Summer Learning Journey Day 5(week 2)

Day 5 (week 2)

Activity 1-VE Day!

Yay! We have made it to the end of the week. For today's activity 1 I read about how after the 6 long years of war people all over New Zealand and even probably over the world had huge parties and celebrations. This was for the celebration of VE day or Victory in Europe day. If I had to imagine throwing one of these parties I would most definitely invite my family and my closest friends to all have a potluck lunch and have pavlova for dessert! We would all be chatting and be playing some sports in my backyard to celebrate this achievement.

Activity 2-Making a fashion statement

After World War 2 had ended things shaped back into place in New Zealand and life started to go back to normal. I was shown two pictures of clothing that they wore back in about 65 years ago and my activity was to compare them to now-a-day clothing in 2017. Here is what I would say are the differences between them:



I would say that I do prefer modern clothing in 2017 as they seem to have more freedom to wear rather than having all those gloves, hats, skirt, cardigan etc. I think the clothing that children used to have still seem slightly similar but back then it was more formal and business shirt like. I think in 65 years from now people will wear a different texture of clothing like it may even be made out of plastic or metal! In the future, we may have really lightweight clothing or maybe even an all in one suit, the possibilities are endless!

Bonus Activity-Sweet Tooth

For today's bonus activity I read about how after the war had ended people from Europe would come to New Zealand looking for a quiet and safe place to raise families and to live. Along with coming, they brought their recipes from back home including the likes of Pizza and juicy hamburgers! My favourite sweet treat/dessert would be cheesecake because of its creamy op and crumbly base. Here is the recipe I have found on how to make it:

1. To make the base crush biscuits, melt butter in saucepan, take off heat and stir in brown sugar and biscuit crumbs

1. Press into an 8 inch loose bottomed cake tin, chill in fridge while making the topping

1. Beat together the cream cheese, castor sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth and creamy

1. Spread over the base and chill for a couple of hours

1. Enjoy!!
2. 

Summer Learning Journey Day 4(week 2)

Day 4 (week 2)

Activity 1-An Eventful Experience

For today's activity 1 I read about how on the 1st of September in 1939 World War 2 had been declared. This happened because The Germans decided to invade Poland. England and France decided a couple of days later to declare war against Germany and this is how the World War began. My task was to read two events that had happened during WW2 and write up a short summary about them. Site link-https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/second-world-war/timeline

Event 1. The Invasion Of Poland

On the 1st of September in 1939 Germany decided to overtake Poland. Adolf Hitler (The leader of the Nazi army) said that he wanted to take over Poland due to "defensive reasons" but this, of course, did not convince England or France. The Nazi managed to successfully gain full control of Poland with the help of a few allies. A couple of important or big names include the names of Adolf Hitler, Edward Rydz-Smigly (Marshal of Poland) and Waclaw Stachiewicz (Chief of the General Staff).

Event 2. Battle of Dunkirk

On the 26th of May 1940, all British and allied forces that tried to defend France were all pushed out to sea and they had to call for an evacuation. All forces had to return because there was no land left to defend and so that there would be still enough men to fight for the next battle against Germany. A couple of important or big names from this event include Lord Gort from the UK, Maxime Weygand and Georges Blanchard.

Activity 2-A Call to Arms

For today's activity 2 I read about what a Victoria Cross is. It is a medal that is awarded to the most prestigious and brave soldiers of World War 2. Only a total of 22 New Zealanders have gotten one of these so obviously it must mean a lot to get this medal! My task was to research about someone that is on the list of these people from New Zealand and write some information about them on my blog.

Sergeant Alfred Hulme

He was a sergeant with the 23rd Batallion in 2NZEF. He had done many heroic acts inside of Crete. He led many counter-attacks against German troops on the 20-21st of May in 1941. Four days after that he had a huge role in the New Zealand counter-attack at a place called Galatas. Occasionally he would actually be a spy and dress up as a German to get close to his targets.


Bonus Activity-Women At Work

For today's bonus activity I had to complete a story that was given to me to finish off. It is a nurse that was in the second world war and there was a couple of loud explosions... I'll leave the rest for you to read.

One day you are walking along the deck of the ship when you hear a loud bang. You start to run as you see smoke coming from the far end of the ship. You run towards the room where your patients are waiting to receive treatment from the doctor. Just as you arrive at the door to their room you hear another loud bang and you… hurriedly swoop into cover from the incoming ship. I slowly crept to the door and cautiously twisted the rusted knob on the cabin door that led to a room full of worried patients. I peered in and suddenly felt a huge wave of relief hit me as no one had gotten hurt. I walked over and reassured that the patients were safe, and luckily they were. I thought of the best way to calm my patients and I formed a sentence with my dry mouth "We will be fine just wait for help." I had known that help had been called and that all us anxious people could do nothing except for wait. In a flash, I heard another loud bang and it was quickly followed by trembling voices in the room I was in. We had all lost hope. We all then heard a loud and frightening horn outside and I had many conundrums going on in my head. I cleared them all out then had a peek through the cracked window. And in that moment all hope had been restored.

