45 min inquiry.

Today we had the 45 minute inquiry.

Approximately 8000 tons of logs come from the coast of new zealand. While another 2300 come from overseas. Asia buys 10000 of our logs each year. The logs are pine trees and they come from all over the country. The logs are shipped to asia because asia manufactures practically everything.

The logs are transported by Train,Trucks and vessels to the logging plant. Where they are then treated and cut down smaller. The logs are then loaded onto ships and sent the long journey to china, where they are made into paper,toilet paper  etc

45 min inquiry.

Today We did a 45 minute inquiry. today I learnt about Whale boots, Boomerangs, Totem poles and Maori statues. Did you know that whale boots aren't nessicarily made out of whale, They can be made out of reindeer and seal skins as well. Did you know that Boomerangs were first made by aborigines 10000 years ago. I learnt that a totem pole is used for hanging totems on as well as carving them on.Something they have in common is that they are heritage to indigenous people. Which basically means they are the local people of the country.

Bow Hunting.

Last Saturday Mrs Mills went to Huntly to bow hunt for koi carp. She was hunting them because they are a pest. They eat native fish and their eggs. They pollute the water by stirring up the mud and it kills native trees. Koi carp can grow up to 80cm and can weigh up to 10kg.

Mrs Mills went bow hunting last weekend because the koi carp were spawning (breeding) and they come into the shallows to do this.

Bow hunting is a sport that requires a bow and arrow. You also need a line attached to the arrow so you can retrieve the fish and arrow. You do not need a license in NZ to bow hunt. It has been around since the Victorian era.

Mrs Mills caught 6 koi carp. She didn’t throw them back into the water because you can receive a fine.  She left them on the side of the lake and they were taken by some fishermen.

Link to 45 min inquiry doc

Which button would you press and why??

I would press the grey button because you can do the same as the blue button in more comfort. For example I could sit on a couch and lift the couch and fly to wherever I want, I could lie in my bed and fly around the world in one night. If I was being attacked I could force the attackers hand to turn around their gun or sword on themselves. I could send supplies to people in Africa from my bedroom. I could lift the tallest building and move it to my garden. I could stop any bullet, missile, whatever from hitting some where! 

Tennis

Today for P.E We played doubles tennis, I was in a team with Braden and we played about 7 games in total winning roughly half of them. I noticed I had improved in my serving, Because I used to hit it a little bit hard. I also learnt to aim my serves, Because yesterday I hit the ball at the gym. I have already played tennis in the past so I know quite a lot about tennis. I found serving hard because I had to actually aim at something but I was able to improve as time went on. We modified the game of tennis to: first to three points wins and you can serve underarm.

Beyond the story.

Name: Luke Homer

School: Tauranga Intermediate School

Year Level: 8

Title: If You Want to Live, Climb.

Email Address: x_homerl@tauranga-int.school.nz

My alarm started buzzing at 5:30am. I slammed the snooze button and crawled out of my warm bed. It was a cold morning so I decided to take a hot shower to warm up. I said goodbye to my wife and two daughters after saying my usual prayer. I climbed into my car and drove the 40 minute drive to the World Trade Centre. When I arrived I grabbed my usual morning treat; a toasted bagel and a latte. I walked over and hopped into the elevator and I zoomed up to the sky lobby of the 78th floor. I got out of the elevator and headed into the other local elevator and took it to the 81st floor. Finally, I reached my destination and walked out of the local elevator and down the hallway into my office.

Suddenly my senses alerted me that something was wrong. I just happened to look and I saw that the North Tower was on fire. I was so shocked that I ran back into the elevator and took the same journey I did to get to my office in reverse. I reached the bottom in a panic but was told by security that I had to return to my office because the building was secure. Reluctantly, I went back up.

When I got to my office my phone was ringing and on the line was a lady from Chicago telling me to get out of the building immediately. I turned around in no specific direction and thats when I saw it... A big white plane coming straight towards me with a ‘U’ on the wings and on the tail. I screamed and dropped the phone.

“God, I can’t do this anymore. You take over, ” I shrieked and jumped under my desk just as the plane hit the South Tower.

There was a massive bang, like a thousand claps of thunder. When I came out from under my desk, I saw a devastating sight that has been forever burnt into my brain.

I paced around my office heart racing, struggling to breath. I started screaming into the darkness for help.

“HELP, HELP!” I yelled.

At first it was pointless. It was then and there I first heard the voice of my savior, Brian Clarke.

“HELLO,” crept a voice from the shadows.

“HELP ME!!” I scream.

“Okay. Follow the sound of my voice,” said Brian.

“Okay,” I said.

I started to follow Brian’s voice and eventually met up with the one thing standing between us, a wall. It was a pale coloured wall that was extremely thick. Luckily, the plane’s impact had created a tiny hole above me.

“PUNCH!” yelled Brian.

So I did.

“IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, CLIMB,” said Brian. I climbed through the tiny gap. When I got over I started to cry. It was hard to find the words to thank a man who just saved my life. I walked over to Brian and hugged him.

“Which way, up or down?” I asked.

“Down,” said Brian. So we began the challenging long walk that lay ahead.

On the way down we came across multiple other survivors. Who said not to go down? To this day I thank God I didn’t listen to them. By the time we get down to the bottom we had gone down 78 floors in about one hour.

To this very day, I cannot explain how grateful I am to Brian Clarke for not only saving my life but for being there with me for over 10 years. But most of all, I thank God for answering my prayers and saving my life that day.

Life education

This past term we have been learning about the effects of drugs on a humans brain. I have learnt that there are  7 things in your brain effected by alcohol and illegal drugs. MR JM ICE. And there are 9 ways to say no to drugs. Thanks heaps to Michael who has taught me about everything inclu

M-Memory

R-Reason

J-Judgement

M-Mechanical skills

I-Intellect

C-Concerntrate

E-Emotions

G- Greater 

I- Impact

B- Brain

G-Greater 

A- addiction 

P- Potential

F- Faster 

A-Absorption

R-Rate

R- Reason

E- Excuse

A- Assertive

C- Concerntrate

H- Humour

W- Walk away

I- Ignore

T- Talk about it

S- Say no!

Waimarino

Yesterday I went to Waimarino adventure park with Rooms 41,42,7 and 8. At 8:30 we left our school with Kye's dad and we arrived at Waimarino at approximately 8:55. When we first arrived at Waimarino, We had a brief conversation with Jade and Emma about the rules.


We then headed over to the Kayak shed. I got a blue kayak and then set out into the water. While we were in the water I learnt to Raft up, perform a TX rescue, and how to do the chicken dance standing up in a kayak. We also played cat and mouse which was so much fun after about 2 hours we sadly had to head back to shore but I was excited to do the activities which followed!

I quickly grabbed my lunch and then grabbed a hot chocolate because it was extremely col* ( I had to put a astrix there because cold and freezing are swear words at waimarino!) And then we were briefed on the rules again but this time for the activities. And then it was time to head over to the activities. The first activity I did was the high diving board, The high diving board is also my all time favourite activity!

Key compentices:

Thinking: I was thinking how fun this is when I was jumping off the high diving board.
Relating to others: I was relating to others when I was making a whirl pool in the pool.
Using signs, symbols and text: I read all of the rules about the specific activity I was doing.
Managing self: I was managing myself by choosing when to eat and when to jump off the high diving
Participating and contributing: I was participating and contributing in all of the activities I decided to do.

Here are some photos of the day:

Me jumping of the High diving board

Drugs webquest and 50,000 khan academy points

Drugs web quest google doc.

This week for homework we did a drug web quest studying about the different types of drugs.

12 hr relay (CAN'T GET ENOUGH!!!!)

Last friday we had the Annual 12 hr relay. In the fun run I did 12 laps which was very good for me! 

In the next part of the 12 hour relay we had the Top house activities, My favourite activity was the army combat course because we got to jump onto a big foam mat, Some other activities I enjoyed were the Leaky bucket, The horizontal bungy and the tug of war