Cookie land

One day a gummy man found a cookie land. The land was made entirely of cookies. He decided to dig channels and fill them with chocolate milk. He thought that wasn't enough so he decided to plant some seeds to grow big ice cream mountains. Next he created the gingerbread men and gave them a recipe to make gingerbread houses. He also gave them the job to water and   fertilize the ice cream mountain seeds with hundreds and thousands and chocolate milk. 

After twenty years the gummy man returned on a banana boat. The banana boat had two yellow banana sides with four scoops of ice cream in between and whipped cream with a cherry on top. He looked into the chocolate river and he heard the river running. It felt cold, tasted like lollies and smelt like smooth melted chocolate. Then he smiled to himself. He looked at the land and saw that it was crumbly on the flat and sodden next to the river. 

He sailed to the mountains made of cookies and cream ice cream, which from a distance looked like the ski mountains. He climbed up them, They felt cold, soft and solid. Normally there were lots of climbers on the mountains, but today things were different. It was the 20th anniversary of the cookie land. 

The Gummy man saw gummy jet planes, flying overhead, coming in for landing in the candy cane forest. Gummy bears poured out of the planes; they must be here for the 20th anniversary, the same reason he was here. When he got to the top of the ice cream mountain he saw a watchtower. He had told the gummy men to put a mini gummy jet plane by the watchtower, at the top of the mountain. 

He found it where he told the gummy men to put it, then hopped in and flew to the candy cane forest for the celebration party, where everyone was dancing and eating yummy food. He had a great time. After the party he lead a parade to the capital city to open the new cookie land theme park named Lollie Land Amusement park. 

Argument

I could hear his footsteps coming down the hall, and a horrific beast burst through the door. My brother had come to get at me yet again.  

"Casper, can you please come play with me?" Willem asked.

"No," I grumbled. 

"Why not?" he moaned. 

"Because the answer is NO, n o spells no!"

Willem always wants to play with me, and the games he likes are kind of boring. 

But sometimes they are fun, like the time I was reading and he jumped on me and said 'wanna have a fake wrestle' I answered 'OK' that ended with him in tears.

"But, but I'm bored!"

"Well you can be bored, but don't come to me, I'm definitely your source of entertainment," I said sarcastically.

"Please?" he whined 

"If you’re gonna be annoying then get out of my room!" I shouted angrily. 

"You’re not the boss of me, you’re not the boss of me!" 

"My roof my rule, my rules."

"No!" 

“Look up, it even says ‘Casper's roof’ on the ceiling." 

He looked up and I took my chance.

"Oy!" he exclaimed as I pushed him out the door.

Crab diving

It felt weird, breathing under water, it was just unnatural. 

But it was also fun, listening to the water churning and getting tumbled by the waves. It was all great, but we weren't here to swim and play. 

I was going crab diving with my cousin, Felix and his friends Ollie, Rocco, Monty, Murphy, Jake and Bruno. We were a big troop, so we had a good chance to get the best crabs. But our luck was going south, down hill. 

I looked down, but no more big crabs were within vision due to the murky water down deep.  "Any more crabs yet Felix?" I asked.

"No, but Rocco and Ollie went over there to look for some more, go ask them about it." he replied.

"Ok, by the marker?" 

"Yep, you may have to swim a while."

"Ok." I replied. 

I swam over to the marker to look for Rocco and Ollie. 

By the time I reached Ollie, Rocco had gone to look for the monster crabs, said to dwell in the waters of Totaranūi bay. Something tapped me on the back. I looked back having thoughts of tiger sharks and stingrays. 

But no, it wasn't a stingray or a tiger shark. Infact it was Rocco. He wasn't laughing, but smiling. He held up a bag filled to the brim with crabs that were squirming and nipping their claws at us. 

"Jackpot over their," he said. "Fill your bag!"

"Ok." I answered excitedly.

My flippers propelled me along, with my head in the water and a keen eye on the lookout for crabs. This time when I looked down, there were crabs, lots of crabs, and they were monster crabs, bigger than the ones that Felix and I had caught, and they were colored weirdly. But one stood out. I stared at it for a while and reilised it was a stingray.

I'm definitely waiting for that to go away, I thought to myself.

Term three reflection

On the 17.9.15 Waimairi school drove on the bus to the commons to share their learning and perform their inquiry projects. This term He Tangata have been learning about how the māori values (whanaungatanga, Kotahitanga and manaakitia) connect to the arts.

 I saw many examples of these. I saw Kotahitanga throughout the whole day but the performance showing the most Kotahitanga was the flash mob (for those of you who don't know what a flash mob is it is a type of dance were two people jump up and start dancing in a routine and gradually more and more people join) The flash mob was showing Kōtahitanga because the people doing it were working as a team and using the unity of the group. I saw whānaunga in the senior choir because they were performing as a family. 

