Questions for G6 Blogs from Mr. Steiner:

Students are to write in their own words or video themselves (using their laptops) answers to the following questions related to our central idea for team games – “Success in games depends on skills, rules, strategies and sportsmanship.” Students need to post these answers on their blog. The words in red are possible ways to start your answers. Students are encouraged to comment on each other’s answers in a positive/constructive manner.

What does sportsmanship mean to you/look like to you? Give some examples.

Sportsmanship looks like to me, “shaking hands”. Shaking hands gives a sign of respect to each other. When you say good game or congratulations it tells the opponent that you respect them and you enjoyed playing against them. I believe it’s a must do thing in sports otherwise others won’t appreciate you. Sportsmanship also looks like playing by the rules, if you don’t play by the rules then it won’t be fair and when it’s not fair it turns out to be nasty.

Why is it important to follow the rules of a game?

It is important to follow the rules of the game, because it gives the players some guides, certain restrictions, something you should do or should not do…. these will allow the players to follow in order to play a fair game;  otherwise it is not played properly and it won’t be as enjoyable. For example, a tennis player can challenge the call made by the line caller by reviewing the digital video captured projection. However, if the tennis players make three incorrect challenges, then the player can no longer make anymore challenge during a set of games. Following the rules of the game can also avoid player cheating or causing conflict among the players.

Why are good team strategies important to success in team games? Give examples of strategies for team handball?  How would you create and/or deny space in team handball?

Team strategies are important because if you and your team players go into a match without a plan you will not know what to do, you would just go on with the game and it would be hard to win. Communication among the team members is important, a good game plan can allow you to play your strength and avoid the weakness when compete. Knowing your opponent’s weakness and strength are the equal important to make the team strategies; what are the steps or moves should be made, timing, who and when should make the attack, when should do the defence….all that should be well prepared before the match.

Almost every professional team has a plan before they go into a game or a match. With that, the chance that they can win will be higher. You create space in handball by passing the ball around and moving around. You deny space by blocking the person with the ball and also trying to mark the other team by moving around with them, but to do these, you need to well prepared with your teammates before the match. As mentioned, communication, anticipation, type of strategy applies, who and when should the move be made, what are the contingency plans…..are essential to your team strategies.

What is a strategy you/your team used in “Capture the Flag” to be more successful?

A strategy I used in Capture The Flag to be more successful was to defend the flag until the opposing half of the team was caught and then my team would attack. There would be fewer defenders and we would out number the opposing team.

Describe why having strong skills helps your team be more successful? Give some examples of skills with a specific team sport in mind.

Having strong skills are vital because if you have a team with bad skills then they would be messing up, making many mistakes and the margin of error would be very high. If you have a strong team it would be the opposite story there would be less mistakes and most probably you would be on the winning side. To be skillful, you need time to practise, follow the correct approach/methods, understand the steps and know how to apply the skills.

In playing doubles for tennis, it is important to be good at the following:

-Volleying

-Smash

-Forehand

-Backhand

-Slice

-Serve

-Consistency

-Aggressiveness

-Confidence

-Fighting Spirit

- Anticipation

- Communicate with your partner during match

If you have these skills, you would excel in tennis and be successful.

Why does a team that is very physically fit have an advantage over a team that is not fit?

The team that is physically fit has an advantage because sport is about physical which is a basic requirement if other elements between the competitors are equal; otherwise,  it is not a must in my opinion. There are many sports which does not only require physically fit, but the “best fit”. Some sport players are physically fit, but lack of intelligent, good coordination, speed, confident, skills, not being a good team player, mentally weak, body built not for a right sport etc.. these are important elements to be considered as an advantage for a game in sport. But in general, a physically fit team playing an unhealthy team in a game of handball for example,  the physical fit team would have an advantage because they can throw harder, run faster, create space and deny space easier.

We were given an assignment by Mr. Humphrey to write about a quote made by Amon Bronson:

“Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable”

I looked at this quote and thought for a while, “Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.” Have I gotten many friends or am I very selective for my friends? I do love reading books, but I read the books that I feel like. But when I think about the good books, which I really like, I would read it over again and again; and every time you re-read your favorite book, you can find more details and lines that you like. I would never throw away the books that I like, I will keep them as long as I could. So as I speak, I do agree with the quote, because it is hard to find real friendship, once you find one you will treasure it just like a good book which can give you meaningful information, knowledge, good reflection and memories.

You can read many books but only those good ones you will remember, you will think about, and you will talk about. You can have many friends but only those good ones you will share with, you will care of, you will talk to and you will give support to. A true friend is a person who is loyal to you and truth to you; a true friend is someone who cares for you. For me, a good book has to have a good friendship in it. Every time I read a good book, I try to read it over and over again because I want to know the message the author is trying to send. When I read it over and over again, it reminds me of a friend, because every book has a personality and every person has a personality. Sometimes it’s unique, sometimes it’s cheerful and others might be sad.

Good books are like nutrition, they make your mind stronger, broadens your imagination and makes you smart by exploring new vocabulary. Good books have tense moments just like your good friends, you might have arguments or debating but normally it would calm down and everything will be sorted out. Books have perspective and so do friends. Good books can support you and it can help you to learn. Books have helped my writing, it has improved ever since I started reading advanced books. Good friends also help you with your learning, they encourage you and try their best to help you to strive to your goals. When you have many good books, you can enjoy reading way more than other people. Books can boost your creativity and influence the language you speak and how you think. Books to me are a major influence in my life and my thinking, just like my good friends.

