Maori names for cities in NZ

For Te-reo, my class learnt various Maori names for the cities in NZ. To share our learning, we created our own google map, marking the cities in NZ by their English and Maori names.

Te Whanganui-a-Tara is the Maori name for Wellington Harbour, the capital of New Zealand. The translation of "Te whanganui-a-Tara", is  "the great habour of Tara", referring to the Maori chief Tara, who according to the Maori visited the area in the 12th century and decided to settle there.

Here is a screen shot of the map I created (Click to enlarge)

All about KJ Apa- Wondering wall display

On Monday, my class was given the task of creating sharing work about anything we wanted to learn about, to display on our "Wondering Wall". The Wondering Wall, is an area on our corridor class display, where numerous things our class wonder about or want to know more about!.

My Wondering Wall task that I chose to focus and do a research on, was KJ Apa. I chose to research him, because he's my favourite actor and for a New Zealander, he's making a superb name for himself in the (American&NZ) movie/television industry.

This is what I created to share my learning on KJ Apa. I stated information about his career and his remarkable internet presence on social media apps. I also stated information on his more personal information such as his age, family, ethnicity and background data on his tattoo. Enjoy!.

Day 7-Winter Learning Journey

7. #Keep New Zealand Beautiful

Dawn breaks on Day #7 – the final day of your Great Kiwi Road Trip. You wake up early, ready to make the long trek back to Auckland. Along the way, Curious Kiwi stops at two beautiful places, Taupo and Rotorua, for you to get out and walk around.

Activity 1: While in Taupo, you go for a walk around the lake and you notice pieces of rubbish floating in the water. You also notice that there is rubbish on the footpath. As you know, it is really important to put rubbish in the bin and keep New Zealand clean and beautiful for generations to come.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

With that in mind, it is time think about what you can do to keep New Zealand beautiful. Use your imagination and come up with three things that you could do to make your neighbourhood more beautiful. Post your list on your blog ☺

1- Create a clean up committee which once or twice in week does a community cleanup to ensure the are community is neat and clean.

2- As an individual, i’ll be happy to pick up the rubbish myself. Whatever I come upon, I pick it up. Or I create a movie, along with other peers to show other what the right thing to do! Which is to pick up the rubbish and keep our environment as clean as possible.

3- At school, I encourage everyone to show integrity towards our environment. Speak to them about the consequences of the rubbish as well as the great outcomes of having them picked up!. That way, they can spread the news to the whole community, family and friends.

Activity 2: After you have finished up in Taupo, it is time to hop back in the car and head for Rotorua – a town where will have the chance for some much needed rest and relaxation. In fact, you will visit the Tarawera Bush Pool – a geothermal hot pool that is located in the middle of a forest. The warm water in the pool comes from underneath the ground. After a few hours in the pool you feel really relaxed.

On your blog, post a picture of yourself doing something relaxing. I find reading really relaxing. Here is a picture of me reading one of my favourite books!

After a long soak in the natural hot pools, it is time to get back home. Your family and friends can’t wait to see you and they can’t wait to hear all about your adventures. Take a moment to think about what you have seen and done over the past week.

Now that i’m home, I want to take some me time. Me time, means reading time for me!. I sit back in bed and read one of my favourite candy apple books, Miss Popularity. As I do this, it’s just me and my booking, nothing else.

Bonus Activity: On your blog, post a video or write a description about your week. What have you learned? What did you like about the trip? What didn’t you like? Was there anything that surprised you?

To earn full points for this activity, you must talk about what you learned, what you liked and what you about your great kiwi road trip.

I have enjoyed the journey throughout the whole of New Zealand. It's been an amazing experience digitally visiting  the Sky Tower, Rangitoto,  KareKare And visiting the tallest tree in New Zealand,  Tane mahuta. I loved  going sightseeing throughout the whole of the North Island. I enjoyed writing those questions for Laura if I were to meet her. I also enjoyed creating my own flag using some bits from the original flag. I loved finding out more information about the brown kiwi, it was a pleasure meeting Elijah, my Brown Kiwi pet. I actually learnt that there was a kiwi specie called Brown Kiwi, that was amazing. I also learnt a lot  about Lorde when I was creating my DLO on her.  I learnt several of techniques of saving whales too!. I enjoyed reading the article about how the local people of Farewell spit saved the whales. I enjoyed blogging especially. I enjoyed going on this excellent journey learning about a variety of sources that have to do with New Zealand. It was really fun!.

