My Favourite Movies

My favourite movie series at the moment is How To Train Your Dragon by DreamWorks Animations I've read the books as well, written by Cressida Cowell.
I also enjoy watching Dragons Race to the Edge on Netflix which is set between the first and second movies.
On the 27th January - my little brother's birthday - I am taking him to see the third movie.

The series is about Hiccup who is a Viking. All the Vikings spend their lives training to and then killing dragons but Hiccup shoots down his first dragon, makes friends with him and calls him Toothless because he has retractable teeth.
In the movies and TV series Toothless is a Night Fury (which is the rarest dragon) but in the books he is a Common or Garden Dragon.
Hiccup ends up changing all the Viking's minds and they all have their own dragons in the end.

Some of the main characters are Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins (Ruffnut and Tuffnut) and Hiccup's father (Stoick the vast) and his father's best friend (Gobber).

    Link to Photo   hiccup and astrid ... httyd2 | HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON ...

               

                                                           Link to Photo

                                                                   fanpop.comToothless ☆ -                    Toothless the Dragon Wallpaper (32987034 ... 

                                                           Astrid Hofferson | Hiccup, Httyd and Movie   Link to Photo

                                                                                                                                                    

My Summer Holiday

This year I am going for a horse treck for the first time. I am busy organising all the things I need to take with me.

We carry all our own gear on our horse in saddlebags - we need to take food for the entire trip, cooking gear, clothes, sleeping bags, tents etc.

Our itinerary for each day is:
22km From Lawrence to 'derelict stomping battery' (public land)
24km to 'quarry' near Abbotsford
17km to Deep Stream, Old Dunstan Rd
22km to Howell's yards Great Moss Swamp
22km to 'Intake' lakelet near Patearoa
19km to Totara Creek
22km to Bonspiel

Vodafone New Zealand - Big Back Yard   customerzone.vodafone.co.nz   Link to Photo

Book Review #3

Duel at Araluen by John Flanagan

Duel at Araluen is the 3rd book in the Royal Ranger series which follows the Rangers Apprentice series.

Maddie is now the Ranger's Apprentice of Will (who the Ranger's apprentice series is about). King Duncan and Princess Cassandra are trapped in the South Tower of Castle Araluen guarded by the Red Fox Clan and Maddie needs to rescue them, to do that though she first needs to save Horace and Gilan.

She enlists the help of the Heron Brotherband and the crew of Wolfbiter.
This is the first time we have read about Hal and his crew out of Brotherband - another very good series that I recommend reading.

Will her plan work? You'll have to read to find out.

Book Review #2

The Escape by Robert Muchamore

The Escape is the first book in the Henderson's Boys series which is a prequel to the Cherub series.

These books explain how Cherub was created and they are exciting to read.

The Escape is set in 1940 France - Hitler's army is advancing towards Paris while millions of French civilians are on the run. Two British children (Paul and Rosie) are being hunted by the Gistapo! 

Charles Henderson is a British spy and is trying to reach Paul and Rosie first but he needs the help of Marc - a 12 year old French boy.

The British secret service is about to discover that kids working undercover will help to win the war.

Concluding the Journey

This is the final activity for the Summer Learning Journey. I feel like I have learned a lot about saving the world.

One thing I have learned from participating in the Summer Learning Journey this year is that there is a lot more pollution in the World than I thought! I feel like we are lucky in New Zealand as it doesn't seem as noticeable here as in big cities like Shanghai.

One thing that surprised me is that we might be able to have a predator free New Zealand by 2050!

One thing that concerned me is that I don't think people are making enough of a change to stop pollution and global warming. Something bigger needs to change.

One thing I can do to help protect our natural environment is pick up rubbish I see lying around.

Adoption Day

Did you know you can adopt an animal through the World Wildlife Fund?
You don't actually get to bring the animal home, you just pay $55 and that money is used to feed and look after your chosen animal - how cool is that!?!

