Quatrains

I saw an eel,
It was real,
So I declared,
I was scared.

I saw a star,

And started to smirk,
Then I found a car,
And went berserk.

I know a pig,
It’s very big,
It wears a wig,
And likes to dig.

Water Cycle Explanation Writing

The Water Cycle

I am learning to inform my audience through an explanation

By Liam

What has been around since the start of earth and all life needs it to survive? It’s water, but did you know water goes through a complex cycle called the water cycle. A cycle is a series of steps that repeat over and over again. The scientific name for the Water Cycle is the Hydrologic Cycle. Water is super important because all life needs water to survive. The water on the earth covers three quarters of the earth. 97 percent of the water on earth is salt water and the remaining three percent is freshwater but you can only drink one percent of that. There are three main stages in the water cycle and without each part the water cycle wouldn't exist. The stages are evaporation, condensation and precipitation. The first stage is evaporation.

Evaporation is when the sun’s rays heats up water on the ground or in lakes, rivers, streams, the ocean and even plants! After the water heats up enough it turns to a gas called water vapour and rises high up in the air. Did you know water vapour is invisible! If salt water evaporates the salt gets left behind. This is good because it makes the water potable. Potable means drinkable. Once the water reaches a certain height it cools down and starts to condensate.

The second stage is condensation. You can see condensation if you breathe onto a window on a cold day. When water vapour gets cold enough it turns back into water droplets and comes together to create a cloud. Did you know the average cloud weighs around 500,000 kgs or 100 elephants, and a cloud can contain billions of kgs of water! There are 8 common types of clouds and three of them are stratus, cumulus and cirrus. Eventually the cloud will fill up with lots of water and start to rain.

The final stage is precipitation. Precipitation is when water falls from clouds. The water has four forms it can fall in. They are rain, snow, sleet and hail. The most dangerous form of precipitation is hail. Hail is super dangerous because it is a frozen ball of ice and it can fall around 50 kilometres an hour. In America hail can be the size of a baseball! Most of the precipitation that falls lands back in the ocean. If it lands on the ground it is most likely to evaporate really fast. If rain falls onto concrete it will either collect in a puddle or run off the concrete because the rain can’t soak into the concrete. After the rain collects the evaporation stage happens again completing the water cycle.

In conclusion the water cycle is very important and all life needs it to survive. Evaporation, when liquid turns to gas, condensation, when gas turns back into droplets and precipitation, when the droplets fall down. Now you know that water is really important and you should do your part by saving water.

My Accident Story

CKK CRASH!!!

February 2019

By Liam

I am learning to entertain my audience with a recount.

CKK OOFFF ARGHHHHHH. This story is about my first major accident, what was yours? It was the last Friday of the summer holidays. I was playing on my trampoline while my dad and sister were in the pool. I was bouncing really high, trying to do an amazing slam dunk. I went too close to the net and when I did the slam dunk and I got my toe caught in the net mid-jump! The really annoying thing was it was the trampoline companies fault because the net was faulty. I ended up falling with my toe still in the net so I twisted my knee but that was the least of what happened!

Since my dad just thought it was a twisted knee he gave me some ice and just said to rest it. When my mum got home she didn’t see my knee so she thought my sibling and I had been irritating each other and we were off avoiding each other. However when it was time to go out for dinner we decided to go to A&E first as I was still complaining. Arriving at the doctors it was minutes after 6, the doctor just checked for ligament damage. The doctor gave me crutches and said it would be fine so try to rest up and not put too much pressure on it during the week.

A week later my dad kept on nagging me because I still found it painful to put pressure on my knee. My dad decided to take me back to A&E because my knee was still sore. When we got there we told the doctor and he said to have a x-ray. We had to wait for ages but when I got the x-ray done it showed I had broken my knee. It was so bad I had to have surgery on it!

In the end I have learnt my lesson about going too close to the netting. I'm all good now and my knee is all better except for some clicks sometimes.

Why PS4 is better than Xbox

W.A.L.T write a persuasive piece of writing.
Literally all of us want a Xbox or a PS4. Well I am here to tell you why to get a PS4 not a Xbox.

Firstly the price. The Xbox 1 X costs $500 and has 1 terabyte of storage but the PS4 Pro costs $400 and has 1 terabyte of storage. Now the price of Xbox Live and PS Plus. Xbox Live costs $40 for a year and you get free games each month, the network and free things in certain games. PS Plus costs $60 for a year and you get free games each month and free things in certain games. Your probably thinking I should get the Xbox because Xbox Live is cheaper than PS Plus. Still get a PS4 because literally everyone who owns a Xbox will get Xbox Live because they want to be able to play games that use the network but then on PS4 you can get the network free and then get the monthly subscriptions when one of the monthly games is one you want.

