Mould

We have been learning about mould and how it grows. I am happy with my work. Next time I would make it more colourful and try harder at animating.

Seeds of the word

WALT: Explain the meaning of the term ' seeds of the word'. Over this week we have been working on explaining the definition of seeds of the word. We were asked to write a definition and choose a symbol that represents our culture. My next steps would be to inter-prate and explain information correctly the first time.

Replying to blog comments.

We have been learning about how to reply to blog comments. I worked with my friends Amber & Trinity. We are happy with our work and hope it teaches you how to deal with and respond to blog comments. Here Is Trinity's blog, she is really clever and posts lots of cool things. Here is Amber's blog, she also posts her great work. I would like to put these skills to the test so please give me a comment ( My last comment was all most two months ago).

Mould

We have been learning about mould and fungi. This is an explanation about the life cycle of mould and how mould is used in our day to day lives. Next time I would spend more time trying to explain difficult vocabulary. Overall I am happy with my effort.

Planning

How does mould grow and how does it affect me? To start off you may think mould is a plant. Mould is actually a fungus ( not a plant or animal). Did you know that you encounter mould every single day and are unaware of it?

When you think of mould you most likely think of that gross stuff that grows on old sandwiches. You would be partly correct but mould is also essential to your everyday life. Some examples include milk; cows need fungus in their stomachs to digest their food and derive nutrients to make milk. Cheese; fungus is used in cheese to break down and reform milk to make it solid and give it flavor. Soda; Fungus keeps your soda bubbly and carbonated. Mushrooms are a member of the fungus family.  Yeast is a fungus that eats starch and excretes gas which makes air bubbles in your bread.  

Mould grows in about seven stages. When a piece of mould matures it sends out spores. Spores are like seeds for fungi and are airborne. The spores then land on something organic ( piece of bread, pile of leaves e.g). The spore sends out hypha ( hyphae in plural) a hair like tube that makes up the main mass of mould.

The hyphae penetrate the enzymes (produced by an organic thing that changes one substance to another or decomposes it) on the surface they have chosen. The spore grows more and more hyphae that intermingle together creating a net of hyphae called mycelium. Once the mycelium has grown it becomes mould. The new mould then matures ( grows up) and sends out spores. It all happens again.

Spores are microscopic sized particles that act as seeds for mould and fungi. Like a tree has seeds, spores  float on breezes and wind to find a place to grow.

Bread is one of the main things mould grows on, especially white bread because it is high in sugar and starch. Most people keep their bread in somewhere cool and dark like a refrigerator. Spores are attracted to places like that. Because moulds do not contain chlorophyll ( the main cell in plants that helps it get nutrients) mould becomes very aggressive when it comes to food. That’s why one slice of bread could have millions of spores on it in the first few days.

Fungus and mould is an essential thing in our lives and there is nothing like it in the entire planet!

Orca whales.

We have been learning about endangered animals. Each person in our class chose an animal from a list. I chose the Orca whale. I learnt whilst researching that orcas are not endangered but I didn't want to start over. I am happy with my work and hope you learn something new!

Planning

When you think of an orca whale you think of deadly predators that have no other instinct but to kill. It turns out that orca whales are some of the most graceful and civilised creatures in the animal kingdom.

Orca’s live all over the world and have one of the largest ranges for survival in the world. Male orca whales can grow up to nine point five meters long and females can grow up to eight. This incredible size makes them one of the largest predators on the planet!

Orca whale’s main diet includes seals, sea birds, turtles, octopus and squid. They are social creatures and hunt in pods (groups) like wolves. Orca’s use echolocation to hunt, whales make a sound and listen for it to bounce back and echo to determine where things are and how big they are.

Each pod has a different sound so they can identify members of their pod and members of another pod.

There are thought to be three types of whale pods, off shore, resident and transient. Transient pods migrate regularly to follow their prey. They have small pods, with 2-5 whales in each pod.Resident pods stay in one area, close to the shore. They contain both genders are have a very tight and trusting bond, a resident pod has between 10-50 whales in it. Offshore pods prefer open water. They are also very large pods, consisting of  30-60 orcas in each pod.

Orca’s tend to mate with members of other pods to avoid inbreeding which can lead to birth defects and shorter lives. It takes 17 months for a whale after mating to have a baby. Female orcas can have a baby every 3-10 years. Due to the tight bonds between members of a pod , newborn calves are well protected. Often younger females in the pod look after the calve and learn to raise young.

Presently orca whales are not endangered because they are not hunted by humans and don't face the problems other marine life do like lack of food. Pollution isn't a huge problem for orca whales either because they can easily migrate to somewhere different due to their huge amount of the ocean they can survive in.

Despite their names, orca whales are not whales they are dolphins. When sailors first saw orcas they named them ‘whale killers’ because they were feasting on whales. Over time the name was switched around through mis-understanding and to make it easier to say.

Catholic order of events.

W.A.L.T: Recognise the ways Te Wairua Tapu (the holy spirit) prepares people to carry on the mission of the church. I enjoyed making this and it was a fast activity.

Plant or animal?

WALT: Differentiate between plant-like and animal-like characteristics of mould.