Finding Fred & Hochstetters Frog Find!

My parents both work in the Whinary Reserve. They work for the Whinray Ecological Charitable Trust. They are trappers which means that they set a variety of traps on different trapping lines each month, they walk 429 hectares. Which is a lot of walking when the hills are very steep and especially when they can't walk every day for example when it's raining or when it's windy because there are way too many health and safety issues. They get paid from walking the Whrinary but, they are also Kiwi handlers and help raise young kiwi in the Motu kiwi creche which is all voluntary work. We also help Mum and Dad trapping when we are not at school. 

Today, however, we went kiwi searching to find a specific kiwi called Fred. Mum & Dad's boss Steve Sawyer had said earlier that week that Fred's transmitter had returned a mortality beep. Which means that the transmitter had either fallen off or the kiwi had died. We set off with the tracking gear, an aerial and a receiver. Using this we followed the direction of the loudest beep coming from Fred's transmitter. We made steady progress down the steep hill constantly listening to the beep. As we get closer the beep gets louder, soon we are very careful about where we step so we don't stand on a kiwi. Mum told us to STOP! It's around here somewhere, Mum moved aside a fern frond and Tim said 'What's that?' It was Fred's transmitter and luckily enough Fred was not attached to it. PHEW! We were all relieved that Fred was not dead. 

Mum said we now had two options, to go straight back up the steep hill we had just descended or scoot around to another gully and go hunting for a Hochstetter frog. We all opted for the Hochstetter frog. It was a bit of a walk through some tall ponga and steep slippery tracks. We arrived at the creek and began eagerly searching for a frog. After searching for about 30 mins we had found an awesome mossy rock ledge where we took a cool drink. Dad climbed up further and kept looking while we had a bit of a relax. Then Dad gave a shout "I found one". We quickly grabbed up our stuff and got the camera ready. Dad lifted the rock and there was a beautiful green Hochstetter frog. It was so cool!  

From here it was an epic hike up the steep hill through thick ferns taller than me! Some bush lawyer caught me and ripped at my leg, it hurt. It was such a relief to get to the clear ground at the top of the ridge.  What an awesome day!!!!!

P.S - Here are some pictures I took with my camera I got for Christmas last year. It's a Finepix S Fujifilm, it also has a 18.0x zoom. Here are the pictures...

                                       Fallen of transmitter, Yay!! At least the kiwi wasn't dead!

                                                                Me showing you the ariel 

                                        Me holding the receiver, the numbers 26 can be changed 
                                         to other numbers, for each kiwi has a different number 
                                         so that we can track them.

                                                                   Me finding Fred 

                                              

                                          Hochsetter frog FIND!!! These frogs are extremely rare. 
                                      Now rarer than GOLD! I was so lucky to find and capture this!

Medicinal Uses For ...

A few weeks ago, a small group of 5 children from our class went to a harakeke & medicinal workshop. They learnt how to create ninja stars and flowers out of harakeke. We tried making the ninja stars here in class, (it was TRICKY!) When we cut the flax or harakeke here at school we were told by the children how went to the workshop that before you cut the flax you need to say thank you or do a karakia, afterwards they told us that there is 3 lengths of harakeke, the baby, the parents and the grandparents they told us to only cut the grandparents and to cut the flax at the base on a downward slope. There were also some other rules like not to drop or step on the flax or put it on the ground. After we created our flax creations we put the leftover flax under the bush we cut it from. You have to respect the harakeke.

They learnt how to plant kumara in a plastic tub, we also tried it here at school. We started by adding a layer of stones then grass clippings, soil and sand on top. we then cut the two ends of the kumara and buried the ends into the sand and soil. The Maori used this recipe to grow the kumara all year round. Hopefully, our kumara will grow.

Two girls from our class, Sophia and Liana showed us how to create Kawakawa syrup. We used 5-6 leaves, 1 tsp of garlic, 1/2 a tsp of ginger and 1tsp of honey then we simmered it for 30-60 minutes. + the Kawakawa leave picks you the one with the most holes is better because it has more nutrients.

                                                         Simmering the Kawakawa syrup

                                             Holes in the Kawakawa, adding more nutrients

                                                                     Cutting the flax

                                                                  Planting the Kumara

                                                                             weaving 

Real or Fake?

Today I was learning how to take a selfie and a background and make an impossible-looking image. 

I enjoyed making myself look like I was upside down and on the ceiling of my class.

I didn't really find it challenging since I have used all of the tools before.

My digital learning object shows that I understand how to use remove background and take selfies.

Next time I would change what actions and moves I did to make myself look like I'm in an impossible image.

5 Senses Holiday Writing

I Smell… the freshly caught dead animal from a mile away. Flys swarming around the dead body laying maggots galore.

I Feel… the fresh bitter breeze, streaming through my bones.

I Taste… sweet, cold, refreshing water swishing around in my moist mouth as we make our way up the many steep inclines.

I See… gnarly tree roots, old fallen down trees, icy flowing creeks to cross, muddy tracks and risky obstacles to climb over.

I Hear… the soft chirping sound of native birds in the distant. The evergreen trees rustling around us.

Where Am I?

Whinray Scenic Reserve, Motu, NZ

Tour Builder

Today I was learning how to use Google Earth and Tour Build to make a cool creation.

I enjoyed learning new cybersmart skills and creating a tour.

I found it challenging to use the Tour Builder at first but eventually got the hang off it.

My digital learning object shows that I understand how to use Screencastify, Tour Builder and Google Earth.

Next time I would change what countries I chose to create my tour.

Here is my work . . .

Rich vs Poor

After creating our Rugby World Cup animations in class, I once again decided to create another animation at home. This animation is about a poor lady and a rich man. The rich man brags about being rich then drives off in his sports car and ends up crashing. The impact of the crash makes the money bags/sacks spill out of the car. The poor lady collects the money and buys a new car and a mansion for herself, in the end, the rich man then became poor and the once poor lady became rich. If you want to know how many slides I used to make this animation then I will tell you now . . . 186 slides. I hope you enjoy watching my animation.
Ma Te Wa
Hayley

Animation - A Butterflies Journey

After creating Rugby World Cup animations in class with our cybersmart teacher Mrs Torrie, I was inspired to create another animation at home. I made this animation using 95 slides, Here this butterfly flies through the jungle over beaches and so on . . .
I hope that you have enjoyed my blog post,
See you next time!