Tag: 2024

Touch Rugby Reflection T2

14.05.24

Touch Rugby Reflection 

This term (Term 2) during P.E., we learned about Touchy Rugby. We learnt how to play, what the rules were and a few techniques to enhance our skill in passing.

Touch rugby is played with 6 players on each team on the field at one time (but that changed slightly because of the number of people in our class). The field that we are to play touch in is 50 m wide and 70 m in length.

Equipment:

  • Touch Ball
  • Bibs

Rules:

  • You cannot drop the ball, if doing so it’s a handover to the other team.
  • You cannot pass forward.
  • Try your hardest not to get touched.
  • It is prohibited to tackle somebody.
  • After 6 touches, it’s a handover to the other team.

Reflection..

One thing I improved at was, passing and running at the same time. There’s a specific way of passing a rugby ball that makes it hard to look forward when you run. You are to use both of your arms and throw it across your body to the person who you’re trying to pass it to. I feel I have improved in this part because I now drop the ball less than I used to, and my aim is right when I pass. Hand-eye coordination got a lot better.

One thing I enjoyed was, how easy it was. I’m not saying that touch is an easy sport to play, but the rules and guidelines are simple and once you make sense of them, it’s actually pretty fun. There were no exceptions to the rules (that I know of) and everything was pretty much straightforward.

I could keep working, on building confidence to be more head-first in the game. I admit I don’t like playing sports or playing in a team, with friends or not. But as time went on, I learned to suck it up and include myself in the game, though I feel like I could’ve done a better job in doing so.

I always bring my PE gear to school, at least for now…

Out of 10, I’d give myself a 6.5. This might be a biased way of scoring it because as I stated before I don’t like sports or working in a team. But I still give myself more than a five because, despite my dislike of those things, I managed to include myself in games and function properly while building more skill.

Pictures:

Strategies:

  • Hold the ball with two hands at all times to create confusion in defense.
  • Get touched on purpose to set up a ruck and force the defense to retreat 5m.
  • Initiate the defender so you control the speed of the game.
  • Dummy half pass the ball to a receiver who is angling back to the ruck.

Cloning

Cloning

28.03.24

The Process

  1. A skin cell (containing all 46 chromosomes) is taken from the male.
  2. An egg cell (containing only 23 chromosomes) is taken from a donor.
  3. The nuclei are removed from both cells
  4. The nucleus from the male cell is inserted into the donor egg cell.
  5. The egg cell now contains all the instructions to make a clone of the male.
  6. The egg cell is surgically inserted into the donor’s womb.

How does the Genotype of the Clone, Compare to the Genotype of the parent?

It’s nearly the exact same but mutations can appear making them look slightly different.

Ethical Consideration of Cloning Humans

I don’t think we should clone humans. Because it’s inhumane and can cause a corrupt person to ‘play God’ and to say, who to clone and how many.

Athletics Reflection

Athletics Reflection

14.03.24

During our athletics training, we covered a lot of ground and practised every activity except for relays and javelin (because they were sports where you had to apply and be reviewed). However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the high jump, which I had previously assumed would be awkward and ungraceful. To my delight, I improved with each practice and found myself achieving better results than I had anticipated.

 

Unfortunately, the real athletics event was postponed due to bad weather, and when the rescheduled date finally arrived, it was cancelled altogether after only two activities. Although I was absent during the lesson where the details of the event were discussed, I enjoyed the training sessions and found them to be a fun and rewarding experience.

~

I chose to focus on sprints because it was the easiest out of the bunch. A few pieces of information about sprinting is that:

When you are about to begin your sprints, you can use blocks or crouch. But either way, you have to be ‘on your mark’.

Back knee touches the ground and your hips are raised above the height of your shoulders and you push off using your front foot.

~

During training, I demonstrated respect by genuinely not being a pest about practising. I didn’t complain as much as others because I knew it would lead me nowhere but to referral. This made it easier for the teacher and the person with the clap thing (to start the sprint) to get the heat over with.

~

I must develop resilience when we experience success or failure because…

It’ll build a tougher mentality to overcome challenges when failure does strike my way. It’ll help me bounce back on my feet and try again rather than stay sitting and crawling away from the thought of failing. I found resilience the most in myself during the 12-minute run. 

 

RESULTS.

BEEP TEST 3.1
12 Minute Run (1) 3.5
12 Minute Run (2) 4
Long Jump Meters 2.2
Shot Put meters 8.53
100m Sprints 22.03
High Jump Meter 1

 

Making Zombies!

Making Zombiez!

Aim: What was the purpose of this activity?

Find out how the Punnett square works in inheritance and genes.

Method: 

  • Picking Parent alleles:

  • How did you decide what traits your zombie had? – By using the Punnett Squares.

Results: 

Discussion: 

Gene- The basic unit of heredity passed from parent to child. (Source: National Cancer Institute)

Allele- One of two or more versions of a genetic sequence at a particular region on a chromosome. (Source: National Cancer Institue)

Genotype- The genetic makeup of an organism. (Source: Nature)

Phenotype- An observable/physical trait. (Source: National Human Genome)

How do you fill out Punnett squares? What’s the point?

