UnMasked

In Drama, we have been talking about and creating our own masks.
First, we were given a "mould" of sorts of which we needed to paper mache. We spent about two periods on this?

Once dry, it was painted white so we were free to decorate! I added black eyeliner to the eyes and a red diamond to the forehead of mine.

Then we choreographed a fake fight based on the characters we made using the masks.

And that's that! The story of my mask!

Caused Conflicts

In the first article of the treaty, Maori were told that they'd only have to give up governorship and continue to have control over their tribes. However, the British were told that they'd (they being Maori) have complete control over New Zealand. Government issues ensue.

In the second article, in the British version, Maori are guaranteed all of their properties but the British have the established right to buy the land that was for sale, meaning the Maori could only sell to the British government. Maori were aware they had full rangatiratanga over their possessions. Contrary to the British article, Maori were told they could offer their land to the British Crown for an agreed price and if the offer is denied, the land could then be sold to someone else. This would cause some issue when Maori tried to sell land to countries outside of the British Crown.

In the third article, both versions state that Maori had the same rights as British subjects. However, the British "Offical" version, did not state that the British were to protect Maori, unlike the translated Maori version of the article. This would obviously cause some kind of conflict where Maori believe they should be being protected but aren't necessarily. 

My Ideal World

Close your eyes. 

Imagine the perfect world.

What do you see?

A question like "what does an ideal world look like" is relative. The answer would change depending on who you ask. If you were to ask a five-year-old, I can almost guarantee you that their answer would be drastically different from the one of a 50-year-old. But my ideal world? I'm not sure...

Sure, I'd like to see a world where everything is perfect, where everything within our idea of 'tragedies' didn't exist, ever but that's not the most realistic thing. With the way that humans tend to linger on the negatives, no matter what, we'd find something that's worst than anything else.

So... My ideal world would be one where prejudice is collectively looked down upon. Where everyone is perfectly equal, no matter race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, sex, etc. Diminished discrimination. Where everyone has an option, where their choice is valid. Where they're allowed to make that choice. Where love is love. Where war and violence and death was never the option. Where mental illness is treated the same as physical, visual illness. Where precedents and stereotypes are bullshit, word, nothing to listen to. Where people can simply... live in peace.

That's my ideal world.

And the only real way to get here is to spread information. True information. Spread positive attitudes and messages. Don't just try and get people to understand. We've got to make them understand. Let them hear us, no matter how much we've been silenced and-

Now I'm starting to sound crazy. But you get what I mean. Words mean so much more than people know. 

But that. That is my ideal world.

The Treaty Of Waitangi

If you grew up in a New Zealand school or have literally ever watched the news in February, you’ll know about the Treaty of Waitangi. First signed on 6 February 1840, the treaty continues to be a controversial topic surrounding the countries history. So why was it ever signed? Whalers basically going crazy, Europeans missionaries vying for Māori rights, infighting and the musket wars, plus the Declaration of Independence all played a part in the creation and signing of the treaty, proving that back then the treaty was truly needed. 

With the continuing influx of European whalers came a high increase in absurd behaviour, leaving the country in a need of a treaty. Instilling a treaty between the two countries would introduce laws and regulations, restricting the lawless behaviour of the whalers. In the early 1830s, the contrast of Europeans compared to the Māori was huge. There was an estimated 100,000 Māori compared to the 200 Pākehā. Of this 200, there were many a whaler. Once arriving in places like Kororārika after spending up to three months on the sea, whalers would begin to lose any order. In an attempt to wind down from the no-less-than dangerous job, they would get drunk in local bars, have insane parties, and usually end up starting fights. They would take advantage of the local prostitution, as sex would pay for the purchase of a lot of things, including muskets. Furthermore, in some cases, they would spread diseases or even kill. This behaviour made the Europeans think twice about their treaty-less status.