Secondly everyone wants to play multiplayer games. On Xbox you have to pay for the network (way to play multiplayer games) but on PS4 it is free. There is PS plus which is basically paying for free games each month and special discounts on games but Xbox Live is that but you also get the network. The PS4 is also better because if you wanted the network but not PS Plus you could but with Xbox you have to get both.

Lastly the controls on Xbox is so annoying. On PS4 the joysticks are in line with each other but on Xbox the joysticks are diagonal. The diagonal controls are bad because it is really uncomfortable. Something that is also annoying on Xbox is that the trigger buttons are really skinny so only your finger tip is on the button but for PS4 the trigger button is bigger so more of your finger can rest on it.

Now you know the price, facts and reasons you must take precaution and know to choose wisely because if you don’t you will regret it for as long as you're psn or Microsoft account lives. So get the PS4.

Comics

Last week for writing Mr Drummond came in to teach us how to draw comics. Mr Drummond said not to use characters that are already made up but you could mix 2 together. My comic is called Super Dumpling and I still haven't finished it yet. I loved doing it and hope we can do it again sometime. 

NZ Bird Report

Yesterday I finished my New Zealand bird report. I chose the kingfisher because it reminds me of my gran. I enjoyed doing it because I liked doing the research. This is my piece. 

Do you know what New Zealand bird name sounds like a fish name? It’s the Kingfisher. The Kingfisher is one of the best known birds in New Zealand.

APPEARANCE

A Kingfisher is 23 centimeters long and weighs 55 grams. It’s back is a blue-green colour and it’s stomach is a shimmery yellow. The Kingfisher has a pointy beak so it has more of a chance of catching fish because when the beak enters the water it wouldn’t make a splash and skewer the fish. If it had a blunter beak it would make a splash and probably scare the fish away.

DIET

Kingfishers that live near coastal waters eat small crabs and fish. Those who live near freshwater eat tadpoles, crayfish and small fish. When on land with no water around they would eat earthworms, cicadas, weta, stick insects, dragonflies, beetles, spiders, lizards, mice and small birds. Kingfishers have to eat 60% of their body weight each day to survive.

HABITAT

Kingfishers live in a lot of different places. They like to live near water such as lakes and rivers but can also be found in forests. Humans using heavy machinery to smooth the river banks and drain the land can destroy Kingfisher nests on the lowland rivers.

THREATS

Only half the Kingfisher babies survive more than one week. Most Kingfishers die due to the cold or lack of food in a very cold winter. The main predators are cats and rats. Kingfishers also die when they fly into windows or collisions with cars. When humans disturb the nesting birds this can be a serious problem as the shy birds might not enter and the chicks become too weak to call for the parents who then think they are not hungry, so the chicks stave to death.

In conclusion now you know what a Kingfisher is I hope you will point them out or maybe even care for one if it is hurt. I hope they will make kingfishers a pet soon. I want them to become a pet because they are cute and they remind me of my gran.

Komodo dragon slide

 
For writing we have been doing information reports. We had to pick a reptile and write a slide about it. I chose the Komodo Dragon. I enjoyed it because I got to learn lots of facts that I didn't know.

Information report koala

Do you know what animal can run as fast as a rabbit? This is insane but it’s the Koala! The koala is a marsupial from Australia. Some of its relatives are the wombat, kangaroos, wallabies and possums.

Appearance

Koalas are normally grey but sometimes brown. Their noses are in an oval shape. An adult Koala is 60 to 85 centimetres. A southern adult koala weighs 7 to 13 kgs and an adult northern koala weighs 4 to 15 kgs. Their claws are sharp and long to climb and grip trees. Koalas live for 13-18 years in the wild. 

Diet

The koala diet is pretty crazy. They eat something that’s poisonous for other animals. That is the eucalyptus leaf. Commonly known as gum tree leaves. The gum tree is native to Australia. The adult koala eats between 200 to 500 grams of leaves a day. As the eucalyptus leaf is very toxic and low in nutrition it takes a lot of energy to digest so the Koala sleeps for 22 hours a day.

Habitat

Koalas are native to Australia and live in the states of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria in eucalyptus forests. The koala’s habitat is being destroyed by humans clearing forests to build housing and farming. This causes loss of food that makes them stressed. When koalas are stressed are vulnerable to outbreaks of the disease chlamydia.

In conclusion, humans should know when to stop destroying the habitat so the native animals like koalas can survive and maybe become everyday pets.

