Tag: Social Studies

Kai – Social Studies

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. This week, my class has been learning about kai, which means food in Māori culture. We read stories and articles exploring the fascinating history and various aspects of kai, which I found incredibly interesting.

 

What is Kai?Kai Waho | Maori Cuisine, Cultural & Wilderness Experience

Kai refers to food in the Māori language, and it’s not just about what we eat, it’s a significant part of Māori culture and identity. Kai surrounds traditional foods such as kumara (sweet potato), fish, bird, and native plants that have been gathered for generations. It reflects the connection to the land and sea, highlighting the importance of sustainability and respect for nature in Māori customs.

 

How Do Māori Cook Their Kai?

Let's Cook Some Maori “Kai“. New Zealand's indigenous people — the… | by Slobodan Plavsic | New Zealand thoughts | Medium

 

Māori have unique cooking methods that are deeply rooted in their traditions. One popular method is cooking food in an earth oven called a hangi. In a hangi, a pit is dug in the ground, heated with hot stones, and then covered with food wrapped in leaves. This method ensures that the food is steamed and infused with the flavours of the earth, creating a delicious and unique taste.

 

Interesting Aspects of Kai in Māori Culture

What I find particularly interesting about kai in Māori culture is the emphasis on community and sharing. When a meal is prepared, gathering family and friends to enjoy the kai together is common. This act of sharing food symbolises love, respect, and the bonds between people. Additionally, many traditional recipes have been passed down through generations, preserving not only the flavours but also the stories and traditions that come with them.

 

Reflection

During my concentration on these activities and the reading of the articles, I discovered new information that expanded my understanding significantly. I enjoyed the tasks presented, finding them both challenging and rewarding. The level I chose was comfortable as I chose the stage legend, which made the learning process all the more engaging.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my learning about kai has opened my eyes to the rich cultural significance of food in Māori society. It’s not just about nutrition, it’s about community, history, and connection to the earth. I’m excited to continue exploring this topic and sharing what I learn with you all. Below, I’ve included my information poster about what I’ve learned about Kai.

Task

Thanks for reading

Shreeya

Burj Khalifa – Social Studies

Hello everyone. Welcome back to my blog. This week in social studies, for a couple of periods, we had an exciting project where we learned about different manmade landmarks from around the world. There were so many incredible options to choose from, but the one that truly fascinated me was the Burj Khalifa.

Standing tall in the heart of Dubai, the Burj Khalifa is not just any building, it’s the tallest structure in the world. At a height of 828 meters, it’s an architectural wonder that symbolises modern engineering and innovation.

As I researched this remarkable skyscraper, I discovered interesting facts that made me appreciate it even more. For instance, it took six years to build, from 2004 to 2010, and it involved thousands of workers from different countries. The design of the building was inspired by Islamic architecture, and it features a unique triple-lobed footprint, which resembles a desert flower.

One of the coolest things about the Burj Khalifa is its observation deck on the 148th floor. This deck is the highest in the world, offering stunning scenic views of the city and beyond. Imagine standing up there and looking out at the sprawling desert and the Arabian Gulf.

Not only does the Burj Khalifa serve as a tourist attraction, but it also houses luxury apartments, offices, and even a hotel. The building is a testament to what human creativity and determination can achieve. It’s a symbol of progress and inspiration for future generations.

 

Task –

Our task was to research a landmark and add some detail to it.

 

Reflection –

I thought this activity was fun and interesting to know about. Not only do we get to know more about a specific manmade landmark, but we can also research some interesting facts. The only difficult thing for me is to find a proper and trusted site to take the information from, because not all information is true!

Thanks for reading,

Shreeya

Have you ever been to the West Coast? – Social Studies Class

Hola everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I’m excited to share what my class has been up to recently. We’ve been diving into our pepeha and exploring some remarkable regions in Aotearoa, New Zealand. For our latest project, I chose to focus on the captivating West Coast and trust me, it was so much fun to learn about.

To start my research, I created a blooket, a super engaging quiz format. I gathered tons of information about the West Coast, including its stunning landscapes, unique climate, and even some fascinating facts about the local wildlife. After I put the quiz together, I shared it with my teacher, and guess what? Today, my classmates got to play it. It was fun watching everyone get involved and enjoyed answering the questions. I had a great time making it, and it felt awesome to see my friends and classmates having fun while learning.

