Home Economics | Souvlaki | Week Eight

   - Teamwork Aspects -

Tasks

During this lesson, it was a much more difficult task to create and execute the recipe. This was due to one of our members not being able to cook, and another had been assigned the task to create tzatziki for the entire class. This meant me and another teammate to cook the meat, cut all the salads and put together the souvlakis with great difficulty.

Skills

Not many skills were needed for this recipe, and neither were they put to the test as much as our ability to work as two people as hard as a four-person team. 

Improvements

Despite the lack of members, our souvlaki turned out very good. The meat was cooked thoroughly, the salad wasn't chunky, and the tzatziki was perfect.

 - Product Outcome - 

Feedback

The small amount of feedback we got during the hectic lesson was about how we cut the lettuce, and how it should have been thinner than previously cut, however, this did not affect the recipe.

Modifications

I don't believe there were any modifications I would've like to make to the recipe.

- Next Steps - 

The next steps for my group would be to recognise the challenge of fewer members and overcome it by putting in more work to make up for the lack of contribution. This shouldn't be a problem again though, as we don't have another practical until next term, and at most the likelihood of more than two people away is extreme.

PE Gymnastics Sequences

In PE we have recently begun our gymnastics topic as we move on from the different sports we were looking over. Within this topic, we will have to complete three different displays of our ability on the different sets of equipment. I have been able to record my performance on the floor, trampoline, and the beam. The displays are certain sequences of different moves to complete on each apparatus.

 On the floor the level two performance I completed an arabesque, a cartwheel, a forward roll, a full turn and a backwards roll in a smooth continuous form. The video should show the completed performance.

The second display I was able to complete was on the trampoline. On this apparatus, I was able to complete a sequence of ten controlled bounces, swivel hips, half turn, straddle jump and a front drop. This was a level two performance. 

The third display I was able to complete was on the beam. On this apparatus, I completed the level one sequence of mounting the beam, four dip walks, cat leap, a pivot turn and a tuck jump. 

Tomorrow, When The War Began | Chapter 22 Final Questions

1. What do Ellie and the others see in Ellie’s shed when they ride up her driveway?

They see the others in there.

2. What does Ellie compare this scene with? Why do you think she does this?

Ellie compares the scene before her with a Christmas tableau with figures such as Mary, Joseph and the shepherds, standing the positions, life-like, but still. I don't quite know why she does this, it could have been something about them all that reminded her of the scene, or it could have a deeper meaning. Authors don't have intention behind every word, only most of them.

3. What does Homer suggest the group does?

Homer suggests that they leave Corrie in the car outside the hospital, ring the bell (ding dong) and ditch her there so she can get treatment for the bullet wound.

4. What does Kevin decide to do? What does this reveal about him?

Kevin decides that Homer's suggestion is out of the question, and instead drives her there himself so she can receive medical treatment. This would mean that they would likely be taken to the concentration camp with the others in the town after Corrie has been treated. This reveals something very important about Kevin's character. As we have not had much interaction with him as a character, compared to others such as Fi and Homer, we do learn a lot about him through this. Kevin is seen as argumentitive, partially rude, and pessimistic. We know this is not always the case, and likely was happening because of the sheer pressure surrounding the situation they were in. When Kevin chooses to do this, he, in another way, is sacrificing himself. The eight of them had freedom, they were not kept within the camp. But they could've left Corrie there, alone, but safe and treated. Instead, Kevin chooses to go with her. It shows us how brave he is.

SEEL Paragraph

As our technology topic continues we are working towards a test to do with how technology has developed in the world over time. We have studied Cavemen, the Egyptians, and the Ancient Romans. Each of these has contributed to the world today, including Ancient Rome, one of the greatest influences in the world today. In the test, I believe we will be going over mapping, graphing, a timeline and a SEEL paragraph, which is what I 'm writing now.

Throughout time, technology has greatly improved, this has led to a great improvement in medical treatment, and other advancements that have allowed us as people to live much easier. But, as people live easier, they live longer. A greater life expectancy means more people as the birth rate rises as well. An example of this is the expectancy of a global population of 9 billion by the end of 2020, compared to the current 7.7 billion we are at now. This creates a certain concern at to both how technology will grow at such a rate and not give people time to process the development. However, the rate at which technology is improving, I do believe that the rate at which people have children may decrease. This can be due to the developments in contraception, as well as the medical developments in things such as abortions. 

