Art Work Term 1 2017

Photos of Artwork from Term 1

This painting is of Lake Ellesmere and its surroundings.

This is my first painting

This is my final painting.

Something I learnt - Kupe and the Giant Wheke

Last week, during kete class, we learnt about Kupe and the Giant Wheke. Mr Mitchell shared and told us the story about Kupe and the Giant Wheke.

Kupe was a rangitara, a great fisherman who lived in Hawaiiki. One day when Kupe was fishing with the others, they noticed something unusual. They didn't get the expected tug on their fishing lines, and when they pulled their lines out of the water, their bait had vanished. This had never happened before. Early in the next morning, they decided to go fishing again, but the same thing happened again. They pulled out their lines, and the bait was gone. Kupe noticed something... There was a slimy substance covering his hook, and he recognised it as belonging to an octopus. He knew that Muturangi, a chief on the other side of the island, had a pet octopus. He revealed in a disrespectful way that his octopus, Te Wheke o Muturangi, was indeed the one eating all their bait. Kupe and his people began to build a canoe, that they would use on their journey to kill Te Wheke o Muturangi. The chase continued for weeks, across the vast Pacific Ocean. One morning, Hine-te-Aparangi, Kupe's wife, saw a long cloud in the distance, a sign that land was near. She named the land, Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud. She, Kupe, and the whole whanau were amazed by the beauty of the new land they discovered. The stories they'd known as children of Maui fishing a great land from sea were true. His people explored the new land, and gathered needed supplies. Kupe took his dog, Tauaru, across land to the Hokianga harbour. They left footprints in the soft clay while walking around the shoreline. Over many years the footprints turned to stone and have remained there to this day. Kupe continued the chase, and sailed into Te Moana o Raukawa (Cook Strait), a turbulent and potentially dangerous stretch of water between the North Island and the South Island of Aotearoa. Knowing the turbulent waters would be an advantage to the wheke, Kupe chased it into the calmer waters of Totaranui (Queen Charlotte and Tory Sounds.) Because of the many waterways and islands around those areas the pursuit continued for many days. Kupe finally caught Te Wheke o Muturangi at the entrance to Te Moana o Raukawa from Totaranui, and the great sea battle began. Kupe jumped from his canoe onto the back of the giant wheke, and struck a fatal blow to its head. Te Wheke o Muturangi was finally defeated. Kupe returned safely to his whanau, and they got themselves ready for their return to Hawaiiki. Te Wheke o Muturangi, which was thought of as a bad omen, had lead them to a new land they now called Aotearoa, a land Kupe knew future generations would call home.

The first 3 weeks of school

The first 3 weeks of school has been great. I am in 8Mt this year, and have already learnt a lot.  Mr Mitchell is pretty awesome... his jokes are great too...

A few things I've learnt is - 

1. I've learnt that Mr Mitchell is a great teacher...
2. I've learnt about using more interesting vocabulary and punctuation in my writing.
3. I've started learning about statistics, mainly about graphs. 
4. I've learnt how to use burners in Science.
5. I've learnt a few more words and phrases in Maori. 
6. I've learnt tips about how to sketch superheroes.
7. I've learnt a bit of how my class is like, including students and teachers. 
8. I have also learnt a bit more about the Treaty of Waitangi. In class we are working on having a class treaty, something similar to the treaty of waitangi. 

The best thing that happened in the first few weeks, was the top team challenge. I did not know that it involved water, and I was drenched at the end... But it was a lot of fun!
This year, I have already applied to be doing kitchen duty, applied for the Junior Council 2017, and have applied to be a Year 8 Mentor. 

I have learnt way more things, but those are some of the things I have learnt. I am looking forward to the rest of the year as a year 8. It has been hard getting used to school again, but it has been pretty fun. 

Art Class 2017

Learning how to sketch superheroes step by step.

http://www.cool2bkids.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/How-to-Draw-Superman-Step-by-Step.jpg

It's time for 2017!

Festival of the Arts - Post 3

Why Do We Yawn? ι ( ¯ ö¯)ﾉ

Why Do We Yawn?

*YAAAAAAAAAWN!* Yawning. The most BORING thing ever. Have you ever wondered why we yawn though? Or when we yawn when we wake up? Or even when we yawn during class then.. BOOM! Someone else randomly yawns! It’s weird right? Well we yawn everyday and it’s actually helpful for our body!

Still wondering why? Well keep reading…

Yawning. We do it everyday, but first of all why?   

Yawning actually helps our brains. When our brain is exhausted it gets overheated. Just like a computer our brain works best at a certain temperature. When we yawn we, we breathe air and that air cools down our brains. Exhaustion and Sleep Deprivation both increase our brain temperature. Our brain is not working when we are bored or exhausted, so it gets overheated.  (Just like when you leave a computer running but you are not using it, it gets overheated). The human body takes in less oxygen when we are bored or exhausted because our breathing is being slowed down. Soooo…. Basically we yawn to keep our brains cool! Keeping our brains cool is important so that they can function well, so we can learn and focus better. It also keeps us aware of what we are doing!

So.. why is it contagious? Why does my classmate yawn right after I do?  Some people say it’s not contagious, some people say it is. So what’s the truth?..

As far as we know, contagious yawning is true. Contagious yawning is most likely linked to Empathy. Empathy is the ability to share and understand the feelings of another person. Contagious yawning begins when you are around 4-5 years old. This is when empathetic behaviour begins to develop. Research shows that children with empathy related disorders such as Autism, yawn less compared to others. Research also shows that you are more likely to copy the yawn of someone socially/genetically close to you. Eg. Family, friends, classmates! The mirror neurons are also linked to contagious yawning. Our mirror neurons in our brain activate when we do an action, see someone else doing the action, or hear someone talk about the action. Our mirror neurons help us with our learning, self awareness, and relating to others. When we see or hear someone else yawn the mirror neurons in our brain become activated and as a result we copy the yawn.

This is why we yawn, and why it is contagious. Next time you yawn during class and someone else yawns, you’ll know why! How many times did you yawn while reading this? Well now you are an expert on yawning…

Fun Fact…

Humans are not the only ones that yawn.. Animals yawn too! Whaaaaaaaaat!