If I got to choose 3 animals to adopt through the WWF I would choose:
1.   Red Fox
2.   Cheetah
3.   Przewalski's Horse

Red foxes have been recorded in habitats as diverse as tundra, desert and forest. Natural habitat is dry, mixed landscape, with scrub and woodland. Red foxes are solitary hunters who feed on rodents, rabbits, birds, and other small game. They will also eat fruit and vegetables, fish, frogs, and even worms. They face threats due to habitat degradation, loss, and fragmentation, and exploitation. Like a cat's, the fox's thick tail aids its balance, but it has other uses as well. A fox uses its tail (or "brush") as a warm cover in cold weather and as a signal flag to communicate with other foxes.

Although once widespread in Asia and Africa, cheetah populations are now isolated to the savannahs and grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa. Cheetahs are the world’s fastest land animals and are capable of sprinting at speeds up to 70 miles per hour. And unlike other big cats, cheetahs do not roar. These magnificent cats prey upon hoofed animals such as gazelles, impalas and wildebeest calves. Cheetahs are threatened by hunting, habitat loss and the decline of prey populations. They are also the only cat that cannot retract its nails - it has claws like a dog!

The Przewalski’s Horse was designated as extinct in the wild, but captive breeding programs have reintroduced the horse in Mongolia. The wild horse lives in social groups, consisting of a dominant stallion, a lead mare and other mares and their offspring. Mares, often with a regular partner, groom one another to keep clean and to show affection. Stockier with shorter legs than a domesticated horse, males defend their mares more actively than they defend their territory.

All of these 3 are similar in that they are all mammals (they give birth to their babies and feed them milk). They are also all in danger of extinction as their populations are declining and need our help and protection.

They are different because they are all different classes of animal - dog, cat and horse. They are also native to different countries.

If I had to choose only one of these animals to save I would choose the Przewalski's Horse

Przewalski Horse | The Biggest Animals Kingdom  Link to Photo   king-animal.blogspot.com

Enviroment Day - Beat Plastic Pollution

Every year we celebrate World Environment day on June the 5th. This year the focus is on reducing the use of plastic bags and water bottles.
500 billion single use plastic bags are used world wide every year, 500 million plastic straws are used every day in the US alone!

My family already does some things to reduce plastic, we have glass 'keep cups' so we can take hot drinks with us in the car and use them to get takeaway drinks, we use reusable produce and carry bags at the supermarket, we use Tupperware to get meat from the butchers shop and have stainless steel drinking straws.

Three new things that my family and I could do to help save the planet are:
1.   Buy wooden and metal toys instead of plastic ones.
2.   Unwrap prewrapped vegetables (like cucumber) at the supermarket and leave it there so hopefully       they stop buying prewrapped vegetables.
3.   Take our own cutlery and plates to BBQ's incase people have disposable ones there.

Restricted Access

One of the most unusual and spectacular sites to visit outside of New Zealand is called Machu Picchu. It is an ancient city that was built high up in the mountains in the country of Peru in South America. You have to take a train and/or walk through a series of mountains and valleys to reach it. Over the past few decades millions of tourists have made the trek to Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, this has damaged the area and the local government has decided to restrict the number of visitors to the site each year. This decision has upset a lot of tourists who really want to see Machu Picchu but aren’t allowed to go.

I think it's a good idea to restrict the numbers of visitors, locals should be able to go but not so many tourists. I think we have caused this problem ourselves all over the world by pushing tourism. If we kept special local things a bit more private then anyone that came to the area would be able to visit because not so many people would know about the places so wouldn't be visiting in the first place. Also the tourists that went to special rural locations would more likely be nature lovers rather than people filling up their travel itineraries and those people would be more likely to tidy up after themselves and look after the area.

Link to Photo   Hustonia   Shutterstock 147330278 axratp. Image: Shutterstock. Machu Picchu.