Some people may have different opinions about the quote, but I agree with it. Good books are like good friends they give you words of wisdom and knowledge which you can nurture for eternity. Only great books can make you have a mixed feeling of emotions, joy, sadness or it might leave you in tears. When you finish a book, it feels like that all the great experiences has flushed into your body. You want to read it again and experience the whole thing again and be refreshed what you have read. When you are reading a good book it’s like you are in your own world, every page you turn is a new adventure, sometimes you even forget that you are reading a book. When you are reading a good book you are trying to simulate what the character is experiencing! Good books are just like good friends.

It was a real legendary trip for me to take part of this school camp. My school organized this annual camp with a company called Dragonfly to bring all the Grade 6 students to Zhaoqing, in southern part of China. We spent 4 days and 3 nights there and it was my first time traveled outside of Hong Kong without my parents.

The purpose of the trip was to improve our personal development and leadership skills; to take action and participate adventure sports; to understand the local community and culture; and to strengthen our concept of environmental awareness and sustainability. From this whole idea of camping, we learn to plan, we get to experience and we then reflect.

On the day of November 27, all the Grade 6 students arrived at school ready to depart to Zhaoqing, China. Everyone had his or her suitcase and day bag ready to board the bus; obviously we were very excited for the adventure. We were separated into different color groups – Green, Blue, Orange, Yellow and Red. I was in the Green group headed by Ms. Kinsinger. I was so happy because Ms. Kinsinger is a very nice teacher and cares for her students. She is a very fun teacher and you would never feel bored with her. Anyway, we quickly got on to the bus after putting our suitcases into the luggage compartment.

So, we departed from our school at 8:30am. It was raining. We sat on the bus for about one and half hour, we then reached to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border. It wasn’t packed as I thought it would be. We then went through the customs and let the immigration officers checked our passport documents. It took quite a while. After that, we got on to our same bus and continue our journey. It took another 4 hours before we reached to our destination – Zhaoqing. We then had to take a ferry to get to our resort called Nine Dragon Lake Resort. Talking about the ferry, it was a very old and noisy ferry but I didn’t mind. The captain was sailing the ferry like it was a drift car.

It took no time we reached to the resort, we carried our suitcases and we walked up to the lobby of the hotel. Everyone was chatting about the subjects they talked about on the bus. I felt that the bus was boring but I did talk to other people just to keep me going. We were then introduced to our Dragonfly staff, my Green Group’s instructor was Fernando who was Spanish, he was very friendly. My group mate Mackenzie and I know how to speak a bit of Spanish so we spoke some Spanish with Fernando.

When we were at the lobby we did some games, and then we went to check out our rooms. Kai and Riley shared a room with me; we had a big room on the top floor! We then left our room and  the teachers went through the schedule with us for the day. We were supposed to arrive a bit earlier but the bus was late. So our group missed out the activity for ink stone carvings. For the evening, we had dinner at a fancy restaurant – Dynasty and the food was quite good. We all enjoyed it but there could have been more food.

After the dinner, we had the DF Challenge. We had to do a bunch of tasks made by the Dragonfly instructors. We had to make a group of 6; I was in a group with Riley, Tom, Roark, Stephen and Kai. We named our group the “Wasabis”, which I thought was creative since we were in the green group. We made team chant and we completed many tasks created by Dragonfly. Overall we came 3rd in the grade that I was proud of. After we had our debriefing we went to our rooms, we did our nightly routines and went to sleep. I couldn’t go to sleep till 11 PM. Sum up for the day, it was actually quite boring for me since the bus ride was super long and we were told that it would be raining the whole time till the day we leave. I was a bit disappointed, I thought that the bus ride could have been more enjoyable and we could have arrived earlier so we could do more. But I have learnt how to be patience!

On Day 2 morning, my roommates and I were woken up by my watch alarm, which was set at 6 AM. We got ready for the day like brushing our teeth, getting ready our day bags and changing to new clothes. We were the second room group to be out of our beds; by the time we were out it was 6:30. We had to be out by 7 AM so it was a relief that we didn’t sleep in, because when you sleep in it is so embarrassing. When everyone in the Green Group was present we headed to our target – “breakfast”. I was so hungry that I could eat a horse. When we arrived at the dinning hall we sat down and looked at the food. We weren’t really amazed on how good the food looked; my table didn’t eat that much food though. I ate some food, which was filling so I had energy for the day because I knew that the day would be a lengthy day.

After breakfast, we went to a room where we learnt to make our own paper. In fact, paper was invented in China during the period of Emperor Wu between 140 BC and 86 BC, even thought the word paper is come from Egypt “Papyrus”. Anyway, the set up in the room was like that there were cut up pieces of paper, but we had to rip it up even more, I wasn’t really looking forward to that. So we were divided into groups and started ripping. After the process, we put some water into the ripped paper in a plastic bowl and we went to the local Paper factory in Zhaoqing.I had never been to a paper factory so I was looking forward to it.

