Winter Learning Journey

In the two weeks of Holiday, our school has been completing tasks based on the Olympics. This is called the 'Winter Learning Journey'. A huge thank you to Rachel Williamson from Woolf Fisher as she set up the tasks. The tasks were on going for a week. Points were counted for the amount of blogposts made as well as points for commenting. The task that I enjoyed the most, is the task where I created my own logo of the Olympic 2016 in Rio. 

Winter Learning Journey - D7 - Bonus Activity

This year two new sports are being added to the Paralympic Games. They are canoeing and triathlon. In the triathlon the athletes must swim 750 metres, cycle for 20 kilometres, and then run for 5 kilometres. Paralympic athletes may also compete in other sports including archery, boccia, football, judo, powerlifting, rowing, sailing, swimming, sitting volleyball, track cycling, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis.

For my last and bonus activity, my task was to imagine that I am on the Paralympic Committee and I have been asked to create one new sport to add to the competition for this year.

1. 
   
   The sport I have created is called Wheel Chair Netball. I realised that there is wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing and wheelchair rugby but no Wheel Chair netball. Netball is one of the most well known and I thought it might be helpful if it was included in the Paralympic Games.

Winter Learning Journey - D7 - A2

For my 7th day, activity 2, I had to list 2 different ways on how I could fun raise money for the para Olympic people to fly to Rio De Janerio. Here are my 2 ways of earning money:

1. Visit neighbours around the community and ask them kindly if they would like to help sponsor

2. Sell homemade drinks and snacks in a place where people would most likely want to buy them. 

Winter Learning Journey - D7 - A1

At the first ever Paralympic Games in Rome, the athletes competed in eight sports. Cycling was one of them. For the cycling event, two people compete together as a team – one of the people has a disability and the other does not. Here is a picture of a para-cycling team from New Zealand:

For this activity, I had to imagine that I was asked to compete in a tandem cycling event and I had to choose one person to compete with.

I would probably choose my older sister because of the fact that we work super well together and we always encourage each other.

Winter Learning Journey - D6 Bonus Activity

For my Day 6 Bonus Activity, my task was to carry on the story below with approximately 10 to 20 sentences.

Imagine that you are sitting in the crowd at the opening ceremonies for the Rio Olympics this August. The ceremony has just started and all of the Olympic athletes are parading around the stadium in their uniforms when all of a sudden...

The grumbling sound of the thunder stops everyone. Rain is pouring down rapidly making everyone soaking wet. Disappointed is filled on everyones faces. The colourful paintings on fans faces are all ruined. Athletes uniforms are drenching! Jealousy is on some faces when they spot a group of people who have umbrellas. Regretfulness is also spotted. "Ugh, looks like today is cancelled and we'll have to come back another day." One says to another. They agree and with that, everyone starts to make their way to home!

Winter Learning Journey - D6 - A2

In the opening ceremony for the London Olympics there were a number of famous English people including the Queen, the Spice Girls, David Bowie, U2, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney. 

For this task, I had to imagine that I am going to host the Olympics here in New Zealand in 2024 and I am invited to be on the committee that decides who is invited to participate in the opening ceremonies. As a member of the group I must choose one of the following people to be in the opening ceremony: Richie McCaw (rugby player), Lorde (singer), Kane Williamson (cricket player), Maria Tutaia (netball player), John Key (prime minister of New Zealand) or Shaun Johnson (league player). I had to explain who I think is the best person to choose and explain why I think that they are the best choice!

I chose Lorde (singer) because of the confidence she has in speaking and her creative mind. She is really well known around the world too.

Winter Learning Journey - D6 - A1

For all Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, the athletes from each country must wear a special uniform. The uniforms change each year. Look at the 3 pictures posted below. They are pictures of the uniforms that our New Zealand Olympic teams wore in 2012, 2008 and 2004. For this activity, my task is to rank the uniforms from best (#1) to worst (#3).

1. New Zealand Team Uniform – Beijing Olympics 2008
   
   
   I chose this uniform as my favourite choice because of the effective colour and creative design.

New Zealand Team Uniform – London Olympics 2012

I chose this uniform as my second choice because the jacket looks very simple but eye catching.

3. New Zealand Olympic Team Uniform – Athens Olympics 2004
   
   
   My last choice was this uniform. I didn't really like this outfit because it is too plain and isn't really fancy.

Winter Learning Journey - Day 5 Bonus

Jesse Owens was a black American athlete who participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. He is considered to be one of the bravest and most inspirational Olympic athletes because he competed at a time when the leader of Germany (Adolf Hitler) did not want black men competing at the Olympic Games. Here is a picture of Jesse from the 1930s.

For my 5th day bonus, my task was to think of someone in my own life that inspires you and why they inspire me.

I chose my mother as an inspiration because she always inspires me to be different and unique. 

Winter Learning Journey - D5 - A2

For my 5th day, Activity 2 of my Winter Learning Journey, I had to post five questions that I would like to ask a 13 year old girl named Marjorie Gestring who became the youngest person to ever win an Olympic gold medal. She won the gold medal in the springboard diving competition. If I were alive in 1936 and had a chance to interview her, I would ask these questions:

1. Did someone inspire you or were you inspired by something to win a gold medal?

2. If you had a chance, would you have tried to win another gold medal?

3. Who was the most supportive to you when you were wanting to win the medal?

Winter Learning Journey - Day 5 - A1

For Day 5, Activity 1, I had to watch another movie about a man named Michael Edwards. He was a ski jumper from England who competed in the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada. Although he came last in the event, he never gave up. The movie based on him and his life story is called “Eddie the Eagle.”  

The movie is about a boy who never gives up and tries his best to succeed in whatever he is doing. Even though he doesn't succeed he knows that he has tried his best and knows that there is always a next time! 

Winter Learning Journey - D4 - A3 Bonus

For Day 4, Activity 3 Bonus, I had to watch a movie created by  The New Zealand Olympic Team. 
I would give this movie a  ***** (meaning it was a good movie)  I think this movie is very inspirational and would help a lot of people. I think it was really effective how they showed a small bit of the Rio scenery.
If you would like to watch the movie click here.

Winter Learning Journey - D4 - A2

For Day 4, Activity 2, my task was to choose one of three athletes listed competing for New Zealand at the Rio Olympics to meet. I chose Andrea Kilday because I am really interested in Taekwondo. Here is a description of Andrea Kilday.

Andrea Kilday: Andrea competes in the sport of Taekwondo. This will be her first ever trip to an Olympic games but she recently won a gold medal at a large international competition in Papua New Guinea. Andrea was born in Christchurch and moved to Auckland in 2005 to train at the Sejong Taekwondo Club with her coach Jin Keun Oh. To read more about Andrea, visit her webpage at: http://www.olympic.org.nz/athletes/andrea-kilday/

 

Winter Learning Journey - D4 - A1

For Day 4, Activity 1, my task was to choose one of the athletes listed on the Rio Olympic Athletes page, read about them and then write a short description of them on my blog. In the blog I need to include their name, their sport, and three interesting facts about them.

I chose Katie Bowen. She plays Football. Three interesting facts about her are:

1. Katie was born in Auckland, New Zealand.

2. She comes from a football family with her sister and two brothers all also playing the game

3. She has plenty of experience to draw upon for her proper Olympics debut though after earning nearly 40 caps for her country.

Winter Learning Journey - D3 A3 Bonus

For my bonus activity of Day 3, I had to imagine that I worked for TVNZ and you were paid to travel to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Olympic Games and report on the golf and/or the rugby competitions. My task was to write a poem that describes how I would feel about travelling to Rio. Here is my poem:

My heart was rapidly beating

I was finally able to travel to Rio de Janeiro

A dream, a once in a life time opportunity

Overwhelmed, Joyful, Curious to see what this day would bring

Excited to report to everyone about the amazing journey I am about to have!

Winter Learning Journey - D3 - A2

For Day 3, Activity 2, my task was to post a picture of myself pretending to play one of the 28 olympic sports along with the name of the sport and a brief description of what I am doing in the picture. As you can see above, I am pretending to play Archery with my younger brother.

Winter Learning Journey - D3 - A1

For my first activity of Day 3, I had to choose a sport from the Rio 2016 site. I chose Rhythmic Gymnastics. The sport sounds very interesting and rare. 

My task is to fill out these for my sport:

1. The name of the sport
2. The aim of the sport
3. Two rules for the sport

1. Rhythmic Gymnastics
2.  Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport that combines elements of ballet, gymnastics and dance. There is no aim in the sport. You perform only. 
3. Rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only event

You can only perform on the floor.

Winter Learning Journey - D2 - A3 Bonus

For Day 2, Activity 3 bonus, I had to design my own logo for the 2020 Olympic games which is held in Tokyo, Japan. I used a site called http://www.designmantic.com
Here is my logo:

Winter Learning Journey - D2 - A2

For Day 2, Activity 2, I had to list 3 famous landmarks in New Zealand and provide a short description about each landmark.

My first landmark is the Sky Tower. It is located at the corner of Victoria and Federal streets in the Auckland CBD, Auckland City, New Zealand. The Sky Tower is 1,076 ft tall. It is also the tallest man-made structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

Paeroa - L & P Bottle:
A giant 6-metre-high Lemon & Paeroa bottle appeared in Christmas 1968, where the famous drink L & P was created.

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington.

Winter Learning Journey - D2 - A1

For Day 2, Activity 1, I watched a video about the Rio De Janeiro 2016 Olympics mascots. Their names and Tom and Vinicius. My task was to summarise the episode: The video was about two characters who become friends after they chase two floating balls. 

Winter Learning Journey - D1 Bonus Activity

During the ancient Olympic Games, men were allowed to compete in the events but women were not. In fact, women were often forbidden from even watching the games. In my opinion, I think this is a very cruel rule and truly unfair! People shouldn't be treated unfairly just because of their gender.