He tangata shared their learning of māori values through a series of plays, they also did a flash mob with hurunui house.

My performance went well because the audience connected with us and we faced the audience and they seemed very interested in our play. 

The highlights of the day were the band playing, the pianists and the flash mob.

I involved the audience because I looked at the crowd and spoke loudly. I think it is important to look at the Audience, speak loudly and show emotions to connect with the audience when performing because if you don't include the audience they won't be interested. 

The audience connected with me because they were staring at us watching, laughing when something funny happened and clapping at the end. 

  

In the future I will connect with the performers when I'm an audience by looking at the performers and even if I'm not interested, I still will.

   

Here is a link to video of our dance in our play: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tt8xOpsNGBA

Scary night

Have you got a younger sibling, one that screams really loudly? One that doesn't listen to   ANYTHING you say? Or one that uses your stuff, doesn't put it away and YOU get the blame? Ever since my brother came into my life, it changed loads, but that couldn't stop me having a little fun!

So there we were one day, my brother, Willem, my cousins Harry and Felix and I were walking home from the park when we usually would be in bed. We were about to pass the house that was abandoned in the earthquake, the one Willem was scared of, the one he believed was haunted by ghosts, the old, mangled and unlived in house.

Then a thought struck me... we could scare him. So I steered over to Felix and whispered in his ear, "pretend to be haunted to scare Willem!" His eyes lit up at the idea. I knew he'd think it would be fun and cheeky. He liked that kind of thing.

As I walked away I saw Felix swaying like a ghost was swinging him, skidding his feet along the ground. Willem turned and stared strangely at Felix. 

Then I started twitching my shoulders and flailing my arms like my body was out of control.... exactly my aim.  

"Casper, Felix, you're being haunted!" Willem exclaimed, with the look of immense fear and shock on his face, and then he shrieked, and slunked down to the ground.

That moment I heard the neighbour's door opening. I twisted my head, and a man came running out of the house and saw us. The only thing that went through my brain that second was, don't pull out a gun, don't pull out a gun, don't pull out a gun… At that moment I felt a little scared myself.

He luckily didn't, but he did give us the 'What's going on' look. Willem said "Felix and 

Casper were being, being controlled by ghosts" 

"No we weren't!" Was my immediate reply 

"It was all a trick!" Agreed Felix 

"Next time don't do that Casper" Harry said.

"And you better not scream so loud," said the man, “you woke me up!"

On our way home I got a glimpse of Willem looking quite humiliated with being fooled. Being the youngest in the family when we got home my mum said that Willem needed to go straight to bed, leaving Felix, Harry and I to watch TV before Harry and Felix went home. Seeing how sad he looked I felt a bit sorry for him.

The overall lesson that I learnt in this incident is there is no where better to scare your  annoying siblings than outside the house they believe is haunted. Another lesson that could have been learnt is to think before you do because that day could have ended very differently like if the neighbour had called the police. Luckily, all I had to deal with was a sad and scared brother.

Science reflection

I showed the values of a scientist because I was investigating, graphing my results and I used my evidence, I used the advice that others gave me and mixed it with my own ideas for the healthy waterway report. I used the strugglometer to record how much I was improving and through what amount of time I was improving.

Waterway health report Casper smith

Waterway health report

This world may seem perfect, but there is more to earth than buildings, trees and people, Think about the water you drink, is it safe? My class and I have had a focus on 'how does human activity impact on the health of our waterways?' This is what we've discovered. 

Christchurch Waterways

We have many types of waterways in Christchurch, there are: artificial and natural waterways, these listed are artificial types: tributaries, surface runoff and recreational bowls. Here are some natural waterways and things that connect with them: estuaries, rivers, streams, aquifers and groundwater soakage. 

These are the ways that they connect with each other Groundwater soakage connects with aquifers because sometimes the groundwater soakage goes into the aquifers.  Rivers connect with streams because streams are usually smaller rivers or rivers run into streams,  (rivers with streams coming out of them are called 'braided rivers')  Estuaries connect with rivers and streams because streams run into rivers which run into estuaries. 

The ecosystem

The ecosystem is a very important part of the river, without the shade, vegetation fish and invertebrates nothing could live in our rivers.  The mayfly larvae live in the shade because if the water is too hot he uses to much energy and dies off. 

 Mayfly larvae live through the rapids because the rapids have lots of oxygen because the bubbles that the rapids make are rich with oxygen, and it provides a home for macroinvertebrates and crustaceans, which connects to the fish such as the common bully.  The common bully (cockabully) lives on mayfly larvae because it eats the Mayfly larvae and keeps its population under control.