My Ode Poem

Yesterday we made odes. They are a challenging type of poem and normally are about an everyday object. This is mine:

To iPad,
You are the best device
Your screen is as bright as my future
You are a door to new things
You help me to be not bored
Oh, iPad how I adore you!

How A Microwave Works

W.A.L.T: Write an explanation of how a household object works.


Hi there, today I will be explaining how a microwave and how they work. Also, I will give you a tip with metal and microwaves.


Firstly there are 3 main components to a microwave. They are a magnetron, a waveguide and a safe chamber for food. They cook food faster than ovens so they use less energy. 


Secondly it heats food by sending UV rays to the water content so the water content heats the rest of the food. Microwaves heats food like the sun heats your face.


Fun fact: If you put metal in the microwave it will explode. The reason for this is anything except metal will absorb the radiation but metal heats up so much the microwave explodes! and parts of the metal gets burnt. 

Now you know what to put in and not to put in a microwave. I hoped you learnt something from my explanation.

Intergalactic Space Problems

It was dark times. Everybody was getting cancer. NASA is going to launch a rocket and try get everyone without cancer to Nepstrius in the solar system Zorpox. But they don’t know that Nepstrius is ruled by powerful beings and it has a powerful force.

The sun gets more force and everyone who goes outside gets stage four cancer. Luckily Owen, Aiden and Destiny are grounded and just play yugi-oh which Destiny always wins because she has the best card in the game. When they check the news they finally know the sun is going to explode because the sun was so old and is really small.

They are pretty sure they have no cancer so they pack up their stuff and go to the spaceship. They have to do the spaceship simulator to learn how to drive the spaceship. The spaceship is called the Aror and it is made out of Mandalorian iron which is the strongest mineral ever. The ship also has kyber crystal bullets if it needs to destroy anything. The inside is really confusing because if someone loves cats there are cats. If someone wants to go to the movie theater it turns into a movie theater.

When they finally enter the spaceship they all suddenly see their parents. Their parents were one of the first to get cancer and they are in hospital. Soon they get used to it and forget about their parents and have lots of fun. Nasa says the have to wait a week before they can blast off because other people might be coming. ONE WEEK LATER. No one else came so Owen, Aiden and Destiny were happy to get the spaceship all to themselves. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,1 BLAST OFF. Destiny had to fly the spaceship out of the Earth's atmosphere because she was the one who was taught to do it. 2 WEEKS LATER. Owen, Aiden and Destiny still just play yu-gi-oh and for once Owen wins because he has a really good trap card. The Sun realises that they are still alive so he has a mission, to kill the humans. The sun starts to move at the speed of light and soon catches up to Owen, Aiden and Destiny. Destiny is the smartest and runs to the shooting simulator which actually shoots the bullets. Aiden does lots of maneuvers so the sun can't hit the ship and Owen is offending him so he has less accuracy. Finally Destiny kills the sun and they keep on traveling to Nepstrius.

5 years later.They make it to Nepstrius and get taken over by demons. Soon they become slaves. Owen looks after queen Dementra. Aiden looks after princess Dimonte and Destiny looks after king Dexter. The only time they see each other is when they are in prison or when they are in a meeting. On their twentieth night they decided to escape but half way through the plan they all fell asleep. In the morning they had to fight each other to the death because the king and queen died so the winner would become the king or queen. Owen and Aiden had to verse each other and Destiny and Dimonte had to verse each other. First up was Owen and Aiden. Owen chose captain america's shield and a sword and Aiden chose a normal shield and a sword. Owen won really easily because he knocked Aiden out first then finished him off. Next was Destiny and Dimonte. Destiny chose the same as Owen and Dimonte chose the same as Aiden. The same thing happened to Dimonte that happened to Aiden. So Owen and Destiny lived happily as king and queen.

My poem on the Storm

Today we wrote senses poems about the storm in Auckland.  

I see the trees jerking in the wind.
I hear the thunder scaring people.
I smell the macaroni for dinner.
I taste the cool sharp rain pour down my face.
I touch my cosy bed keeping me safe and warm.
The storm makes me feel scared and freezing cold.

My Memoir

The Gymnasium

The gymnasium was usual enough: it had P-bars, high bars, pommel horses, rings, vaults and a floor.

The group and I did what gymnasts do: dismounts, practiced giants, beat records for circles, flipped over blocks and did swings to handstands.

Doing things that we will remember.

My Mantra

You are braver than you believe. Stronger than you think and loved more than you’ll ever know.

This is my mantra I chose as it reminds me to be strong and believe in myself.