Home Economics | Mix & Match Activity

Something that we learnt from the Mix & Match activity - 

When the settlers came they brought their own hunting methods and cooking methods, as well as animals of course. However, not only did they bring iron pots and pans, they introduced the newest hunting method of using a gun instead of trapping. This was not something new to the world though, only to New Zealand, where for generations, the Maori people had been using traps, spears, and other sharp weapons to gather their meat.


What can you see happening to our food fifty years into the future?

It will become more health-focused, rather than taste-focused. There will always be a delicious taste to the food we eat here in New Zealand, however, I believe we will see a new focus come onto the nutrients as the scientific research develops and reveals what certain foods do to our bodies. Most will likely sacrifice taste for a healthier diet.

What could you invent, change or directly effect relating to how food is produced at a cheaper rate?

Throughout time, humans have greatly affected the world. We cause pollution, extinction, and a great deal of pain. Without the right technological advancements, we will begin to cave in on ourselves and take the world with us. Solar panels provide an efficient way of gathering the electricity we need to develop ourselves as a people, and through the right technology, we could use that to impact how we eat. Land space in New Zealand is now being overcome by housing as our population rises quickly, this means the amount of land farming has is being cut down to nothing. This will soon greatly affect the country as we begin to import the country as we import fruits, vegetables, and with time we will be the ones who import meat. Something I have thought of that could prevent this from happening is instead of expanding how far the land plants are grown on is, going on to expand the height instead. Through the use of artificial light gathered by solar panels, we can generate light so plants no longer have to be exposed to the outdoors. Air can be filtered in through air ducts. Water and nutrients can be placed into the soil for a maximum growth rate. But how can we expand upwards? Think of apartments buildings, if you take an apartment building, the actual size of the ground it sits on is not nearly as large as it would be if each apartment was on the ground. If we were to take each apartment floor, filter air in, have sprinklers for water and create artificial light, we would be capable of growing much more vegetation than we would with just one level. I don't have the full science behind whether it would be able to be recreated in this manner, however, with the exceptional rate we are gaining knowledge on the subject of agriculture, we will know in no time.

Home Economics | Pad Thai | Week Seven

   - Teamwork Aspects -

Tasks

When we made the pad thai we were lucky enough that our teacher assigned roles to each of us. For, example, two of us combined the jobs of collecting ingredients and making the pad thai sauce so each did as the others, who were doing the chicken and noodles, needed.

Skills

Once again we were given a simple recipe that did not require many skills. However, we put what skills we had into making sure that the chicken was cooked evenly and that the noodles did not stick to the bottom of the pot.

Improvements

I don't think there were any improvements we could've made. Each of us shared the load, got on well, and cooked a good dish.

 - Product Outcome - 

Feedback

We weren't given much feedback from others, however, the others in my group have said that they would've prefered less pepper in the recipe.

Modifications

Like said, we believe we cooked a good dish, the only thing I would have wanted was thicker noodles and more bean sprouts in the recipe.

- Next Steps - 

I believe the group of us need to take as a whole would be to work this well together in the time frame with a more complicated dish. We were lucky to have our roles assigned and I think if we were to do this between ourselves at the start of the lesson we would be as good as we were this lesson.

Land Yacht

Aim: To make a wind racer that will travel a set distance the fastest.

Equipment:

1. Wooden trolley
2. 1 metre of paper
3. Cardboard
4. Tape
5. Metal rod

Method:

1. Screw the pole onto the trolley.
2. Tape strips of cardboard onto the base of the pole to form the base of the sail.
3. Cut out a large piece of paper and fold it over the pole to form the sail.
4. Tape it all together and ensure that it's stable and secure.
5. Decorate the sail and name the sail.
6. Use a leaf blower to blow the vessel as far as possible.
7. Measure the distance and speed the vessel travels.

Results:

During the racing of our land yacht, we achieved a distance of 1.9 metres in 13.5 seconds. This means that the yacht had a velocity of 0.14m/s-1.

Discussion:

While we raced the yacht itself, we did not keep it at a constant speed, because of the lack of support in our sail, it blew forward and didn't catch the necessary wind to propel it forward at the desired velocity. The unbalanced forces that constantly acted upon the yacht did not assist, had it gone any further, it would have likely tipped forward. This would've happened due to the heavyweight of the metal pole. As said, we did not have enough support in our sail, this would have been solved by putting more cardboard into the sail to prevent it from blowing in every direction and instead, staying in place.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, many of the problems we found with the sail we created had to do with the design of it and how much time we spent on artistic developments. We focused rather on the creative award that was being given, instead of the distance and time award.

Essay Pre-Planning Continued Further...

Describe a relationship between 2 or more characters in the text. Explain how this relationship helped you to understand at least 1 of the characters.

