The Human Sundial – Kick Start

For today’s task I had to make a human Sundial.   you make a human Sundial by standing in the same position each time and having someone else draw around you.

My two Interesting facts are linked to my sundial….

Interesting fact 1:  in the middle of the day when I did my sundial the sun was in the centre of the sky this means that the shadows that are formed from the sun are very small but really dark in colour.  From 2 pm the shadow will begin to grow long and less dark this explain the large gap in my human sun dial from 2-3 pm as I went thinner.

Interesting fact 2: I never knew this until after I did my son dial  but the  human Sundial works by having your arm up in the air as this represents the time on my sundial you could use the top of my head to work out the time.

Here is my sundial I was only able to do it from 1 pm till 3 pm as it got to cloudy and the sun vanished.

Ping Pong Battle Game – Step it Up

Here is my Ping Pong Battle Game – Step it up.  This  Challenge was super fun and my family and I played for ages trying to improve our scores.

After a few practice turns we did a race to see who could get the most in within 20 seconds, Here are the scores:

Lucus – 5/8

Dad – 8/8

Mum – 7/8

Alex – 4/8

Whai Māori String Games – Step it Up

Today’s Step it up was to try more challenging Whai.  I watched the videos but after not been successful with the Kick start I did not successful try it.  However I did do some more reading into Whai Maori String games.  This is what I learnt:

Similar sting games played all around the world but Whai is a bit different as I learnt that there is chants (Karakia)/ songs (Waiata) that are sung to remind you how to move the strings.  Traditionally the string was made from flax. Whai is a fun activity for both girls and boys and for all ages, women were better than men.  By doing Whai  it is excellent training for the skill of weaving and net-making, was also a way warriors could practice hand eye coordination.   Whai was passed down by Maui and the patterns represent Mythological stories.  Whai can be done on your own or as a bit of a competition with someone else.

I am going to ask my family to try to make the simple Whai at the weekend and see if they can do it.  I need to work on my hand eye coordination to be able to do Whai.

 

Whai Māori String Games – Kick Start

Whai Māori String Games kick start activity was do string games by watching the You Tube videos on how to make a  butterfly, star and 4 triangles with your fingers and string.  I was not able to make these shapes i got so lost and tangled in the string.

This is as far as I got it dose look like 4 triangles but not the way the guy did it.  I did have fun trying and getting in knots though.

Connecting with your Whenua – Kick start

For today’s Summer Learning Kick Start Activity I had to go for a walk to a place that shows a connection to my Whenua.

I had to use pictures of the last time I went to my special place as I can’t go just now because my Mum over did it with her leg and is now on rest mode aka turning into a couch potato.

I chose Rainbow Falls in Kerikeri, this place is special to me because I went here with my Grandparents when they were over visiting from Scotland in October (yes my mum is in a moon boot in the pictures and is sill in it now – she really messed up her ankle).  It is a very special place to us because ever since I was little my Granny and Grandpa told me when I see a rainbow it means they are thinking of me, and now my brothers too, so to be able to go to this place with them and see Rainbows in the falls means a lot to me and my family.

 

This is my Granny, Gramdpa, Me, My mum, brother Alex and little brother Callum at Rainbow falls.

Paper Planes & Flight Forces – Step it Up

Paper Planes & Flight Forces – Step it up task was to build different paper airplanes and compare how they fly.

Here are the planes I built and what I noticed about how each one fly’s.  It is done a bit like a science experiment as I love science experiments.  My brother is throwing the planes for me as he loves planes and wanted to be part of the project, he also sat watching me make the planes and telling me if I did something wrong.

Minecraft Educational – Tree House

I decided to do the create a tree house Minecraft challenge from last year.  I did slightly adapt the tree house to a tree house on a stump as that is what I want in my garden.  I also put lots of flowers around the tree house to attract bees as I noticed this year there is very few around my garden.

Here are some pictures of my tree house/ stump: