Charlesworth Reserve Research

Next week my class 7/8Wh, 7/8Al and 7/8Ts are going to Charles worth Reserve. Charles worth Reserve is a wetland restoration project at the head of Avon-Heath cote Ihutai Estuary. 

The Christchurch City Council purchased the wetland that was drained and used for farmland for many years in 2007. Weed control being the key factor to the success of this project. Boneseed, convolvulus, grass invasion needing constant control. The volunteers meet every Sunday between 3 and 5pm.

Our goal when going to the reserve is to plant as many plants as we can to have an impact on climate change and so we can attract more native birds. 

The types of plants that we are planting are
- NZ native corokia
- NZ native cabbage tree
- Kapuka
- Native Southern Rata
- Native Kaikoura Ake Ake 
and a few more. 

Here is a few photos of what the reserve looks like and I will create another blogpost with more photo's of our cip group there. 

Climate Change

Today in science we had to watch a video about climate change and answer these questions. Also i'm really big on climate change I want to have a impact of it before the worlds damage becomes irreversible. 

What is our greatest threat in thousands of years?

Climate Change 

How do we see climate change affecting the globe?

1. Flooding  
2. Higher Sea Levels
3. Storms
4. Air Pollution

What is needed to change history?

Urgent Action. 

Is climate change a man made disaster?

Yes because us humans have created the all of the fossil fuel factories and we have caused it by polluting our earth.

Dramatic action must be made in the next __ years to change it?

10 years.

Why is our climate changing?

The fossil fuel factories are burning too much of the fuel which is creating carbon dioxide that makes our earth temperature hotter. 

What is causing the warming trend of the climate?

Fossil fuel factories.

What is the main problem?

I believe there isn't a main problem and everything is a problem but mostly the earths temperature rising which causes the antarctic ice to melt which causes flooding and that will drown out our pacific islands. Also species of animals will become extinct because they can't adapt to the heat and different ways of living.

Burning fossil fuels releases what gas?

Carbon Dioxide 

How much hotter now is our world?

By 1 degree celsius 

What do we call this global warming?

Climate Change

How is this affecting creatures / animals like bats?

It's affecting the animal species because species of animals will become extinct because they can't adapt to the heat and different ways of living.

Yes these are bats.

What percentage of species are near extinction?

8%

How could this effect the world ecosystems?

They could collapse or break.

What global change was seen and recording breaking last year?

Record breaking wild fires in California.

How is climate change affecting our weather systems?

1. More moisture evaporating off our oceans causing a lot of rain. 

2. Extreme Storms

3. Heating temperatures causing droughts

What is another effect of climate change?

Building.

What will happen if the ice melts in Antarctica and the Arctic?

4 Trillions amount of ice have melted. This causes higher sea levels which has risen 20cm that puts islands and country's at risk of getting drowned by the sea. 

How does this affect people?

It's getting rid of liveable land and peoples homes.

What other things affect oceans change?

Other things are storms and rain. More rain can also cause the sea level to rise more. Also the ocean is absorbing carbon dioxide which is making it become more acid.

What does too much heat do to the coral?

The heat kills all of the species in there and the heartbreaking thing is there are many more type of species that still haven't been discovered by humans and we might never find out about them.

Why did some industries not want to stop burning fossil fuels?

Industries want to keep burning fossil fuels because they need and want the money and they don't think of the future and what carbon dioxide is effecting and how bad its effecting it. 

Creative Writing

This week my class did creative writing. We got story idea's from the card game "game of awesome." Here are two of my draft stories if you could give me feedback that would be great so I can finish my stories. 

- One day my friend was feeling lonely and upset. All of his mates had a girlfriend but he couldn’t seem to get one, so he created one himself. He got a mop and put one of his little sisters bows on top of it. Then he named it Olivia and hung out with it all day. When he was hanging out with his friends they would make fun of him but they also called him a legend. He was embarrassed at times when people laughed at him but his friends stood up for him. But in the end he was no longer lonely.

- There once lived an amazing rock star who wore a mask and his identity was unknown. Jimmy and all his friends were his biggest fan they had merchandise and everything. Little did jimmy's friends know Jimmy was actually the rock star but he kept it as a secret. On the final song of his last concert ever Jimmy removed his mask and revealed his secret. After that iconic moment Jimmy’s friends screamed in the crowd while the rest of the crowd was dead silent. One of them even started crying of happiness. At the after party his friends ran up to him and asked him a million questions, he explained everything and they partied for the rest of the night.

