The Manaiakalani Network Blogging
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week one- organs week two- systems week three-Skeletal Week four-Nervous
Liver Respiratory Femur Central (C.N.S)
Lungs Nervous Cranium Peripheral (P.N.S)
Bladder Skeletal Humerus Sympathetic (S.N.S)
Small intestines Muscular Sternum Reflex (R.N.S)
Large intestines . Immune Ribs
Week 1- Organs Week 2-systems Week 3- Skeletal week 4- Nervous
Liver Respritory Femur Central (CNS)
Lungs Nervous Cranium peripheral (PNS)
Bladder skeletal humerus sympethetic (SNS)
Small intestines Muscular Sternum reflex (RNS)
Large intestines Immune Ribs
week 1- organs
I learned the names of organs and how they work in our bodies,we created a poster labeling our body parts. For e.g some organs are
-Liver
-lungs
-small intestine
-large intestine
week 2-systems
The class learned the different systems and how they work, we learned their names and took our pulse and learned our heart rate before and after exercising.
Names of systems
-Resparahtory
-Immune
-Muscular
-Skelotol
Week 3-Bones
We learned about our bones and where they fit In our bodies and what they do, for example our cranium protects our brain.
Bones
-Femur
-Tibia
-Humerous
Week 4-Nervous system
CNS-Central nervous system
PNS-Peripharal nervous system
parasympathatic
sympathitic
Those are all part of our nervous system they work together to work against and contrast each other. our peripheral nervous system controls our 5 senses Sight,Hearing,Taste,Touch and smell. The central nervous system controls our insides. The sympathetic and parasympathetic contrast each other and work to keep us regulated.
Competincies
we are focusing on critical thinking
I am Developing
I can think about whether my ideas are working and make changes to get better results.
I use what I’ve learned before to solve other tasks.
I use the skills I’ve learned at school to solve problems in my life and the world.
Culture.
| Developing |
I’m good at connecting ideas and love learning new things.
That is what I have learned in humans and how they work.
Links to my work
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FLG9m4xZeAdQFuSQvA_RQ18XYjPkHybBFtvsoS5OhhA/edit
In force we have been reading, doing experiments and learning about Newton’s laws of motion.
Some of the experiments we have been doing are kinetic energy, pushing and pulling forces with logo bricks, ping pong balls, marbles and paper.
One of the logo brick experiments is when you flick a logo brick and try to get it half off the table. The experiment with paper is blow on a piece of paper.
Week 1 – 2
The first two weeks were the most depressing in terms of class environment but the most fun in terms of actual working. We had a couple of experiments I can remember with my bad memory: We used Legos and flicked them to the edge of the table. How it worked is that it’s a one verse one, and the closest person to flick it to their side of the table edge without it dropping to the floor would win. Another experiment, instead of usage of kinetic energy, you would use wind generated from your mouth to blow into straws to push a tennis ball into a goal. It was a two verse two, but my Teammate sucked, Ayden Grant Pahl, so wherever we went I had to do a one verse one with two people on the same team. I learned how to use the wind for these two weeks. For the final experiment, we used cardboard to guide marbles down in a circle. I did not do well in this.
Week 3
I can’t recall much since I was away for a while.
Besides my disappointment when the previous teammate Ayden Grant Pahl swapped out of this class.. Thankfully, I remembered a better teammate was in class.
Week 4
We read a lot this week.
Reading a sentence in front of the whole class at every start class.
I got to pick a book a week late from everyone else.. But I stuck with “THE PHYSICS BOOK” by Jim Al-Khalili because it was better.
W1 – In week 1 we did reading with getting books out and read them a lot and mostly the whole week. We just did reading. We had to do S.Q.U.I.R.T which is a reading type to stay focused and read our books and share our sentences with the class. We also had lego bricks and played games with the lego bricks.
W2 – In week 2 we focused more on forces. And played some games with ping pong balls and straws and tried to blow the ping pong ball into a mini goal at the edge of a table. We did a lot of work on forces and learned a lot of different forces and read books on forces and did some experiments.
W3 – In week 3 we played with marbles and played some games with the marbles. And we focused our forces focus on kinetic energy and did a very good job on figuring out the kinetic energy. This week was very good on learning a lot of stuff
W4- In week 4 we did more lego pieces work and more newton laws and learnt his 3 rules and we have been focusing on that now as well and also reading books on forces still we expand our brain knowledge on forces
In week one we did Reading, Squirt and a Lego goal and you had to get the Lego piece on the table and half off the table to get a point. Squirt is known as sustained, quiet, uninterrupted, reading, time.