Missionaries, religious messengers, played a large role in the signing and promotion of the treaty. Without their word, protecting Māori’s rights, such as their land and their trading, may have been overseen by the rest of the Europeans. The first missionaries landed in New Zealand in December 1814, following Samuel Marsden. Throughout their stay in New Zealand, the local missionaries tried their best to sustain good relationships with the Māori people. Over time, they taught them how to read in write in Māori and tried to convert them to Christianity. As a ploy to do this, the Christian Bible was translated into the newly created Māori language. The missionaries would spend days travelling by horse to meet their converting-based mission. Watching events play out, they began to grow concerned for the Māori, who, at the time, was slowly decreasing in population and losing their land. So to help, the missionaries promoted the Treaty of Waitangi to Māori and European alike. In a huge attempt to protect Māori rights, missionaries were an important factor in needed the treaty.

Ah, the musket wars. Set off by the increasing number of muskets traded for flax, and other goods, with the Europeans, thousands of Māori were killed, significantly damaging their population. Between 1807 and 1842, over 3,000 battles occurred throughout New Zealand tribes. The first few were results of a rivalry between Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua, as the north island tribes were some of the first few tribes with access to the long-barrelled guns. With the sudden decrease in population, it was time they needed a treaty. Though over time the fights became fair and more difficult, the substantial amount of deaths was a concern to Europeans, mostly missionaries. Following the treaty, new rules and regulations would be implemented in order to contain violence and death. As with the newfound partnership through the treaty came protection, a treaty being introduced would protect the Māori against whatever means necessary. So, without the rapid increase of wars due to musket trading, there probably wouldn’t have been a need for protection, therefore the musket wars contributed to the creation of a treaty.

Why would New Zealand need a treaty, the Treaty of Waitangi, if there was already a Declaration of Independence in play? Well, interestingly enough, the Declaration of Independence was merely a portal of which the negotiations for a treaty could begin. Signed in 1835 by 35 Māori leaders and 4 British representatives, the document stated that the native people of New Zealand, the Māori, held sovereignty over the land but were only able to trade with the British. It was designed to promote and protect the rights of Māori, as well as recognise them as a national identity. Previously, not one chief had authority over a larger iwi and everyone lived in their extended families, smaller hapu. James Busby, the man who drafted the document, saw it as a step toward the country being under the British crown after helping 25 Rangatira choose a flag in hopes of creating a government down the line. So, basically, the Declaration was signed to give Māori the sovereignty of the country so that they could sign it away in the Treaty of Waitangi. Despite this, in order to have the treaty signed, the Declaration of Independence needed to be revoked, meaning that the same people who signed the Declaration needed to sign the Treaty of Waitangi. So, consequentially, to get the treaty signed and officiated, the Māori and the Europeans would’ve actually needed the Declaration of Independence.

Following the numerous events throughout our history, we can see that the Treaty of Waitangi was truly needed in order to advance the country. Without it, whalers would continue in their pandemonium and the musket wars would have continued. Missionaries would have been yearning over nothing and the Declaration would have served little to no purpose to the Europeans. Going forward, the topic of the Treaty of Waitangi will probably continue to be controversial, that’s okay. Everyone deserves an opinion. When we look back, we should always see why New Zealand had a treaty in the first place, and how it truly affected the country. Whether you agree or not, these facts are there and shouldn’t be ignored. Use them to your advantage. So there. From this, I think we can all agree. New Zealand, at the time, really did need the treaty.

Composition

By dictionary definition, the term composition means "the nature of something's ingredients or constituents; the way in which a whole or mixture is made up. In music terms, composition is creating a musical piece using various instruments or sounds.

In music, we were tasked to create our own music for a purpose. Whether it's creating film music, an ad slogan, or writing a song with a specific meaning.

I personally have taken on the challenge of creating a piece of music used to frame a film scene. So far, I have created a 20 second something with no sense of genre but the ticking of a clock as an intro. Next, I have to further the piece by adding more and thinking of a genre to put it under.

Damn White People.

In social studies, we are learning about the Treaty of Waitangi and the effects it had on people involved. To understand more about treaties, we were tasked to research one of the treaties given to us. Either the Act/Treaty of Union of 1707 (between Scotland and England) or the treaty between the US and Native Indians. I did the Treaty Of Union. 