Drama Week 1

Since I have transferred classes I get to take drama again. For the first session we played some games.

Games 
- 2 truths 1 lie
- 16 steps 
- Tequila 
- Copy Circle 
+ more 

Our focus for drama is Hauora, we did freeze frames for each dimension of Hauora. Here are my freeze frames for each of the dimensions i'll also write about some things you need to do/have to have to be successful in that dimension. 

Taha Tinana - 

Taha Tinana is mostly surrounded around health and exercise. It also  involves eating a balanced healthy diet and avoiding too much junk food. It not only includes eating healthy and exercising but also hygiene like getting a good sleep which is 7-8 hours normally, taking care of your body such as taking showers everyday and brushing your teeth.  

Taha Whanau - 

Taha Whanau is about your friends and family. It involves having friends that you know are there to support you, being a good friend back to them and making effort to find new friends. Same with your whanau it’s good to make strong relationships with everyone because at the end of the day family is always going to be there for you.

Taha Hinengaro -

Taha Hinengaro is being able to manage your feelings/emotions and not taking it out on other people. Also it’s about being resilient, having a growth mindset, taking control of your emotions and not taking other people for granted. Being able to take control of your emotions is a thing that will help you a lot especially if you have control and you know what to do when you get angry or frustrated.

Taha Wairua -

(Spiritual well being) is your faith and religious belief. It is also a sense of belonging, plus our values and beliefs. It knowing that you belong somewhere and knowing were that somewhere is. It also means your religion and your connection to what you believe in.

Climate Change - Science

Aim: To look at the causes of climate change and how to prevent it.

Climate Change video; The Facts video

As you watch the video answer these questions:

What is our greatest threat in thousands of years?

Sea levels rising destroying our crops.

How do we see climate change affecting the globe?

The world will not be a place where humans can carry on living and we

won’t have enough natural resources to live and to carry on our human race.

1. Antarctic ice melting - this means sea levels will rise and cause floods that will ruin our crops also the polar bears natural habitat will be destroyed and they will become extinct.
2. Trees being cut down - the amount of trees that are being cut down causes the oxygen in the atmosphere to reduce.
3. Littering - rubbish is being spread everywhere and being dumped into the ocean and the sea animals consume the rubbish. That causes us to lose our sea animals and they will soon become extinct.
4. More droughts and heat waves - this equals global warming, the earth will become warmer causing animals natural habitat to be ruined

 

Investigation

You can decide on how you would like to do this investigation. Your presentation could be on the blog, slides, or powerpoint.

Investigate the different Fossil Fuels listed?

1. Coal - Coal was one of the most used resources in the past. It was used for transport and that was good because people had transport and ways to get around but like to every human thing there are side effects. The side effects of using coal was air pollution, the factory's that burned coal were creating too much smoke in the air which isn't suitable for humans to consume.

Write a paragraph and upload an image about each of these renewable energies.

Solar

Wind

Waves

Hydro

Solar - Solar panels are objects that you will see around a lot these days mostly on peoples roofs of their house. Solar panels create energy but they project the energy from the sun, so the houses overall energy is ran off the suns power and not electrical power. This prevents climate change by being sustainable and inexhaustible.

Wind - Windmills are another source of energy that we can use. How do windmills generate electricity you may ask? well windmills have two or three propeller like blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft which spins a generator to create the electricity.

Waves - Ocean warming is making the waves stronger. The ocean absorbs most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions which increases the oceans temperature. The increase of the ocean temperature is causing the waves in the ocean to become more powerful. That isn't good because it's putting coast lines at risk. Since the coast lines are a meeting point to land it can cause flooding which can ruin farming and crops.

Hydro - Hydro is compatible to the waves. Hydro power generates energy from water and any change in natural water circle caused by the climate change had and will have impact on the power generation. The effect of climate change on hydro power is mostly influenced by the change of the river runoff.

Write a reflection about what you have learnt about Climate Change and how it's going to affect the earth - 

I have learnt that there is more too climate change than just trees being cut down and pollution from cars and factory's. Climate change equals a bad future for every living this on this planet. Why? we won't have enough tree's to provide oxygen, global warming, sea levels rising and so much more.