia

Highlight the onomatopoeia in each of the following sentences:

1. The old engine chugged down the rickety track. 
2. The hard-hit tennis ball whistled by my ear.
3. The truck’s brakes screeched in the distance.
4. The rain beat on the metal barn roof.
5. His guitar strings twanged the sad melody. 
6. The old floor creaked as we walked slowly across it. 
7. The fire cracked and popped on a cold night. 
8. The snake hissed when I startled it.

Have a go at writing some Onomatopoeia sentences of your own:

Pop! Bang! Crack! went the Christmas cracker.

Only the ticking of the clock could be heard.

The ball swished into the bucket.

I made a huge splash as I jumped into the pool.

Figurative Language - Personification

In each sentence, an object or idea is personified.  Identify the object or idea that is being personified and explain which human trait or action is applied to the object or idea.

1. The wind whispered through the gloomy forest. 

What is being personified? Wind

What human trait or quality has it been given? It can whisper

1. The gardener lovingly added the manure to his crops believing he was making happy flowers.

What is being personified? flowers

What human trait or quality has it been given? emotions

2. .  As we walked through the scorching desert, the sun beat down on us.

What is being personified? sun

What human trait or quality has it been given? beating

4.  The lumberjack levelled the many trees into a clearing and his chainsaw sang its deadly song.

What is being personified? Chainsaw

What human trait or quality has it been given? it can sing

5. As Alice searched for her missing pencil, she said sarcastically, “Well, I guess it just walked off of my desk.”  She looked at her classmates accusingly.  

What is being personified? pencil

What human trait or quality has it been given? walking

6. When Monica walked through the shoe store, each shiny pair of high heels called out to her.

What is being personified? the high heels

What human trait or quality has it been given? talking/calling

Have a go at writing some Personification sentences of your own:

The wind howled in the night.

Lightning danced across the sky.

Time flies when you're having fun.

Figurative Language - Alliteration

Highlight the alliterations in each of the following sentences:

1. The sun sizzled the swimmers skin.
2. I accidently ate an awful apple.
3. Beth borrowed Barry’s books before biology. 
4. Slipping and sliding, I stumbled in the snow and slush.
5. Many mysterious men mumbled messages.
6. The gallant goat gobbled gobs of garbage greedily. 
7. The rapidly rising river rushed rampantly.

Finish these sentences with your own alliterations:

1. Red roses remind Rudolph to run.
2. While wandering west, Walter went wacko.
3. The tired traveller travelled to the town.

Figurative Language - Similes and Metaphors

Copy these sentences onto your blog and highlight the simile in each:

1. My bedroom was as black as a cave in the depths of the earth.
2. The classroom after school became as noisy as a gaggle of gabby geese.
3. The cat capered along the fence top like a tightrope walker on the hire wire. 
4. My anger crashed into me like waves against the shore. 

Use a word from the box to complete each simile

1. The cloth was as black as coal
2. The wet ball was as slippery as an eel
3. My little sister is as playful as a kitten
4. The top of this table is as smooth as silk
5. I’ve been as busy as a bee
6. The lamb is as white as snow

For each of these sentences is it a simile or a metaphor?

1. As slippery as an eel. - simile
2. Arnie was a man-mountain. - metaphor
3. He was a lion in battle. - metaphor
4. She is as pretty as a picture. - simile
5. The striker was a goal machine. - metaphor
6. The torch lit up the room as if the sun had already risen early. - simile
7. The moon was a misty shadow. - metaphor
8. My friend has a face like thunder. - simile

Have a go at writing some Similes and Metaphors of your own:

1.She was as fast as lightning

2. Jordan is as cheeky as a monkey

3. She is a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day

4. Natasha is as smart as a laptop

5. Natashas eyes are as blue as a blue whiteboard marker

6. Jordan has the skills of Batman

Pizza - Home Economics

In home economics we made Pizza. I worked in the same group as usal (Gabe, Tana and Cortney). Our group worked well and we spread the jobs out evenly. The making of the pizza was pretty easy as we made a 3 ingrediant base and chopped up the meat and veges we need. The base was made out of yoghurt, self-raising flour and a dash of salt. We got to chose our own toppings top put on our own pizza. The toppings I chose was capsicum, ham, onions, mushroom and cheese. In the end I thought the pizza turned out good and they tasted good as well. Here are some pictures of before and after the pizza had been cooked:

Social Studies - Pyramids and Conspiracies

In Social Studies we are learning about how Egyptians made pyramids. So far we have learned about how the Pyramids were actually built by paid labourers and not slaves. The paid workers also got the honour of being buried in the pyramids. We had to write a couple of paragraphs about something to do with the pyramids. I decided to look into two conspiracies people have about the pyramids. Although I personally do not believe in these conspiracies I thought it would be fun to look into why people believe them. Here are my paragraphs:

With today's technology, we would not be able to replicate the Pyramid of Giza. Due to technology being lost it would be nearly impossible to remake the pyramids, because of this some people believe that aliens built the pyramids instead. The pyramids are a huge structure and still cause scientist and archaeologist confusion when it comes to how Egyptians made them as they struggle to see how they successfully made dozens of pyramids to stand without falling, be symmetrical and how they got the heavy stone up the pyramid. Some people believe that ramps were used to carry the stones up the pyramids (there are actually traces of where the ramp used to be)  while others believe that aliens used their advanced technology to lift it and place it in the perfect position. People think this as the limestone used is very heavy and would be a struggle to pull to the top of a 138m structure. Other than getting the limestone up to pyramid it would have been hard to achieve a perfect position easily. The Pyramid of Giza is in a position where the corners of the pyramid face the northeast and north-west perfectly, it also is aligned with the magnetic north which would have been hard to complete on their own, because of this it is thought that the pyramid wad levitated above the ground to then be put in a perfect position. Although Egyptians may do this on their own, without some supernatural levitation, some people are not able to see that the Egyptians could've accomplished this as it would've been extremely difficult to align these perfectly. It is thought that the pyramids were built with technology far more advanced with what the Egyptians had access to, therefore aliens are suspected to be the creature that built them.

If you are unable to see how aliens constructed the pyramids then maybe the idea that someone travelled from the future to build it instead. Even though I don't fully understand this conspiracy I thought it was interesting and decided to write what I know about it. This conspiracy isn't is popular and isn't very known but it is backed up by Stephen Hawking so like it's not that insane or impossible to believe. I found out this conspiracy after doing a lot of research and I think that the first one to publicly state this conspiracy was Scarlett Moffat when was on a British tv show called 'Im a Celebrity'. Scarlett said "in order to travel back in time, we have to go faster than light. The speed of light is the same latitude point as the tip of the great pyramid. The speed of light is like 319 and then loads of numbers, it’s exactly the same latitude point as the tip of the Great Pyramid. So I think someone from the future realized we’d need the pyramids and went back in time and built them.” Although I don't quite understand this statement I think it basically suggests that the pyramids were discovered to relate to the speed of light and were found to be a crucial part to how time works or are discovered or something so someone timetraveled back to the past to build them. People believe this conspiracy because someone time traveling is easier to comprehend than aliens and someone from the future may end up with technology just as (or more) advanced than the technology aliens are thought to have. Personally, I think that it is more believable that someone from the future built the pyramids compared to aliens as I don't really think aliens are real and because time travel doesn't seem impossible in this world.