Summer Learning Journey Week 2 - Day 1

DAY 1: Swimming with the Fish

Activity 1: Surfs Up! [4 points]

In New Zealand we have many beautiful beaches and stunning waterfalls. One of the most spectacular waterfalls is called Kitekite and it is located in Piha, a small village west of Auckland. Tourists and locals flock to Piha during the summer season to enjoy the waterfall, the local beach, and the great surf. Have you ever tried surfing? Although I have never surfed many of my friends have and they absolutely love it. In fact, it is their favourite summer activity! What is yours?

For this activity, please take a picture of yourself doing one of your favourite summer activities. It could be anything! Here is a picture of one of our team members (Laura) doing one of her favourite summer activities.

On your blog, post a picture of yourself doing one of your favourite summer activities. Below the picture tell us what the activity is and tell us why it is one of your favourites.

My best summer activity is playing a sport, Rugby. I've loved rugby ever since I started playing. I starting playing rugby at the age of 8 not knowing anything about it. The reason why the picture is me passing a ball is because, that was the only thing I knew about rugby (Passing a ball). Other than that I was totally clueless. After 1 year of playing rugby I was boss (well that's what I thought) and at the end of the season I got an award which was "Most Out Standing Player" of that year. That was the best you could get on that age.

Activity 2: The Great Taupo Cycle Challenge [4 points]

Every year approximately 7500 people arrive in Taupo, New Zealand to compete in a one-day cycling race around Lake Taupo. The race route is 160 km in length. Participants can choose to compete in the full race or the half-race (80 km). Let’s imagine that you were given a free ticket to compete in the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge next year and you were able to bring three people with you as your ‘support crew.’ Who would you bring with you?

If it was me, I would choose my son, Aronui, as one of my supporters because he’s really funny and energetic. I think that he would make sure that I had a great time and that I spent the entire day laughing and smiling. I would also choose my sister, Leigh, because she is very strong and fast. Thirdly, I would choose my co-leader, Hazel, because she is very organised and would make sure that we followed the trail and didn’t get lost!

For me I would chose:

1. My big brother Sam, because he is energetic and very fit. I reckon he could do 2 laps! apart from that, he is strong, fast, smart and also funny!

2. My friend Trent, He is amazing at sports and super fast and funny. He'd be great at cycling because he is fit and also has incredibly strong legs.

3. And thirdly I would pick my friend Alex because he is very smart and fit, he is small but his spirit is big and also he would keep us on track if anything goes wrong!

Activity 3: Something Smells Fishy…[10 points]

One of the longest and largest rivers in the world is called the Amazon River. It is located in South America and is approximately 6400 kilometres (kms) long. That is four times longer than the entire country of New Zealand. Wow!

Scientists believe that there are over 3000 different kinds of fish that live in the Amazon River. Now, that is a lot of fish! To learn more about fish, we went online and found some really cool facts about fish.

For this activity, we are going to provide you with five sentences about fish. Some of them are true and some are them are not. It is your job to read these ‘facts’, and decide whether they are true or false.

On your blog, write out each fact and in CAPITAL LETTERS beside the fact, write the word ‘TRUE’ if it is a true fact or ‘FALSE’ if it is not true.

True or False?

Fish Fact #1: The oldest known fish in the world is a 65 year old Australian lungfish. TRUE

Fish Fact #2: Sharks are the only fish that have eyelids. FALSE

Fish Fact #3: Starfish are a type of fish. FALSE

Fish Fact #4: Fish communicate with each other by making low-pitched sounds (moans, hisses, etc) TRUE

Fish Fact #5: Fish usually swim together in groups called ‘classes.’ FALSE