DNA Extraction MWHAHAHHHAHHAHAHA

Aim: To extract the DNA of the kiwifruit so we can observe it

Method

1. Using a spatula,  scoop 1/2 of the kiwifruit into a bag and add 25ml water + a pinch pf salt.
2. Mush until a thick soup.
3. Pour over cloth into funnel into beaker
4. Pour liquid into test tuber. Add dish washing liquid + swirl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
5. Tilt test tuber on 45 degree angle and slowly pour 10ml of ethanol down the side. 
6. Allow to sit.

Results

Hopefully after you allow it to sit your test tube should look like this:

The jelly fish egg looking stuff on top is the kiwifruit's DNA. If it doesn't look like this then you might've not mushed the kiwifruit enough. If it has big clumps then not much of the kiwifruit will make it through the cloth.

Discussion:

We used water to help break and liquefy the kiwifruit which would allow it to pass through the cloth. Salt allowed the DNA clump together while ethanol helps the DNA float to the top. The reason the DNA is bubbly like that is because the detergent that creates air bubbles that make it easier to see.

Conclusion
We were able to separate the DNA successfully. I also learnt what would happen if someone drank ethanol (because it's stronger than stomach acid you would get a burning feeling inside and then most likely die).

Photos

 

English Creative writing review

For the past two weeks in English we've been working through a task matrix that teaches us about things such as how to create a character, how to write the setting, etc.

What have I learned and how will this help me with future writing? 
I learnt quite a bit with the main things being setting and probably show don't tell. I have a tendency to switch between being really descriptive and then describing nothing so hopefully this will help me with evening the two out and finding some sort of middle ground.

Activities I enjoyed the most
I really enjoyed the setting activities and the character ones as well. I personally think describing things is one of my strong suits and I just really like creating characters. I also think that those activities came out the best and I'll probably and go back and do the extensions by my self at home.

My preferred style of learning
 I like working by myself where I can just listen to my tunes. I also like doing creative tasks (eg: writing, drawing, creating presentations, etc) mainly because that's how I remember things, by putting the skills I learnt to good use. I do have a tendency to put a lot of effort into one task and then very little into another/put too much effort into a task and then have a mini melt down before realizing that I don't need to do that much work and I'm just being extra.

Blog posts for the activities in this matrix:

Creating a character

Setting it up

Opening lines

Show don't tell

Hi yes meet your new favorite robot

This is the last activity for the task matrix for my English class. We had to create a character and I chose to create Carol who I forgot to mention is a robot.

Character design sheet I guess?

Character bio thing

Sonja Terk Delaunay

Counverture de bercaeu by Sonja Delaunay

Sonja Terk Delaunay was a famous artist in the early 20th century, a time where being an artist was difficult but being a female artist was worse. Sonja was born in 1885, Hradyzk, Ukraine and was married to Wilhelm Uhde, a German author and art collector, and then later Robert Delaunay, a French artist. Together they found the orphism movement which took cubism and added more of an emphases on the color and it's power to evoke emotion. Orphism explored the idea of music and color both having the ability to evoke emotion through the abstract. The name orphism was coined by poet Guillaume Apollinaire and was named after the greek god Orpheus who was known for his musical talents.

Triptych by Sonja Delaunay

We also had to create a rendition of one of her works. Below is mine (which is half done) on the right and hers on the left.

22/3/19
Today we started on making thumbnail sketches inspired by orphism and Sonja. We focused on things such as leading lines, focal points, and color theory. Below are some of my sketches

My self identity and some fun facts about me I guess

In health we are beginning our unit Hauora. This unit focuses on our well-being and our four walls (physical, mental, social, and spiritual well being) and how we can take care of them. We started off by looking at spiritual well-being which is things such as religion, self-identity, values, morals, etc. We did a self assessment on this website. We were then sent a analysis of the values we chose and did a small activity where we picked two and looked deeper into them.

We also looked at self identity and who we are as a person. We had to draw something that represented us (I drew me) and write things that we believe were who we are/summed us up as a person. We then chose 5 important ones and put them on the orange sticky notes. Mine's a bit of mess but that's okay!

Hi yes you should know about this guy called Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata was the winner of the 1968 Nobel literacy prize. He won because, as the Nobel prize academy say "for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind."

Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata was born on June 11th 1899, Osaka, Japan and was orphaned as a young boy. He also lost most of his known relatives at a young age, this is believed to be why death and loneliness has such a strong presence in his works. Kawabata would proceed to attend and graduate from Tokyo imperial university in 1924 and make his debut into the world of writing with his short story Izu no odoriko (Izu dancer, 1927). He also created a journal, Bungei Jidai, with another writer, Yokomitsu Riichi.  He eventually went on to write Yukiguni (Snow country, 1948) which established him as a leading writer in Japan. His other notable works include Sembazuru (Thousand Cranes, Never completed), Yama no oto (The Sound of the Mountain, 1954), and The Old Capital (1962) among others. Kawabata was also a candidate for the Nobel literacy prize more than once, in fact almost every year but was never nominated nor did he win after his initial win in 1968. He would later commit suicide via inhaling gas on April 16th, Zushi, Japan after the death of his close friend Mishima Yukio.


Disclaimer: First I'm not saying any of the following stuff is true I just found the circumstances interesting and fell into a bit of rabbit hole. Secondly you don't have to read this part if you don't want to. Thirdly (If that's even a word) This is in NO WAY the truth because, again, this is just under suspicion and is just a theory. 

So you may notice that he committed suicide after his friend Mishima Yukio which may have you wondering, who is Mishima Yukio? Well from what I found Mishima Yukio was another well known Japanese author and even though him and Yasunario Kawabata were both candidates they were known for being close friends. Now what's interesting about this to me is the fact that they were close friends and Mishima Yukio was known for being very open about his sexuality. If you don't know what that is code for then let me explain it for you; he was gay. Very gay. Massively gay. Now not everyone commits suicide after their close gay friend dies do they? Now, again, I'm not saying that they possibly were more than close friends but I am saying there was a chance they could have been.

Sources

Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kawabata-Yasunari

Nobel Prize website: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1968/kawabata/facts/

Mishima's Britannica page: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yukio-Mishima

Child labor and human rights

In social studies we're wrapping up our unit on slavery by looking at child slavery. A big question is why do they choose children and how does it take away their freedom? Well let me answer those questions for you:

Although slavery in the US was abolished long ago, slavery is still a issue in many other countries. Countries such as Eritrea, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, etc, still allow child labor in industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and domestic work. Child labor is still prevalent in these countries due to the fact that a lot of times families get stuck in a circle of debt so, to pay off the debt and help provide for the family, children are put to work as they are still young, healthy, and easily manipulated. This means most children are blocked from receiving some form of education as the money that would be used to pay for school is used to pay for food, water, shelter, and to pay off the debt. Although some countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Burundi have made an effort to stop child labor their efforts have, unfortunately, not worked and still remains as a prevalent problem.

Countries with the worst child labor laws

Above is my map that shows countries with some of the worst child labor laws. The map also states the country's rank, category, and main industries that involve either forced child labor or allow child labor.

I like neon aesthetics so come at me Nadia (These are some settings I wrote btw)

A setting in a story is usually the place and time the story is placed. Usually there is at least one setting (obviously) and tells the time (eg: year, month, time of day, etc). Below are my examples:

1. The western town was haunted by the ghosts of the past. Lost souls wandered in and out of abandoned saloons, banks that were once owned by the wealthy were turned into housing by the spiders that now inhabited it. Screams of tortured ghosts filled what once was the sheriff's jailhouse.
2. An open window allowed the gentle breeze to push past the curtains into the room. The sun cloaked the room in boxes of gold, turning ordinary furniture into that of what kings would own. Blankets dragging onto the floor, leaving the only warmth she had, that of her lovers arms. The sweet sound of birds waking up and beginning their morning routine filled her ears.
3. The only light in the night was the neon signs that tinted the world red as she ran through the alley drowning in puddles. Destroying one puddle after another as she broke into the deserted street, the shops blurring together into one as she sprints past. 

The last one is based of this music video and even if you don't like the song (even though it's a Bop) you gotta admit the video is stunning. 

Art is hard

In art we just finished creating art inspired by Micheal Mew who is famous for doing mixed medium collages. We had to create leading lines and a focal point using water colors and clippings from various magazines. If that wasn't hard enough we also had to include one of five birds (mohua, riroriro, tieke, korimako/koparapara, pipiwharaurao). Three of the birds will be the new representatives of our three new learning buildings. Below is my piece.

