Month: August 2023

Kia Ora whanau! Today, my class and I have made Marshmallow Shooters. Yes, that’s right. Marshmallow Shooters. Here’s what they look like.

Basically, the little shooters shoot our tiny marshmallows. Like a gun. Well not like a gun, it doesn’t kill someone. But it will hurt, depending on the amount of pressure and power you put into the pulling.

All you need is a used toilet roll and a balloon. You cut the long part off of the balloon and stretch the balloon over the roll. Then, you grab tiny marshmallows and place them inside the roll. You hold the knot of the balloon and pull it back. When you let go, the marshmallows fly out of the shooter then boom, you have a marshmallow gun thing.

Here’s a video. It’s a snowman version though but you can design it however you like it.

VIDEO

Where is Samoa situated in the Pacific?

The Independent State of Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa) is located south of the equator, in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. The Polynesian group of islands known as Samoa consists of two main islands Upolu and Savai’i and seven smaller islets.

What does the flag look like?

It consists of a red field with a blue rectangle in the canton. The blue rectangle bears the Southern Cross: four large white stars and one smaller star.

What is the music like?

Modern Samoan music shows influence from electrical instruments, jazz, and reggae, and even some house and techno styles.

Korfball is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m high pole.

1. The ball is played with the hands only.
2. Controlled physical contact is allowed.
3. A player can’t move with the ball in the hands.
4. A player can’t take a shot if they are being ‘defended’ …
5. The court is divided into two halves, players can’t cross the halfway line. …
6. Two positions are played, attack and defense.

There are more rules but these are the basically main ones.

In Korfball, the aim is to score by throwing the ball through the opposition’s basket. Once two goals have been scored, the teams change zones, with attackers becoming defenders and vice versa. Teams also swap ends at half time.

Jamaica – Jamaica is located in the Caribbean Sea about 600 miles south of Miami, Florida. It is part of the chain of Caribbean islands called the Greater Antilles, along with Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. Jamaican culture is a product of the interaction between Europe and Africa. Terms such as “Afro-centered” and “Euro-centered”. There are traditional dishes like Oxtail, Run Down (run dun), Ackee and Codfish and much more. Jamaican music is known for the fame of Bob Marley. That’s right, the Jamaican legend himself. The reggae master.

The Jamaican Flag – The flag has a diagonal cross with four triangles in juxtaposition. The cross is in gold. The top and bottom triangles are in green, and the hoist and fly triangles are in black. Black represents the strength and creativity of the people; Gold, the natural beauty of the sunlight and the wealth of the country; And green, signifies hope and agricultural resources.

Reggae – Reggae, style of popular music that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and quickly emerged as the country’s dominant music. By the 1970s, it had become and international style that was particularly popular in Britain, the United States, and Africa. It was widely perceived as a voice of the oppressed. The instruments that form the foundation of a typical reggae song would be drums, electric bass, electric guitar, and keyboard. However, over the years, other instruments such as horns, brass, and afro-cuban percussion have also been introduced to reggae.

Ska – What is Ska? Ska is a genre of music that combines Jamaican and Caribbean rhythms, punk rock energy, and horn sections. Together, these elements create an energetic, highly danceable style of music that has achieved off-and-on mainstream popularity.

Bob Marley – In 1975, Marley had his international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica, with a live version of “No Woman, No Cry”, from the Live! album. This was followed by his breakthrough album in the United States, Rastaman Vibration, which reached the Top 50 of the Billboard Soul Charts. Who was Bob Marley? Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter whose distillation of early ska, rock steady, and reggae musical forms blossomed in the 1970s into an electrifying rock-influenced hybrid that made him an international superstar.

New Zealand Reggae – Katchafire. A New Zealand Reggae band from Hamilton. They sang “Get Away”. House of Shem, they have roots from New Zealand. They sang “Thinking about you”. The Black Seeds, are a inspired musical group from Wellington. They sang “So True”.

Reggae Songs –

1. Three little Birds – Bob Marley
2. Night Nurse – Gregory Isaacs
3. One Love – Bob Marley
4. Red Red Wine – Neil Diamond
5. I can see Clearly now – Jimmy Cliff
6. Boombastic (Mr Boombastic) – Shaggy
7. Bam Bam – Sister Nancy
8. No Woman, no cry – Vincent Ford
9. Is this Love? – Bob Marley
10.  Many Rivers to Cross – Jimmy Cliff

Youtube – 

Three Little Birds – Bob Marley

I like Three little Birds because it gives good vibes and I just really like the song.

At my Worst (Reggae Remix) – Pink $weats

I know it’s not the original but I really like it.

