Ratio

Today for Maths we have been learning about ratio, We were told that whatever was mentioned first would be the first number in the ratio. I did a worksheet with some questions on it where we had to find the ratio.

One of the questions was:

A pattern has 4 blue triangles to every 12 yellow triangles. What is the ratio of blue triangles to all triangles?

The answer was 4:16 or in simplified form, 1:4.

To get this, You start with the first number mentioned which was 4 (Blue triangles) so that was the first number in the ratio, Then It said to all triangles so I added 4 to 12 which was 16 and then put it next to the 4 to create the ratio: 4:16. Then to simplify it I divided both by 4 to create 1:4.

Real Life Situation Graphs

For Maths yesterday we have been doing real life situation graphs, We did two graphs, One we had to answer some questions about it and the next one we had to draw the graph, For both of them we had to write a story about what happens in the graph.

Mrs Robinson’s Day:

Story:

One morning Mrs Robinson woke up and chose happy so she went outside and found a shopping cart, Then she decided to take it back to the store so she took it back by riding it. On her way to the store she stopped to steal a child’s toy but soon after got back on her way to the shop. After a bit, she arrived at the store but felt like going inside so she took her trolley and went to buy it some wet wipes to clean it off. After she was done she didn’t feel like leaving her beloved trolley so she took it with her on her way home. Not long after leaving the store the wheel fell off her trolley so she left it on the side of the road. After that she walked to her friend’s house to inform her about her day, Lastly she went home.

Shane’s Bath Time:

Story:

One day Shane decided to take a bath so he ran the water that was oddly red like blood (He didn’t think anything of it) and got in, After sitting in there for a minute or two he saw a big chunk of bone in the water so stopped to get it out and add more water. After sitting in that water for a while he noticed more bone and skin floating in the water, He looked up at the tap and saw a dead human arm laying there after that, He immediately got out and was traumatized for life.

One Minute Speech

Today for Literacy I read out a one minute speech that I have been working on for a while. We started with choosing a topic to write about that was relevant to some of our learning and then created the speech, The topic I chose to write about was Marine Pollution and what is really happening.

While reading my speech out, there were other people in the room writing  feedback on my speech the feedback was based on the content, structure and delivery of it. This is some of the feedback I got:

Content:

My key facts were related to the topic, The topic and key question were identified and the main focus.

Structure:

My ideas flowed logically, The introduction and conclusion had an impact, Both informative (Some parts represented without a bias) and persuasive  (Made deliberate language choices that showed opinion and why it is bad).

Delivery:

I read my speech clearly and could be heard or understood easily but made little to no eye contact.

Something I did well:

I spoke very clearly and had good structure.

 Something I could improve on:

Making eye contact.

 

Like Terms

Today for Maths we have been doing algebra and learning how to add and subtract algebraic equations. Today we did like terms, They are terms that contain the same variables such as N or X.

I learnt that if you add them together and multiply them together it will have a different outcome such as:

n+n+n = 3n

And

n x n x n = n3

We learnt how to work out some equations like this

3n+7 – 9n  =___

3n+ -9n = -6w

Answer: 3n+7 – 9n = 6w + 7

Different Types Of Triangles

Today for Maths we learnt about the different types of triangles, They are Equilateral, Scalene, Right Angles and Isoceles.

Equilateral triangles are when all side are equal (The same length)

Scalene triangles are when all of the sides are different lengths

Right Angles are when one of the angles are equal to 90 degrees

Isoceles triangles are when 2 sides are the same and the other is different

We learnt that all of the angles of a triangle added together equal 180 degrees.

 

All Flushed Out

Earlier this morning, A lady from the Christchurch City Council came into our class to teach us about wastewater, Where it comes from, The wastewater treatment plan and how we can make a difference.

The 3 Water Systems

Storm water – Carries away excess rainwater

Fresh water – Goes to our houses to use

Waste water – Comes away from our houses

What Percent Of Waste Water Does Everything In Your House Make?

