FABULOUS FINISH!!!

This term we have read the book Ghost!  We could choose from a variety of activities to do each week.  When we finished the book, it was time to do FABULOUS FINISH!  With our Fabulous Finishes we had to pick a character from the book and share what we've learned about that character.  We also have to present our knowledge in a creative way. I chose to do Coach Otis Broady because he seems like a interesting character!  This term I created a puzzle!  I created a puzzle because I think that it's a creative way to present something!

I first drew a puzzle.  This was quite hard because I couldn't get all the pieces exactly the same size.  I then drew Coach Broady inside the puzzle.  He's wearing a Defenders top and a pair of shorts.  I then drew things that represent him on the side.  I drew a taxi because he's a taxi driver.  I drew what he was thinking.  I also drew a gold medal and put a equals sign next to it, then drew money.  I did this because Coach Broady won an Olympic gold medal and his dad sold it to buy drugs.  I then coloured in!  Once I finished colouring in, I was up to the hard bit... Cutting out my pieces.  This was probably the most difficult thing because I'm not good at cutting out!

When I finished cutting out I attached the puzzle pieces with some string.  When I finished doing that it was time to pack up so I put my puzzle where the Fabulous Finishes needed to go.  When I can back and got my puzzle, it was all tangled up.  I couldn't untangle my puzzle, so I operated surgery on it and cut the strings.  This is probably one of the dumbest thing I've done.

I really enjoyed doing Fabulous Finishes throughout the terms!  I think that this puzzle is probably the best Fabulous Finish I've ever done because I think it looks really good.  The easiest thing to do was come up with thoughts that he could be thinking.  I can not choose what the funnest thing doing was because it was all fun.  I am really proud of my Chapter Chat because it took a lot of time and effort to make.  In the end it looked better then what I thought it would!

If you can't read what the thought are they say:"How can I torture Ghost."  "I can't believe Castle is a thief!" and "I'm so happy with the uniforms!"

Survival Backpack

Task 2 for the bush survival is to put all the things you need when your out in the wild in a bag.  Once you've done that, you will also need put why you might need that thing in your bag.  I found this pretty easy because I already knew what could go in my survivor pack.

Bush Survival Info

The S.T.O.P acronym.

The S.T.O.P acronym is commonly used when a child and a parent become separated.  This is made to keep a child calm.  This is a good thing to know because a child will know what to do if they if become alone.  It is also a good thing to know when your just in a simple disaster and you don't know what to do.

Stop

Think

Observe

Plan

Finding fresh water.

When out in the wild water is the main thing you need to focus on.

• You can start to dig a hole 3-4 meters deep.
• Water naturally flows downhill so you may want to head in that direction.
• You can follow animal tracks if you see them.
• Remember you can survive 3 weeks without food and only 3 days without water.

When you find water you may want to boil it over a hot fire to make sure it's clean and safe to drink.

Shelter

A shelter is one of the key things you need to know about, especially when you end up staying in the wild over night.

• Always build your shelter on a dry and flat surface.
• When it's windy, put your shelter under some trees.
• Make sure that you have something under you while you sleep.
• Some shelters are natural so if you find one, don't bother to make one from scratch.

How to start a fire.

A fire is another key thing to know how to do.  If your body temperature goes down it may kill you.

• To start a fire you will need to gather some kindling, sticks and tinder.
• Strike your kindling together until you see some sparks.
• When you start to see sparks put it on your sticks.
• Remember a fire needs oxygen to stay alive so you may want to blow on it it to get flames.

Basic first aid.

When you get hurt you need to know some basic first aid to help you stay alive.

• You will need to know how to put some bandages on someone.
• Remember when someone gets a blister or something that could get infected remember to cover it.
• If you put a bandage on, remember to change it daily.

Signalling for help.

Signalling for help is also a crucial thing you will need to know how to do.  

• You can simply shout out help three times.
• You can make a fire where there are no trees around.
• You can whistle really loud.

The Clove Hitch Knot.

This is the fourth knot I decided to master.  I decided to master 4 knots instead of 3 because I had time and I wanted to master more then just 3 knots. I chose to master a Clove Hitch Knot.  When I finished Christine told me it wasn't really a knot because it just looked like you wrapped rope around a stick.  But she said I could still post it on my blog. 

A Clove Hitch has many uses, one is that it can be used to control a rope that a climber is attached too and keep it really tight!  The Clove Hitch is also the beginning step of many lashings.  The difficulty rating I give the Clove Hitch is a 1/5 because it was really easy to do.  I think that it was really easy to master because your pretty much just crossing over a piece of string.

Term 4 WK 5 Chapter Chat:Digital Design

This is my Chapter Chat for this week.  I chose to do Digital Design.  I was going to just do a book review but I finished that on Monday so I decided to do multiple Digital Designs on 1 google drawing.  I also chose to do the avatar one and to design a flag for the Defenders.

The first thing I did was find a track off the internet for my background.  Then I created avatars.  This took me quite a long time because I wanted the avatars to look a lot like the characters in the story.  I then went on this cool website that gives you cool fonts to put the name of each character on their avatar.  I then created a flag.  The flag was quite easy because I already had an idea on what to put on it.  I put a running man clip art on it, the team name Defenders and at the bottom I put "the fastest track team in town" because I remember coach saying that in the book.  The third thing I did was right my review.  Once I had finished the review I was going to say I was finished but my work looked blank.  So I put 10 stars above my review and coloured in 7 because that's what I rated the book.

The hardest thing to do was probably the avatars because it was hard choosing the hair (apart from Coach Brody because he has no hair.)  The easiest thing was designing the flag.  The funnest thing to do was putting the stars above the review because it was fun creating the colour.

I put a lot of effort into this and I am proud of what my work looks like!  I think that I have created an overflowing jar of honey!

Bowline Knot

The third knot I have decided to master is the Bowline Knot.  When you finish tying the Bowline Knot you may have a big loop or a small loop.  I chose to do a Bowline Knot because it looked cool!  Here is the knot.  Sorry it's upside down.

You can use the Bowline Knot to tie a heavy loading.  It easy to untie.  You can also use this knot to tie 2 things together.  I give this knot a 2/5 because I could tie this knot the first time I tried.  Once I finished tying this knot I taught other people how to tie the knot!

Alpine Butterfly Knot

The second knot that I have decided to master is called the Alpine Butterfly Knot!  You can tell if you have done this knot correctly because once you have finished you should be able to see a neat, little x.  When tying the Butterfly knot you can use your hand or you can just use the string.  I found using my hand was easier.  Here is the knot.

You can use the Alpine Butterfly knot when your mountain climbing.  You can use this knot to tie yourself to a rope.  You can also use this knot to isolate a damaged section of rope.  I give this rope a difficulty rating of 2/5 because I watched a video and the guy that was showing me how to do it made the instructions really clear.

The Reef Knot

This survivor rotation the Knowledge Seekers are learning how to tie knots!  We can choose from 8 different knots that all have useful proposes.  We have to master 3 knots to earn a gold badge!  The first knot I have decided to master is the Reef Knot.

You can use the Reef Knot when you are securing a first aid sling because it will stay flat and it is easy to untie.  You can also use the Reef Knot to secure a bundle of objects because the objects.  I give the Reef Knot a 3/5 because the first time I tried to tie the Reef Knot it didn't work but then I kept trying and eventually I mastered it!

Lacebark.

The Lacebark has 2 other names.  The thousand  jacket and Ribbon wood.  Both these names refer to the soft fibre underneath the trees bark. 

The Lacebark is found in coastal and lowland forests in the upper north island.  But because it has been plated widely in New Zealand you may find some of these trees in gardens and places where they never existed before. 

The Lacebark has nice and soft bark and in the summer the tree gets covered in beautiful white flowers.

The bark of this tree is used to weave things.  The Lacebark is in the mallow family of trees which has people using these trees as medicine.  The leaves and the flowers of this tree can be used as medicine.  The bushman would soak the leaves in water and drink that broth to help their stomachaches.

The inner bark of the Lacbark was eaten only if one was extremely hungry.  The inner bark did not taste edible.

Extremely, Excellent Outdoor Shelter Challenge.

For our last challenge in the shelters group we had to make a shelter!  We got a tarpaulin and some rope.  My group decided to make an A-frame buy tying the rope between 2 trees and putting the tarpaulin over the rope.  Once we had that sorted we put sticks through the holes in the tarpaulin to keep it on the ground.  When our shelter was completed it was very stable.  

The next step was to put up a tent.  Mrs Kennedy had brought some tents for us to put up.  We had to read the instructions and as a team put up a tent.  First we had to feed the sticks through the holes.  That was the only hard part.  When we finished that, the other steps were quite easy.  Our group put up the tent really fast because we all had experience putting tents up before.  I had a lot of fun doing this and I learnt a lot about shelters too.

My team worked really well together.  We all had parts to do and we did them really well.  The hardest thing to do was putting the sticks through the holes of the tarpaulin so the shelter would stay.  The easiest thing to do was put the tent up because we all knew how to put a tent up.  I learnt how to build a shelter.  I am happy that I know how to build one because if I ever have to do one again I know what to do.

Term 4 WK 4 Chapter Chat:Creation Station

This is my Chapter Chat for this week.  I chose to make an advertisement poster for the book Ghost!  I think we had to make an advertisement poster for Ghost because this is our last week reading the book Ghost. 

The first thing I started to do was draw a gold medal.  I chose to draw a gold medal because I was thinking about the Olympics.  Inside the medal I drew things related to the story.  I drew a Defenders top because Castle is on the Defenders team.  A gun because his Dad was trying to shoot him and his Mum.  A basketball because he plays basketball.  The first aid symbol because his Mum works at a hospital and a track with a finish line because he does track!  When I was finished all that I put quotes from the book on the side.  I then decorated my work with polka dots and stars.

My favourite thing about my Chapter Chat was drawing a gold medal because I think it's more creative then just drawing a circle.  The funnest thing was decorating because I like colouring in things.  The hardest thing to do was probably coming up with quotes to put on the side of my poster.

I put a lot of effort into this and I am proud of the end result.  I think my work is an overflowing jar of honey.

Tent Ideas

Shelter Information

When your out in the wild, a shelter is one of the key things you need to know how to do.  A shelter is a structure that can protect you over night.  All shelters are different.  Some shelters are natural and are provided in the wild.  Some shelters you need to make.  But most of the time all shelters have the same use.

The best place to build a shelter would be on dry, flat land.  Avoid building shelters on hills as this will result to cold air at night.  If you build a shelter near a river or creek your shelter may be washed away.  You will also be around a lot of bugs and insects near a river.  Fallen trees, logs and overhanging rocks are also an ideal place to build a shelter as your shelter has something to lean on.

A shelter is made to protect one from harsh conditions and animals that the wild may contain.  Some shelters are made to protect one from the cold, while others are made to protect one from the heat.  Shelters provide humans a dry and safe sleeping area protecting you from bugs and insects that are roaming through the ground.

You can make your shelters out of natural material because they are just as good as man made things.  To build the frame of your shelter you could use sticks and tie it together with some flax.  Then you just need a cover.  Your cover can be made out of bark, leaves and debris.  A tip for making your cover is that if you can see rays of sun coming through you need to add more layers.

Some pros of a shelter are:

• Shelters are quick and easy to build when you know what your doing.
• When building a shelter you don't have to make accurate measurements.
• It's really easy to find a place to make your shelter because you just need flat ground and something to lean on.
• You have protection at night from the weather and wildlife.

Some cons of a shelter are:

• Shelters are very uncomfortable.
• You might not have elevation from the ground.
• Your shelter may not be stable and collapse.