Butter Chicken - Home Economics

Last week in home economics we created a butter chicken dish. Luckily everyone in our team was present and able to participate. However, only two of us actually wanted to eat the butter chicken so we got it all.

 Team aspect

Because everyone was here we were able to evenly spread out the tasks among everyone. Some of us did need to be given some direction and use initiative  but  we did eventually get ourselves sorted which allowed us to blaze through the later half of the practical. Memory was handling the gathering of ingredients, chopping them, and creating the sauce while Jordan was collecting various spices, Conner was slicing the chicken, and I was watching over the rice. Miss Hindson complemented Memory on the sauce she created as the ingredients had been measured exactly, allowing a wonderful sauce to be created. 

Review 

I thoroughly enjoyed the butter chicken. I don't eat butter chicken often but what little butter chicken I have eaten, ours was pretty good if I may say so myself. The sauce was probably the best bit and luckily we cooked our chicken all the way through. Some kids in the class before us claimed they felt a little sick after eating their chicken so they believed they hadn't cooked it all the way through. Lucky for us we didn't feel sick after eating ours. I thought the dish was delicious which was good as Conner and I had double of what we were suppose to have. This is probably one of my favorite dishes that we've cooked this year so far. 

Mayon Volcano

Volcano Pt. 1 -  Research

How are volcanoes formed?

A volcano is formed when magma from the Earth's mantle makes its way to the Earth's surface. As it erupts the magma comes in contact with water. This causes the liquids to harden and build up. This is why volcanoes commonly have the mountain/pointed shape. 

Where is the Mayon volcano?
The Mayon Volcano is located in the Albay province on the large Island of Luzon in the Philippines. The Mayon is an active volcano and is one of 53 active volcanoes in the Philippines with 25 (including Mount Mayon) of them belonging on the Island of Luzon. The Philippines has plenty of volcanoes due to the fact that they're right on the border of the infamous ring of fire.

When did it last erupt?
Mount Mayon last erupted in late January 2018 when it began to slowly spew out small-medium amounts of lava and produce large clouds of ash. This lasted for two weeks, during the time the city was evacuated while power and water were cut off from the danger zones. This was to ensure no one would try and return while the volcano bubbled. Scientists were unsure how this slow vomiting of magma would end. There were two options, 1) Mount Mayon will continue to let off pressure and continue vomiting for a few more weeks, or 2) Mount Mayon will have a violent eruption. At the moment I can't find anything major that happened except for some more eruptions and pyroclastic flows but nothing significantly dangerous. However, Mount Mayon has continued to produce a steady stream of ash clouds.

Lol never mind it did eventually erupt but I don't think it was drastic? Like, I don't think anyone died? Also, fun fact, people kept sneaking back into the village because of there being a popular cockfight in town? When you've gotta evacuate town but you've placed your bets on your neighbor's rooster.

Photo of a steady stream of lave making it's way downtown the side of Mount Mayon.

Damage caused by Mount Mayon

• An unexpected eruption in 2013 killed five climbers while also injuring seven.
• In 1814 there was a devastating explosion which killed 1,200 people
• The 2018 eruption damage thousands of farmer's crops and land. It also caused a spike in vegetable and fruit sales. 
• Mudflows caused by Mount Mayon has also damaged roads.
• Mount Mayon eruptions usually affect agriculture the most. 

Formation

Mount Mayon is known for its clean, symmetrical formation. This formation is caused by the fact that Mount Mayon erupts so often. Because it erupts often, it has no time to deteriorate in shape, hence keeping a satisfying symmetrical form.

Myth/Story
It's believed that Mount Mayon was formed due to the death of two lovers. The Daughter of Chief Makusog, Magayon, had hundreds of suitors due to her beauty and kindness. One of her suitors was Pagtuga who, in an effort to win Magayon's favor, would send her all kinds of gifts. This effort, however, did nothing to win her favor.