25% Comes from shower

23% Comes from the washing machine

18% Comes from the toilet

15% Comes from the hose/outside

13% Comes from taps

3% Comes from leaks

2% Comes from baths

1% Comes from the dishwasher  

Christchurch Wastewater Treatment plant

                   The water, solids and gases are all treated differently.

1. Home – Wastewater comes from shower, taps and toilet etc.

2. Pump stations – About 100 around Christchurch, pump water from houses to the treatment plant.  Someone monitors this from a control room 24 hours a day.

3. Waste screens – Taking out big things like rags, wet wipes, jewellery, sanitary products, false teeth and dead animals etc, Everyday 2 tonnes of this goes to landfill.

4. Grit tanks – Grit, fat and oil (about 2 tonnes ) goes to landfill.

5. Sedimentation  tanks – remove 30%  heavy sludge and sand etc.

6. Trickling filters – Liquid from sedimentation tanks passes through, the bacteria sits on plastic filters and breaks down the microbes into slime clumps which then fall down.

7. Smelly air from trickling filters escapes and some helpful bugs get rid of it, biofilter.

8. Air-mixing tanks, pump water through to help separate the slime from the trickling filter and water.

9. Clarifiers – Slime clumps sink to the bottom, 90% of pollution has now gone.

10. Oxidation ponds -oxygen, sunlight, cold water and good bugs – kill any nasty bugs left this takes 2-3 weeks.

11. Long pipes take clean water out to sea, 3km offshore.  99.9% of pollution is now removed.

12. Sludge thickener – big tank, it looks like chocolate milk going in, adds a thickener to turn it into a kind of porridge to help remove all the solids.

13. Digester –  Solids from sedimentation tanks and clarifiers come here.

14. Biosolids machine squeezes out water and dries the solids to be used to help the environment. 98% solids.

15. Dry biosolids are taken to the west coast and used with waste from mining to make fertiliser for growing native trees – not used for farmland where food is grown.

16. Engines use gases (Methane) to power the machines used to run the wastewater plant.

Here Are Some Things We Came Up With To Help:

• Collect rainwater to drink or use in garden etc
• Short showers (3-5 minutes)
• Don’t leave the tap running when brushing your teeth
• Don’t use the dishwasher until it is full
• Don’t fill the bath up too much
• Only do laundry when the load is full
• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products 
• Buy water friendly appliances (star rating sticker)
• Don’t put fats or oils down the sink – It can go in the green bin
• Don’t put chemicals down the drain
• Waste disposal units – Put extra solids in the system – don’t use them
• Be careful watering garden
• Fix leaks
• Be thoughtful about what goes into the toilet – eg no wet wipes and sanitary products etc

 

Planting Trees

Yesterday for Arbor day we did a planting tree activity, We learnt how to plant trees from side tips off of a fully grown tree.

 

These are the steps to do so:

 

1: Cut a side tip (Side branch) about 15 cm long of a tree

2: Strip off all of the leaves apart from the top two

3: Dip the cutting into rooting hormones

4: Get a plant pot and fill it with sand or soil (Usually sand because it carries less bacteria)

5: Make a hole in the sand and bury the plant/s into it

6: Water

This fits into our role as kaitiaki because we are protecting our school and helping to plant more trees so that our school can stay a safe and healthy environment.

Tree Of The Year

A few days ago it was Arbor day, Because of this we have been doing a bit of work around trees. We looked at the tree of the year site which had the top finalists for the tree of the year.

On the site, There was a photo for all five of the tree finalists and a little bit about why they could be voted for. We looked at the information on each tree and decided if the text was informative or persuasive.

Some of the evidence for persuasive writing was the fact that there were some words in there such as “Popular” and “Important”, One of them also included an exclamation mark.

Now, The evidence for informative writing. Informative writing includes facts such as how long ago the tree was planted, What is special about it and where it is.

 

Samoan Language Week

This week is Samoan language week, To contribute to this, Over the next few days we will be doing some Samoan related activities. Today we had the choice to learn about either colours, Numbers, The alphabet or Samoan history. I chose to learn and make an animation about what the  colours in samoan are. Here is me and my friends animation: