Summer Learning Journey, Week 3, Day 4

DAY 4: Like a Scene Out of a Movie

Activity 1: The Southern Lights [4 points]

Once in a while a very special event takes place in New Zealand. It is a show of beautiful, bright lights that appear in the sky over the South Island. The lights are called the ‘Aurora Australis’ or ‘Southern Lights.’ They are similar to the ‘Northern Lights’ that are often seen in places like Northern Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The southern and northern lights are so stunning that they often leave people, who are watching them, speechless.

For this activity, you are to write a short acrostic word poem about the beautiful lights. Hazel has written an acrostic poem about summer to give you an example.

S - Sun outside,

U - Umbrellas in the sand.

M -  My friends and I, having fun,

M - Making sandcastles,

E - Enjoying ice cream on a hot day,

R - Racing to the beach!

On your blog, use the word ‘LIGHTS’ to write an acrostic poem about the Southern Lights. Be as creative as you can!

L - Life experience.

I - Incredible colours.

G - Gorgeous views.

H - Heart stopping light.

T - Thankful sightings.

S - Special time.

Activity 2: The Seven Sisters [4 points]

In the middle of winter, a very special cluster (group) of stars appear in the sky over New Zealand. This cluster is called the ‘Matariki star cluster.’ It re-appears in the sky each May/June and signals the start of the Māori New Year. Many songs (waiata) and stories have been written about the cluster. One of these is called ‘The Seven Stars of Matariki.’ It was written by a New Zealander named Toni Rolleston-Cummins. She is from Maketu. Click here to listen to Toni read her story.

On your blog, write a short summary of the book. What was it about? Try to summarise the story in 6-8 sentences.

There was a boy called Mitai, he lived with his seven older brothers, he lived in a village called Maketu. One day the boys went hunting and they heard such amazing singing,the boys followed this sound to the top of a hill and found the most beautiful girls with golden hair. All the boys fell in love but not Mitai, He said that strange pretty woman will only bring harm but the men just ignored them and took the ladies but to their village. They all became husband and wife, but Mitai did not like his brothers wife's. The girls did not do anything they just sang and comb their hair, the borthers did not go hunting they would only get seafood for them because they would only eat seafood. They were so bewitched they did not eat, cared for there gardens or even worried about their appearances, because of that they were skinny and their good works just disappeared. One day the oldest brother returned from fishing and notice that his wife was missing so as the others, because of that he told Mitai and then Mitai became really suspicious. He waited out of one of the brothers whare then he saw 6 birds on a branch and then another one came to join them, he turned into a bird and followed them. They turned into the women, then he heard the plan to starve the brothers. At first the brothers did not listen, and then said something to smack some sense into his brothers, they had to get rid of their wife's so the next day they hid and waited for the bird wife's to come then they came and the brothers caught them into a net. Mitai turned in a bird and flew them to the heaven. The woman turned into the seven stars of matariki.

I am so sorry I wrote so much for you to read.

ctivity 3: Crazy, Cool Clouds [5 points]

Have you ever looked up into the sky and seen a cloud that had a really cool shape? I certainly have, and so have dozens of other people. Take a look at the three pictures of crazy, cool cloud formations below.

From left to right: Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3

Clouds are formed when small drops of water stick together. To learn more about clouds and how they are formed, you can watch this cool video. Once you have learned about clouds, please choose your favourite cloud picture.

On your blog, tell us what you see in the photo. What shape(s) do you see? Be sure to tell us which picture (1, 2 or 3) you have chosen and describe what you see in lots of detail!.

I choose picture 2. I think that it looks like a tornado.It looks like it is about to spin into your area. And it looks like it is above the city or town. And if you look closely you can see that bits are Gray and the some bits are white. It starts of wide at the top and then become Skinner when it goes down.