The point is to figure out which gene is dominant and will have the most likely outcome.

Conclusion: Did it work? Would you do anything differently?

It did work, and I made sure I double-checked before I started working on my zombie(s). I don’t think I would’ve done anything differently, because if I did, then it wouldn’t be technically accurate.

Health – Drawing in Pairs

Health – Drawing in Pairs

29.02.24

Today during health we played this game where there would be a pair of students. One had a picture that they had to describe to the other person who was drawing it. Basically, we had to communicate with each other to try and get as close to the picture as we could.

Hauora

This game was pretty positive. The parts of my Hauora that were shown first were:

  • Taha Tinana (Physical) – Because we had to take turns drawing which is a physical thing.
  • Taha Whanau (Social) – We had to communicate to get as close to the picture as we could.
  • Taha Hinengaro (Mental & Emotional) – My buddy and I laughed at how far the drawing was from the actual thing. (For some reason I misheard Rectangle for a Square).
  • Taha Wairua (Spiritual) – I didn’t know I was horrible at following verbal instructions as well as giving them.

Social Justice 

I think Social Justice was shown because everyone was included and there weren’t fights and people left out (from what I saw). Some cheated which isn’t fair, but I think most of the class was fair.

Participation

I think I participated well. I gave instructions to my buddy and he did the same. We had a few laughs from how wrong I got it.

Key Concepts

PIS – Personal between you. Interpersonal between you and a small group of people. Societal is for everyone.

Social Justice – Fairness, Non-discrimination and inclusivity.

Short-term and Long-term – Short-term is under 3 months, and long-term is over 3 months.

Consequence – the outcome of your decisions/actions.

DNA Extraction

DNA Extraction

22.02.24

Method:

  1. Mash some bananas (no skin) in a zip-lock bag with a splash of water and a small teaspoon of salt.
  2. Strain the solution through a cloth into a beaker.
  3. Add a squirt of dishwashing liquid and stir.
  4. Pour into a test tube.
  5. Place the test tube in a beaker filled with WARM water.
  6. Leave for 10mins. (Begin blog at this time)
  7. Slowly pour 5mL of ethanol down the inside of the test tube.

What have I learnt?

  • We aren’t allowed to mix ethanol with our experiment or else it will spoil it.
  • DNA looks cool.

Examples of real-life uses of DNA Extraction:

  • Forensics
Forensics is a broad specialisation using numerous techniques for DNA, fingerprints, bloodstain patterns, firearms, ballistics, toxicology, and fire debris analysis. Forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyze evidence during an investigation. Organic extraction (e.g sweat, blood etc techniques are used on all types of forensic samples. (Source: NIJ Nation Institute of Justice)

(Image Source: Wires Online Library)

  • Vaccines

Vaccination is the administration (like a shot/injection) of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism.  (Source: Springer Link)

DNA vaccine - Wikipedia

(Image Source: DNA Vaccine Wikipedia)

  • Paternity Tests

A DNA paternity test is virtually 100% accurate at deciding whether a man is another person’s biological father. DNA tests can use cheek swabs or blood tests. You must have the test done in a medical setting if you need results for legal reasons. Paternity tests can determine fatherhood during pregnancy. (Source: Cleveland Clinic)

Paternity test: everything you need to know | Genosalut

(Image Source: genosalut)

 

Cup Pong & Hauora

Cup Pong & Hauora

22.02.24

Cup Pong

A couple of days ago during health class, we played a game called ‘Cup Pong’. The game aimed for you and your teammates to take turns with a ping-pong ball and aim to throw it into one of 6 cups in a triangle form. In this game, you verse another team. Whoever goes through all 6 cups is the winner of the game.

Hauora

The areas of Hauora that were affected were:

  • Taha Tinana (Physical):

This affected our physical because we had to throw the ping-pong ball and occasionally shift around so every team member could get a turn.

  • Taha Whanau (Social):

We communicated via sharing our tactics, telling the other person it was their turn, and the occasional insults for throwing the ball horribly.

  • Taha Wairua (Spiritual):

This affected us as a group because as the other team kept scoring goals, we slowly lost belief in each other.

  • Taha Hinengaro (Emotional)

We lost horribly. We bawled our eyes out.

Social Justice 

I don’t think social justice was shown throughout the whole classroom today. Some people showed up late and didn’t know where to go, others weren’t enthusiastic about playing so they didn’t have a turn, or their teammates were just excluded.

End Note – Participation

Cup pong was really fun and I was in a group with my friends. Plus, we actually took an equal amount of turns which made it fun for us all. I enjoyed it, 10/10.

Running

Endurance & Running

The Beep Test – Day One.

08.12.09

Lengths/Laps:

3.1

What was my grade from the chart?

Poor (F)

To Pace myself next time, I’m going to:

  • Breath Properly (In through the nose, out through the mouth)
  • Keep a stable pace rather than going fast once and then jogging a second.
  • Start by walking, then jogging, then running and eventually (hopefully) sprinting. AKA – Start at a lower speed on lower levels.