Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I'm a sister. AGAIN!!!!

Hi! Pinky here! Guess what? I have a new baby brother!!! He is sooo cute!! My other brother was sooo jealous! Because “his mum” wasn’t paying much attention to him! LOL!

Thanks 4 reading!!
Bye!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

"My future" oooooooohh!



Hi! Pinky here!!




I am about to talk about my goals and dreams that I hope to achieve in the next decade.




In the next decade, I hope to achieve these things.






  • Become a professional golfer. Formosa golf course


  • Travel the world playing golf.


  • Play at Formosa


  • Meet a famous person.


  • Play with Tiger Woods.


I will achieve these by . . . . . . . . .



Go to Otago university straight away, get a Master of Physical Education and travel to America to go to a school there. PRACTISE PRACTISE PRACTISE!!!!!!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sustainability arguement.

Topic:It is better to be sustainable.
I am: For.




In my arguement I will be talking to you about three main points.




  • How global warming is effecting us.


  • Some of the animals that are about to become extinct from global warming.


  • What we can do to help.



Firstly, how is global warming effecting us? "What are we meant to do? Global warming is not going to effect us!" This is one of the main excuses that we hear from people who just don't care about weather or not global warming is real, even if it is proven. So I am about to tell you a few thigns that global warming will do to effect us. You may not be aware, but global warming has already started to effect us! Yes, that's right ! Did you know that, the warming is most likely to a lot more powerful droughts and heat waves, also, unusually strong storms -- such as the ones that left at least millions of Northwesterners shivering in December, while killing 13 people!!! Which is one of the reasons why researches are more than 90 percent certain that global warming is caused by humans. Us! We are causing all of his! Do you feel guilty yet? Well, if you don't yet. get ready to because I'm onto my second point.




Secondly, a few of the animals that are about to become extincht from global warming.

  • Polar bears.
A lot of polar bears are becoming endangered because of global warming, all of the ice is melting because of the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Which causes the iceto melt, which leaves the polar bears with nowhere to live.



  • Sea lions,



These ae becoming extinct because of the same reason of polar bears. Along with,

  • Seals.



Look at this heart breaking picture that shows that global warming is not the only cause of seals dying. Waaaahhhhhh!



Finally, what can we do to help. Here are some things that you can do to help stop global warming. This information is from a really cool website.

An A-Z of things to help save the environment.

  • A.void fast food.

Fast food is very over packaged and are responsible for producing mountains and mountains of trash! So avoiding fast food is great to reduce all that garbage.

  • B.ike instead of riding in a car.

If you bike instead of riding in a car, you will help reduce CO2 released into the atmosphere. It is also fun!

  • C.hange you'r normal lightbulbs to energy efficient ones.

These are the same price as the normal ones AND they will saveyou more! Double benifit!

  • D.on't buy aerosols.

They can not be recycled! How bad is that!

  • E.at organic food.

Organic food doesn't get sprayed with chemicals and nasty stuff. It'll even stop all those chemicals being washed into the oceans ETC.

  • F.eed the birds.

If you feed the birds, it will bring a bit of nature into you r backyard, it will also help because the birds should eat the bugs in your garden.

  • G.row a garden.

This will be easy because you won't have to buy a lot of food. It will also help reduce the waste that is made when fruit and veges are imported into N.Z.

If you want to see more easy ways to become sustainable, go to, http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/4990/gglist.html

Thank you for reading and I am sure that I have convinced you to be sustainable.


References:

http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/4990/gglist.html


http://www.greenfacts.org/studies/climate_change/l_2/global_warming_4.htm#1

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/302204_warming02.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3351743/Polar-bears-could-become-extinct-because-of-melting-ice-scientists-claim.html

Monday, June 15, 2009

Diary entry #4

Hi! Pinky here!

Here are some eco-friendly things that I have done today.


  • I didn't use my electric blanket.
  • I had a short shower.
  • I helped wash the dishes and only used a little bit of water in the sink.
  • I was in charge of putting the plastic bottles in the recyling bin.
  • I turned off all of our electric appliances instead of putting them on standby.

See you later!

Pinky

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Dairy entry #3

Hi! Pinky here!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I have just found out that fires are one of the worst polluters!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I HAVE BEEN ASKING MY DAD TO LIGHT THE FIRE THINKING THAT IT WAS MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT. IT'S NOT!!!!!!!!!