Through the first paragraph, we plan to utilize our abilities to describe the relationships between each of them and all three in-depth. The connections that will be described will show how each character feels about one another at first, further along in the story, and by the end of the novel.

The second paragraph will continue on to explain how the relationship between Fi and Homer affects Ellie. The relationship affects her in a way where she realises the purpose of her newfound feelings for Homer.

The third paragraph goes into depth about how the relationship affects the plotline of the novel itself.

Home Economics | Map of Diversity

For Home Economics, we created a map comprising of different pieces of information we have learnt and researched. I worked with two others and we each contributed to four separate maps that were used to make up the main map. 

The first had to do with simply naming some places and locating them, this is done with Key #1. These places are contributional to the vegetables and fruits that are grown in New Zealand.

The second key has to do with different settlers and why they came to New Zealand. For example, we have the Scottish down as settling in Dunedin for similar land to their own.

The next part goes without a key, and instead uses labels. These labels show where certain produce is grown. An example of this would be how wheat and barley is labelled to grow near Canterbury.

Essay Pre-Planning Continued...

Describe an incident which changes the course of events in the text. Explain how this helped you to understand an important idea in the text.

The incident of the bridge blowing up helped me to understand the idea of rebellion against old values and what you know because of how it demonstrates the rebellion of the teenagers against the invaders. We see this in the text when Fi tells Ellie 'I've always wanted to break a window.' This helps prove to me how all of them are learning that rebellion is the way to fight against them, instead of the more main characters, such as Ellie and Homer. We finally get characters like Fi to fully demonstrate how they have changed throughout the experience.

Another way it assisted me in my understanding of this idea is how it showed Lee rebelling through his disabilities. In most cases, he would be told to stay back and rest, however in this situation we see him go against those ideas. When Ellie asks him about his bleeding through his bandages, during Lee's rescue, he tells Ellie 'Only a little. I'd say a couple stitches came apart.' In this scene, Lee does not prioritize himself, instead, he makes sure they pay less attention to him and more towards what they are going to do. This shows us how, even though all the pain, he wants to make sure that they rebel against everything they have learnt, as well as everything the invaders are attempting to enforce.

Pyramids of Egypt | SEEL Paragraphs

Long ago, the pyramids were built with the newest technology of Ancient Egypt. Since those times, the technologies to build the pyramids have been lost to time. The pyramids, used as burials for pharaohs, were complicated structures with tombs and pathways. Each tomb contained a sarcophagus, riches, a mummified pharaoh, and any close family they had. Animals they owned and any wives would be killed and mummified and laid to rest to pass into the afterlife with the pharaoh. I am unable to identify whether husbands were buried were female pharaohs or not. An example of one of these Pyramids would be the Great Pyramid of Giza. This particular pyramid was made for the pharaoh Khufu and was so complicated and detailed it took thirty years to create, maybe even longer. However, we still know nothing about how they were created, as they have long lost the knowledge to time.

The advancements that occurred during the time of Ancient Egypt were major. The advancements that were seen in Egypt at this time were things we know very well today, such as mathematics, writing, construction, time-telling and agriculture. For example, we knew how the Ancient Egyptians were known for the mummification of their dead, however, what most don't know is how this attributed to the Ancient Egyptians knowledge of medicine. Through mummification, they were able to learn about anatomy and cures for illnesses. Though some of their methods were questionable. Throughout this, however, the advancements they made were necessary for the development into the world we have now.

Essay Pre-Planning

In my essay about 'Tomorrow, When The War Began' I will go over a key event and how this event changes the character within the story. The key event is closer to the end and describes how the characters Homer, Lee, Ellie, and Fi blow up an important bridge. This bridge is important to their invaders because it is used to transport supplies from and to Wirrawee. Through blowing up the bridge they have cut off an important supply route and started a small revolution they hope to spread throughout the people, country, and world. The important character that changes after this event, or is evidently shown before and during is Fi. This character changes in a way where at the beginning of the story she is described as shy, non-confrontational, and reserved. Since the beginning of the book and throughout this event we see the changes she has made to herself and how she treats others. During this event we see her become more involved in the group, whereas at the beginning it is told about how she avoided chores while taking their trip in Hell. Another change she's been through is how much more confident than the shyer girl we meet at the start of the story. The third change we see is how she no longer desires the reserved life she grew up with. Instead, she wants to leave that life behind, and go into farming with her boyfriend, Homer. This represents a major change because at the beginning we see her as such a reserved girl she doesn't even know what two-minute noodles are.