Summer Learning Journey Day 3 (week 2)

Day 3 (week 2)

Activity 1-Dealing with stress

I read about how in the 1930s there was a financial crisis which led to what was called the great depression. This caused more than 30% of New Zealanders to live without a job and it was a huge financial depression. My task for activity 1 was to say some ways that I would recommend to do to relieve stress and relax! My first activity would be playing some sort of instrument. Playing an instrument relaxes you as you sink into the music and being a pianist myself it really does get you in a happy mood! My second tip would be to talk with either your family or friends. Just talk about anything really but always say positive things and you will too eventually feel positive!



Activity 2-Offering a helping hand

In the great depression, people could hardly ever find jobs in New Zealand or even overseas so it was really hard to feed families and especially the larger ones! My task was to imagine that I was living in the 1930s and I had to list 3 things that I would do to help fundraise money for families to buy their food and clothing!

1.I would run a sausage sizzle. Yes, it is obviously a classic idea but because of that wealthy people would definitely come to buy themselves some lunch and then the ones who cant afford to get one will get some of the money earned from the profit.

2.I would run a donation collection box which is where I would walk around different houses in a wealthy part of the country and ask if they would be so kind to donate either some old clothing or some unused food for the families.

3.I would make an old or non-fitting clothes bin that people can donate their old clothes to help out the families. Yes, it may be old clothes but it is always better to have something rather than absolutely nothing!

Bonus Activity-Paying it forward

In the middle of the 1930s thing started to rise up as people were more able to find jobs and earn money more than the previous years. Today's bonus activity was to imagine that I travelled back to the time of the 1930s and were to visit one of the families in those times and list what things I would bring to give to them.

I would definitely bring them some modern clothes and let them try out the new trend and see how they like it. I would have brought them some snacks like the L&P chocolate bar and passionfruit mountain dew because they are too good not to bring! Lastly, I would have brought them a tv, a DVD player and some Disney movies to entertain their children.

Summer Learning Journey Day 2 (Week 2)

Day 2 (week 2)

Activity 1-Popular Culture, The silent movie

For todays activity 1 I read about how in the 1920s there was a sudden shoot up in the number of people going to the movies. They built huge brand new cinemas in Auckland and Dunedin which supported these huge growths. The most popular type of movie around then were called silent movies. These movies were called silent because there were no words in these movies and normally an intrumental would accompany the movie otherwise it would have been completely silent! I was given an example of this called Gold Rush and here is the movie for yourself to watch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDlEvaKBkhU 

I think this movie is about people going out to hunt for masses of gold and bring it back to their town. In the midst of this movie it all seems to go wrong and they get a hole in their cabin, they encounter a fierce bear and their cabin washanging of the face of a cliff! I see this as a comedy movie and would actually like to try out what was called a silent movie through this one. It would be cool to see how it was like to understand movies back then and see what kind of comody was around!

Activity 2-Art Deco

In the 1920s there was a huge movemement in the way art was made and this affected the whole world. It was called art deco. Here is an example of what art deco was:
My task was to rate this painting out of a 5 (1 meaning really bad and 5 meaning the best).
I would rate this painting a 3 because it does have nice detail in it especially on the dress that she is wearing, but on the otherhand I think it needs more colour added into it as it has a slightly dull look to it. I do als quite like the way that it was painted as it does not show the whole car and mainly focuses on only a portion of her and the car, creating a zoomed in effect.

Bonus Activity-Crossing the Tasman

For todays bonus activity I read about how in the year of 1928 there was a huge breakthrough in flight. Four men successfully flew across the Tasman from Australia to New Zealand. They encountered some problems when flying such as the radio not working and not being able to see out the window due to ice and rain! My task was to imagine that I was a member on thsi flight and write a poem about it, here is what I came up with:

I had no clue
where was the big blue

I sat in despair
hoping for repair

I hid from the sight
there was a big light

I saw big land
The prize was grand

Summer Learning Journey Day 1 (Week 2)

Day 1 (week 2)

Activity 1-St Joseph's Cathedral

Fot todays activity 1 I read about how in the change from the 1800s to the 1900s the Europeans wanted to create more homes and more community buildings including churches and cathedrals. I read about one of the largest structures that were built around this period and it is called St Joseph's Cathedral in Dunedin. My task was to find another famous cathedral and the onw that I found was called Florence Cathedral.










Name of the Cathedral:Florence Cathedral
Location:Florence Italy
Construction Started:1296
Construction span:140 whole years!!!