One time when Magayon was bathing she slipped on the rocks and fell in the water, as she didn't know how to swim, she screamed for help. Luckily, a man named Pangaronon was passing by and was able to save her. This began a good relationship between the two which ended up with the two being engaged. Once Pagtuga heard of this marriage, he kidnapped Makusog, Magayon's father, and threatened to kill him if Magayon did not marry him. She agreed to marry Pagtuga in order to save her father but in an effort to save his love, Pangaronon showed up to the wedding and had a battle with Pagtuga. Pangaronon struck Pagtuga, killing him. As Pangaronon and Magayon embraced a poisoned arrow struck Magayon. While Pangaronon was kneeling over his dying love, one of Pagtuga's soldiers stabbed him.

As years passed by, Mount Mayon began to form where the two lovers died. It's believed that when the volcano is rumbling and might erupt, Magayon is being bothered by Pagtuga. When the volcano is calm, she is being held by Pangaronon. It is thought that Pangaronon is kissing Magayon when the clouds meet at the top of the volcano.

In January 2018, a photo was taken that showed how the formation of the clouds resembled that of Pangaronon and Magayon embracing each other. Even though this is really cool, it also meant that the volcano could erupt due to the size of the clouds. This was proved true as this is the same eruption I was talking about earlier.

Photo taken by Ciriaco Santiago III

Volcano Pt.2 - Construction + Explosion

When it came to creating a volcano to construct and explode, we decided on Jessica's volcano (which you can find here). We had to days to construct a volcano which we would later paint. The aim was to create a volcano that looked similar to the volcano chosen, for us that would be Mount Vesuvius. We would then pour an elephant's toothpaste mixture into the bottle and hope that it would explode.

Equipment + Ingredients

• 4 spatulas of potassium iodide
• 20mL of water in a beaker
• Dishwashing liquid
• Food coloring (optional)
• 20mL of 35% Hydrogen Peroxide. NOTE -  Because Hydrogen Peroxide is incredibly dangerous, please use gloves while handling it and pay attention to what you're doing. 

Method

1. Pour the hydrogen peroxide into the mouth of the bottle in your volcano. 
2. Add a squirt of dishwashing liquid and, if you so please,  a few drops of food coloring.    NOTE - The more dishwashing liquid you add the more bubbly the mixture will become. 
3. In a beaker combine the potassium iodide and water. Mix until potassium iodide has completely dissolved. NOTE - Keep this mixture away from the mixture in the volcano. They react fairly quickly and cause quite a mess
4. It's suggested you do this outside as this mixture is quite dangerous if you're physically exposed to it (i.e, on your clothes, hands, etc). Pour the potassium peroxide mixture into your volcano and stand back. It may take a while for it to explode. 

We decided to add glitter to our volcano and it was definitely worth it. It looked really cool.

                                            Before                                                          After

We added too much dishwashing liquid which caused it to come out more as a blob.

via GIPHY

Pasta - Home Economics

For our first week back of Term 4 we cooked spaghetti bolognese. We were able to choose from a variety of pasta. My group chose fettuccine. We also only had three of us so we had more pasta to share.

Teamwork aspect

Our group worked well together this time around which is really good. The hard part was telling if the pasta was al dente (pasta that's cooked correctly) as we weren't quite sure whether it was cooked or not. I think it was Memory who made the sauce which was really nicely done. The sauce was also really only the flavorful thing with the pasta as we only had pasta, sauce, and cheese. I think everyone enjoyed it the simplicity of it even though we were a little behind. We started off well but we did start to be all over the place and a bit confused. I think in the end it worked out well but we do have to work a little on staying organized throughout the practical.

Results

The pasta came out really well and it looked nice. I enjoyed it and I found the sauce really good too. I don't really know what I could add to make it better but it all came together really well. 

E-asTTle Writing Practice - Persuasive

I am aiming to improve my writing in the following 3 areas: punctuation, sentence structure, and vocabulary. I will do this by writing with a variety of different sentences which will also allow me to use different types of punctuation. I will also use a better mix of complex and simple words.

         = Edited/Changed Parts

Tane Mahuta - Maori God of the Forest

Around the world, there are many different types of cultural and religious groups with various types of gods. A common theme among these groups is to have corresponding gods, each responsible for a different aspect of the world. For example, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest while Posiden is the god of the sea. If you compare different gods, they often have similar names, for example, Hestia, the Greek god of  the hearth, and Vestia, the roman equivalent,