The Plastic Pledge

I think that it's a good idea for supermarkets like Countdown to no longer have single use plastic bags available, my family also thinks its a good idea, Mum keeps heaps of reusable bags in the boot of the car so she always has them with her when she goes to the supermarket. It is a good idea because before they made this decision the single use plastic bags were a huge use of plastic. I think the supermarkets should go further though and not provide food (especially produce) wrapped in plastic. The butchery sections could also go back to traditional butchery with customers bringing their own containers and we could have bins for other things - like nuts etc.

Campaigning for Conservation

I have chosen to make a slogan for the Wetlands Campaign

Link to Photo   Flikr   ... West Coast Wetlands ~ The Arnold River | by New Zealand Wild

KEEP WETLANDS WILD

The Power of Ten

If I had the power to save any 10 species of animal or plant from extinction I would choose:

1. White tigers - They are beautiful and they are endangered. We shouldn't let them become extinct.

2. Foxes - I like reading about foxes in England and I think fox hunting sounds exciting though I don't want them to disappear forever. I think they are clever, cunning and handsome.

3. Horses - Horses are my favourite animal, I definitely wouldn't want them to become extinct. They are great friends, fun to ride and drive and in some places are also used for food.

4. Tasmanian Devil - The Tasmanian Devil is endangered and I think it would be sad if it became extinct - I think they are funny.

5. Kangaroo - I think Kangaroo's look cool and I like how they carry their Joey's in their pouch.

6. Sloths - I think they look cool and my Aunt who is an actress sometimes pretends to be Sid the Sloth which I think is really funny.

7. Black Footed Ferret - They were declared extinct in 1979 and then a dog brought one home, they were then declared extinct in the wild in 1987 however a captive breeding program managed to release them back in to the wild and there are now over 1,000 adults in the wild.

8. Dala Fur Sheep - These sheep originate from Sweden and I like Vikings and How to train your dragon so I would like to keep this old sheep breed.

9. The Red Wolf - I would like to save the Red Wolf because the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 does not provide protection for them because they are admixed (mix between grey wolf and coyote).

10. Pinta Island Tortoise - The last known Pinta Island Tortoise (Lonesome George) died in 2012 but there has been at least one first generation hybrid individual found - I'd like to be able raise their population because they are SO rare.

Protecting the Most Vunerable - Fact or Fiction?

I am going to post 6 things about the Maui Dolphin below and it is up to you to figure out which are true and which are false!
3 will be facts and 3 will be fiction.

1. Only about 63 Maui Dolphins over one year of age remain
2. Male Maui dolphins are bigger than the females
3. Maui dolphins are the second largest of the 32 species of dolphin in the world
4. They have the longest life span of all dolphins living up to 50 years old
5. They produce one calf every 2-4 years making population growth a very slow process
6. Maui and Hector dolphins look identical

Link to Photo   sydneyscb.org   Society for Conservation Biology Sydney Chapter

Predator Free 2050 - A Call to Arms

I liked the first Predator Free video - Cacophony Project

It is about a man (Grant Ryan) who is developing software that first calls predators to it (I think by using mating calls) and then has a recognition camera.
The aim is to then be able to track that animal and shoot it with a poisoned dart.

I like this because it is specifically targeting predators rather than poisoning heaps of the country (like with 1080) and because it will be much faster having the animals come to it rather than hunters having to be out finding the animals.

The aim is to have a predator free New Zealand by 2050 but Grant Ryan thinks with this technology we could have a predator free New Zealand by 2040 or even earlier.

A House is Not a Home

I chose Fruit Forests in Tajikistan because its pretty important to preserve these forests since only 3% of the country is forested!

Also the forests have some pretty yummy fruits and nut trees including walnut-maple forests sites, critically endangered pears, almonds and apples.

I think its cool that part of the FFI's action plan involves schools. The schools learn about, protect and help raise awareness.