When we were in the factory the smell was revolting, but everyone bared with it and we listened to the counselor. The counselor explained the process of making paper in Zhaoqing and how it was made without using chemicals which ordinary paper does use. When we got out of the paper factory we went back to the bus and had waited, we had some delicious granola bars and apples, and we devoured everything with no guilt. We went back to camp and continued making our paper. Most people’s paper were really wet (including mine) because we either put too much paper or we didn’t do a good job at oozing the water out. I enjoyed this activity because I got to get my hands wet, shred paper and make my own paper out of RECYCLED paper – “YES! environmental awareness and sustainability”. It was extravagant!

Next, we went to eat lunch. THERE WAS SO MUCH FOOD! My eye suddenly looked much bigger! We pretty much attacked the food. Being polite, I waited for everyone to be done and then I would take some food, sometimes I made the wrong decision because there was not much food left. In my opinion the food was the second worst thing about camp because I don’t enjoy chinese food that much. The worst thing in camp was the bus ride, it took forever! I said to myself that “Learn to be patience!”

Since the blue group didn’t do their cableway hike on the first day, the Green group did a hike first and let the Blue group did the cableway hike. We walked for a long time, the trails were very slippery. I slipped and fell but no damage was done. We walked up hills and hiked on rocky floors, it was a bit dangerous but quite fun. It was a real adventure! I talked to my friends Stephen and Mackenzie and sang some songs. We arrived at a cemetery and paid respect to the fallen one, there was money and Fernando said if you ever stole the money you would have bad luck forever. The feeling in the cemetery was very solem and to be honest I did not like those occasions. We went somewhere up in a hill and played some games like Splat which was so fun. I am really good at Splat. Next, we went on the Cableway hike where we walked on the wire and had to use a hook to hold on. I was very scared but boy did I enjoy it. It was fantastic!

For the evening, we had the BBQ. We cooked fish balls, meatballs, corn and basically meat. The food was pre-cooked so we didn’t need to worry too much about raw food. After my stomach was full, we headed back to the hotel for lights out. I felt that the BBQ was a highlight for the day because we got to talk about the day and to tell stories even though time did fly by. I really enjoyed it, it was time to get to know your friends better. I treasured the moment I had with my teachers and school friends. The memory would keep forever.

After the beautiful BBQ, we were back in the rooms, brushed our teeth and settled in for bed. Right before the sleep train was leaving the station, I reflected on the day we had: rain, paper, cable hike and BBQ. In my mind I felt that this day was way better than the previous one because it was move-active-packed and by a mile long way more exciting. Right around then the train had left the station and I was settling in for the long journey.

On Day 3 – the final full day at Zhaoqing, I was woke up by my watch alarm. I said in my breath “Here we go again”. We got everything ready and went out to the lobby. No rain which was a relief. As soon as everybody in the Green group was at the lobby we embarked on our trip to breakfast. There was the usual as the previous day but this day I wasn’t hungry. I felt that I had no erge to eat, I tried to forget that erge and it worked. Our first activity was Chinese Painting, just to tell you I’m no friend with Chinese Painting because I am not good in art. The master was there to teach us two paintings, she looked extremely experienced. We started off with painting a Crane we had to follow her steps which she promised us would lead to success. We followed and it looked amazing. The other painting was the lake in Zhaoqing,I followed her instructions but I made a huge mistake with painting a temple and somehow she helped me cover it up and made it look good. I thought that my painting was bad, at least I tried my best. But I do pay my respect to Chinese painting, eventhough I am not a fan, because Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. It is an important part for Chinese culture.

The last activity of the trip was the best: “The Great Race”. After we boarded the bus, I had never felt so excited. When we arrived we were put into groups and given instructions, I do admit I wasn’t listening because the adrenaline was flowing in my body. We had an hour to get all the questions answered, we weren’t allowed to run so we speed walked. If we spent 5 minutes or more on one question we would skip and come back to it later. We skipped some questions but it didn’t matter since those were the ones never found by any contestant. We arrived first and I felt proud because we put lots of hard work and it paid off because later we found out that we came 2nd out of the whole grade with 95 points.

After our dinner,  we had our fun camp fire. We were singing and dancing away, then the night ended there. We went back to sleep and I reflected again: No rain, paintings, adrenaline, excitement, racing, fire and second….

…..we woke up to a knock from a teacher. It was already another brand new day. We quickly packed and got ready for breakfast, we cleared everything and left the room for the last time. Same breakfast and same feeling. We boarded the ferry and went to the departing area, we boarded the bus and sat down; and headed back to the homeland.

This was a LEGENDARY trip, I couldn’t say anything more.

I made a good friendship with my group counselor Fernando, we made a good connection because we knew Spanish and we followed sports which Spaniards love. I have no contact details with him which is sad, I really wanted to stay in touch but it doesn’t matter because I know somehow I will find him. Fernando was a guy who really cared for his students and thats why I like him. I want to meet him again someday.

During this trip I felt that I was a risk taker because I tried new things, I believed in myself that I could accomplish it. For example Chinese Painting, I am no artist but I tried my best and it worked. I had never tried Chinese Painting but I tried. Another example is trying new food from Zhaoqing, at first I was very optimistic about eating the local food but then when I tried it the flavors were amazing. I was also caring, when my friend slipped I went straight to him and asked if he was OK. A different example was when we were eating breakfast, lunch or dinner I would wait for my turn to take the food and I used good table manners.

