Couscous - Home Economics

Couscous

Last Friday our home economics class made Couscous. 

My group were assigned tasks Jakita was making the couscous, Jimmy was preparing the salad, Ella and I were making the salad dressing. By assigning the tasks this made everything organised and were able to focus on our jobs. The class surprisingly finished on time with 5 minutes to spare. 

Miss Hindson gave us a pita bread which we cut into quarters and served with the couscous.  I really liked couscous served with the salad it was refreshing however we did put in extra oil which didn't ruin the dish but just made it a bit oily. But my friends enjoyed it and loved the addition of the pita bread. My group members had the same comments about the dish.

What did the group do well?

The group was very organised and focused. They stayed on task and got their jobs done and had time to help others within my group. This weeks time management was really good because as stated above we have 5 minutes to spare and talk about the dish.

What could we improve on?

Not much because this weeks lesson was very productive but maybe cleaning up every time we cut something and wiping the benches. 

Next Steps:

1. Wiping the benches. 

2. Cleaning up when we cut something

3. Doing things quicker. 

https://cravingtasty.com/israeli-couscous-salad/

The Treaty Of Canandaigua ( Social Studies )

The Treaty Of Canandaigua 

In Social Studies we are learning about the treaty of Waitangi and we were given a choice to research about a treaty and I chose the Treaty Of Canadaigua. This treaty was signed in 1974 in Canandaigua, New York. It was all about establishing land and making peace with the Americans. How does this relate to the treaty of Waitangi? Both treaties were signed by indigenous people of the land and was signed by multiple chiefs. Both cultures fought over land and both has treaties.  

The Treaty Of Canandaigua by Nidhi Prasad

Butter Chicken - Home Economics

Butter Chicken 

On Friday the 25th of October our Home Economics class made Butter Chicken. 

My group were assigned tasks and because we didn't have a full team we had to work even harder to get finished on time. My job was to make the butter chicken sauce but earlier in the lesson, I had not cut my chicken to a reasonable size which meant I had to leave the sauce on for longer so the chicken was cooked. Everyone in my group did a good job and I don't know how but we got out on time.

I did not taste the butter chicken but I had got some feedback from my friends and group members. They liked the chicken but thought the sauce did not have enough flavour and wanted a bit more spices. My group member had basically the same comment and for next time we cook this dish we know to add more spices into the sauce. 

What did the group do well?

The group was focused and everyone knew what they had to do. This meant no one was standing around doing nothing. They did their jobs quickly because we didn't have an extra member. All the members contributed and we were able to finish on time. 

What could we improve on?

I think we could improve on communication because during that class, even though everyone was doing their own thing this meant we were not able to communicate on what we had to do next or who's doing what. It was a messy lesson. 

Next steps?

As stated above we may need to improve on our communication among the team. 

I was not here on Friday the 1st Of November, which means I can not write a blogpost on the dish we made. 

Meat Free Pasta - Home Economics

Meat Free Pasta 

Last Friday our group made meat-free pasta with tomato sauce. 

My group were assigned tasks in the lesson. I was in charge of cooking the pasta sauce and drying and washing the dishes. While the other group members were left to cook the pasta and prepare everything. Miss Hindson gave us the challenge to present like they do on Masterchef, we accepted it. Getting into the lesson everyone knew what they had to do due to the time frame. This was a simple vegetarian dish however it took us a bit longer to complete it. But, we were able to finish the dish on time. 

The pasta was really tasty, the pasta was cooked al dente. However, I thought the pasta sauce was a little salty. I loved the sprinkle of cheese on top because the heat from the pasta and pasta sauce caused it to melt and create a delicious crust. This was not a huge problem but as you ate it over and over again it started to overpower the dish. Apart from that, I would love to make this dish again and add a little twist of my own. 

What did the group do well?

The group was really focused and had good time management skills. Everyone knew what they were supposed to do which meant no one was standing around finding something to do or slacking off. Everyone stayed on track even though we didn't have a physical recipe to follow. This meant we had to listen to Ms Hindson and try to remember what she said. All and all everyone did a great job and we were able to produce a delicious dish. 

What could we improve on?

Nothing much because the group was focused and the time management skills were good as well. Maybe next time we could wash the dishes and dry them a bit quicker. 

Feedback?

Feedback from the group was really positive and everyone enjoyed the dish. They loved the choice of pasta we chose which was the spiral pasta. We didn't choose the spaghetti pasta because a majority of the class chose it and the spirals looked more pleasing. 