Link to Photo   Rare pear expedition bears fruit in Kyrgyzstan   Fauna and Flora International

A Protective Plant

If I was planting my own edible garden I would plant:

1. Corn
2. Rosemary
3. Olives
4. Pears
5. Apples
6. Cauliflower
7. Cabbage
8. Mint
9. Carrots
10. Rhubarb

Link to photo    Melissa's Produce

                                                                                                                                                  Link to Photo   Mother Earth News   

                                                                          Growing corn from sowing to Harvest

A Flying Fox

Ziplining is lots of fun. The start is especially exciting and scary I think.
The view of Rotorua while ziplining is amazing, you can see towering green trees and the sparkling lake.

The Sky in Shanghai

The sky in Beijing makes my head ring
I don't feel well breathing in the smell
I want to weep when I go to sleep
The smog is grey which leaves me in dismay
We all need to fix it, do our bit and not just sit

Guardians of the Sea

I can't say that I believe in Taniwha but the video someone took of all the bubbles in the Waikato river is pretty amazing! Maybe it was a really big fish?
Taniwha sound like a really cool legend and I'd love it if things like Taniwha and Dragons really did exist, I just can't believe they do but sometimes I like to pretend.
I do believe the Loch Ness Monster could be real because I have seen some pretty convincing photos and videos - can Taniwha live in Scotland or just New Zealand?

World of Wearable (WOW) Art

If I got to interview Dame Suzie Moncrieff (the creator of WOW (World of Wearable Arts) I would ask her:

1. What gave you this idea?

2. What is the most famous designer who has entered this competition?

3. Why did you decide to do the WOW show in Wellington?

4. Do you still own the Cobb Cottage gallery?

5. Can you tell me about why you chose Moncrieff and your Shetland Island ancestry?

Let it Rain

Acid rain fell for 3 days and 3 nights, I was stuck inside all that time. When it stopped on the morning of the fourth day I opened the door and went outside. It still looked like it was slightly drizzling so I stood under the car port and watched until it had stopped properly then I went for a walk. I saw heaps of trees with leaves turning brown and some were already falling, there were big puddles on the ground. I walked to the beach and saw dead shellfish and there were also a few dead birds. The grass  around the roads looked like it was struggling to get enough nutrients and I wondered if the trees could get enough water. I remembered how the acid rain looked out the window when it was falling, sometimes it was a gentle drizzle and other times it looked like snow. I started to wonder what would happen to our farm so I ran home to find out. I searched on the internet and found out that our farm grass and crops should hopefully be ok because the fertilizer and lime we put on will help keep nutrients in the soil. I went back outside to look at the house and saw some of the stone had been corroded by the acid rain. I climbed to the top of the hill and looked out as far as I could see, I hoped we wouldn't ever get acid rain again!

Changing Climates

I live on the West Coast of the South Island where it rains a lot - Mum says that she remembers one spring when it rained nearly every day for 3 months! Because we can't stay inside for that long we have good wet weather gear so we can be comfortable outside in the rain.

On rainy days I like to go outside and play in the rain and then come inside and get into the warm shower. It is fun getting wet and muddy.

5 things I do inside when it rains are:

1. Play darts
2. Read
3. Draw
4. Write
5. Build things with my lego

Persistant Polution

Three new things I learned about air pollution are:

1. Some air pollution comes from natural sources like volcanic eruptions, wild fires and allergens.

2. There are different types of human made air pollution.

3. Smog can be divided into 2 categories; sulfurous (like burning coal) and photochemical  which is the result of a reaction between sunlight, nitrogen oxide (which come from things like car exhausts) and volatile organic compounds (released from things like paint).

Crazy, Cool Clouds

Link to Photo  Cool Clouds for "Kids" of all ages   pals.iastate.edu

I chose picture 1 because I liked how it looks like a bunny.

It is a cumulus cloud. Cumulus clouds often look like fluffy shapes in the sky.

If they go in front of the sun they block it out a bit.