My favorite part about camp was the Great Race, I felt that it was really competitive and we got to see Zhaoqing as a whole. We were basically like tourists walking around snapping photos, I LOVED it. My least favorite part was the bus ride, it took 7 hours to get to Zhaoqing and even longer to get back to Hong Kong. There was barely any entertainment on the bus which was quite annoying, but again – “Be patient!”

To conclude, this was a amazing trip with some setbacks like the rain but no one moaned about it, which was good because we kept a positive attitude. I thought that everything went well, but I wish we could have stayed longer. Zhaoqing is a great place to go camping and I do recommend it to people.

If you have read this whole post, I am applauding you because I think it is bit long. But I hope you have enjoyed it.

I have one last thing to say: WHAT A TRIP!

]]> http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/2012/12/06/the-legendary-trip-to-zhaoqing/feed/ 1 http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/2012/11/16/the-young-americans/ http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/2012/11/16/the-young-americans/#comments Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:16:20 +0000 084381 http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/?p=1011

For the past 3 days 32 people who were aged 17- 30 came to our school. They were part of an organization called the Young Americans. The Young Americans specialize in performing arts such as drama, singing, dancing and literacy. They worked with us to create a performance within 3 days. I thought that it was impossible but boy was I wrong.

On the first day we arrived at the LLAC the Young Americans were really pumped up and had great attitude. I thought that they would look jet lagged because they arrived the day before. When we sat in our seats, they introduced themselves. Me and my best friend Riley were talking to a Young American named Sam Focer, he was very kind, very open minded and very fun. As soon as everyone became quiet the Young Americans started a performance. Their first performance was the Witch Doctor, we were amazed how they could perform. I thought it was really coordinated and it took very hard work to make what it looks like. They were doing all these dance moves and it was amazing, everyone was clapping and cheering. When they finished we all stood up and were clapping, everyone loved it. Then one of the Young Americans went on the microphone and told us that we would have to learnt that within 10 minutes. He continued saying we have to go and find a Young American and learn the moves with them. Everyone thought that we wouldn’t be able to do it because the quality was so good. After, they taught the moves we went on stage and we danced with the music. The Young Americans told us that we totally nailed it. We learnt a couple of songs they were Don’t Stop Believing, Let It Be and Hey Jude. We practiced that we were separated into groups and we learnt it. When we sang I thought that we were awesome. I felt that I became more confident already and I thought that I could do it. I was really exhausted after the first day because of all the movement. But I had a energy boost after we had some snacks for recess, the food there were delicious. Everyone devoured the food like a pack of wolves.

The second day, we practiced all of the ones we learnt the previous day. Then we learnt the Happiness song, it was very enjoyable. Next, the boys were split into two groups. One group was called the Ghostbuster and the other one was the Disco Boys. I was in the Disco Boys group, I thought they were way better then the Ghostbusters. The Disco Boys learnt John Travolta’s disco dance in Saturday Night Fever, I loved it. We were dancing so good the Young Americans said we had no mistakes. The only thing the Young Americans told us to do better was to enter the stage more out-going, more cool way. We practiced and practiced everyone loved it. We started to practice dancing to this Rock song one of the Young Americans were singing. I felt that it was my favorite part. We had to shake a lot but we didn’t do a lot  of moving around type. We later watched 12 students sing solos of Disney Songs. They were quite good.

Later we came back from Lunch, we sat down in our chairs and the Young Americans performed the Circle Of Life from the Lion King. They said we would have to learn that, we did and we really good. It was actually very complicated to learn but we were really good and had no problems at all. That was our finale for our big performance. We practiced everything from the top and had no problems at all, I really was amazed we made a clean run through.

The third day, we just ran through it all over again. But we had some  activities we did in between like writing poems when listening to music and drawing pictures when listening to a certain song. We shared the art and described it.

When performance night fell, everyone was there. Parents, teachers etc. We did everything perfectly, no mistakes. But when I was doing the Disco dance I was elbowed in the face by accident and my mouth started to bleed a bit. It wasn’t nice. I just lived with it and went through the whole thing. When we finished we said our Thank You, good -bye to the Young Americans. We all missed them, some students even cried because the Young Americans had been so good friends.

I built a very strong friendship with Sam, he was extremely nice to me. Another person I grew a strong friendship with was Yuta, he was always encouraging me to sing and dance more and more. He was my favorite Young American out of all. I’m trying to find his contact details so I can keep in touch with him! The skills I developed from the Young Americans were being more confident, dancing, choral singing, doing solos. I really learnt a lot from the Young Americans  for example being enthusiastic about performing and not being scared to make a mistake on the stage. The most important thing I learnt was being confident and saying that I can do it.

To conclude, I felt that these Young Americans are a good organization to make kids more confident and enthusiastic about performing. I now feel confident and I now want to go on the stage more! I made good friendships and I learnt a bunch of skills that I never knew I could do before.

I wish that it was longer!

