Reflection on this term...

This term has been really different. I feel like we didn't do much with the year 7 and 6's expect for Mondays when the skiers were away. Somethings i loved about this term were:

Cross Country
House choirs
Technogly
Inter-schools

I am really excited about next term. We are not apart of the hubs anymore because of high school and other things that year 7 and 6`s cant do yet. Camp is in week 4 and i`m really excited! There is social dancing  and end of year mass as well!

It is my last term at St Josephs and i really sad but i am excited for High school!

The Dangers Of Nuclear Energy...

The Dangers Of Nuclear Energy

By: Laura Mather

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/issues/nuclear/

Why do we have nuclear power, energy and warfare? It is very dangerous and is affecting the earth. The radiation is harming animals and huge populated cities. For example, the Chernobyl disaster was the most dangerous and the most worst nuclear disaster in history. It was 200 times more radioactive than the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined! Over 7 million people were affected and till this day more people are dying as a result. Today i'm going to tell you the dangers of nuclear power, energy and warfare.

Nuclear power is a source of energy and power to provide to people's homes and businesses.

In New Zealand, we have our energy and power run by wind, sun, gas and water. New Zealand became nuclear free in 1987 after the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior which was a boat that got struck by an explosive bomb while trying to stop the French doing nuclear testing in the pacific. I am very glad we don't have nuclear power in New Zealand because i would be anxious all the time.

Some examples of accidents nuclear radiation have caused is the two bombs that hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Hiroshima's bomb wiped out 90% of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Like the book about Sadako, Sadako died of leukemia because of the radiation. Three days later, the city of Nagasaki was bombed and it killed 40,000 people. But, we can't forget about the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine that interested me the most. 51 people died immediately in that disaster, but that is still a lot of people!

You are probably thinking why people can't live near Chernobyl when people can live in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Now here's why!! The bombs that hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima were called Fat Man and Little boy. Fat Man hit Hiroshima and that had about 14 pounds of plutonium (which is a radioactive chemical). Then, Little Boy hit Nagasaki, and it had had about 140 pounds of plutonium. But… the reactor had about 180 tons of nuclear fuel. When one of the reactors blew up all the other ones did too! Therefore, Chernobyl is more dangerous because the explosion was made up of nuclear fuel and it was not a bomb, it was a power plant. Its really sad how a whole city got  wiped out because of a little mistake… That's why i think nuclear power is harming our earth.

Nuclear energy is dangerous, dirty and expensive. Nuclear power (in my opinion) has no future.

There is 30 countries currently using nuclear power, 438 nuclear reactors around the world and there is 67 new nuclear power plants under construction. By this chart i have found out that New Zealand is one of the only countries that are nuclear free. There is a lot of countries that don't use nuclear power, but New Zealand is not going to consider using nuclear power anytime soon.

In an article on http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/should-we-stay-nuclear-free/9480022/NZ-will-need-nuclear-power  

Peoples comments actually sounded like they were leaning towards the idea of nuclear power plants in New Zealand. They compared nuclear plant accidents to car accidents in New Zealand. I am not for it. It's dirty and risky! I was very surprised on how many New Zealanders actually wanted New Zealand to join the other 30 countries that are using nuclear power!

In conclusion, nuclear power is harming our earth. It is a source that won't be on our earth for much longer. Some of the key ideas that come from this article are the examples that nuclear power, energy and warfare have caused because of its many dangers. I feel that nuclear power is harming animals and humans badly; so many accidents have happened with radioactive consequences. I am very grateful that New Zealand is such a peaceful and safe country which isn't ruined by radiation. But, what could happen in the future?

By: Laura Mather.

A nuclear explosion.

A Nuclear power plant in Britain.

A Nuclear bomb.

Book review

Book review

No safe harbour-David Hill

non-fiction book with fictional characters.

Genre- Mystery...

The book No safe harbour is about the sinking of the Wahine. The Wahine sank in 1968 on Barrett reef near Wellington harbour. The wahine sailed from Christchurch to Wellington in horrible weather, it was one of New Zealand's most horrible storms. Fifty One people died when the ferry sank and hundreds were injured.

The characters in the book are twins, Stuart and Sandra. They are both teenagers who were coming home to their dad who was in Wellington after going to their grandads funeral in Christchurch. Their grandmother told them before they went on the boat to stay with each other and look after each other, They didn't at first… Little did they know, they were about to suffer and fight.

The book was amazing! I really loved the plot of the book and i learnt a lot about the Wahine too. I couldn't put the book down and i'm not that kind of person that keeps reading and reading. I would actually read it again!

I would recommend this book to everyone! It was not only entertaining and awesome to read, it was spine chilling and that got my absorbed into the book and it will get you absorbed too! It may be a bit inappropriate for 8-10 year olds just because it gets a bit gruesome and a little bit too descriptive but other than that it's fine.

The message the author probably wanted to put across is not to give up and have hope in yourself, you never know when you will have to put yourself to the test, do things you never thought you could do.

   By: Laura Mather

Basketball finals!

 I had an amazing season! We won the intermediate girls basketball section 32-15 against OIS!

I had so much fun this year and i hope i have fun next year too!

Vikings

In the 1800's, Vikings were the rave; everyone was talking about them, Not in a good way though. Vikings are soldiers that usually are leaded by the king. They killed so many people just to suite their self's. Back then, you needed good land to farm and live; the Vikings didn't have good land so they moved to towns and villages. Of course there were people living in the town so they killed them. They went to farms and villages to raid and kill people. Some Vikings turned on each other suddenly, they started killing each other. Some of there victory's are celebrating by huge feasts. They also went to villages and towns to find silver not gold...why? I don't know... 
Vikings were very dangerous and were not approachable, they were brave but not kind... I would not want to see Vikings in our town!

Character description- No Safe Habour

No Safe Harbour

character description.

Stuart

Stuart was the person who acted like he knew anything and everything,his sister usually catches him out by asking him a question that he doesn't know the answer to.

His sister was Stuart's twin,her name was Sandra.

On the ferry,the Wahine; Stuart stuck to himself. He didn't want anything to with his sister when she was trying to flirt with these university students…

Stuart was very particular about himself. He always thought nothing of a disaster, like the storm that was going to drown the ferry. He thought highly of people; people who smile at him or talk to him. Stuart was a kind-hearted and brave person. He never puts himself before others and he made sure everyone is safe and happy.

Stuart almost drowned when he was chucked off ship by strong winds and a slippery deck. Sandra dived in and got him up on the lifeboat; Sandra saved his life. Sandra acted differently towards Stuart when she was by people she wanted to “impress” but when she wasn't, she was a caring person, always smiling!

Sandra and Stuart were more braver together.

Stuart was that kind of person that you could approach easily,he was a life saver, a hero...

By: Laura Mather.

Cadbury chocolate factory!

I'm In the weekend some of my friends and I went to the Cadbury chocolate factory. I loved it! We went in these big silos and they poared chocolate down these big drains, and of corse we got free chocolate... I have already ate it all, whoops! I really enjoyed my time there and here are some photos of the chocolate factory.

what makes me, me!

Laura

Wishes to use her imagination and creativity and to inspire others.

Dreams of traveling around the world to discover new things.

Wants to be a photographer to capture cool and mysterious photos.

Wonders about why the deadly Chernobyl happen?

Fears horrible things that may happen, but most likely won`t...

Is afraid of elevators stopping suddenly...

Likes to release her energy through sport!

Believes even the saddest person in the world is a little happy.

Loves to make her friends laugh and smile at humorous things.

Plans to make sure she goes to London to see heaps of exciting views.

Basketball scores

Tonight we had our game of basketball and we won 36-26! Hopefully it goes well next time!

One of my favorite sports, Basketball

Today i felt like telling you all about one of my favorite sports ever! Basketball!
I really like basketball because of its awesomeness i guess? What i mean of that is when you play you get so excited on the court! Its one of those sports that you are excited all week about!
I have been player basketball since i was 10, I was in year 5. Back then the rules were easier to follow; Now in intermediate basketball the rules are a little bit harder! These are the rules of basketball:

-You have to have a number on the back of your uniform so the ref knows were to write you down if you get a foul.
-A player cannot run with the ball. That is called travel.

-No shouldering, holding, striking, pushing, or tripping in any way of an opponent. if you do you get a foul and once you get five fouls you have to come off the court for the rest of the game!

-Double dribble is when you dribble the ball, stop and then start dribbling again, or when you bounce the ball with two hands at the same time.

-If you get a foal from another player in the basket area you get to have two free throws from the free throw line.

I love basketball because of its excitement! Also you don't have any positions on the court, you may have a special job to do but everyone gets a go at shooting, taking the ball down the court and guarding (which you don't have to stand three feet away) It is a contact sport and you will  get hurt but that's what i like about basketball! There is set rules but its not as tense as netball.

i hope you learnt something about one of my favorite sports!
See you next time!

Fumiaki Tanaka

After his first season in the Top League. Tanaka made his debut for Japan in May 2008 coming off the bench. He soon became a regular member of the Japan side and made the squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup as first choice scrum half and is currently considered one of Japan's best and most important players.

In 2007 he played alongside former All Blacks fly half Tony Brown who was credited with helping him to develop immensely and Tanaka himself said Tony Brown is one of the most important influences on his career.

New Zealand Herald noted him as one of the most exciting players in the ITM Cup and was regarded as a hero for Otago and seen as their standout player.

He is my favourite player from the Otago Highlanders.

information From: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumiaki_Tanaka

Netball and Basketball scores!

This is a bit late but we won our basketball game on Wednesday

55-8!

And won our netball game

25-8? (I think it was that?)

Hopefully we do well next time!

Gone...

Today we did a quick write and i wrote about a toy horse! This is my story:

The dark hallway lit up in exploding light, leaving a small wooden horse toy. The horse started to move, galloping down the creaking hallway. The toy was old. Wood was rotting away at the bottom of the stick. The dark hallway became a playground. Kids from next door came tapping on the windows, to see what the commotion was. They started to play. The horse led them all around the hallway, the kids were following. It turned into a game of Follow the Leader. Suddenly, the lights went out, the kids sprinted out of the old house, screaming. Then the lights came on again, the horse toy was gone…

By: Laura mather

Steampunk photos!

A few of us went to steampunk HQ a while back for our inquiry projects! I really enjoyed going there! Here is a few photos that I took when I was there! Also a photo of me and my cousins inquiry project!!!

Balloon cars!

Siva and Maddison's balloon cars for science! For testing they made it slide down the stair railing! It almost poked me in the eye!

NYLD 2015- Recount story!

“Sometime you win, sometimes you learn, but you never fail.” That is was and now is my most favorite quote of an truly inspiring day! The NYLD experience was not only awesome but also inspiring to us year eight leaders! We left school on a bus at 7:45 to go down to Dunedin and the class was really noisy and i had a headache because i can't handle mornings that well… anyway!

We arrived at the Dunedin town hall at about 9:00 and there were heaps of kids there! Then we went into the hall and waited for it to begin. I was so excited! Niveek was taking a whole lot of selfies which was a bit awkward! But we were enjoying ourselves! Then the music came on, a huge glow up thing came down from the roof, Then the presenters came out! They then explained what was happening for the day.

The first person came out to talk to us, the person was named William Pike. He has a fake leg! we is an adventurer and a teacher! He was one of my favorite speakers of the day!

Another one of my favorite  speakers was Steve Gurney. He has won the coast to coast 9 times!!! That is what you call commitment! Since i'm quite sporty i really enjoyed his speech!

I had so much fun at NYLD 2015! That will be my favorite memory of term 2!

 
By: Laura!

NYLD 2015

As year 8 leaders we had the opportunity to go to Dunedin to be apart of the NYLD experience! I will post a story about it in more depth soon!

100th anniversary of ANZAC.

Watching people screaming in horror as they watch their loved ones drift away.
The mothers eyes watering in pain.
The children whine as they see their fathers marching off slowly in single file lines.
Then the orders are called,
The pain slides down into a never ending portal of sadness.
No one is safe... Someone or something will harm or change you.
I saw a little boy that escaped his mother and ran up to his father.
He ran with his arms out, reaching out for a hug.
That really made me anxious and upset!
Why is this happening?
When will this end?
To be honest, I want those guns dropped.
I want the tanks to run out of petrol.
I want the soldiers to stop and put their arms out, maybe even say "hello" to the enemy?
But that will never happen...why is there no peace between country's? This will go on for a long time.

Saint Veronica

Saint Veronica

saint veronica was the lady who was brave enough to wipe Jesus` forehead when he was carrying the cross up the hill before he was crucified. She is now called veil of veronica (after the cloth) and saint veronica.

Veronica was very brave and confident, there were heaps of people in the crowd shouting “crucify him!” but she went up and wiped Jesus` forehead. But when she took the cloth off his head Jesus` face printed onto the cloth! She was very scared but she was brave!

I think that Veronica was a very brave and confident because she was the one the helped Jesus out of all of those people! She was the one that stood up for what she believed in!

By: Laura!

Cricket world cup - Aus vs Nz final!

Wow... not looking good for New Zealand! But Grant Elliot just hit a Six! I think Australia have a chance of winning.... But New Zealand is better than them!!! So.. GO THE BLACK CAPS!

Welcome to 2015!

Sorry everyone! I have not posted since September! That`s bad! Anyway i`m back and ill try post more!
See you soon!