Mostly they mean its a nice day but if they all gather together and get dark it means a big storm is coming.

The Seven Sisters

Mitai had magic powers, like being able to turn into a bird and fly.
His seven brothers were very handsome men and wouldn't marry because they refused to marry anyone less beautiful than themselves but one day they found some beautiful women and married them. Mitai said they were fairy women and didn't like them but his brothers didn't listen.
Mitai found out that he was right, they were fairy women and they could turn into birds. They also planned to starve his brothers to death!
Mitai told his brothers then his brothers caught their wives and Mitai flew them away into the sky.
One day a year the fairy women are allowed to shine their beauty to the world - they are the Seven stars of Matariki

The Southern Lights

My acoustic poem:

L - Lighting up the world

I - Illuminating the ground

G - Glowing in the night

H - High in the sky

T - This is cool to see

S - Shining brighter than stars

Wind Beneith my Wings

Flying Foxes

If I could choose to have any superpower I would be really fast like Flash. It would be really cool to be able to get anywhere I wanted quickly and by myself.

Book review #1

The Royal Ranger - The Red Fox Clan by John Flanagan

The second book (The Red Fox Clan) in the Royal Ranger series by John Flanagan is a fictional novel set around the year 643 Common Era. The book has a lot of good themes in it including betrayal.

Dimon is a relative to King Duncan (Princess Cassandra's Father and Maddie's Grandfather), he is captain of the castle guard, well liked and trusted. All of these things make you think that he would be a good person but the law changed so that a female could become ruler of Araluen which meant he could not be king. Dimon schemed to kill Cassandra (next in line to the throne) and to marry Maddie.

Luckily Maddie figured it out just in time and Cassandra has fallen back to the safest place in the castle so hasn't been killed. Yet.

Bird of the Year

Whio

A NZ duck that doesn’t quack. They need clear, fast-flowing rivers. Stoats and declining habitat are major threats to Whio. With fewer than 3000 left, it’s up to us to help them out.

Blue duck/whio: wetland and river bird   doc.govt.nz   Link to Photo

Flying Fungi

If there were 7 different types of mould found in my classroom, it takes 5 days to remove each type of mould and we have to remove one type of mould at a time I would work out how long it would take to have a clean classroom by:
5 X 7 = 35

It would take 35 days to clean the classroom. On the 36th day there would be no mould left.
There are 7 days in a week so it would take 5 weeks to clean the classroom. At the start of the 6th week there would be no mould left.

Andrew Luck: My Favourite American Footballer

Andrew Austen Luck born 12th of September 1989, Washington D.C, America.
He plays for the Indianapolis Colts at Quarterback and his chosen number is 12.
He played college football for Stanford, where he won the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award as college footballs player of the year and was twice recognised as an All-American and also runner up for the Heisman trophy in 2010-2011. He's passed 4,593 yards and 39 touchdown passes in 2018 which leaves him in second ahead of the famous Tom Brady and only behind Patrick MaHomes (Kansas City Chiefs).

 

Carbon Sinks Don't Stink

New Zealand's largest carbon sink is older forests in Fiordland, Westland, Otago and Southland which is interesting because before scientists figured this out they thought it was young forests that absorbed more carbon dioxide 'carbon uptake tends to slow as forests mature'.

If I could design a sink that could gather and then drain away foods that I don't like I would put yams and roast parsnip in it.

Link to Photo   Lake Gunn, Fiordland National Park Picture: Gunn forest

Bee Informed

The word 'bumblebee' is a compound word (bumble + bee). The word 'bumble' means to hum, buzz or drone.

Bumblebees can fly very quickly. They can reach ground speeds of 54 kilometres per hour (km/hr).

Bumblebees are very strong! They carry up to 90 percent of their body weight in food with them to avoid starvation.

Bumblebees can do more work and carry more pollen than other bees, including honeybees. In fact they can do up to 50 times as much work as a normal honeybee.