Bonus Activity: 12 points

Well, New Zealand truly is a stunning country, isn’t it? I think that we are so lucky to call it home! Let’s make sure that we do everything we can to keep the country safe and clean for future generations…

#Keep New Zealand beautiful!

Day 4-Winter Learning Journey

Day #4: Swimming with the Sharks

By the end of Day #3, you have seen a lot of the north island of New Zealand.  Hopefully you have enjoyed it and you’re excited for the next phase of your journey – the ferry trip across the Cook Strait from the bottom of the north island to the top of the south island. You will spend the next two days exploring the south island before you head back up to Auckland, via Wellington (the capital city of New Zealand).

http://www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/interisland-ferry/

Activity 1: When you arrive in the south island, Curious Kiwi rents a shuttle van and drives your group from Picton (the town where the ferry dropped you off) to a beautiful beach on the opposite side of the island. The beach area is called Golden Bay and, at one end of the bay, is a stunning area called Farewell Spit.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

Farewell Spit has been in the news recently as a number of whales accidentally swam into the spit and became stuck on the beach. They were unable to swim back to the ocean because the water was too shallow. Many local people tried to save the ‘beached’ whales. Please follow this Farewell Spit link to learn more about what happened. On your blog, describe what the local people did to try and save the beached whales.

The heroic local people did all they can to save the whales including these things

• Draped wet blankets, t-shirts,  sarongs on top of the whales to keep them wet
• They grabbed their chilly bins, water bottles, cooking pots and mixing bowls to fill with water to keep the whales wet (The reason for this is to because the whales couldn’t breathe our air so they were suffocating, the only way for them to breather was for the helpers to keep them wet!)
• They also tried their best to keep their blow holes clear and to keep as far away from their tales

Activity 2: After a morning of learning about beached whales in Golden Bay, you and your group are driven to a nearby town, Nelson, to watch a special movie called ‘Whale rider.’ It is a famous movie about a young girl who was born and raised in New Zealand. Watch the following movie trailers for Whale Rider: Whale Rider trailer #1 and Whale Rider Trailer #2 and then write a summary of the movie on your blog. What is it about? Be sure to also give the movie a rating out of 5 based on the trailer [1 = bad movie, 2 = okay movie, 3 = pretty good, 4 = good movie, 5 = excellent movie].

http://www.incrementa.ca/leadership-succession-whale-rider/

When ‘Whale Rider’ finishes, you and your tour group enjoy a delicious meal in downtown Nelson before heading back to your hotel. You need to go to bed early because you have to get up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to travel back to Farewell Spit to see a group (pod) of Hector’s Dolphins. It is going to be an early morning!

Whale rider

The movie Whale Rider is a film about a very special family. A family that grew from a name called Paikea, a man who travelled to a Nz suburb on a back of a whale. From there, in every generation of this family the first born son had carried on the name of the great Paikea and becomes the leader of their tribe. That is until, instead of a boy being born, a girl was. Paikea who was supposed to be a boy, was looked down to by her koro(Granddad). She feels unwanted by him because of her turnout, because he wasn’t who he expected her to be. The leader her koro wanted her to be, was in her the whole time.

I think movie is excellent[5]

Bonus Activity: Hector’s dolphins are a very special native animal found only in New Zealand. They are the smallest dolphin in the world measuring 1.5 metres long and they are quite rare. Sadly, many Hector’s dolphins are killed every year when they get caught in large fishing nets and can’t escape. Some people have argued that fishermen shouldn’t be allowed to fish in Farewell Spit in order to protect the dolphins living there. What do you think? On your blog, tell us whether you think that fishing in Farewell Spit should be banned (stopped).

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/hector-s-dolphin

In my opinion, I believe that fishing in Farewell Spit should be banned.

Because these dolphins are rare and maybe endangered, this is all the information that should be provided to stop this from happening. Every endangered animal should have the right to be safe, to be saved and to live. If fishing is not banned there, this act will continue to endanger these animals, probably leading to these dolphins being extinct. The benefits of having these rare dolphins around can affect us all is they become extinct, especially if it reflects upon us humans. All sea animals should be left unharmed, unless they have a great reason not to be.

Bonus Activity: 10 points

Day 3-Winter Learning Journey

Day #3: Wild Eyes

You have now woken up after a long, comfortable sleep at your hotel in Dargaville. You’re ready for another day of adventuring! Today, you will drive around the North island and be introduced to amazing animals that live here in New Zealand. Some are native and some are non-native. Native animals are animals that normally live in New Zealand. Non-native animals are animals that were brought into New Zealand from another country. Examples of native New Zealand animals are the kakapo, the kiwi, the kea parrot, the yellow eyed penguin and the pekapeka bat.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

Activity 1: Curious Kiwi, a native New Zealand bird, is your tour guide for today. He is going to take you to visit the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park where many of his aunties and uncles currently live. The bird park is a five hour drive from Dargaville so you hit the road right after breakfast and arrive in Otorohanga at lunch time. As you walk through the birdhouse you learn about the work being done to conserve and protect the native birds of New Zealand. You decide to help out by ‘adopting’ a native animal. Visit the ‘Adopt a Critter page’ on the Otorohanga bird house website to choose one animal to adopt. On your blog, tell us the name of the animal that you chose and a little bit about them. What kind of animal are they? What do they eat? Where do they normally live? You can use Google to help you with your research.

http://www.newzealand.com/int/plan/business/otorohanga-kiwi-house-and-native-bird-park/

The lucky animal that I chose to adopt, is non other than a brown kiwi. Brown Kiwi’s originate from the North Island of New Zealand. They’re the most common Kiwi breed with about 35,000 remaining.  Amazing!. Kiwi’s in general, are New Zealand’s native/national animal.

The name i’m giving my pet Kiwi is Elijah. I recently found out that the meaning of the name is “The lord is my god”.

Brown Kiwi’s Diet

Brown Kiwi’s prefer to eat small invertebrates such as

• Earth worms
• Larvae
• Beetles
• Cicadas
• Moths
• Centipedes
• Crickets
• Spiders
• Weta
• Small fruit and leaves(Not and invertebrate)

I personally wouldn’t want the job of feeding the kiwi!.

Brown Kiwi’s Habitat

As stated in the first paragraph, Brown Kiwi’s are commonly found in the North island of New Zealand. They live in Native Forests, scrub, pine forests and rough farm land.

Activity 2: After your great visit to the Otorohanga bird house it is time to hop back onto the bus and head towards the Hawke’s Bay – your resting place for the evening. Hawke’s Bay is a beautiful region of New Zealand. It is known for its wineries and gorgeous scenery. When you arrive in Napier, the largest city in the region, you go for a walk through Waitangi Regional Park and notice that many of the leaves on the native trees have been damaged. Curious Kiwi tells you that they were damaged by possums, non-native predators, from Australia. People in New Zealand are working hard to trap and kill these predators. Their goal is to remove all of the possums (and other predators) by 2050. Go to the ‘Predator Free 2050 website’ to read more about their work.

http://www.outlawyarn.com/possum.html

On your blog, tell us whether you agree that New Zealand should be predator free. In your opinion, is it right to kill all of the predators (eg. possums) or should we just leave them alone? On your blog tell us what you think and give us, at least, three reasons why you think this way.

In my opinion, I strongly agree that Possums should be eliminated from our New Zealand habitats. (Sorry if I’ve come out quite sinister).

Reasons why

1. Possums are a  threat to all native species, they have shown that throughout the years, killing innocent animals and destroying native plants. If they’re left in our habitats, uncared for, the population of our native animals and plants will die out.
2. If the population of Possums die out and any predators, it’s more likely for our plants and native animals to live longer and safer lives. This leads to the birth of more animals, expanding the population of endangered animals in our country.
3. Last of all, with no predators in New Zealand, our native atmosphere will be more free and elegant looking. With predators here, they are destroying our plants, which leaves our forests looking horrible. Without predators, our forest will look better than ever, being the centre of tourist attractions here in New Zealand.