A legend is a traditional story about the past. The main characters are usually kings or heroes. Some examples of well-known legends include the tales of Odysseus from Ancient Greece, Beowulf from the Norse lands and King Arthur from Old England. Like myths, legends were thought to be true.

Myths are stories that are based on tradition. Some may have factual origins, while others are completely fictional. But myths are more than mere stories and they serve a more profound purpose in ancient and modern cultures. Myths are sacred tales that explain the world and man’s experience.

Do you see the difference between these two? If not, here’s a better explanation:

Myths are stories that are passed down about how or why something came to be. Legends are designed to teach a lesson about a real person in history, with a few facts dramatically changed.

Why do we call Maori stories Purakau?

1.) What is it? Pūrākau, or storytelling, is an ancient form not just of transmitting ideas but of creating shared meaning and thus identity. Contemporary scholars have examined whether pūrākau can be employed both as a research method and as a tool for decolonisation.

2.) Why is Purakau important? Kōrero pūrākau enable us to retain, reflect on, and understand our experiences. They also help us to communicate to others what we have learned from those events or encounters. Kōrero pūrākau often hold universal life lessons for audiences. Why we call it Purakau? It is because it is the translation for Maori and it is respectful for Te reo Maori.

Opaque objects are solid. You cannot see through them. Like a simple rock, that is an Opaque object. No light can reflect or go through Opaque objects because it is solid. There are millions of Opaque objects like tables, walls, chairs, bookshelves and what so more.

Transparent objects are clear. You can see through them easily and they are clear. For example, glasses. Glasses are transparent in nature cause when you wear them, people can see your eyes and that makes glasses, transparent.

Translucent objects are cloudy. The light can go through cloudy. For example, windows. What makes a window translucent? This is because of the energy UV and infrared light hold and their wavelengths. Light goes through it.

Shiny objects also reflect light. Light bounces off of that object, reflecting it. For example, a disco ball. When there’s a random party or whatever, a light shines onto the disco ball and it reflects back, making the crowd go wild.

electromagnetic radiation, in classical physics, the flow of energy at the universal speed of light through free space or through a material medium in the form of the electric and magnetic fields that make up electromagnetic waves such as radio waves, visible light, and gamma rays.

Radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays are the seven types of electromagnetic waves in the spectrum.

How does electromagnetic radiation affect the human body?:

Low-frequency magnetic fields induce circulating currents within the human body. The strength of these currents depends on the intensity of the outside magnetic field. If sufficiently large, these currents could cause stimulation of nerves and muscles or affect other biological processes.

Me and my class have to make a poster about these New Zealand Soldiers from World War II. I chose Spencer Westmacott.

Aim: I want to make colorful flames (turn chemical energy into light energy).

Research: 

How to Color Fire with Salts

Flame Test

Testing using Methanol

Equipment:

• Safety glasses
• Bunsen Burner
• Wire loop
• Different chemical salts
• Small beaker of Nitric Acid

Method:

1. Get equipment ready.
2. Be safe.
3. Set up the Bunsen Burner.
4. Clean the wire loop in the acid.
5. Dip the wire loop into the salt of your choice.
6. Put the salty wire into the blue flame of the Bunsen burner.
7. Observe what happens.
8. Repeat instruction 4 to 7.

Results:

Chemical – Colour

Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate – Yellow

Copper II Sulphate – Light Green

Calcium Chloride – Orange

Sodium Chloride – Yellow

Strontium Chloride – Bright Red

Potassium Chloride – Lilac

My culture is Samoan.

When a person passes away, this is what happens. We include dancing, singing and recitations of traditional Samoan prayers and hymns. We consider death in “God’s Will”. We bury our dead in traditional clothing. An appropriate dress for funerals is a lavalava, white shirt, tie, jacket and leather sandals for men, and a white puletasi or a mu’umu’u for women.

It’s custom to give gifts to the immediate family of the deceased. Usually, these gifts are mats or money. A traditional gift giving belief that Samoans cling to is that the giver receives more spiritual blessings than the receiver. Therefore, thank you gifts almost always are given. It is disrespectful to stand when others are sitting, especially at a funeral. We do a death ritual named a heva, which is paid for and organised by the family of the deceased. The ceremony could last days or even months, depending upon on the wealth on whose sponsoring it.

Something I would like to share about my culture is older than 3,000 years old. We have a connection with water, tatau, food, dancing and singing.

There are a number of strategies that a person can implement to help them get through coping with the loss of someone important to them. Five strategies that I suggest are talking to someone you completely trust, practice self care, think of the good memories with the deceased and stay healthy. That’s how I dealt with it and it worked, made me better actually. A close family member of mine passed away recently and I just came back from the funeral. I’ve been upset but I thought happy and made sure that everything was going to be okay.