]]> http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/2012/11/16/the-young-americans/feed/ 0 http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/2012/09/20/back-to-school/ http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/2012/09/20/back-to-school/#comments Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:27:21 +0000 084381 http://sites.cdnis.edu.hk/students/084381/?p=1005

It has been one month into Grade 6 and I can already feel how great this school year will be! I am in 6D, the name of our class is the 6D Dobbies. My homeroom teacher is Mr Humphrey, he is a great teacher. Mr Humphrey is a New Zealander so I am sure he will be very kind through out the school year. Speaking about Dobbies, Dobbies represent braveness and loyalty so I think that really represents my class.

I’ve made many new friends in my class, this school year we have 2 new students : Alician and Mackenzie. They are both really nice and caring. I am very excited for this year because it will be a very challenging year with the PYP exhibition in April, the ISA test in October and so on. But this will also mean more work and working harder which I am fine with. The more older you get the tougher it becomes! It will also be fun because we have Grade 6 camp in Zhaoqing which will be on November 27th to November 30th. I am very excited.

I will try my best to get a very successful year this year. What ever Grade 6 throws at me I will be ready.

Four weeks ago my class started a math project. We started drawing a floor plan which was a scale of 40 by 30 meters. We could build anything we wanted e.g House, park, hotel or a race track. When we drew the floor plan we had to label the area and color the areas. Ms. Cahusac wanted us to fill the whole paper. Everyone finished very fast so we could get to the main part of building the model. To build the model we used a software called Minecraft, many students in my class already were playing this software already. But some students didn’t know how to play so we had a whole period to help them learn. After everyone learnt how to use Minecraft we started building. I built a racing track with the spectator seats, VIP box, shops, car parks etc. It took me a long time to finish the building. When I was building I was really behind but then I focused and got the job done. I used different types of materials like diamond, ores, wood etc.

The reason that we chose to use Minecraft because it’s a educational software which could be used for different purposes like math, problem solving. You could build anything of your imagination and be very creative with it. It provides you with different materials like iron, gold, diamond, lapis lazuli, wood, bricks etc. It makes you think logically and teaches you to use basic computer skills. You can work with other people if you have a real account, on multiplayer servers. When you work with other to achieve a objective that is called team work.

Here is my floor plan and my tour! Hope you enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The present Unit of Inquiry I am learning at school is about “The Human Body” which is one of the transdisciplinary themes for “Who We Are”. We’re learning how the body goes through different changes through our lives such as when you are born, making your first step, coming to puberty, becoming an adult, getting old, etc. The lines of inquiry are “The changes that occur in the human body”; “Factors that cause our bodies to change” and “Actions that affect personal well being”. We have been learning the terminology of the different parts of the body like body systems, organs, bones, muscles etc. We must understand the structures of a human body and also be able to identify the major organs before we can look further through the changes of a human body.

During class time, we are watching a documentary on how our body changes through life, the video lasts for 2 hours. It’s starting to become very interesting. We have been investigating for some parts of the body on a website called Anatomy Arcade. We learnt about the muscles and bones by playing the games Poke-A-Muscle and Whack-A-Bone. They’re really fun games and I made it to level 2 on both of them. By playing, we learn it’s a super fun game. We also learnt some information from a booklet my teacher gave us. It contained worksheets on the body systems such as your eye, your bones, your body muscles, your endocrine…etc., which we have to work on them. I have done about half of the booklet and I am now on the reproductive system. There are some interesting facts that I would like to share with you about human body, which I never knew before:

-Boys have lesser taste buds than girls

-Your brain cannot feel any pain

- Your ears produce more earwax when you are afraid

-The moment you die, some cells are still alive. These cells can stay alive for some time; and these live cells can keep your hair and nails growing until the cells die.

- Eating too much food will make your hearing worse

I will very soon start doing independent studies about the human body that I am most interested about. I’m going to pick the topic on body hair for my independent inquiry. The growth of our body hair changes our different parts of body throughout our life and because that happens to everyone and I want to learn more about it. It interests me a lot because I want to find out:

1.Why does the body hair change?

2. When your body hair changes, is it a benefit or a disadvantage to your body?

3. How do these changes affect you on your daily life?

4.Which change is the most significant out of all?

At the end of my independent studies, I will use the programme “Keynote” to make a presentation on how the body hair changes throughout our life for my class, so that I can share the outcome of my investigation and study with my classmates.

In summary, I’ve been learning lots of new facts and general knowledge about the human body; and especially how it functions. In class we have been doing many things to help us to learn about the changes of human body. We’ve also drawn a human body in groups and labelled all the bones, muscles and body parts that we knew. It was a pre-assessment to see how much we understood the human body from our teacher. I’ve learnt about bones, muscles, nerves, etc. The most interesting part of this Unit of Inquiry that I’m looking forward to is the independent studies about the change of the human body hair. On May 21, all the Grade 5 students will go for a 3 days camp organized by the school. We will do a lot of physical activities. During the camp, we will continue to learn about human body, especially the topic of puberty. What I still want to learn in this unit are the nervous system and skeletal system.

I think this will be a very challenging unit to everyone as it is the last unit of inquiry for the school year. So, I will try to do my best!

