Looking to join a new sport... Try Basketball!

Why should you start playing basketball? This was a question that I was asked recently and I might add it when it came to responding, I realised it was indeed a good question’.

Basketball is an excellent sports code to take up  because first of all it is a fun and competitive sport which allows each participant to play and socialize with other who have the same interest. This active and competitive  sport also helps to exercise your body and improve not only ball handling skills, but also hand and eye coordination.

As a player myself, I recommend playing basketball because it is good exercise and if you haven't played yet it is something new to do because it will give you something to do other than sitting in front of the t.v. playing Minecraft (said from personal experience).

When playing basketball you need to have good endurance and stamina to keep up with other players in the game as you will often need to sprint across the court to the oppositions to guard your hoop. Training is an essential part of this sport to build endurance which is necessary for your role in the team and to support other team players.

While playing basketball is definitely fun, and increases opportunities to be part of a group with similar if not the same interests, one of the benefits I have noticed apart from keeping fit and healthy is the improvement in my breathing.   Through the training programme I have found it most beneficial in making me more conscious of the way I breathe and using my diaphragm properly when breathing,  which is particularly important because I am an asthmatic.

Playing basketball can be fun playing because it improves social skills and can let you get to know other people. As fun as basketball it is also beneficial for keeping fit and healthy, as an asthmatic it has helped my body and lungs to breathe prior to the training given to me through basketball. So really what i’m trying to say is that if you already haven't you should try playing basketball and you never really know, maybe you’ll like it.

Basketball, I highly recommend you give it a go!

My Speech 2013

Electronic learning is research done through usage of electronic devices like laptops, desktops and ipads etc. With electronic devices we can access the internet and other services like Google and Wikipedia. With e-learning we use them to publish our stories to our blogs and give feedback to other's blogs.

I think electronic learning will enhance the way students can learn and should be used by not only New Zealand Students but also students around the world. E-learning will enable students with more resources which I believe will benefit their academic skill.

As students I think we personally prefer using the netbooks our e-learning devices to using paper and pen, this maybe because when we use paper and pen we are disadvantaged because there are more resources that we can use when we are working on our netbooks.

Since we started using the netbooks I think that students in the school were really having fun learning maybe it was because we were finally able to use something to write on other than paper and pen or maybe because we were using brand new netbooks but I think we were happy because we would be able to use the services that the netbook had to offer to not only learn new things but to also extend the learning that we had already done.

Using the netbook is like writing a story and you have all the things you need to make a good story having essential resources can really affect the way you present your work. Using netbooks has given me and all of us the assets we need to make my writing better.

If schools around the world were to use e-learning they would make their classroom a better and happier place to learn and will motivate them to use their devices to it’s fullest potential. Using an e-device has offered me assets that has made my work and academic skill better. I in a students  perspective would gladly use what the netbook has to offer to make my work the best it could be. Using electronic devices we can help students to reach the academic standard and make learning a more fun and favorable thing to do.

Social Science

The people that need help can be people that encounter temptations like addiction, people with illnesses or uneducated persons. When someone is having trouble there will be always be someone or a group of people that can help whether it be from a puppy to a human everyone will always need help. When we are hungry our parents can feed us but what about those people that are less privileged so who helps those that cannot help themselves?

 The Salvation Army are one of the many organisations that use the money that they have fundraised to benefit and help those that may need it. They service facilities for people with addiction problems and also at the moment are fundraising for the ‘Red Shield Appeal’ which is aimed to provide necessities like food and clothing. The Salvation Army is an organisation that helps those who cannot help themselves because of either poverty or illnesses which stop them from working and therefore suffer financially and cannot purchase the daily needs of not only them but their family as well.

 Connection With our School Charism Mission Day is similar to the work that the Salvation Army does fundraising and using their money to satisfy the needs of the homeless, decrepit and hungry. Our School Charism is related to the work of the Salvation Army because we use our money that we have fundraised to help family and children around the world.

Underwater Viewing Machines

 As part of our Under the Oceans inquiry, students designed and created 'Underwater viewing machines.'

Maths is Important

How would you know how much money you would need to withdraw?

How would you know how to read the time?

Maths IS important! Do you believe in cashiers around the world relying on a calculator to solve the simplest of equations because maths was stopped being taught as it was considered ‘UNIMPORTANT’ what would the next era look like and what if maths did stop being taught how would we ever hope to evolve mathematically.

Maths is in everything we do it can be from counting from one to three or it can be measuring a wing of a jet plane. This just proves that maths truly is important. Many things in our daily lives can be assessed mathematically like when you check your clock to watch your favorite show on T.V. or shopping wisely to see which product is cheaper maths is everywhere.

Why should you believe in maths? You should believe in maths because no matter what you want to achieve in life you will need to use your knowledge in maths to solve and accomplish any problems you may face during work and at home. Knowing how maths is a great achievement because it lets you understand life more mathematically which opens new doors to careers like civil engineers that have to measure land and buildings or a manager in commerce giving money and sufficient change to your customer.

Maths is important because if maths stopped being taught we could never hope to achieve future technology and if you want to achieve jobs like civil engineer then you would need great mathematical skill to measure kilometre high buildings and wide, vast land to build new architecture. Maths is an extension to life which can provide deeper understanding to things in life that could open new doors in life.

Science Investigation

This week we had been experimenting with carbonates, bases and acids. We had to write our hypothesis and write our results which these were.

WALT: Observe and report on the chemical reaction that occur when combining substances together.

Experiment - Mix carbonates and bases to acids and record the reaction that follows

Combination	Hypothesis
1. Lemon Juice - Citric Acid	We predicted that the colour would change or lose it’s original colour
2. Raro - Vinegar	We predicted that the vinegar’s colour would over power the Raro’s distinct orange colour.
3. Vinegar - Tartaric Acid	We predicted that the vinegar would turn the tartaric acid into a black liquid like it’s original colour black.
4. Baking Soda - Vinegar	We didn’t really predict because we have done this many times.

Reaction

1. The lemon juice colour faded after being mixed into the citric acid which then after solidified.
2. The reaction turned the vinegar into orange coloured liquid
3. It looked like coke and solidified.
4. It rose and foamed up due to the chemical reaction.

Rubbish in our Schools

Our school excels in academic subjects but in hygiene, specifically environmental standards rubbish around the playground areas suggests that this is an area of concern. Rubbish in our school consists of a broad range of edibles to wrappers and glad wrap.

If children were to take their lunch and morning break rubbish home  - wrappers including those off muesli bars, glad wrap from sandwiches and rolls, paper bags and uneaten food, it would save it going in the rubbish bins at school. These rubbish bins are often visited by seagulls who scavenge for food.  The regular behavior of their visits results in them ravaging our school bins in search of the unfinished food discarded by pupils. Remnants of this scattering can be found around bins which usually get caught by wind.

We could also place more bins in the school so that children would not be lazy to put it in the bin as laziness is one of the leading causes of rubbish scattered in the school. Our rubbish bins could also be expanded so that it can carry more rubbish and not be overflowed by rubbish.

A further way to reduce the amount of rubbish around our school and to manage the seagull problem could also be to replace our playground rubbish bins with those that have lids on them and perhaps returning to the use of the council recycle bins in the playground too, to encourage their use. This would mean that papers and wrappers would not fly out of the bins.