In week two we did an experiment of forces with a ping pong ball we had straws and had to blow on the ping pong ball to make it go through the goals to get a point.
In week three we did a marble experiment you had to make a marble run with a cut in half paper towel cardboard thing we had to try get the fastest time down the marble run. We also did a friction thing we had a plastic rod and we had to rub it on our clothing and then try pick up the shredded paper on the plastic rod.
In week four we learnt about Newton’s law.
Over the last 4 weeks in SCIFC (forces) we have been learning about forces. In week 1 we did a lot of reading. We are now on our third book. In week 2 we did an experiment where you had to blow a ping pong ball through a straw, this was a push force. Week 3 we used marbles, but I was not here so I did not get to participate. In week 4 we had a look at Newtons laws, we had a worksheet and some equations to figure out using Newtons laws.
In the week 1 we learnt about our organs- We outlined ourselves and drew our organs.
In week 2 we learnt about our systems- We tested our heart rate.
In week three we learnt our bones- We found out the scientific names for our bones.
In week four we learnt about our nervous system- We tested our reaction with our hands, rulers and marbles.
In week five we did our E-Blogs
critical thinking – devoloping
I can think about wether my ideas are working and make changes to get better results
cutrual puteangtanga – devoping I’m good at connecting my ideas and love learning new things
Hi welcome to my reflection! This blogs is also a bit special because its my first blog of 2026!
Week 1 Reflection- We started learning from the very basic which are organs. We learned about organs example the stomach,brain, Heart, Bladder and etc
Week 2 Reflection- We learned about systems like the skeletal system, muscular systems, reproductive systems and etc. (it was quite fun to learn new interesting stuff) We also started an activity to draw the human body and use it as a poster in this class.
Week 3- We focused on the Skeletal System and we used a fake Skeleton to learn.
Week 4- We focused on the Nervous system and we learned about the Central Nervous System (CNS) and also the Peripheral Nervous System.
Week 5- Writing this blog on a Monday!
Accelerating Critical Thinking
Week one:
I learned the names of organs and studied how they worked and why they’re needed to survive.
The heart lets blood flow, basically our power source to do anything.
Kidneys clean out blood hourly, which is really helpful.
Week Two:
I learned there were multiple systems besides the immune and nervous systems, which I was unaware of before this time.
I wasn’t aware that our nervous system had two parts: Central and peripheral. Central are connected from the brain to the spine while the rest of the body was gifted with it’s own system, the peripheral system.
Week three:
I missed half of this week, but I still learned a decent amount of information from classmates, eg. The names of unknown but important bones.
Also the bone dude got an uppercut by someone, really funny. The impact was greater than how it would’ve been against a normal flesh full human, pointing out the weak Durability of the skeleton without flesh.
Week Four:
This week was the best by far, not only learning about how our bodies reacted, but also doing a test with our reaction time before being rudely interrupted by future studies.
The test was in three parts. Part one had us group up in pairs, one dropping a ruler while the other catches as fast as they could, relying on measurements to tell the difference between our reaction times.
5 things i learnt:
week 1 we learned about all 12 organs
week 2 we did system.
week 3 2skeletal system
week 4 Nervous system
week 5 edu blogs.
I can think about whether my ideas are working and make changes to get better results.
I use what I’ve learned before to solve other tasks.
I use the skills I’ve learned at school to solve problems in my life and the world.
Our competencies are: cultural and pukingatanga
This term we explored colonisation around the world and learned that:
Reflection on Ghandi:
Watching Gandhi helped me understand how people can respond to unfair treatment and oppression with courage and determination. The movie made me think about how important family, friends, and kindness are. It showed that people can face many challenges in life, but with support from others they can stay strong and keep going.
I liked how the characters grew throughout the story, and I learned important lessons from their experiences. They showed resilience through caring for others and standing up for what they believed in. Gandhi’s peaceful resistance showed one way people responded to the effects of colonisation and injustice. I found this message both important and inspiring.
Reflection on “Lost Children of Aotearoa”:
The documentary Stolen Children of Aotearoa explored how child welfare services, including Oranga Tamariki, removed Māori children from their families in ways that were often harmful and traumatic. Many children were taken when authorities judged their families as unsuitable, and some were removed without clear reasons. These actions had lifelong effects on both the children and their whānau.