The Unit Of Inquiry (UOI) I am currently learning at school is about sharing the planet, and the central idea of this unit is to look at the social issue – “Actions can support or deny access to children’s right and opportunities”. I am pushing through the limit to look into some circumstances. Some children in this world are under-privileged; some are mistreated; some are forced to do child labour, child prostitution or fight in war; some are abused and living in fear, and their childhood are being taken away. I realize that we have the responsibility to help. The world should come together to show their care and to take possible actions to protect these children. This is their basic human right. We should try to help and to bring back their rights. We should all be treated equally. But my mind always have these questions, “Are we all equal?” “Will everyone have an equal opportunity or will it always be different?” It’s a matter of facts that we are not equal. But we can do something to narrow the gap. We should let the world aware of these abused children. To show my care, I have produced an iMovie to promote my Public Service Announcement (PSA) to encourage the world come together to help and to protect the children’s rights.

Through this inquiry into the children’s rights, I am slowly coming to understand that, but sadly to say, we will never be equal. Equal opportunities is about people who should be treated similarly no matter what their religion, race, gender …are or how rich or poor they are. But in this world raw materials and natural resources are distributed unevenly, which give some countries advantages, but some not. We have different religious; we have different cultures, we have different governments and policies, we have different climates, we have different populations, we have different living standards, we have different beliefs and we have different point of views. We are different in race, gender, religion, power and so on. Some countries are richer than others. Some people are poorer than others.

We often learn from news that there is some poor people in some under-developed or developing countries that they have no choice but would sell their children for money just to make a living. These children may end up becoming child labour, child prostitution or slave. Joseph KONY is another example of children exploitation. KONY 2012, which was a project created by a charity organization – Invisible Children to catch Joseph KONY who kidnapped children in Uganda for multiple purposes such as fighting in war and child slavery. These children are being badly abused and exploited by this evilly war crime leader. I embedded the video – KONY 2012 to my blog to make awareness to the world about this war crime leader. The ultimate aim is to catch him. I watched this video with my mother. My mother was shocked and could not stop crying because she could not bear that there is such a crime that could happen to these poor children. Where is the justice?

We are all different and we are not equal. “Will we ever change or will we be the same for generations to come?” or “Will we be equal or will we be different forever?” I am glad to learn that there are many non-profit organizations and projects around the world such as Free The Children, CNN Freedom Project, UNICEF, Invisible Children who are taking actions to help these children. There are people who have principle, justice, care, respect to human rights. They are against child slavery and against exploitation of children; and they support the children’s rights and encourage the world to help, to free and to educate these children.

But I strongly believe that we can change the world if we work together. We can make our world more equal and a better place for everyone, especially for these children. We need to protect the children’s rights. But if no one will support and fight for the children’s rights then I guess it will just be the same for generations to come. I know that if everyone just does a bit of his or her share we CAN change the world.

I have learnt in this UOI that awareness is the first step that we can do to help to protect the children’s right. Let the world know about the facts of these abused children. To show my respect and care of these children, I have produced an iMovie to promote my Public Service Announcement (PSA) to protect the children’s rights. PSA is a message in the public interest disseminated by media without charge, with the objective of raising awareness, changing public attitudes and behavior towards a social issue such as children’s rights.

The reasons of producing this iMovie for my PSA not only to show my respect and care, but I believe that this is everyone’s responsibility to take actions against crimes and wrongdoing. PSA can be a persuasive tool to bring awareness of the children’s rights to the public. We are not equal but we can level it out, if we all do a little bit of our share. For instance, donating to an organization already can help these underprivileged children.

I have chosen Article #31 from UNICEF’s United Convention On The Rights Of The Child paper for my PSA, which is about “Children Having The Right To Play And Sleep”. The reason I chose Article #31 is that I am a child and I would not like to lose my childhood. Imagine that if I only studied for my academic results for day and night, no play and no rest. I would like to end my life, because there is no meaning of life. I want to play, socialize and enjoy time with my friends and family; and I need to rest and sleep properly so that I can grow healthy and happy. So, you can think of these abused children who work as child labour working day and night, no play and little rest. How harsh it is for them. I am so against and angry with children whose rights to play and rest have been taken away and their opportunities have been lost. I feel this right is very important because children need time to play, through play they learn better, and when children study better, they can grow better. They need to be balanced; when children are balanced they will be happier. I believe that children are our future, and let to make this world a better place.

Today I have completed my PSA and I am very proud to present it to you because I put my heart and effort making it and I wish the world would come together to help and to protect the children’s rights. Because every child in the world has one thing in common, their rights! No one should take away a child’s childhood! What is your decision? Support it with actions or deny it?!

Please watch my PSA and TAKE ACTION!

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is a long post over 2000 words, “Read It At Your Own Patience!”

On March 30th 2012, my parents and I left home to the airport after a light meal. We were dropped off  at Terminal 1 where the check-in counter of Malaysian Airlines was. The check-in was fast as no one was in the line. But it was packed with people who were leaving Hong Kong for Easter break at the Custom/ passport control, it took ages but it was O.K for me. After passing through the Custom, my dad wanted to look at some shoes in the shops so we went, then my mum wanted to look at some handbags. It was pretty boring…

Next, we went to the Traveller’s Lounge, it was again full of people but we found some seats so we were lucky. Later, our flight was boarding so we left the lounge in a hurry for no reason or perhaps my parents could not stand the crowd. We went there and we boarded the plane. The plane was a 777-200 bound for Kuala Lumpur, the plane was nice and big. I started surfing the in-flight entertainment but then it was cut by the safety video, I thought to myself it was so annoying. I had a power nap and woke up just after it took off…