Activity 2-The Right to Vote

For todays activity 2 I read that as New Zealand progressed into the 1900s we decided on electing our first ever government. In this time only men were actually legally allowed to vote so basically no women had their say in what government they wanted! This all changed when a a woman called Kate Sheepard stood in and suprisingly managed to allow the rights for women voting, such an achievement! I also read that until 2015 women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to vote and I was asked what my opinions on this are.

I personally think this is not really fair escpecially how in Saudi Arabia they exclude women in multiple activities and voting especially should not be one of them! I think it is not fair becuase women are the same human beings as men and I think that we actually NEED women in voting as they are honest as they have strong emotions.

Bonus Activity-In Flanders Fields

For todays bonus activity I read about how many soldiers had lost their lives between 1915-1920 due to the Great War(World War 1). We remeber the courageous soldiers that lost their lives in this war through ANZAC day and there is a special ceremony that some people visit that read out a special poem that was written for these fallen soldiers. I read about the poem called "In Flanders Field" and my task was to say how I feel about this poem and what I think of it. {Poem Link:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/in-flanders-fields}

I see this is quite a sad poem in remembering that each of these soldiers were loved by their families and had lives until the war took that all away from them. It makes me feel sad in remembering them as if I had lost someone I know to this war.

Summer Learning Journey Day 5

Day 5 

Activity 1-The dawn of a new era

For activity 1, I read about how in the 1840s the European settlers began to live in New Zealand and this caused a fight between the Maori and the Europeans as the Europeans started to outnumber the Maori and they argued about land ownership. I read that it was obviously hard to understand each other as one side spoke English while the other spoke Te Reo Maori! I was given five phrases in either English or Maori and I had to translate them to the other language. Here is what google translate came up with:

Nau mai ki Aotearoa-Welcome to New Zealand

Cameron is my name-Ko Cameron toku ingoa

What is your name?-He aha to ingoa?

He pai taku ki te takaro i te whutupaoro-I like to play Rugby

Where do you come from?-No hea koe?

Activity 2-The treaty of Waitangi

On the 6th of February in 1840 a treaty called the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed. This treaty showed how the two groups (Europeans and Maori) would live together in peace. This treaty was signed in a place called Waitangi in the north island and my task was to say three things that a visitor could do in Waitangi.

-Visit the Waitangi treaty grounds. This is the place where the treaty was signed and you can have a look at the area it was signed in.

-Taiamai Tours Heritage Journeys. This is a great opportunity to go on a waka and experience how they travelled back in the day. You will experience the magic of local Maori.

-Waitangi Moutain Bike Park. This is a more modern day activity where you can ride a professionally made mountain bike course near where the treaty was signed!

The one that I would like to do most would be the more modern style one and do the mountain bike track because I like biking and it would be pretty cool to try out a professional track!

Bonus Activity-#EarnTheFern

For today's bonus activity I read about what the Commonwealth is and what the commonwealth games are and they are both really interesting subjects! The Commonwealth is all the countries that are owned by Europe which includes us! The Commonwealth games are when all the Commonwealth countries get together to compete for a range of sports just like a mini Olympics. A famous Gold medal winner from New Zealand called Bill Kini had earned himself a gold medal for being the best heavyweight boxer, what a cool achievement! If I imagined interviewing him and had to ask him only four questions here is what I would have asked:
"What is the difference between a heavyweight boxer and a normal boxer?"
"How long did you have to train every week?"
"Did your boxing skills help you when you moved on to playing Rugby?"
"How did it feel to get that gold medal?"

Summer Learning Journey Day 4

Day 3 

Activity 1-The waiata, A song in your heart

Today we were told about how the maori would have used song as a form of sharing informaton and for communicating emotions. We were told that a traditional maori song is called a waiata and I was asked what my favourite waiata was. I dont really have a past of learning waiata but one that stuck to me was called "he honore." I like this as it is slowly paced and has many different pitches used in this waiata. It is manly a Karakia rurned into song form which sounds lovely.

I was asked to research some waiatas and I found one that I slightly remmber and like called Ka Pioioi which is about peple from other countries going back to their home and rejoicing and celebrating coming back home. I like this one as it sounds different to all the other waiatas because at the end of each line there is a sudden and small gap that splits up each of the lines. Here is the link to this waiata below: http://folksong.org.nz/ka_pioioi/index.html



Activity 2-Playing Games

I was told about 4 of the traditional maori games called Poi Rakau, Ki O Rahi, Koruru Taonga and Poi Toa. Each of these teach important values and even some defensive skills to the children playing this and it prepares each of them for their adulthood. I have not actually played any of these but I have heard of these and seen some of them be played. I had to choose a game and describe it. The game I chose is called Poi Rakau. The teaching of this game is so that you improve your hand to eye coordination adn try to avoid hitting the other players in your group. Two rules that must be followed are: a-The person in the middle must pass out to the circle. And b-If the person passes with their right hand the catcher must catch it with their left hand.