Once you have finished your blog post, it is time to relax for the evening. You and your friends have a nice dinner and then head to bed. You are just about to fall asleep when you hear something moving around outside your hotel. It sounds like a large bird. Maybe it’s a Moa…

To learn more about the Moa bird go to the bonus activity for today!

http://www.pottonandburton.co.nz/from-moa-to-dinosaurs/

Bonus Activity: A really cool new website called Wild Eyes has recently been launched in New Zealand. It is a programme for students who want to complete fun activities (called ‘missions’), take pictures and post them on the Wild Eyes site. For this bonus activity, go to the Wild Eyes site and complete the ‘Giant Moa Discovery’ mission. To earn full points you must post a picture of your Moa on the Wild Eyes website and on your personal blog site. The Wild Eyes team and I can’t wait to see what you create!

I created a digital drawing of a random girl surprised because she sees a Moa in the forest. I wasn't able to create a visual moa because I lacked resources to create it so instead I came up with this. Enjoy!.

Bonus Activity: 20 points

Day 2-Winter Learning Journey

Day #2: New Zealand by Land and Sea

After a short ride through Auckland it is time to start exploring the rest of the country. Today you are going to venture around the north island of New Zealand to look at active volcanoes, gorgeous beaches, windswept coastline and lush, green bush. As a group, you will start at Rangitoto, the largest volcano in New Zealand before driving west to Karekare, a stunning beach on the outskirts of Auckland. You will finish the day by driving north to visit Tane Mahuta, the oldest living kauri tree in New Zealand.

(1)Rangitoto: http://www.doc.govt.nz/rangitoto; (2) Karekare:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/themes/beaches/88348522/nz-has-one-of-the-best-beaches-in-the-world-according-to-passport-magazine; (3) Tane Mahuta: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/328117/track-to-tane-mahuta-to-be-closed-for-tree%27s-protection

Activity 1: After a very busy day of sightseeing you and your group drive from Tane Mahuta to your hotel in Dargaville. When you arrive you decide to sit down and record your thoughts in your travel diary.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

Before you start writing, take a minute to read more about Rangitoto island, Karekare beach and Tane Mahuta.  On your blog, tell us which of the three places you most enjoyed visiting and why.  

The landmark I prefered visiting was Rangitoto. Rangitoto is one of New Zealand's youngest volcanoes and I enjoyed exploring the beautiful sceneries. I also enjoyed cloud and bird sighting. It was very wonderful. But even better I got to see one of the most rarest plants and animals that lives among the island. I was able to go snorkeling for a while which was an exquisite experience.

Activity 2: As an island nation, New Zealand is completely surrounded by water. It is the perfect place for people who like to swim or to sail! While in Dargaville, recovering from your busy day of sightseeing, you notice a number sailboats going by. One of the boats is manned by a young German girl named Laura Dekker. At the age of fourteen she sailed around the world the entire world by herself. You can watch a short video clip about her adventures here: Laura Dekker sailing trip.   

Let’s imagine that you had the chance to interview Laura while in Dargaville. On your blog post five questions that you would ask her.

1. What have been your highlights of sailing?
2. Being the youngest female sailor, were you ever in the position where you felt intimidated by the older and more experienced female sailors?
3. What is your advice for young females who were in your shoes, striving to become a successful sportswoman?.
4. How long do you train for?
5. Travelling to all  those countries for competitions, what did you enjoy the most there?

Bonus Activity: When you finish your interview with Laura, you decide to keep on interviewing people. For this activity, your task is to conduct a real interview with an actual member of your family. Please ask them to think about their five (5) favourite things to do in the out-of-doors. They can be things that they enjoy doing on land or in the water. Post the list of outdoor activities on your blog.

Older sister-(Maryanne)

Activity	Image
Sailing-(When she went on a 2 week sailing camp on an actual ship like the image >>)
Swimming
Hiking-(Going on long runs, bush walking, exercising)
Exploring city landmarks (like sky tower, Auckland town hall, etc)
Paintballing

Bonus Activity: 10 points