I went on the in-flight entertainment and continued watching movies. Since it was about 2:30 PM I didn’t try to sleep. I watched a few movies – Aliens In The Attic, The Simpsons and Top Gear. The landing was very smooth except the brakes were hard when it touched the ground; and everyone went forward in their seat but the seat belts kept us from not falling. After we left the plane and went to the Malaysian Airlines’ lounge because we had to wait for our transiting flight to Maldives. In the lounge I had two small packs of peanuts and a Coca Cola, there was a TV and the replay of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Malaysia was on so I was in luck. About 20 minutes later, we boarded the plane it was a 737-800 bound for Male International Airport. The plane had a touch screen in-flight entertainment system, so I was impressed and the safety video wasn’t on the in-flight entertainment system, the flight attendant did a demonstration of it. I was again surfing the in-flight entertainment, I watched some documentaries on sports such as Formula One and Tennis it was interesting. Before landing I started drifting to sleep again and when the plane just skimmed the tarmac on the runway I woke up. About 5 minutes later my family was out of the plane, going as fast as we could to beat everyone else through the immigration. We were the first ones to pick up our luggage and we left the terminal remember I was in Maldives and we were going to take a speedboat to this resort called Four Seasons at Kudda Hurra. The speedboat took 30 minutes and it was about 10 PM at night. The ride was super bumpy, we were sitting down on a seat there was a handle and I had an iron grip on it. We were the only ones on the boat so it was private (excluding the Captain and crew).

We arrived and the hotel staff greeted us, they were very nice. One of the staff went to get a buggy so he could bring my family to our villa, they took care of our luggage. We were only staying at Kuda Huraa for one night as the next morning, we needed to take a seaplane to another Four Seasons Hotel at Landaa Giraavaru. When we arrived at the villa I charged to the bed and jumped on it, I took off my shoes and relaxed. A whole day of traveling I was relived that I could sleep in a real bed. I took a shower, brushed my teeth and went to bed. I woke up next morning and my parents were already awake, we did what we would always do in the morning and went for breakfast. I ate a lot, so I was very full. I walked around and played around with my mum’s new camera. I took a lot of nice pictures, I might put some photos on this blog and show you how beautiful the scene was. A couple of hours later we boarded a speedboat to go to this floating jetty on the middle of the water. A seaplane was waiting there for my family and other passengers who were going to the same hotel – Four Seasons at Landaa Giravaruu at the Baa Atoll. It was a very small plane called Twin Ottor airplane, the seats were small but I didn’t really care because the flight was only 30 minutes and we would arrive at paradise soon. They provided earplugs, I already knew this because I had been to Landaa Giravaruu before. The seaplane was very noisy and my earplugs couldn’t block the noise completely, it was stuffy inside the plane and I was irritated. When we landed I was delighted because I knew we were in paradise. We boarded a speedboat and went to the main jetty at the resort and the hotel staff greeted us all. My Uncle Armando is the Regional Vice President for the Four Season Hotels. We were invited to stay at his home – the yellow house.

When this Four Seasons Hotel at Landaa Giraavaru was almost completed in 2004, it was destroyed by the tsunami. Luckily, Uncle Armando was safe from the disaster. So, the owner of this resort hotel had to spend more money to rebuild the island resort. Part of this island was actually man-made land. It has only 100 villas, almost all of the villas are built on the water.

When we arrived, it was about 3 PM in the afternoon so I was filled with energy. My parents took a shower and I watched some TV. After a hour my parents asked each other if we should eat late lunch. I said O.K and my parents thought the same thing too. We went to Cafe Landaa, I ordered a coke and a burger with french fries, my parents ordered something Indian that I had no idea what it was called. After we finished the food,we went back to the house and watched some T.V before uncle Armando insisted that we should go to the Sea Bar with him, he said it was very new. We went there and we learnt that it was built on the water, and it was made out of wooden planks and they put everything what would be in a bar right on top of it. There were tables, nice designed chairs and lying down cushioned seats or you would call it bed, where you could just enjoy the calm breeze and the colorful sunset . We sat on one of those lying down seats set on the edge of the planks, there was no fence or whatsoever if you could fell down or roll over and drop into the water. You had to take off your shoes before you step in to the Bar restaurant so it felt very homely and casual.

After my parents had a good long catch-up with Uncle Armando at this beautiful bar, he brought us to the Arabic restaurant for a late dinner. I was very tired since there was a 3 hours time difference between Hong Kong and the resort. I was starting to get drowsy. My parents and Uncle Armando went crazy and ordered a lot of food that we knew we couldn’t finish. I wasn’t that hungry but it looked like my parents were starving so they ate a lot of Arabic food and I ate not that much. I had no idea what the foods were called so I couldn’t list them out. For dessert I had a babyccinno, honestly it was not bad. After Uncle Armando took me and my family back to his house, we watched some TV. While I was playing my itouch, I was eating an ice cream; then we went to bed. On that day I found out this really cool game called Dream League Soccer. Since then, I was addicted to it.