Many of the children were placed with other families or in care facilities where some experienced abuse and neglect. The documentary shared these stories to seek acknowledgement and an apology from the government for what survivors describe as systemic abuse throughout New Zealand.
This documentary connected strongly to our learning about colonisation because it showed how the effects of colonial systems can continue long after colonisation itself. It highlighted the lasting harm caused when people lose connections to their culture, identity, and family. Although the stories were heartbreaking, they also showed incredible resilience. The survivors not only lived through these experiences but found the strength to share their stories and speak up for change.
My overall learning for Unit 1:
This unit helped me understand that colonisation has affected people all around the world in similar ways. Whether in India, Aotearoa New Zealand, or other countries, colonisation often involved powerful groups controlling others and taking away rights, land, culture, and identity. However, people responded in different ways, showing courage, resilience, and determination.
Through studying Gandhi and Stolen Children of Aotearoa, I learned that the effects of colonisation can last for generations. I also learned that healing and recovery are ongoing processes, and that understanding these histories is important for creating a fairer and more respectful future.
Summary of Ghandi Movie
Watching Ghandi made me think about how important family, friendship, and kindness are. The movie showed that people can face many challenges in life, but with support from others they can stay strong and keep going. I liked how the characters grew throughout the story and I learned important lessons from their experiences. The film also helped me understand different perspectives and cultures . Overall, Ghandi was an interesting movie that taught me about resilience, caring for others, and never giving up when things get difficult.
Summary of the White Man’s Burden By Rudyard Kipling
The White Man’s Burden is a poem the encourages Western countries, especially the United States, to take control of the govern other nations that were being colonised. Kipling presents this as a duty or responsibility. suggesting that Western people should help “civilise” and educate those living in colonised countries.
The poem reflects the attitudes of the imperialism during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Kipling portrays colonised people as needing guidance, which today is widely seen as racist and patronising. The poem is important because it shows how many people at the time justified colonial rule, but it is also criticised for supporting inequality and the belief that some cultures were superior to others.
Overall, the poem argues the colonisation is a difficult but noble duty, while modern readers often view it as an example of the prejudiced ideas that were used to defend imperialism.
Our learning goal is to respond critically to specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), using supporting evidence. For my extended written text study, I chose to read the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.
I worked with individually to complete a reading log. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EvIGlZZUIjx_oaiEHLecpQYMjDmFTiDA3Kz6wNeumPE/edit?tab=t.0
I worked with Arnyah to create the following slideshow.
Having completed this analysis, I am now going to use what I have learned to write a practice essay for the 3.1 Written Text(s) external exam.
Our learning goal is to respond critically to specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), using supporting evidence.
For my extended written text study, I chose to read the novel Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. I worked independently to complete a reading log. The Reading Log Link. Then, to pull together an overview of the text, I worked with Jordan to create the following slideshow. Having completed this analysis, I am now going to use what I have learned to write a practice essay for the 3.1 Written Text(s) external exam.
Learning Goal: Our learning goal is to respond critically to specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), using supporting evidence.
For my extended written text study, I chose to read the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
I worked independently to complete a reading log.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11enlwRktofJ77KoJLfhp3O81Ha4d92aBK_mcUevu0X0/edit?tab=t.0
Then, to pull together an overview of the text, I worked with Stanley to create the following slideshow:
Having completed this analysis, I am now going to use what I have learned to write a practice essay for the 3.1 Written Text(s) external exam.
Our learning goal is to respond critically to specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), using supporting evidence.
For my extended written text study, I chose to read the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger.
I worked independently to complete a reading log.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1anfgUROCnUaqoloxqQsNoc5Y6xQ7sxm0NzUF3glqyeo/edit?tab=t.0
Then, to pull together an overview of the text, I created the following slideshow:
Having completed this analysis, I am now going to use what I have learned to write a practice essay for the 3.1 Written Text(s) external exam.
In the mist of all the chaos Matua Sam was frozen in shock, his once calm glass was like a raging fire of chaos. He felt utterly helpless. He couldnt even get a single word out. Jeb was consuming a sandwich from the back of the class. The rain outside was like elephants dancing on the roof. Matua Sam tried to speak but it was like his voice was stolen from him. He thought about his coffee laying motionless on the deck getting colder and colder with each passing second. As the class was yelling he felt like a ghost. He realized that if he wanted to gain the classes atteinien he needed to be more confident in his self.
For this story we had to re-write a boring story Matua Sam wrote
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