My Xtranormal

Books I have Read

Carter Observatory

On Tuesday the Year 7 & 8's trekked off to boldly go where no other School has gone before......the Newly re-opened Carter Observatory. We were treated to an exciting workshop which looked in detail at the different conditions, and statistics of each of the planets in our solar system.. Did you know that Pluto is now called a dwarf planet - and there are at least 35 other dwarf planets out there which are roughly the same size as Pluto!! After the workshop we went into the planetarium, this is a high-fi digital movie theater where the ceiling is the screen and you feel as though you are flying through space! We looked at the physical stress astronauts go through when in space , and at our very own unique view of the night sky. The photos were amazing and the educators were really interesting. We came back buzzing with questions and debating the existence of extra-terrestrial life in the universe!
Another knowledge gathering success!

Inquiry Time!

Recently we have been studying Parihaka we could do our inquiry on Parihaka or a historical NZ event. I chose Kate Sheppard and the NZ suffragettes. Below is a copy of my Introduction.

Introduction

For this term Inquiry Room 22 and I focused on ‘Standing Strong’ with the big idea being ‘Standing Up For What You Believe in through Integrity and Empathy’. We looked at people who have stood up for what they believe in, including Kate Sheppard, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and the chiefs and people of Parihaka. We looked at how these people must have felt, how brave they were and how they saw it. Also we studied the honest and hard decisions they made and how those decisions changed the world.

We studied Parihaka in depth, exploring why and how they stood up to the Pakeha. The two chiefs of Parihaka urged non-violent action. Often standing strong can be difficult and many people who have made their voice heard can be mistreated, forced to believe differently, imprisoned or even killed.

As an example of ‘Standing Strong’ we focused on the invasion and annihilation of Parihaka in 1881. We chose Parihaka because it was where Passive resistance or non-violent action/protest was born. Parihaka is a good example of people standing up for what they believe in, even though the consequences were deadly. The people of Parihaka could have easily fought the Pakeha, but instead they stuck to their beliefs that to break out in war would only bring more war upon the people of New Zealand.

Another good example of Standing Strong is Kate Sheppard and the New Zealand Suffragettes and their fight to get women to vote. In this inquiry I hope to find out more about what really happened, how Kate Sheppard and the New Zealand Suffragettes got women to be able to vote. I will talk about the main organization that got the vote for women i.e., The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The movement fits into our current unit because these women stood up for what they believed in, also with non-violent resistance because by gaining the vote they hoped to get rid of violence in homes, rather than physically fighting back, which would not have worked but instead created even more chaos. To get the vote they had to see the protest through men’s eyes to convince them that if women got they vote it would benefit everyone. Later on I will discuss my feelings and other information about Kate S., the WCTU and the New Zealand suffragettes.

The purpose of this Inquiry was for us to understand the importance of sticking to your beliefs and making the right choices from those beliefs and standing up for yourself and what you think is right. It is also important to learn New Zealand’ history to get a better understanding so of other peoples feelings and why they chose do the things they did. I also think it is important that we honour our ancestors and the people from their time for what they did to make New Zealand a better place.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

(Mahatma Gandhi)

Please comment but people at muritai do not copy!! Thanks

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Muritai T.V!

Today I experienced what it was like being a reporter/interviewer. I was doing Muritai TV. With me was, Thomas(the cameraman), Sofija (reporter/interviewer). We interviewed the children who had just started school, and their parents. Sofija also interviewed Mrs Buckley and Mrs Heath. It was very fun and I hope to do something like it again!

So thanks Mr. Bird for organizing that for us and those who we interviewed!

Hopefully it will be put up on the Muritai T.V soon, but check out the blog to see other interviews including swimming sports!!

http://www.muritaitv.blogspot.com/

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The Arrival

Tomorrow the year 7 and 8 group of Muritai School are going to a play of Shaun Tan's book The Arrival. The book is about an man sent off to a foreign country to find a new home for his family. The book is very emotional and it shows that through pictures ( it is a graphic novel with no words). I am looking forward to this play.

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