The next day we were invited to a cocktail at a beach. It was during the sunset time, the cocktail’s set up was fantastic with good food and good drinks and also had some local dancers doing the Maldivians traditional dance.  The sunset scenery was unspeakable beautiful. This kind of memory would keep you alive for long time. It made even special for this occasion that I met my good school mate -  Alpha Adventurer 15 there in the cocktail. He and his family were there for the Easter break too. What’s a small world! They were very nice and we greeted each other. The two families were chit chatting and sharing their experiences. I was playing with Alpha Adventurer 15 at the beach, then we saw a dead cat-fish lying on the beach, all the little crabs started eating it.  But I guess that’s the way of life.

The following morning at Landaa Giraavaru, we woke up very late. We did everything that we needed to do in the morning and then went for breakfast at Cafe Landaa. I ate a lot of food, I thought it was the most I could ever have eaten in my whole life. After that, we went to play some tennis for 2 hours. After lunch we went back to the house, my dad and I swam in the ocean and it was really fun. Then, we thought it was not enough, I told my dad that we should do some snorkeling, so we went. We got the gears on and off to the water.  We saw many different kind of coral fishes. They were just beautiful. I saw this multi color fish which was huge and I really meant it.

After spending some time in the water, my dad had a rest and  watched a movie called “Snakes On A Plane”, it’s not for children I assured you. I kept bugging my dad to play some frisbee with me and I finally cracked him. We played for an hour. I was good at that. My dad made me run a lot, and we were playing in sand so it was hard to move, sometimes it went in to the water, it was hard to get the frisbee out because the strong currents. My mum wanted to take some photos of me at the beach, I was o.k with it. Afterward we had a drink at the Sea Bar again, the Sea Bar was very cool because it was built right on top of the water. I really enjoyed the moment with my parents, sitting down with my favorite drink on my hand, making jokes with my parents, watching the sunset, feeling the sea breeze, listening the sound of seawater and smelling the freshness of sea wind. I really thank to my parents. They really love me. I hope this memory would stay with me for long long time.

We later went to Fuego’s a fish restaurant, personally I didn’t like fish that much, so I was not that excited to eat at the place. Well! Every meal had some fish in it except dessert, I had a chocolate sundae it was legendary I swear! After we finished dinner we went back and my parents forced me to go to sleep because it was late while they watched some TV with Uncle Armando and ate some fruits. I secretly played my iTouch. Until I could hear foot steps. For some reason I fell asleep so fast.

After few days with full of activities, I wasn’t that pumped with energy but I tried not to show it. My family had breakfast and we saw Alpha Adventurer 15 with his family. After we finished breakfast, we went for snorkeling again. Snorkeling is one of my most favorite things, but sometimes I had problem breathing. When my dad and I went into the water I didn’t put the breathing tube properly into my mouth, the whole time I had the same problem. But eventually I had no more problem. It was very enjoyable, I saw over 100 different types of fish. In the distance I even saw a eel, but the staff there said they are vegetarian. In that late afternoon, my parents and I  went for a sunset fishing trip. We were full of excitement as we had no memory of doing it before. We boarded to a local made boat and set off to the middle of the sea to fish until around 8pm! What was the score??? My dad caught a little coral, I caught a small coral fish and my mum caught a bigger fish. It was a fun day and this was my first fishing experience.

The next day, Alpha Adventurer 15 asked if I and my family could go to the beach with them and do some water sports with his family. So we did and I had one of the most memorable time of my life. We did a water sport that was using a speedboat pulling a raft. We sat down on the raft which looked like a giant sofa while the speed boat pulled the raft along and we bounced on the waves at sea. It was so fun! I wanted to do it again and again. The waves were really bouncy because it was generated by the speed boat. Afterward, I and Alpha Adventurer 15 did some swimming and talked about soccer and then we went back to our villas. The next day I and Alpha Adventurer 15 did some snorkeling together and he had the problems with the tube for breathing. But, again we got to see some very cool fishes. The same day he and his family took the seaplane and left Landaa Giraavaru island and moved to the other Four Season resort at Kuda Huraa for few more days.

Before we left the resort, my parents sponsored a coral frame dedicated to me to help the Maldivians reef. This project is called “Reefscapers” which runs programmes at the two Four Seasons islands of Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru in the Maldives. What I had to do is to attach coral fragments onto the coral frame before the marine biologists put it into the sea. Then the coral fragments would grow bigger and bigger over time, eventually it would create more coral reef and new habitats for the sea life. I was very happy about it. The marine Biologists told me that I could view my coral frame through their website as they would take photos very six months. There was a tag with my name and a code attached to my coral frame. My Uncle Armando told me that I have to come back and visit it every year, I was OK with that. Then before we left my dad and Uncle Armando said that if he came back to the Maldives, he will come to Hong Kong. They made a deal and I was happy with that.

After we did the same travel experience again…

I really had a great time with my parents. My mum always says to me that togetherness is very important to our family. But building some unforgettable memories are equally important for our mind. Do you agree with that?

KONY 2012 is a video created by Invisible Children. The film’s purpose is to promote the charity’s ‘Stop Kony’ movement to make indicted Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony internationally known in order to arrest him in 2012. Joseph Kony is a person who kidnaps children and uses them for multiple purposes such as  fighting in wars. Joseph Kony is preventing them from Children Rights. Children Rights is my current Unit Of Inquiry so I am very curious about it. Most people are lucky around the world but some aren’t, most people have education, shelter, food, drinks and other conveniences but some people don’t have it. Please watch this video and I hope that it can mean something to you!