In addition to the blooket, I also worked on a Canva presentation to showcase what I’d learned. I organized slides that covered key topics, like population stats, the region’s spectacular weather patterns, some cool cultural insights and more. It was so rewarding to see my hard work come together in a visually appealing way.

If any of you have had the chance to visit the West Coast, I’d love to hear about your experiences. What did you enjoy most about the region? Please drop your thoughts in the comments, I’m eager to learn from your insights and maybe even get inspired for future projects.

Task

 

 

Thanks for reading, and I can’t wait to share more with you soon.

Shreeya

Pepeha – Social Studies Class

Kia Ora everyone, and welcome back. Today in social studies class, we learnt about the concept of pepeha, an important part of our cultural identity. It was a rewarding experience to learn about the elements that make up a pepeha, which connects us to our land and our community. I found it particularly enjoyable because I was already familiar with my pepeha, which made everything feel a bit easier. It felt empowering to be able to confidently pronounce my awa (river) and maunga (mountain).

What’s a Pepeha? –

So, what exactly is a pepeha? A pepeha is a traditional Māori introduction that helps individuals express their identity and lineage. It usually includes the speaker’s name, the names of significant landmarks such as mountains (maunga) and rivers (awa), and often references their iwi (tribe) or hapū (sub-tribe). By sharing our pepeha, we connect with others, honor our roots, and foster a sense of belonging within our community. It’s a beautiful way to convey who we are and where we come from.

Task –

Today’s task was quite straightforward yet engaging. We started by watching a music video, which really set the tone for our creative work. Once we finished the video, we moved on to creating our pepeha online. This was a significant step, as it allowed us to express our identities and connections to the land.

After drafting our pepeha, we emailed the final version to ourselves for easy access later. The real fun began when we transformed our pepeha into a visual representation where I used Google Drawings. I took this opportunity to highlight and personalize my pepeha by incorporating meaningful images that reflect my heritage. I added pictures of the beautiful rivers and majestic mountains, as well as a specific location in New Zealand that holds a special place in my heart. Crafting this visual pepeha not only helped me connect more deeply with my roots but also made the entire process more enjoyable and creative.  (Create your own Pepeha) <- Click

Here is the video along with my Pepeha

What’s FACKTS? – Social Studies Class

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog. I hope you all have been doing well. Over the past few days, my class as been learning about a topic in our social studies class that I can’t wait to share with you all. Last Friday and again in Wednesday’s session, we explored the concept of FACKTS. Now, you might be wondering what FACKTS is and why it’s important, especially when it comes to mapping and understanding geography.

FACKTS is an acronym that helps us remember key components that are essential when interpreting maps, and these elements are crucial in our ability to analyze and discuss geographical information accurately. Each letter stands for a specific term and contributes to our overall understanding of mapping. I’ll break down what each part represents and why it’s helpful for anyone interested in geography or just wanting to get a better grasp on maps and their usage later.

We did a class talk and started to do the activities that were set by our teacher. We either had to pick, Ace, Pro, Legend or Titan. Last year we did this eact same activity and I clearly remembered what to do so I picked Titan. This activity of FACKTS gave me a refreshment of what it was. I knew what I was doing so I quickly started and already finished.

If any of you already know what FACKTS stands for, please share your thoughts in the comments below. Your thoughts are always welcome, and I’d love to see what you all think. Meanwhile, I’ll proceed to explain what FACKTS are and how they can improve our understanding of mapping.

DLO –

I just made a DLO to explain what FACKTS is all about. If you don’t know what FACKTS stands for or know about, don’t worry, this DLO breaks it down so you know what it is. It has info and is meant to help you understand why FACKTS is important for mapping.

Click to view

DLO Mapping using FACKTS

Video –

 

Task –

 

Reflection and Conclusion –

I found this task to be quite manageable, as I was already familiar with the necessary steps and requirements. It’s always best when you can confidently do a task, knowing you have the background knowledge to guide you through.

In this blog post, I aimed to share my understanding and provide valuable information that could benefit readers by engaging them. Finally, I appreciate your time in reading this post, and I genuinely hope it has provided you with useful information that you can apply to your learning of mapping.

Thanks,

Shreeya

Have you experienced an earthquake? – Social Studies

Exploring Earthquakes in New Zealand

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog.

This week in Social Studies, we’ve been learning about earthquakes in New Zealand, specifically the Christchurch earthquake. I found it fascinating to learn about the impact of this occasion, and I wanted to share what I’ve learned with you.

We started by using a PDF explaining what type the earthquake happened and where, also we watched a video that gave us a peek of what Christchurch was like before and after the earthquake. After that, we explored a fact file about the Christchurch earthquake, which was really informative.

One of the most interesting activities was creating earthquake safety tips. I used Canva to design my tips, which taught me the importance of being prepared for natural disasters. We also worked on some before and after activities, where I got to see how Christchurch changed after the earthquake. It was eye-opening to see how the city rebuilt and recovered over time.

Another activity I really enjoyed was the GeoNet activity. It was a simple yet fun way to learn more about earthquake data and how it’s tracked in New Zealand. We also read facts about the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, which deepened my understanding of the event.

Overall, I found the activities easy to follow and fun to complete. I hope you enjoy reading about what I’ve learned and that it gives you a better understanding of the Christchurch earthquake and the importance of earthquake preparation.

Links and Task

Conclusion

Learning about the Christchurch earthquake has been very interesting. It’s a reminder of how powerful nature can be and how important it is to stay prepared for natural disasters. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge from the activities, and I now feel more informed about the impact of earthquakes and the steps we can take to stay safe. I’m excited to continue learning more about natural events and how we can protect ourselves and our communities.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and I can’t wait to share more of my learning experiences with you soon.

Bye,

Shreeya

Pike River Mine – Legend (Social Studies)

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. It’s Friday again, which means it’s time to finish up all the stuff I’ve been working on and share some cool things with you. Today, I’m going to talk about something really interesting that I learned about: The Pike River Mine disaster.

The Pike River Mine is a coal mine in New Zealand with a pretty sad history. I learned a lot about what happened there, and it really made me think about safety and how important it is in places like that. A lot of people died in the disaster and the bodies weren’t found.

For our task, we had a set of slides to answer about what we learned about the Pike River Mine. It was a good effort and I spent time figuring out the key points to include. As another task there, we had to create a DLO to promote health and safety for working in mines. I added some different things to make it interesting as well and I hope you enjoy it.

I hope you guys enjoy checking out my Canva presentation and slideshow.

 

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog, and I can’t wait to share more stuff with you soon.

2011 Japan Tsunami – Social studies

Kia Ora everyone. Welcome back to my blog. I hope you’re all doing well.

Today in social studies, we had an interesting task focused on the 2011 Japan Tsunami, and I have to say, it was engaging and cool to learn about. The task started with us watching two really informative videos that explained what a tsunami is, how it forms, and the massive impact it can have on coastlines and communities. I learned that tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions and that the energy they release can create huge waves that travel across the ocean at incredible speeds.

Once we finished learning all that information, it was time for the create part of the task. We had to answer some questions about the videos and texts we were given, which helped reinforce what we had just learned. Then came the really cool part, we had to create a DLO (Digital Learning Object) to demonstrate how a tsunami occurs and what causes it. I decided to present this on a Google drawing explaining what caused a tsunami to occur.

Videos about the Japan Tsunami and How a tsunami works –

Video 1

Task –

Questions

 

Now, onto the share part, what I’m doing right now. I had to reflect on today’s learning experience. I had to write what I learnt, what was easy/what wasn’t and add my task. I hope you enjoy it.

 

What I learnt –

From some research I did, I learnt that the tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011, showed us important lessons about dealing with tsunamis. First, having early warning systems is crucial to save lives. It’s also important for everyone to know what to do during a tsunami, so practising evacuation drills helps a lot.

Building strong structures near the coast can reduce damage, and community support is essential when tough times hit. Taking care of our environment, like protecting mangroves and coral reefs, can help keep areas safe. Plus, understanding how people react to warnings can improve evacuations. Finally, planning for recovery, including mental health support and rebuilding homes, is necessary. Learning from these experiences can better prepare us for future tsunamis.

But what I have learnt from the text and video is how tsunamis as created, how they occur and many other things that were very interesting for me. One of them was The Ring of Fire. This is the first time I heard about this word and when I found out it sounded interesting.

Tell me in the comments what you think The Ring of Fire means.

What was easy –

After watching the videos and reading the text, I found the DLO and questions to be quite straightforward. The things provided really helped me understand the concept, making it easier for me to answer the questions confidently.

 

What was not easy –

I would say everything was clear and I didn’t have any difficulties.

 

FUN FACTS!!

  • The tallest tsunami was in Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 9, 1958
  • In that tsunami in Alaska, only 2 fatalities died (only 2 people)
  • A tsunami can be (100ft = 30.48m) tall
  • Tsunami is a Japanese word that means Habor Wave
  • The Tōhoku earthquake was a magnitude 9.0,  the most powerful earthquake recorded in Japan since 1900 when seismic recording devices were first used, and it is the fourth most powerful ever detected worldwide.
  • Nearly 20,000 people died or went missing; more than 90% of deaths were from drowning during the tsunami.

Websites I used – (click to view)

YouTube Brand Resources and Guidelines - How YouTube Works

Google Suite | Red River Parish Public Schools

 

Bye, see you in my next Blog Post.

Shreeya

The Great Plague – Social Studies

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first blog post for Term 4. I’m excited to share what I have learnt from the first week and this week. We had an interesting topic which was the Great Plague. We had to find different things like, how it spread, what spread it and other questions related to it.

We were given the option to select our learning level, which went from Ace to Titan. I chose the Titan level, this choice was a bit of a push for me, and I was challenged to step up my learning and see what I could achieve.

Step 1: Learning about the Great Plague

Our first step was to watch two informative videos, the videos provided an overview of the Great Plague and the significant impact it had on communities. It was interesting to see how a single bacteria could lead to such a dangerous matter.

Step 2: Creating Our Understanding

The next step was the create part of our learning. Our task was to answer questions based on the text and videos provided. These questions helped me gain new knowledge and understand deeper into the topic.

Once we completed the questions, we moved on to creating a D.L.O (Digital Learning Object) of how the plague spread. We had to create our DLO on A Google Drawing. Crafting the D.L.O was enjoyable and I added the knowledge I know into this Google Drawing.

Step 3: Sharing My Learning

Finally, I reached the sharing part, I had to post what I have learned and reflect on my learning (what was interesting/not so interesting). As a final touch to my post, I’ve included links to the two videos, the text we read and activities if anyone is interested in further exploring this topic.

 

Click to view

Link

Link

 

TITAN – Reading Task

Reflection –

I enjoyed this lesson and thought it was interesting. The info helped me get a better understanding of the topic. Once we watched the video, I found it pretty easy to answer some questions because the pictures made everything clearer. But I did have a few tricky questions, there was a bit where the video wasn’t working, so I couldn’t go back and check stuff when I needed to. Even though that was a little frustrating, I still finished the work. My other favourite part was making the DLO. Overall, I left the lesson feeling enjoyable and keen to learn more about it.

Thanks for viewing my blog
Shreeya✿

Post War Māori – Social Studies

Hello, welcome back to another blog post.

In our Social Studies class today, we were learning about the history of the Māori people during World War II. Over the past week, we were working on these slides and we found many things to gain knowledge that was completely new to us.

We learned about the various jobs that the Māori did during the war, including their important roles in the military and their crucial contributions to the war effort on the home front. Also, we gained an understanding of the unique challenges and obstacles that the Māori faced.

Studying the Māori involvement in World War II has given us a deeper understanding of our activity. Our activity was to choose one person from the following options given (names given below). We had to choose either from Ace, Pro or Legend. I chose Legend because I wanted to push myself. On the Legend slide, there was a set of questions I had to answer, and once I finished that I had to blog it.

I chose Dame Mira Szászy, she was the first Māori woman to graduate with a degree in anthropology and a prominent leader in Māori education and welfare.

Names given:

Dame Whina Cooper: Māori land rights activist and leader of the 1975 Land March.    

Sir Howard Morrison  Famous entertainer and singer.

Dame Mira Szászy: First Māori woman to graduate with a degree in anthropology and a prominent leader in Māori education and welfare.

Sir Peter Tapsell: Politician and the first Māori Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa: World-famous opera singer.

Sir Tipene O’Regan: Scholar and leader, instrumental in the Ngāi Tahu Treaty settlement.

 

Task –

Reflection –

I found this engaging to learn about the important role played by the Māori in World War II. It was both challenging and rewarding to discover the stories of bravery and resilience that defined the Māori experience in World War II. Their dedication and courage in the face of adversity serve as an inspiration.

Thanks for viewing my work,

Shreeya✿