Next Steps:

Our next steps include:

- Taking more photo's.

Chapter 1 : English Creative Writing

How I Survived

In English class, we are focusing on creative writing and this is my finished copy. Instead of writing a short story I chose to write, chapter one of a novel. 

Click Here!

Maori Mythology & Gods

Maori Religion & Gods 

In social studies, we have been learning about the Maori mythology and religion. I have created a poster about Ranginui. The Sky Father. The poster gives an explanation of his story.

In class, we were put into groups and given questions to answer. These are answers we came up with:

1. Discuss the idea of Mythology/Stories in religion, and the role myths and stories play in society?

Myths and stories play a huge role in society by helping us understand other cultures and beliefs. They educate people and give us something to believe in. It helps us understand our history and the stories of our ancestors. Also explaining the unknown. 

2. What similarities are there between the myths and stories of Maori and the first British Missionaries?

Both cultures had their own beliefs. They both believed in gods or a higher power they worshipped. 

3. Why would differences between Maori beliefs and English beliefs cause conflict?
Because both cultures believed in their religion very strongly and we're not going give it up easily. Also because the Maori and Europeans had different morals and beliefs. They had diverse ways of worshipping gods and compared to the Europeans the Maori were treated differently. 

Marshmallow Catapult - Physics

Marshmallow Catapult

Aim: To construct marshmallow catapults and record its height and distance.

Equipment: Marshmallows (1 Packet), Rubber Band, Plastic Spoon, Wooden Skewers  ( 7 ) & Tape.

Method:

1. Place three marshmallows in a triangle, them connect them with skewers. 

2. Take a skewer and stick it onto the top of the marshmallow. 

3. Bring the tops of all three skewers and stick them together with one marshmallow.

4. Take a spoon to another skewer.

5. Stick this skewer into one of the marshmallows below the skewer already placed.

6. Take the rubber band and wind around spoon and then loop end of the rubber band around the marshmallow and bringing it underneath the marshmallow {should not be on marshmallow}.

Results:

Unfortunately, we were not able to measure the height of the flying marshmallows but did get the distance. 

Discussion:

Forces Behind The Experiment:
Before we even applied any force or energy on to our catapult, there were already forces acting on the object. This was support and weight force. These forces were keeping the catapult at an upright position, the forces were balanced. This meant that the object was motionless. As we pulled down the catapult kinetic energy was changed into elastic potential energy. When the spoon was pulled down it also gained elastic potential and as we released it converted the energy into motion. As it flew through the air it gained gravitational potential energy. The marshmallow gained as much gravitational potential energy until it stopped at a height which it could no longer go higher and started falling down again, which then was converted into kinetic energy as it fell back down again.

Definitions:
Support Force: is a force that balances the weight of an object.
Weight Force: Weight force is the force of gravity on an object.
Kinetic Energy: When an object is in motion kinetic energy is created.
Elastic Potential Energy: An elastic which can store energy and convert it into motion. 
Gravitational Potential Energy: Energy an object has when off the ground.

Structures:
We found out that different catapults gave us different results. We had three catapults:
Catapult 1: Was the spoon catapult. 
Catapult 2: Was the catapult with the purple bottle cap.
Catapult 3: Was the catapult with the small metal cap. 

These are some results involving distances from our experiment:

Catapult 1			Catapult 2			Catapult 3
Small	Big		Small	Big		Small	Big
0.5	0.8		4.1	3		2.2	0.3
2	0.9		4.2	5		2.5	1
2.5	0.9		4.4	5.7		3	1.8
3.5	1.1		5.8	5.7		3	2
3.8	1.4		6.3	6.9		3.1	2.3
4.6			6.5	6		3.4
4.9			8.3
5.8			5.8
5.8			4
6.3
6.4

As we can see catapult two has the longest small marshmallow throw (8.3m). And, catapult two has the longest big marshmallow throw (6.9m). This is becasue of its structure, catapult two has a bigger structure and more elasticity. This means it's able to bend back further building up more elastic potential to fling further. The more it bends back the further it goes. We can also see that catapult three is not able to fling marshmallows further than 4m because of its size. Catapult three is 2x smaller than catapult two which means it's not able to bend back as much and gain as much elastic potential energy. When bending catapult three we are bending the wood, which is not ideal as it is stiffer. Catapult one is the design we made, it has a spoon as the material we bend back, this means it is bendier. It is quite small than means it does not bend all the way back. In conclusion, without a doubt, the best catapult would be catapult two.

Calculating Gravitational Potential Energy: