How to hydrate a plant without water?

Our question was…

How to hydrate plants without water?

With a lot of research we found the best answer to this would be mandarin peel because it’s quite moist, and hopefully it will break down into the soil then it will be hydrated.

So what we did to experiment was we got some plants. We got 6 spinach seedlings, 3 with the peel and 3 without. We also got an already grown plant to see the effects on that.

So after a week or so we checked the plants and found that the mandarin peel does not break down it stayed on the surface and just turned to mould.

Redwoods Tree Top Walk

Venturing through the redwoods, I hear the wind murmur faintly in her gloomy voice. Getting deeper and deeper into the shadiness, I see the lanterns hover overhead of me. The tenacious redwoods tower vigorously over top of me. I see the start nearing me again.

Mud Run

Strangling me, the algae encases around my petrified legs. I see the start fade behind me. I feel shivers crawl down my spine, as the mud shambolically grabs at my feet. Beating rapidly, I hear the quick rhythm of my heartbeat. Relief floods my body as I see the cheers of joy come into vision.

Choices For Life Production

Choices For Life is a play that Kahikatea Team have put together. It’s a story of three kids learning the choices of life. They are set on a path of their own choosing. They must look their demon in the eye to determine a path for their future. It must be their choice to lay down their arms with integrity.

In this play, I was playing the role of a narrator, with Gracie beside me as a narrator too. It was fun having this role of a narrator, although we had to learn a lot of lines off by heart.

I’ve learned a lot of things with having this role. I’ve learned that I can remember much more things than what I had expected before taking up this role and opportunity.  And with the title being Choices For Life it sends a message across where I and many others can learn from.

It was very nerve-racking during the performances because you don’t want to get anything wrong and muck up in front of the audience. Aside from all that, it was really exciting, and heaps of fun!

What I enjoyed most about the production was just everything, it was just amazing!

↓Here Are Some Pics From The Production “Choices For Life”↓

My Dinner Plate

Heartlessly moaning, I stare uneasily at my dinner plate.

Tummy launching, heart whimpering at every beat.

I knew I had to fight.

With the green stubbed tree’s staring me down, I knew this wouldn’t be easy.

As the yelling begins I take my place on the battlefield.

The slow motions begins...

Regretfully, I use my last escape route.

Suddenly I hear the laughter coming from my plate.

I have lost!

I knew I would have to eat the evil, devastating broccoli!

Blue   By Lily

Blue is the waves crashing against the shore

It is the emotional tears galloping down your cheeks

It is rain leaping off the sleeping rain clouds

Blue  is the sadness running through your body

It is a dolphin dancing through the water

It is the sky where the bird's race

Blue is your lips bouncing after a cold swim

It is the blue berries giggling in your lunch box

It is your screaming toenail being crushing by a falling brick

Dissection  by Lily

Racing softly in my ear, I hear the frantic beat of my heart. Wondering, I ask if I am capable of handling the organs. As the blood pumps through my brain, I walk up to the table thinking of my final decision.  Watching them explain and cut open the organs, I find it’s not that bad… It’s actually really fascinating.

Surprisingly, we got told we get a heart for each group to dissect. Shaking, trying to hold myself, I hop up wanting to be first with the scalpel.

I take my first cut through, being glad I was first. As the heart became two, I saw the valves connected to the inside of it. There was a lot of good fats around it, which was surprisingly quite hard.

Next, it was Isabella’s turn with the scalpel. Cutting through, I see more of the organs parts. With blood everywhere, we now get a photo with our group.

We now finish up with a few people trying out the ultrasound to see if they're alive. We say our thanks with all our happiness and say our goodbyes.

My Speech

Are we doing enough to save our oceans and beaches?

You take a stroll down the beach, you look up and all you can see is dreadfulness. A turtle starving to death with a plastic bag in his stomach he thought was a jellyfish, fish bobbing in the water trying to survive from an oil spill and seagulls strangled by plastic on the beach. I’m going to explain why oil spills, plastic and overfishing are bad or our seas.

Oil spills are one thing but there is over 706 million each year. Only 5% of them are big spills like the Rena off the Tauranga coast which was New Zealand’s worst marine disaster. When sea otters swim into oil their body temperature drops, they get hypothermia before slowly dying. Oil spills are sadly killing our marine life but plastic is just as disastrous.

Plastic destroys the environment but did you also know that beauty products contain tiny plastic particles called micro beads which go into the ocean when you wash them down the drain. In 2015 one man started a remarkable cleanup effort o Versova Beach in India which was one of the dirtiest beaches in the world. People started to join in and after 85 weeks of cleaning, 5.3 million kilogrammes of rubbish, they had a beach everyone could enjoy.

Another way we can save our marine life is by limiting our fishing because we are losing species as well as entire ecosystems. Fish have been on this planet for about 500 million years and there are over 25,000 known species of fish. Some countries aren’t limiting their fishing so there are barely any fish left for future generations.

What can you and I do to protect our beaches and oceans? We can pick up rubbish off the beach, buy products without microbeads, throw back small fish and not get more than our quota.

And maybe when we grow up we can join “Green Peace” and help clean up after oil spills!

↓Here’s my speech video I had heaps of fun doing it so I hope you enjoy↓

 My Speech Video

Treaty Of Waitangi

Treaty Of Waitangi 

Last term our inquiry learning was about the Treaty Of Waitangi. I was in a group of three with Isabella Lylah and me. It was a really good experience going through Pirongia and seeing the readout where they watch over the Waipa River. overall, I think we did quite well.
↓Heres our slide on the Treaty Of Waitangi↓

Treaty of Waitangi Presentation

Complex Sentences

In term 1 we learnt about how to do complex sentences. I really loved learning another way in writing. Here are some of my ↓sentences.↓

Gazing, the astonishing leopards stare out at the savannah sun on the horizon.

Creeping, the tiny spider delicately crawled across my leg.

Gazing, the silent moon stared longingly at the cats on the fence.

Flinging through thin air, the ball gets sent down the court.
Flying like a bird, the ball leaps magnificently into the hoop.