The number of bumblebees in New Zealand is declining due to a number of factors, including the removal of wildflowers and flowering trees, habitat loss and extensive use of pesticides.

Link to Photo

animal-wildlife.blogspot.com

Burning Up...

You are my Sunshine

5 ways to protect yourself from the sun are:

Slip, Slop, Slap and Wrap

*   Wrap on sunglasses - check their UV rating and if they are wrap around and close fitting they're better.
*   Slop on sunscreen at least 20 minutes before going outside and reapply every 2 hours, especially after being in the water or sweating.
*   Slip into the shade of a tree or umbrella and plan activities for in the morning or later in the day when the suns UV rays aren't so strong.
*   Slip into long sleeved clothes to give your skin more protection.
*   Slap on a sunhat that protects your face and neck.

Togs or Trackies?

I think people should come to New Zealand in summer because:

1. Summer has lots of cricket in NZ
2.  Also in summer there are lots of A-League Matches to watch
3.  The roads are a lot more safer in the summer than in the winter conditions (Snow, Ice etc...)
4.  The walking tracks and tourist attractions in NZ are more set up to be visited in the summer months.

Faded Glory

Three ways I could raise funds to help preserve the Great Barrier Reef are:

1.    Many sporting event where all profits are donated towards barrier reef.
2.    A music festival with as many top stars as you can get.
3.    Nation wide raffles.

The Black Drain

Two rivers that are polluted in New Zealand are:

1.     Heathcote River (Canterbury)   Nothing is being done to decrease the pollution but it is getting worse because the Wigram mill has signed a deal to be able to pollute this river for the next 25 years.

2.     Waikato River (Waikato)   Nothing is being done to decrease the pollution - farming is blamed by a lot of people but pollution levels are far worse below Hamilton city than above it.

I do think that this activity is a bit against farming. You say farming is a big source of pollution but don't say anything about the towns and cities that pump their sewage out in to rivers or anything about the huge amount of work farmers are doing and money they are spending on waterways.

My Sporting Hero

My 2018 sporting hero is Cristiano Ronaldo (Born February the 5th 1985 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal). He is 6 ft 1in tall and he plays as a striker or left wing for the Juventus Football Club and also the Portuguese national team. He scored in his first 4 La Liga games he is the only person to have ever done this. Also he is the first ever athlete to sign with Nike. Ronaldo is a brilliant dribbler, is incredibly fast and he has great reactions and co-ordination. He doesn’t have any weaknesses in terms of his forward play. He can score with both feet, is a very good header of

Link to Photo

Link to Photo

the ball and is an exceptionally accurate free kick and penalty taker.  His nickname is CR7 because Cristiano starts with C and Ronaldo starts with R and he is a number 7 so CR7.

Off the menu

I think being charged up to $100,000 for fishing in a restricted area is a fair rule because if people overfish this area then the fish would be in danger of becoming extinct and there would be no fish in time to come.

Picture Perfect

Selfie 1#





I went to a Chicago Bulls basketball match and took a selfie of myself and my friends at the game to show that we went. I really enjoyed the game, the Chicago Bulls won by 20 points! All the seats were full and we had trouble finding our seats because we only just got to there in time. While we were at the game my friend brought us hot dogs and hot chips and I brought us all drinks. Some of the Chicago Bulls fans were crazy! One lady got mad at someone supporting the other team and threw her popcorn all over him! Another man got into an argument with the referee and had to be escorted out by the security team. One of my friends won a basketball singlet while we were at the game and he put it on straight away. Next time I go to watch a basketball game I will make sure I wear the colours of the team I am supporting. It is the first basketball game I have ever been to and I will definitely go again.

It's all in the name

5 new names for the Devil's Bath are:

1.   Folcadh Devils                     (Irish)
2.   Diavolo verde                       (Italian)
3.   Зеленый бассейн*               (Russian)
4.   Môr Devils                           (Welsh)
5.   Þórsýra                                (Icelandic)