Bonus Activity-Musical Festivals, Matatini

I was told about a huge festival that runs every 2 years in New Zealand called Te Matatini. The festival celebrates the culture of maori and therfore kapa hake groups perform and compete to win the top prizes. I was given 3 performances to watch and then judge on where they should sit in the top 3 board and here are the results I have decided;

Te Puku o Te Ika-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Zjgj9x4Yc
I would rate this performance 1st as it truly did have a deep emotional influence to it as they remeber that man in the picture. It has a calming tune to it and truly does deserve that first place!

Te iti Kahurangi-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tng5f4hu0ow
I would rate this perfomance as second as it had great instrumentalists in this and even managed to put in a solo performance which really made this stand out.

Tamatea Arikinui-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_j4KX-8BYE
I would give this a place of third just because the others were more unique. This performance did have a great intro when they did the female and mae parts seperately which started it off with a wow.

Summer Learning Journey Day 3

Day 3

Activity 1-The more, the merrier?

For today's activity 1 we were told that back in the 1800s families averaged with 7-9 children, imagine that! We were then asked if we would like to be a part of a family that big with a huge number of 9 siblings but I would rather have a smaller family. It would be too hard doing homework with all the noises around and it would probably be a lot of stress on my parents!

On the other hand, it would be good so you would never get bored as you have 9 people to constantly play with and you would learn the values of being patient and sharing with others.

 (below an image of a typical family in the 19th century)



Activity 2-Acknowledging ancestry

We were told about how to describe our family whether being large or small using a pepeha which basically describes where your family originated from and who your main relatives are. here is my pepeha that I have made:
Ko Aoraki te maunga(The mountain that I affiliate to is Mount Cook)
Ko Waimakariri te awa(The river that I affiliate to is the waimakirir river)
Ko Arthur toku iwi(The tribe I affiliate to is Arthur)
Ko Otautahi ahau(I am from Christchurch)
Ko David raua ko Rose oku matua(My parents are David and Rose)
Ko Cameron toku ingoa(my name is Cameron)

Bonus Activity-Fun family facts

Everyone's family is unique and the reason that my family is unique is that we all spend time together and always plan trips around New Zealand and overseas so we can always keep in contact in what is happening in everyone's lives. Also, absolutely no one in our family is actually a kiwi by blood and we vary all over the world. My mum is from The Philippines, my dad is from Scotland and my Dad's brother married someone from Hong Kong!

 I asked three people in my family what their two most favourite things to do in summer are and here are the results that I got:

Mum-Travelling & Gardening
Dad-Reading & Travelling
Sister-Trampoline & Swimming

And here are two interesting and fun facts about each of these people!

Mum-She can speak two different languages and she makes awesome cakes!
Dad-He bikes to and from work every day and he is such a patient man!
Sister-She is truly an outdoor girl and she is adventurous!

Summer Learning Journey Day 2

Day 2

Activity 1-A house or a home?

For today's activity we were told about what an old Maori village looked like and it was called a "pa". They all were made up of many buildings and each building played a significant role, for example what we would call a kitchen had a building and this name for it was kauta. We were asked if the image below looked like our current home and it was partly the same but with a different look.
Our assignment was to explain 2 similarities and 2 differences between a wharepuni(below) and a modern house. The two similarities is they both have a roof that covers the whole house and without this the rain would get in! They both have A windows for the circulation of the air and especially when it is a hot day for the cold breeze. The two differences are that modern-day houses have double glazed windows whereas even if they had a window it would only be made with one layer of glass. Lastly, another major difference is how they were made for example the old types of houses were mainly made only out of wood but nowadays it can range from wood, metal, brick and glass!


Activity 2-The rules of engagement

We were told about how back in the early years of New Zealand that the men were expected to do all the outside work and the women were to look after their children inside of the house. We were then instructed to draw a picture of us in our dream job and my dream job is to become a professional youtuber like showing gameplay and gaming tutorials. I would like to be one so I can share my experience with the world and I like the challenge of editing my videos and recording them in the first place. I like to engage with my viewers and all the possibilities are endless!

Bonus Activity-Special Meals

We were told that in the 1800s Maori ate a simple diet and that they would only eat what could either have been caught or grown by water or land. In those days there were no restaurants around so it was really up to you on what you would eat and how much you would eat! I was asked what my favourite meal was and how could I resist Lasagna that my mum makes! It is my favourite because of the creaminess of the white sauce and the nice mince makes it a perfect mix! Here is the link to the recipe my family uses and try give it a go yourself: http://edmondscooking.co.nz/recipes/pasta/beef-lasagne/