Look at this screaming boy. Just. Wow 11/10 bird right here.
This is the pipiwharauroa by the way

My focal point is the lady in the middle (I couldn't remember the original artist) and my leading lines include the wooden roof on the bottom, the dark wooden walls on the left, and the Chanel label on the right. I guess you could sort of include the green surrounding her as leading lines or possibly framing. The bird I chose was the pipiwharaurao, also known as shining cuckoo, and is considered to be the messenger of spring. I don't know if I like it entirely cause I feel like it's missing something. Other than that I'm proud of how it came out. The one problem I had was I glued the magazine clippings down and then I painted it. This made the glue lose it's adhesive around the edges so I had to go back and glue the edges down again. I also didn't really know what I was doing with the background, I just kinda winged it and hoped it came out well (which it did. I think).  Below are some examples of Micheal Mew's work:

Home economic update

Savory Scrolls

Ingredients

Plain flour - 1 ½ cups

Baking powder - 3 tsp

Salt - ¼ tsp

Cold butter - 50 grams

Tasty cheese - 1 cups, grated

Spring onions - 1, trimmed and finely sliced

Parsley - 1 tbsp

Milk - ½ cup

Filling

Ham - 1 large slice, torn

Cheese 1 and ½ cups, grated

Herbs - 1-2 tbsp, roughly chopped

Milk - 1.4 cup, to glaze

Method

Preheat oven to 210C. Grease a large baking tray.

1.Sift dry ingredients together. Make a well and grate butter into center. Rub butter into flour.

Add cheese, spring onion and parsley and mix.

2.Use butter knife to cut milk into mix, reserving 1/4 cup until near the end (you may not need it).

Work quickly, adding just enough milk for dough to bind.

3.Tip onto floured board and pat together; don’t over-handle or dough will be tough. Flatten into a

loose rectangle then roll out to about 1 cm thick.

4.Add filling along edge of the roll. Roll up from long side to make one long rolls with seam side

down. Cut into 2 cm-thick slices and place on tray. Brush with milk and bake for 12 minutes or until

golden and just cooked through.

NOTES

Ham is prepared on a brown colored board.

When preparing the tray use baking paper. This prevents cheese from burning onto the tray.

When grating butter use cold butter. We’re grating butter so that it’ll easily rub into the flour.

How my group went

My group went fairly well. We did have a mishap towards the end that involved some miscommunication. Luckily it didn't affect the food in any way and ours looked and tasted delicious.

Opening lines (english work)

The opening lines to a book are crucial. It can either hook a reader in, making them want to continue to read, or it turns someone away. Below are 4 opening lines that I wrote.

1. “Security breached,” The monotone voice said, as sirens start to squeal. The thief reaches into the broken case unfazed by the alarm, shoves the book in his bag and takes off down the long marble hall lined with artistic paintings. The thief takes a sharp left towards the fire exit. He makes his way to the car hidden in the alleyway and the car door opens instantly.  The minute the thief enters, it takes off with police sirens blaring behind them as they drive off into the night. (Note this one actually is kinda finished short story, kinda not)
2. "The hail fell down to the Earth as if it were a drummer boy banging on his drum, the lightning cracked across the sky. She felt as if it she had a thin layer of ice on her face, the thin gloves she used to protect her hands against the cold weren’t working. She knew she had to follow through though, she had made a promise that she was destined to keep."
3. "I looked onward as the fire continued to blare, smoke forcing itself onto what was once a blue sky."
4. "It all began with a dream. The dream prophecies talk of. The dream of the woman in white."

Harriet Tubman: A summary

This is her by the way

In social studies we're learning about slavery in America. We are just finishing our unit on Harriet Tubman. Along with this unit we are learning how to write a S.E.E.L paragraph (statement, explain, example, link). Below is my S.E.E.L paragraph about Harriet Tubman.

In 1850 300 slaves were freed by a woman nicknamed "Moses". This woman was Harriet Tubman. Harriet earned this nickname because she was able to conduct 19 trips that guided, in total, 300 slaves to safety in Canada. She also never lost a passenger which made her one of the most well known conductors in the underground railroad. Harriet Tubman's courage allowed her to make multiple dangerous trips earning her a place in history as Harriet Tubman: The Moses of her people.

REMEMBER Show don't tell

What does show don't tell mean?
Show don't tell means you describe something rather than just straight up saying what it is. So instead of just saying "the water was green" you would go into more detail.

Examples

1. "The buildings were tall" = "The buildings towered over her and covered the sky"
2. "Sarah was really upset" = "The water building up in Sarah's eyes eventually became too much as tears began to stream down her face"
3. "She was so happy to see him" = "As her eyes found him her face lit up like a carnival at night."
4. "The lake was beautiful" = "Not even the crown jewels could compare to the glittering lake that laid hidden in the forest."

Harriet Tubman