I have learnt now, and I will be doing some extra eco-friendly stuff tomorrow!!!!

BYE!!!!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Diary entry #2

Hi! Pinky here!

Dear diary tody to improve my "eco-friendly image" Have done ALL these things read 'em and tell me what you think!


  • I had yet ANOTHER two minute shower. WHOOP WHOOP!
  • I told dad to light the fire ( and he did! )
  • We didn't use our heat pump!
  • I opened the window RELLY WIDE during my two minute shower ( WHOOP WHOOP) so I wouldn't have to use my dehumidifier as much!
  • I told off my sister for turning on her electric blanket and secretly turned it back off (hee hee hee!).
  • I put all of the plastic bottles that my sister ( again, my sister, Is something wrong with her?) "accidently" put in the normal bin and placed them in the recycling bin.
  • When my sister (AGAIN, my sister!!!!) was about to throw away a practically empty peice of paper because she had "used it up", I said " STOP GIRL, (in a slang voice) YOU NEED TO REUSE THAT!!! SAVE TREES!!!).

I am really proud that I have done SO MANY things tonight and I wish myself luck for tommorow night. Or in spanish

Buena suerte maƱana! ( good luck tommorow!)

Thanks for reading!

Pinky

My island group

I am going to plan what my island is going to look like.

So I am going to use my creative skills to draw it up and post it here.

KEEP YOU'R EYES PEELED!!!!!!!


Pinky.

Diary entry.

Hi! Pinky here!

This is my eco-diary entry for tonight.

Dear Eco-diary, Tonight I made sure that I helped the environment A LOT!!!

Here are the things I did.









  • I had a TWO MINUTE shower!



  • I didn't use my electric blanket, I put on an extra blanket instead.



  • I turned off the tap while I brushed my teeth.



  • I had my dad light the fire instead of turning on our heat pump.



  • I read longer instead of watching the T.V.

So that's what I have done tonight, and I am DEFININTLY going to do more tomorrow!

XOXOXO Pinky.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Diary!

Hi! Pinky here!

I am going to be starting a diary RIGHT HERE about my progress of trying to reduce my "carbon footprint"

Here are some of my ideas that i am thinking about doing

  • Buying reusable bags from the supermarket instead of those plastic ones.
  • Turning the taps off while I am brushing my teeth.
  • Taking 3-5 minute showers
  • Instead of playing on the computer, play station E.T.C I will maybe read a book.
  • Instead of using an electric blanket I will just put on another blanket over top.
  • When I am cold I will put on another jersey or put on the fire instead of turning on an electric appliance.

SO WISH ME LUCK!!!

Pinky

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Dot jot SIFE

Hi! Pinky here!

On the 2nd of June 2009, Joe & Clement came to our class to talk to us about some more sustainability stuff.

Here are my dot jot notes.

  • They did the "apple exersize"
  • First they took away half of the aplle and told us that it was the water.
  • Then he cut 3/4 of it and said that it was deserts, snow E.T.C..
  • He had only 1/32nd of the earth left that could be planted on.
  • Little things make a big difference.
  • Some people made a car out of "holilactic acid' (corn kiwifruit skins and other starchy stuff)
  • There are places in N.Z where you can $ buy $ worms. Shredded paper is betgter in a worm farm N.Z has 60 open landfills and 1000 closed ones.
  • NO CITRUS IN WORM FARMS!!!!!!! It takes . . . . . .
  • 25 months for paper to break down
  • 5 years for a milk carton to break down
  • 10 years for a ciggarete
  • 100 years for a tin can
  • 200-500 years for a beer can!
I wrote WAY more notes but I can't write them because I have to do a LOT of more things. (homework)

Thanks for reading!

Pinky!

Architecture presentation.

Hi! Pinky here !

Yesterday ( Wednesday 3rd) Kris Wilson, an architect. Kris told us about a lot of helpful things that would really help us with our island.

I took a few notes using the "Dot Jot" method.

Here they are.