 Brown trout Live on mudfish and the common bully because he eats them and that connects with the mayfly larvae because the common bully eats mayfly larvae. 

The Mudfish depends on sediment, in the summer he burrows into the sediment which keeps him cool, giving him his name. 

The putakitaki (paradise duck) thrives around and on vegetation because it eats the vegetation, making it so there is not to much vegetation. The pukeko also feeds on vegetation like the paradise duck so they have a connection, if the  vegetation dies off the pukeko dies along with the paradise duck.

River Health

There are lots of things that keep the water healthy, such as: a thin layer of algae, no erosion, macroinvertebrates, water temperature and water clarity (turbidity). 

The different varieties of macroinvertebrates can tell you how healthy or unhealthy the river is. A healthy river would have stoneflies, mayflies, caddisflies, dobsonflies and damselflies.

Macroinvertebrates keep the water healthy because they eat the algae and stop it from growing to big and taking the oxygen.  Water heat can affect or help the rivers, if there is too much sediment the water will get too warm because of the generally brown color of sediment. 

The point in this and how to do it

The point in this is to learn how to work out a river's health is, the waterway types we learnt on were; tributaries, rivers, stormwater systems, streams, ponds and drains .

The method in this is to get a  TRD (technical retrieval device a.k.a a sieve on a stick) and dip it into the water ecosystem you are testing. Next swish it through the water gently three or more times and take it out.  Get a deep tray and a MRD (miniature retrieval device a.k.a spoon) and retrieve the macroinvertebrates and put them in the tray.  Next get a device (iPhone, iPod, iPad, computer,) and search up 'list of macroinvertebrates pictures' and select the macroinvertebrates you think are interesting, then identify them. The good ones are: stoneflies, dobsonflies, caddisflies, damselflies, water boatmen and backswimmers. 

Results 

My class went on a few school trips to waterways.  They were: Styx mill reserve and Willowbank river. The total score was 48 (excellent) 

We proved that the Styx Reserve was the most healthy part, (the two are one river) because we found some 'fussy' macroinvertebrates.  The fussy macroinvertebrates were mosquito larvae (2x) and dobsonfly larvae (1x).  But they still suggest that it's a fairly good to excellent score,  

These are the ones that suggest really good health: stoneflies, mayflies and others. 

We did not get any of the ones above. 

These are some other  indicators that suggest good health:  there was a thin layer of algae, suggesting good health because the invertebrates like a thin layer.

Validity 

The validity of this report may not be like others because we all have different opinions about a lot of things including river health, eg my opinion is that the part of Styx river we assessed was fairly good.

Suggested changes 

A way you could help is by: 

• not littering. 
• making signs/pamphlets/stickers and sticking them or putting them in mailboxes explaining how to help 
• For people with streams running through their houses or if you have one in a future house,    another way to help is to search up 'planting near rivers' and get the good bank stabilising plants to plant in your section of the stream, 

Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) 

Kaitiakitanga is about looking after the land and not being stupid with it, the māori people value Kaitiakitanga because it is what their ancestors did to help the future generation of people eg their children, making their world more healthy. 

By Casper

swimming with danger

Chapter one: The Eel Encounter!

Splash splash, "Mum, you should really come in" I said.

"No thanks, I'm about to go back to the batch, do you wanna come?" 

"No thanks mum," 

"Ok, see you later!"

Mum left without another word. I swam around, occasionally feeling the brush of an eel against my legs, then suddenly James my cousin swore. I turned around, scared about what I would see next.

"A-a-an eel, it came right up and touched my face! And it was heading your way!" 

Uh oh, I thought, maybe, it thought I was 'more yummy' (but of course I was only seven at the time). After waiting for a bit no eel had bit me so I dove under the water to see where It was at... 

Chapter Two: The Teeth

"Bubble bubble" I said, because saying 'ahh' under water is hard. The first thing I saw was the teeth; sharp, piercing teeth, and the jaw, opening and closing. 

My head pops up and another face faced me.

"James! Why, did you do that?" James's hand popped up... I recognised it: the eel.

"Ow! My toe" I said, and lifted it out of the water and saw BLOOD! 

Water performance review

How would you like to watch a video on youtube? Well read below, because
my group: Charlie, Elliot, Rocky and myself did a performance that showed the different ways we use water, and we all would be very happy if you took a moment to watch our video.

 click here->    water charades

the black thief escape

The Black Thief escape.

"Mum, can I go get the lollies?" I asked

"No Casper,you can't ‘go get the lollies’," said mum

"Please?" I pleaded.

"OK Casper, yes you can go get the lollies.''

