Category: Tohatoha | Share

Head Dunk – SLJ #30

Finally… the moment I’ve been waiting for! This Kick Start activity is all about the Manu Splash. We could either create splash shapes on Google Drawings or fill a bucket with water and try to get a head dunk picture. Now, they didn’t actually specify that I had to do the head dunk myself, so I got my dear brother Filipo to do it for me instead.

I used my mum’s phone to record it, but the problem was that I couldn’t send the video to my Chromebook. So, I just took a screenshot from the video, and that worked perfectly.

My favourite part of this activity was being the one holding the phone!🤣

Shapes and Patterns Quest – SLJ #29

This Kick Start activity is all about looking for shapes and patterns, so I decided to think outside the box. Since my backyard isn’t exactly safe at the moment, I chose to use images from the internet instead. To be honest, I found this a bit challenging.

I think the hardest one was finding something that shows rotational symmetry (where it looks the same when you turn it), but I eventually figured it out in the end.

Each slide features something you might find in nature. What shapes or patterns have you discovered in the natural world? Maybe you’ve noticed them while going on a road trip or exploring the outdoors!

Submarine Fun – SLJ #27

Here’s the Kick Start activity about submarines! We had the option to either draw a submarine on paper, colour one online, or use Google Drawing. I chose to colour in a submarine online because it’s pretty easy to use, but the challenging part was doing it on my Chromebook.

If you didn’t know, or maybe you did, digital artists often get neck pain, back pain, hand pain, or sore eyes from staring at the screen for too long. For me, it’s hand pain. I make sure not to lean too far forward towards my screen, like I sometimes do with my TV.

Anyway, it was still fun, and you can colour in one too by clicking this!

>THREE FUN FACTS<

Periscope 🪞 -> Submarines use a periscope to see above the water while staying hidden below the surface. It works like a telescope with mirrors or prisms to reflect light, letting the crew spot ships, land, or even enemies without surfacing!

Ballast Tanks ⚖️ -> These tanks are the secret behind how submarines dive and float. When filled with water, the submarine sinks, and when filled with air, it rises. It’s like a super high-tech way of holding its breath! 🌬️💦

Propellers 🚀 -> Submarines have special propellers (or screws) at the back to push them through water quietly. Their unique design keeps the submarine stealthy, so it can sneak around undetected. 🤫🔊

 

Deep Sea Discovery Game – SLJ #26

This is the Step It Up activity for The Big Deep. It’s about creating your very own board game using information about the layers of the deep sea and its weird creatures. To start, you’ll see facts about the creatures, each represented by an emoji that matches the layer they live in!

🌞 = Sunlit Zone (Epipelagic)
🌒 = Twilight Zone (Mesopelagic)
🌑 = Midnight Zone (Bathypelagic)
🦑 = Abyssal Zone (Abyssopelagic)
🧛‍♀️ = Hadal Zone (Trenches)

I played my game with Filipo, and somehow he won! I ended up with -2 points, while Filipo scored 0, so it’s pretty clear my little brother is the champ. You can give it a go too! Just grab a dice, follow the rules, and see if you can do better.

Rules:

  1. The first player to reach the bottom (Layer 5) and escape with the most points wins!
  2. If both players land on the same layer, they must roll the dice to see who gets a higher number to avoid a bad result.
  3. Players can only move forward unless a special box sends them backward.

Passing Anglerfish Animation – SLJ #25

This is a short Kick Start animation where a literal anglerfish swims past a rather small person known as a ‘chibi’. A chibi is a Japanese art style that shows characters in a caricatured, exaggerated way, often with large heads, small bodies, and big eyes. The style is also called super deformation (SD). My version of chibi is a bit different, though.

I really wanted to make my animation longer, but it takes hours to draw each frame and do the in-betweening. So just enjoy watching this on repeat!🤪

Waka Design – SLJ #24

This is the Kick Start activity for designing and labelling the parts of a waka I created. At first, I didn’t know some of the parts, but luckily, I read about them in the activity instructions. One thing I found challenging was building a waka with all the correct parts included. To be honest, I don’t have the best memory, so sometimes I forgot to add the ropes or even the small whare.

Despite the challenges, I really enjoyed learning more about Māori culture. As a full-blooded Samoan, I found it fascinating and fun to explore these traditions. You might also notice something unique in my design—I added a familiar spiral shape to the sails. I recently finished watching Moana 2, and I wanted to include the spiral as a symbol of new life, growth, and peace in Māori culture.

Please leave a positive comment, and don’t forget to check out Moana 2! ✨

Why is the Pekapeka Special? Poster – SLJ #23

This Kick Start activity is all about learning facts about the pekapeka! We’re creating a poster to share the most interesting information we’ve discovered and why it’s special. To start, I read through these facts and a transcript on Google Docs.

Once I finished that, I wrote down the interesting facts I found. One thing I didn’t know was that they’re actually endangered!! I had no idea this could happen to a pekapeka.

As for the main question: WHY is the pekapeka special? My answer is that they’re super special because they’re one of New Zealand’s only native land mammals! It’s a bat that can fly and crawl on the ground, which is pretty unique! The pekapeka is also important in Māori culture and has its own myths. Isn’t that awesome?!

I wish I could see an actual pekapeka – have you ever seen one before?

Totally Awesome Sea Turtles Poster – SLJ #22

Finally found the Kick Start activity from Totally Awesome Sea Turtles! This one is about writing at least five facts about sea turtles and finding a picture of one too. My poster has all the facts on it, and it turned out really interesting once I wrote them down.

Now, why are sea turtles AWESOME? In my opinion, it’s because they’ve been around longer than dinosaurs, travel thousands of kilometres across the ocean, and help keep marine ecosystems healthy. Plus, they can live for up to 100 years and are super important to our planet! 🐢

What about YOUR opinion on why sea turtles are awesome? I’d love to know! 🌊

Totally Awesome Sea Turtles Presentation – SLJ #21

This activity is about creating a presentation not just on saving our sea turtles, but also for the future. In my Google Slides, you’ll find three key questions: HOW are sea turtles becoming endangered, WHY does it matter, and WHAT can we do about it?

Each slide includes an answer I wrote after reading this, exploring this, and watching a video. I’ve also added visual elements like GIFs and eye-catching pictures to make it engaging.

This is an important cause because saving sea turtles helps keep oceans healthy. They support ecosystems like coral reefs and seagrass beds, preserving biodiversity and a balanced environment for future generations (e.g., 2025).

Message in a Bottle Travels – SLJ #20

For the Step it Up activity of Message in a Bottle, I thought about where my message might travel to and came up with a lot of possible places. So, my message started at the breathtaking Cathedral Cove, then travelled to the historic town of Thames.

From there, it moved on to the massive city of Auckland, before heading north to the serene Bay of Islands. Finally, it ended up in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.

Though, just remember, this is only my opinion, and there’s a 50% chance it could have gone somewhere else! Who knows?? ✉︎