Winter Learning Journey: Day 4, Activity 1

Activity 1: New Zealand will be sending approximately 76 athletes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. To learn more about these amazing athletes you can read their biographies on the New Zealand Olympic team website. Each athlete has their own page dedicated to them.

For this activity, please choose one of the athletes listed on the Rio Olympic Athletes page, read about them and then write a short description of them on your blog. In the blog please include their name, their sport, and three interesting facts about them.

The name of the athlete that I have chosen is Shakira Baker. She plays Rugby Sevens and is apart of the Black Ferns. She is originally from Greytown in Wairarapa. She studied Marine Biology when she was at University. She is related to Gillies Kaka who is in the New Zealand Sevens Team.

Recount: The Matariki Fireworks!

On a frosty Saturday night my family and I along with majority of Glen Innes headed to the last night of the Matariki Lights Festival. I was absolutely pumped because tonight I got to see the fireworks as well. After about 2 - 3 hours it was finally time.

So our whole family gathered on the left side of the reserve on a little hill side and waited. We suddenly heard the MC start to shout “10, 9, 8, 7..” so we joined along. “6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” It happened so fast, the first firework popped in the sky light popcorn, then the next one, then the next. The sky was filled with all the colours of the rainbow.

It was like we were at Christmas in the Park again. It honestly felt so magical because I was experiencing it with my family! I honestly couldn’t think of celebrating it any other way. The fireworks finished off with gold fireworks that brang the sky to life. When it finished I looked over to my family and saw that they all had massive smiles on their faces as well.

Winter Learning Journey: Day 3, Activity 3 (Bonus)

Bonus: This year two sports are being reintroduced into the Olympic Games. They are golf and sevens rugby. Imagine that you worked for TVNZ and you were paid to travel to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Olympic Games and report on the golf and/or the rugby competitions. On your blog, write a poem that describes how you would feel about travelling to Rio. Would you be excited? Would you be scared? How would you feel?

Reporting about Golf would be fun. Even though I would have to be in the sun, I wouldn’t mind, because I would never know what I will find. Reporting about Sevens Rugby would be like a dream come true, even though i’m not that good, that would be all good.

Winter Learning Journey: Day 3, Activity 2

Activity 2: Take a picture of yourself playing one of the 28 Olympic sports and post it to your blog along with the name of the sport and a brief description of what you are doing in the picture. As an example, I have posted a picture of my son, Aronui, posing as an archery competitor. He made his bow out of a tree branch!

Unfortunately I don’t have a photo but I am going to write about my Triathlon experience. During the Triathlon I got the chance to Swim, Ride and Run. It was an amazing experience because it was my first experience with a Triathlon and I hadn’t even heard of it until then.

Winter Learning Journey: Day 3, Activity 1

Activity 1: Visit the website for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Click on the name of the one of the sports that is listed on the main page. If possible, choose one that you have never heard of before and read about it. After reading about the sport, post a short description of it on your blog. The post must include:

1. The name of the sport
2. The aim of the sport
3. Two rules for the sport

The sport that I chose was Archery, Archery is a sport that I have heard of but have never tried or read about before. The aim of the game is to hit the bullseye mark within 70 metres. One rule is that you are not allowed to distract another player while they are shooting. Another rule is that if a player damages another player's equipment they must pay for the damage.

Winter Learning Journey: Day 2, Activity 3 (Bonus)

Bonus: It is time to get creative! For this bonus activity you are asked to design a simple logo for the next Summer Olympic Games. They will be held in Tokyo, Japan in 2020. The Olympic committee in Japan has already created four possible options for the logo (see below) but I think that you can create something even more interesting and attractive!

This is my logo. The 3 people playing sports are all the sports that are most common in Tokyo. Tennis, Baseball and Soccer. Then there is the heading and the Olympic rings.

Winter Learning Journey: Day 2, Activity 2

Activity 2: Rio de Janeiro, the host of Olympic Games this year, is a huge, vibrant and dynamic city. Perhaps the most famous landmark in the city is a large statue of Jesus called ‘Christ the Redeemer’ that sits on top of a hill overlooking Rio. Here is a picture of the statue:

New Zealand is also known for many famous landmarks, including the SkyTower and the Harbour Bridge. In your blog list 3 famous landmarks in New Zealand. Along with the name of each landmark provide a brief description of it. Where is the landmark located? In your opinion, why is it famous?  

1. The sky tower is a very tall building, that is located on Victoria Street, in Auckland City.  The sky tower is the tallest building in Auckland City, so it is very easy to spot. It is a famous landmark in Auckland because first of all it is the tallest tower, when you're at the top of the building you can see almost everything in the city and last of all you can bungee jump from the top.
2. Lake Taupo is also a famous landmark in New Zealand. It is a huge lake that is located in Waikato. I think that it is famous because it is place where you don’t only do fishing. You can Parachute, you can look at Volcanoes and you can look at the beautiful Rivers.

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is a very famous Museum in New Zealand. It is located in Wellington. I think that it is famous because there is a lot of history about New Zealand all gathered in this one Museum. Where people can relax and look at the history of New Zealand and not worry about anything else.