"Yes!" I say walking over to the pantry.  I unzip the door and shout: "Ahh, what's that?" because two mysterious black shiny eyes were staring out at me from the pantry My hand shot to my pocket where I kept my pocket knife safe. And, as if it had read my mind, the black rat shot out of the pantry like a springbok with cheetahs on its tail, zooming through  freshly packed food not even stopping to get a drink of spilled juice from my brother.  I was millimetres away from catching the thief but he zoomed into a crevice in the camping trailer. Reluctantly, I opened the crevice and the black thief shot out like a bullet hurtling toward the target: outside. He was going so fast that he lost control and thwacked his tail on the handle of the jackhammer, and slipped through the gap in the trailer. Without thinking I carefully put my head under the place that the thief had got through and saw him scurrying towards the forest,

"Casper, I thought that you were getting the lollies?"said a voice that made me look round.

"Yes," I replied.

"Then what are you doing here? This is the camping trailer, the lollies are in the pantry,"

"Yes I know mum, there was a mouse!"

"Ok, there was a what?"She asked

"A mouse" I repeat. Escape,

"A mouse?"

"Yes,  in the pantry,"

"Where is it?" She asked.

"Gone, in the forest."

"Good," she said,

Very very good, I thought.

Squawk, squawk. The noise made me look around, and to my surprise, a weka was looking at with its head tilted, I could just see a couple of the lollies dangling from its mouth.

autumn poem

Autumn poem

Autumn comes fast to this school,

there's leaves, wind, rain,

Dirty rubbish, flying around,

there's lots here,

more picks up speed and shoots around,

it's autumn again.

yellowing, crunching leaves

Lying under trees, and elsewhere, useless,

mushing up as they get trampled down,

it's autumn again.

Cold blasts of wind,

Whistle through the trees,

causing leaves to shoot upwards,

crashing down upon least expecting victims,

paper bags shoot up,

then come down still,

it's autumn again,

Pounding rain,

like bullets hurtling towards the ground,

like the sky is our enemy,

causing chill,

it's autumn again,

Kids, pulling puffer jackets further over there heads,

shivering all over,

It's autumn again

Damp Footballs,  

Flying through the air, like mini meteorites

attacking earth as they fall.

Autumn comes fast to this school,

There's leaves, wind, rain

And from the field the first games yell,

And the last leaves lay crippled.

Archery at camp

Archery at Camp. Waimairi school 2015

Here I am listening to the instructor tell us some 'important' information about the parts of the bow. Then, finally we finish talking and start doing. Yay! It is group one's turn first

(me,awesome!) I am on the end (Oh no!) a bad spot to be. Ping! My first arrow hits the blue (good for me)I fit my second arrow into my bow, I aim it. Ping, but it hit the grass.

"No!"  I say inside my head, that is bad! I put my third arrow into my bow and twang! It hits a red. "Ok, go and collect all of your arrows," says the instructor,

"Ok" I say. I walk up to the target and pull out my first arrow. Then the same with the second arrow, I tug at my third arrow. "Bulls eye!" I say. "Yes".

"That was awesome!" I say on the way back from archery. I really want to do that again. But sadly that was the last activity that I was to do on this camp.

By Casper Smith.

Totaranui

The sensation of this huge Jump overwhelms me. I am at the top of a 5 or 6 metre jump off a horrific, massive, natural rock. Boom! Splash! My cousin Felix has just made the jump. His head pops up from the water. "Casper, you should really do this jump!"

"Ok". I say, trembling all over with fright. Then I step backwards, take a big run up, then sprint up to the edge of the rock, and jump of it. I see the deep deep water below me. I can smell water, feel the air rushing past me. I taste the water spray, and feel the water hitting my legs. More and more water engulfs me into it's treacherous depths. I see fish scatter around, trying to avoid me. There, now I am in the water so now I can try to touch the bottom. I swim breaststroke down to the bottom of the sea. "Uh oh! I need to go up!" I let myself float to the top.

I say: "Man that was extremely amazing! I am going to do it all over again!"

So I do it again.

The end by Casper smith. 

Stormy night.

Wind, rain, lightning bolts, thunder, it's a very stormy day.

Forecasters predicted 4 days of rain!

Lightning bolts flash across the night sky

lighting it up like an amazing fire-works show!

Crack, bang, smash

a branch falls smashing a garage! pater pater rain falls, pater pater, a flood rages,smashing all the houses! A lightning bolt flashes, and gets hit by a lightning.

Conductor. Thunder, crashing,smashing as loud as ever. Flashing lightning, raining rain,hailing stones. Wind whistling around and around, whirling around and around. The rain pounding on the roof, stopping a lot of people from sleeping at night. Lightning, louder than ever. The rain, it's harder now, falling, with tremendous speed, hitting the roof, bang, Bang! Hail!

The end.

By Casper smith