Monday, August 30, 2010

My Brothers Fantastic Holiday

In the holidays my brother had so much fun. On Saturday 17th of July my dad and brother went to a rugby game. My brother was so excited because he got four signatures from the players. They also went to a skateboarding rink. My mum, sisters, baby brother and I just stayed at home. When my brother and dad came back my brother couldn’t stop talking about it. I guess that they had a great time.
Next term I might have a better time instead of staying at home.
That was a very special event that happened in the holidays for my brother.

Monday, August 23, 2010

My Awesome Day

My Uncle Jason had his birthday at our Marae in Raglan. My Aunty Jennifer organised it all. When we got to Raglan everyone was already there. We made our beds and went to play with our cousins. At six o'clock the hangi was ready and everybody went outside to the entrance of the hall where my Aunty Jennifer was. My three cousins sang a Maori song and performed for all of us. Everybody clapped and cheered for them and then my uncle said the karakia. After eating all that yummy food my cousin Tana went up and did a mean as haka. Some more of my family sang and performed too. It was a really awesome day.

Monday, August 16, 2010

SAVE THE WHALES

WHALES
The use of modern whaling methods is only one reason why whales are dying out. Pollution is slowly poisoning some whales. Fishing nets trap other whales or prevent them from reaching their feeding grounds. Low population’s also cause problems for some types of whales. Only 3,600 whales still swim the seas. These whales may have a hard time finding each other in the vast oceans. That means the whales cannot breed easily. This lowers the whale’s population even more. People should stop hunting whales. These creatures still need to survive. Whales need clean, safe places to live and raise their young. Unless we stop polluting the oceans and blocking them with fishing nets the whales may die out. The whales will probably survive only if we start taking better care of the world we share with them. Since prehistoric times people have hunted whales. Some people who live in arctic regions still kill whales to feed their families. But most modern whalers kill whales to sell them. Whale’s oil is used in soap, candles and machine oil. Whale’s meat is used for pet food as well. These things can be made from other materials. But people still keep killing whales. Methods of hunting whales have changed so much that many types of whales are endangered. These whales may die out and then there will be no whalers in the oceans.
BY WAITAI.

Eclipse

ECLIPSE
What is an eclipse? An eclipse occurs whenever one thing moves in front of another and then hides it. The sun, moon, and even stars can be eclipsed. A cloud could move in front of the sun and hide it. That’s an eclipse. The sun or moon can pass behind any tall buildings and could be hidden. That’s a kind of eclipse too. If you put your hand up to cover your eyes to shield them from the sun your hand is then eclipsing the sun. When you see the moon moving in front of the sun a solar eclipse occurs. During the eclipse the moon slowly passes in front of the sun until the sun is completely hidden. Then the sun looks like a black circle surrounded by a light. The reddish light is actually the suns atmosphere glowing around the rim of the darkened sun. As the moon moves past the face of the sun, the sun will soon start shining again. Solar eclipse only happens when the earth, moon and the sun all line up in a line. While there’s a solar eclipse, the moon casts its shadow on Earth. The moons shadow has 2 parts a small dark part at the centre of the shadow called the umbra, and a larger, lighter part surrounding the umbra is called a penumbra. When earth moves directly between the sun and the moon a lunar eclipse starts. During a lunar eclipse the earths shadow travels across the face of the moon. The shadow blocks out the moonlight. Unlike the solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse can be seen from every place earth where the moon can be seen. Which do you think would be more beautiful a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse? Most people agree that eclipses are among the most awe-inspiring events that we can witness in the heavens. I like watching the eclipse because it gives me an ADRENALINE rush.
By Picilla