  • They build mainly houses, but sometimes kindergartens, restaurants, and office blocks.
  • Sustainable housing, is only one sort of housing, there are a lot more different types.
  • He hopes to have sustainability housing get more and more popular.
  • Most buildings take about 4-6 months to make but can last from 50 minimum-200 years.
  • Most non sustainable houses make lots of CO2 (BAD BAD BAD)
  • Sometimes you have to weigh up wether or not it is worthwhile to use a bit of CO2 in order to build a sustainable house.
  • You should use local resources.
  • It is not good to use resources that have been shipped and driven around th world, which uses a lot of CO2.
  • Timber grows fast and is easy to build with.
  • You should look at the life span of the product for example steel lasts longer than timber, but is it easier to build with?
  • Using the sun for energy is "healthy" it is called "passive solar design"
  • Het pumps are generally more efficient.
  • Large concrete walls/floors are great for trapping heat inside the house.
  • Ventillation stops moisture and heats your home during the winter.
  • Cladding is better at stopping wet weather from getting in.
  • Builders used to just throw all of their rubbish in a big skip, bu now we are getting better and better at recycling MOST of our materials.
  • Concrete can be crushed and reused.
  • "grey water systems are good for saving water, the water from your shower, comes down to your toilet and it gets flushed down "when you are ready" (EWW)!
  • "You should use "restricted flow' Taps which only let out a certain amount of water each time you turn it on.
  • PLANT TREES!
  • Most people think Manmade = BAD Natural = GOOD But that is not ALWAYS the case!
  • Steel is 100% recyclable!
  • Sustainable buildings don't have to look "different".
  • They can look EXACTLY like yours.
  • Solar modelling is GOOD!
  • Small is good.
  • Houses don't have to be big!
    They can be small, and comfy.
  • Sun shines from the north.
  • Double glazed windows are good beacause it doesn't let the heat out!
  • In winter the sun is really high.
  • In summer the sun is lower.
  • Wind often comes from the south.
  • Low windows on the south side of the building is good for letting cold air in if it is a hot day!
  • The more insulation the better!
  • Wider walls are goosd because they foit more insulation.
  • Solar panels should face the north.
  • Solar panels catch the sun, the heat heats up a box of water on the roof, HEATED WATER!
  • Wetbacks heat water then the water comes around the fire and heats it!
  • Hanging lights are better than the other type, because some people cut the insulation out where the light is and the heat escapes out there.
  • Pine is not resistent ro mould E.T.C.
  • Douglas fir is good because it is denser, but it grows slower.
  • They make good christmas trees!
  • Macracarpa trees are good for building.
For more go to Kris WIlson's website

http://www.designhouse.co.nz/

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Homework. Again.

Hi! Pinky here!

I am going to present my horticulture speech soon! I think that it will be either on thursday or friday!

I am so excited! I like speaking in front of people (public speaking).

Wish me luck!

Pinky

Monday, May 25, 2009

Our group!!!! It Rocks!!!!!

Hi! Pinky here!


In our group there are

Midnight baloney

Pinky

Unknown seeker

Queenbead (maybe)

and one other person that we cant find yet.


Wish us luck!

Pinky

My "Survival kit"

Hi! Pinky here!

I need to have a few things at the Matai islands. Without them I will not survive very well. I also need to know few things. Like how to light fire or build a shelter.

We are going to get into groups and discuss how we will survive!

Wish us luck!

Pinky

Horticulture info! ! ! ! !

Hi! Pinky here!

I have some more info on my job as a horticulturist.


  • I study and crop/plant different foods.
  • I pick the foods when they are ready.
  • I study "companion planting" which is studying what plants go well or unwell together.
  • I choose where the plants should be planted E.G which plants grow better in the sun or the dark.
I like my job beecause it is REALLY important. Basically without me everyone else will not have any food!!!

Thanks for reading!

Pinky!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Economics/ supply and demand.

Hi! Pinky here!

Right now we are in the I.C.T suite and we are learning about supply and demand.

While studying economics we were talking about the "supply" and 'demand" of goods. Goods are material things like bycicles,Cds, cellphones or cars or houses. Services are things that you need to have done, like car washes, house cleaning or golf lessons. We also studied the "relationship" between the consumer and the producer.

The consumer is kind of like the customer and the producer is the one who sells the goods or services.As you can see in this graph, we studied the Equilibrium point. The Equilibruim point is when both the supply and the demand are at a equal spot. As shown in green.


When the quantity of the goods is large. The producer usually lowers the prices
so that the consumers will buy more of them. However if a famous celebrity or someone who makes a big influence on us, sugests a certain brand game or item. The producer puts the price up because the consumer doesn't mind paying as much because the good is "popular".



I used the information from this site to form my opinion

http://www.brainpop.com/science/ourfragileenvironment/

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Homework.

Hi! Pinky here!


We woodmonstas have been given a new assignment!


Our task is to create a presentation on our career on the Matai islands. We can do it with a slideshow, speech, pictures e.t.c.


I think I am probably going to create a slideshow and do a speech about my job while the slideshow is on.


It is going to be fun!!


Wish me luck!


Pinky

Whoops! Sorry everyone!!!!

Hi! Pinky here!

I'm afraid there has been a miss understanding with my job! My job has been swapped to something else seeing as there is not much need for a zooligist at this very moment on the island. I have decided to be A HORTICULTURIST!

Basically what I do is plant the food, fruit or veges for all of us here on the Matai islands. I also collect all of the crops that I have just planted. I think my job is VERY importanat and I Loooooove it!

Cool!

Thanks for reading!

Pinky.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

More on my job as a zoologist.

Hi! Pinky here!

I have a bit more info on my job on the island as a "zoologist".

Lions, tigers and bears are three of the many thousands of animal species that zoologists study. They research all aspects of animal life, including where animals live and how they interact with their surroundings. Sounds cool dosen't it?! A zoologist studies or works with animal life, its origins, characteristics, life processes, behavior, evolution and relationship with other organisms. Phew! That was a mouthful!

In general, all zoology specializations involve work with animals, either in the wild or in a evil lab! Mwah ha ha! Just jokes!

A zoologist is kind of like a vet. Except that a vet looks after animals when they are sick but a zoologist just studies them.

So I hope I do a good job!

Wish me luck! Pinky.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

What IS an eco-house?

Hi! Pinky here!

Today I am talking about the eco-house that we are going to have on the Matai islands.

A lot of peopleare just building houses willy-nilly not even focusing on how their house is actually energy efficient. So I am going to help. I am going to describe some eco-friendly things you should probably have in your house and why.


Here is a really helpful website that has a lot of different eco-friendly resources and ideas.
http://www.righthouse.co.nz/


Here are a few subjects I am going to be talking about.







  • solar water heating.







  • Energy efficient lightbulbs.

I would talk abou more but I don't have enough time. SORRY!





"Solar water heating"










A solar water system absorbs the rays from the sun and shoots them back through the house Solar panels are usually located on the roof of the house. This is because the sun rises and usually shines down not across. The suns rays that the solar panel has collected usually shines down directly or indirectly (depending on the system) to the water stored in the hot water cylinder.










Obviously the sun is not always shining. So when the sun has set a "back up" system kicks in. The back up system is usually powered by either eleteric, gas or wetback. A solar hot water system consists of three main parts:
















  • The solar hot water collecter which is located on the roof as I said before.






  • A hot water tank which can be found in either the ground of also on the roof.






  • And last but not least pumps and a controller.





How they work:
Solar hot water systems are either closed loop or open-loop systems








This is a closed loop system.










This is an open loop system




See if you can tell the difference.






These solar hot water heaters are good because they . . . . . . .



Cut household water heating bills by up to 50–75%
Reduced environmental impact
System pays for itself in energy savings
Makes an energy-efficiency statement



They are also very safe.



Energy efficient lighbulbs.



We've all seen those little lightbulbs that look curly. I have! Those light bulbs are really helpful. Energy efficient lightbulbs are good because they use less enbergy hense saving more money but still make the same amount of light. So why WOULDN'T you wnat them? They are just the same as normal lighbulbs but better!
Once again sorry I couldn't write more I only had a few minutes to write this!
There will be more info soon!
Thanks for reading! Pinky.











































































I am a . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zooligist!

Yay! I finally found a job. ( I personally think that it is the best job!). Basically I study the animals on the island and yeah.

I like my job and I am glad that I finally found one!

HELP! I AM STUCK!!!

S.O.S

Help! I have no idea what career choice I want to take up on the Matai island.

I wanted to be an architect but apparantly we already have one. I also wnated to be a vet but we also already have one.

If you have any ideas for me could you comment and tell me?

Thanks, Pinky.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Matai island eco-classroom

Hi! Pinky here!



Toaday I observed on of my peeps creating an eco-classroom on google sketchup and so I decided to do one. One probem. It wouldn't install on my laptop so I am going to do it during class. I think it will be really complicated. But I can tell it will be awesome!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Matai island essentials

Hi! Pinyky here!

