Room 21@EPS

FOR WORLD ENVIRO DAY 2008 WE HAVE BEEN LEARNING ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT AND HOW OUR ACTIONS REALLY HAVE AN IMPACT ON IT. WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE EARTH’S RESOURCES AND HOW WE CAN TRY TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT AND IT’S NATURAL RESOURCES. WE ALSO LEARNED ABOUT THE GREENHOUSE AFFECT AND THE CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING. IN CLASS WE DISCUSSED WAYS THAT WE CAN REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR ENVIRONMENT.

ON WORLD ENVIRO DAY WE HAD A GLAD FREE DAY. WE ALL MADE SURE THAT WE BROUGHT OUR LUNCH IN CONTAINERS OR RE-USABLE BAGS TO TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE AMOUNT OF WASTE PLASTIC THAT IS CREATED IN OUR PLAYGROUND.

WE ALSO CREATED POSTERS WITH MEANINGFUL MESSAGES ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT.

WE ALSO HAD A “JUNK 2 FUNK” DAY WHERE WE USED OUR GREEN THINKING HAT TO CREATE FUNKY OUTIFUTS FROM JUNK. WE HAD LOTS OF FUN LEARNING ABOUT WAYS THAT WE CAN REDUCE – REUSE AND RECYCLE.

WE HOPE THAT YOU ALL TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO AS WE ONLY HAVE ONE WORLD AND IT IS UP TO US TO PROTECT IT.

FROM ROOM 21 & MISS ADAMSON.

This week has been amazing.  Finally the school has come to their senses and started talking about the Earth’s most important thing.  Something we CAN NOT live without.

It is the ENVIRONMENT!!!    

We are learning about what lives in our environment , what animals are becoming endangered….even extinct and how we can really make a difference.

We have started Science classes.  We are going to go to different teachers and learn about different things to do with our environment.  In Miss Adamson’s class we learnt about animals that are endangered.  We learnt how to make smog and about how it is damaging our environment.  Smog is caused by pollution mixing with the earth’s weather.  

I would like to learn a little more about how I can make a difference to Mother Nature.

 From your Eco-Agent MM

 P.S.- You can make a difference too!! 

On Saturday 12th April 5 students from Room 21 and Miss Adamson went to One Tree Hill to represent Elm Park School in the summits climb in memory of Sir Edmund Hillary.

The climb to the top of One Tree Hill was the 29th climb in memory of Sir Ed. Climbs are taking place all over the North and the South Island. It was New Zealand’s way of remembering a great man who was extraordinary in lots of different ways. He had a passion for walking so this remembarance for him would have been one that would have made him smile.

At 4pm students, teachers and family members from all over Auckland gathered to pay their final respect to Sir Edmund Hillary. Each school who participated also brought a stone with them that had their school name on it. All these stones from all the summit climbs from all over New Zealand will be gathered together and made into a cairn in memory of Sir Ed at the foot of Mount Ruapehu . This will be an everlasting memory at a place where Sir Edmund Hillary first fell in love with mountains.

At the beginning of the walk there was a speech about Sir Edmund Hillary from the organisers of the Summits for Sir Ed Trust. He spoke about his achievements and why these walks were such a great idea.

It was a challenging walk for us and fun at the same time. Some of the parents found the walk difficult as it wasn’t in their habit to walk up so high and far. When we made it to the summit of One Tree Hill we listened to a few people from the Nepalese community talk about Sir Edmund Hillary and then we held a one minute silence for him.

Walking down the hill was much easier and quicker. We also took a short cut which meant we reached the bottom in record time. Some of us were tired after the walk so we couldn’t imagine how Sir Edmund Hillary felt after climbing Mount Everest.

We are glad that we all took part in this walk and that we have remembered such a wonderful man. This will be an everlasting memory for all of us. We have learned a lot about him this Term and we all really appreciate what an EXTRAORDINARY MAN HE REALLY WAS!!

By MH, JW, JM, PK, LA & MM Room 21

We have been talking about extraordinary New Zealanders.

Sir Edmund Hillary is one of the people that we most admire. We found four of our favourite pictures of Sir Edmund Hillary and then asked each person in the class four questions about him. They were….

1. Tell us one interesting fact about Sir Edmund Hillary.

2. What Habits of Mind did Sir Edmund Hillary use in his life?

3. What do you most admire about Sir Edmund Hillary?

4. What are your dreams for your future?
By MH & MHH

In Reading we are learning about Extraordinary New Zealanders that have made a difference.This week we have been reading about the living legend Jonah Lomu.

Background Information

Jonah Lomu was born on the 12th May 1975. He was born in South Auckland, New Zealand. He is 32 years old. His parents are Tongan. When Jonah Lomu was 9 years old he had to run behind his parents car every Sunday to go to church because he was too tall to fit into the car!

Jonah’s Dream
Jonah Lomu’s dream was to wear the black jersey of the New Zealand, All Blacks. The All Blacks are the best rugby team in the world. Jonah Lomu became the youngest ever All Black in history.
He was only 19 years and 45 days old when he had his first match.

Match History
Jonah Lomu’s first Provincial side was Counties Manukau. He played 28 games for them between 1994 and 1999. He played his first World Cup against France and then he was selected in 1995 to play in his second World Cup. In 1996 he played against the Barbarians in England.

Jonah Lomu was once described as being like a Boeing 747 because he was big, fast and made the ground shake like an earthquake. When he played he was also described as brushing off the other players as if they were flies meaning that they weren’t strong and they didn’t really challenge Jonah Lomu.

Life changing illness

After Jonah played against the Barbarians in England he had to stay in bed for 3 days because he couldn’t move. He was told he had a serious liver disease and that he would not be able to play rugby again and he would spend most of his life in a wheelchair chained to a machine that was going to clean his blood.

Nothing is Impossible
Jonah Lomu never gave up. After 9 months Jonah Lomu was back on the rugby field ready to play. He found the power within himself to get better and get back up there to achieve his dreams of being a rugby player.

Jonah Lomu is an extraordinary because he made a difference with the All Blacks by helping them to become the best team in the World.

We admire him because he is one of the best players in the history of the All Blacks and because he believed in himself and never gave up his dreams.

Facts about Jonah Lomu

Full Name : Jonah Tali Lomu
Height : 1 metre 96 centimetres
Weight : 116 kilograms
Speed : Can run 100 meters in 10.8 seconds
Size : Wears size 13 boots
College : Studied at Wesley College, Pukekohe
Eye Colour : Dark Brown
Favourite Colours : Yellow & Blue
Chest : 116 centimetres
Hips : 125 centimetres

Research and writing by

The White & Yellow Reading Group