In class today we were talking about what we would take to "Matai island" If we were going toliv there for one year ( we were only allowed to think up the essential thingsnthat we would need).

So here is my list of "essentials"

  1. Recycling bins ( 25-30 of them).
  2. Books, pencil case with pencils dictionary ( basically all of the stuff we have at school now).
  3. Building materials.
  4. Food!!!
  5. Clothing
  6. Bedding
  7. Our parents if we wanted to be party-poopers!!! ( don't bring your parents) ha ha
  8. Us!!!!
  9. And uhhh . . . . . . Our permission slips LOL!
  10. OPTIONAL: GOLF CLUBS!!!!!!! I will definitely be bringing mine!!!

Why such a little list you say? Well, if we were truly an Eco-friendly island then we would "make"or "grow" all of our other stuff ( Using recyclable materials of course!)

Thanks for reading!

Pinky

Matai Islands "jobs"

Hi! Pinky here!

We have to think up of all the jobs that we need to have on our island in order to, um, how do I put this, SURVIVE!!!!!

  • Interior decorators

We need interior decorators to design the insides of our houses and buildings. Without them our houses would practically be empty.


  • A landscape designer

I think we need a landscape designer incase we decide to build a house somewhere but the lansd needs to be flattened first. Or maybe If we want to "bling" the backyards of our Eco-Friendly houses.

  • A plumber

We need a plumber on our island incase we have a leak in our pipes or something.

  • grocers

We need "supermarket people" The ones who sell us the products from the farmers and all of the other stuff like energy-efficient lightbulbs.



  • builders

Duh!!! We need a builder to build our houses and our classes and the other essential building that we CANNOT live without.

  • Architects

Obviously there is no use having a builder if there are no houses to build! We need an architect to help design all of our Eco-Friendly houses and buildings.

  • A few farmers.

We need a few farmers to help, Um, farm? If we need fertiliser for our plants the farmers will need to "get to work" gathering all of the fertilisers. Another example is food. The farmers could dig up gardens and grow vegetables and fruit.

  • A mayor

We need a mayor to help make all of the important decisions at the Matai islands. If we need permission to build a new house we go to the mayor, if we wnat to go on a hike, we would ask the mayor. The mayor is kind of like the teacher at a school the "leader".

  • "The Board"

The board is kind of like the "council" at our school. They help the mayor make his or her decisions. They are kind of like the mayors assistants bevause the mayor has to ask for their opinion before going ahead with the decision.

  • Doctors

We need a doctor for our "Boo-Boo's" If we fall over and break our arm we go to the doctor if we get a eally bad innury we go to the doctor. It kind of goes without saying that we need a doctor.

  • Nurses

We also need a nurse. A nurse would tend to the minor injuries like, scratches or minor burns. Or take a look at the patients with bad injuries while the doctor is busy.

  • Police officers

We need some authority in our town. If someone steals something we need proof! So police officers o help us prove things. Also if someone does something illegal we need them in "Kids Jail"

  • Courier

If the mayor, teachers, police, officers, or someone else need sto send you a letter we need the Courier people to ride around delivering.

  • Proffesional sports players

GOLF!!! (I love golf) If people want to go to different islands to play people in different kinds of sports then they can earn a LOT of money for the island. (and themselves)

  • Pilots

If we need to travel to diffenent places we would need a pilot to take us.

  • Scientists

We need scientists at our island to invent different things that we can use

  • LOTS MORE!!!'

If you have any other Ideas please comment and tell me! Thanks!

Pinky

Uranium in our "island"

Hi! Pinky here! Today we are in the computer sweet and we are talking about our "island' that we own. ( we are making up our own eco-friendly island).

Most uranium mining is very volume-intensive or in other words LOUD!!!! So the miners usually usethe method of uranium ming requires tunneling into the earth. It is called open pit mining.Uranium is a silvery-white substance and in the periodic table, it is the symbol "U". Uranuim is approximately 70% denser than lead. Uranuim is usually found in soil, rock and water. It is "extracted" from minerals like uraninite.


It is also weakly radioactive! AHHHH!
So is uranuim dangerous to us or not?

I have made the choice that it IS!!!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The sustainability blog!!!

Hi! Pinky here!


This is my sustainability blog for my school thing I'm not quite sure what it is foryet but there will probably be some awesome things popping up here very soon so keep your eyes peeled and wait for the magic to happen!


Thanks! Pinky.