Pew Pew Pew

Aim: Make a volcano... But it's a cake

Equipment: (We doubled this because we made two cakes :D)
1 cup Chelsea White Sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Baking stuff

Method: (from Chelsea Sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour a 23cm x 23cm cake pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla essence.
3. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally, stir in the milk until mixture is smooth. Pour or spoon into the prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. The cake is done when it springs back to the touch.
5. Make some icing. Try and make it brown. Or green. Or something.
6. Try your best to carve out the shape of the volcano and icing appropriately. Cake art.
7. Carve out a crater and shove some m&m's inside. 
8. Eat it because of cake. 

Results:

...Actually, you don't want to see what we made... It's not the prettiest things I've ever made but it'll suffice for now.

I didn't do the main decoration with the fondant, that was Jakita. I did, however, carve it and let me say it's not the easiest feat ever.

Discussion:

Volcanoes are formed when convergent boundaries occur. Convergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates come together, they either subduct or push up. To form a volcano, a convergent boundary will need to subduct. Subduction is when the more dense crust of the earth is pushed under the less dense crust. This less dense crust is the earth/crust we live on, continental crust. The denser crust is the oceanic crust. In the case of a volcano, the oceanic crust is forced under the continental crust and creates a trench that begins to meet the Earth's mantle, the 2nd layer down from the top. The plate is pushed down to the mantle is slowly melting, and as it melts it begins to get less dense. The now-liquid rock, magma, forces its way through the continental crust's cracks and weaknesses and begins to build pressures inside of the Earth. When that pressure is released, the liquid rock explodes up into the surface. When magma reaches the surface, it's called lava. Lava cools and becomes a new layer of crust. After many explosions like this, the new layers of the crust start to form the classic volcano shape.

Did you know there's actually more than one type of volcano? There are three main different kinds. These are known as composite (or strato), shield, and dome. Composite volcanos are steep-sided volcanos that can reach up to and over 8000 feet. Pyroclastic flows (flows of ash, rock, steam and, dust) are more likely from this kind of volcano rather than full-on eruptions with lava bombs. Mount Fuji is a composite volcano. Sheild volcanos are a lot less steep, and their eruptions are a lot less explosive but frequent and more gentle. Lava tends to rapidly fall down the sides rather than explode upwards. They rarely lead to deaths. An example of a shield volcano is Mount Kilauea. Last but not least, dome volcanoes. Dome volcanos are steeper than shield volcanos due to their (acid) lava being slower, thicker, and stickier than shield volcanoes' lava. This causes the lava to not be able to go very far before cooling and steepening the sides of the volcano. 

Talking about types of volcanos, each volcano is usually formed by different kinds of magma cooling to form different kinds of rocks. Basalt magma usually forms shield volcanos, andesite or rhyolite (depending on how much gas is contained) magma form domes or composite volcanoes and so on. Here are some rocks you can find associated with volcanoes. Basalt is formed from pyroclastic flows, it cools quickly outside of the volcano hence it's holes. Pumice is similar, but it's cools when it's thrown out of the volcano and has more holes because of. Andesite is similar to basalt too but contains less iron and more silica. Rhyolite is lighter than the rest as it contains a lot more silica and a lot less magnesium and iron. Pumice is actually a kind of rhyolite! Ignimbrite is also formed by pyroclastic flows but contains a lot of combined pumice fragments, so it's kind of a sedimentary rock but still.

Everyone knows that erupting volcanos are dangerous. I mean, extremely hot lava is either pouring or exploding out of the top with extrusive rocks like pumice flying everywhere. So erupting volcanos should be avoided at all costs, but how safe are volcanos when they're not erupting? Well, it depends on the state of the volcano. If it's extinct, meaning it hasn't erupted in over 10s of thousands of years and has no sign of ever doing so again, it poses no real threat. However, if it's dormant (it's active and it's possible it could erupt) or active (has erupted in the last 10,000 years) the same can't be said. 

The most obvious threat is an active volcano erupting. Excessive heat from the lava, consequential fires, the gases released, landslides, it's crazy. 
    Lava, while destroying (well, melting) most things it touches, can cause fires that can spread to places further away from where the spewing lava can touch. It can kill any people, animals or plants in its way and can cause a famine if any surrounding people rely on said animals or plants as the main food source. The bigger the eruption, the more catastrophic the damage can be. In 1883, Krakatoa destroyed entire villages and killed over 36,000 people.
    Stronger volcanos can release hydrogen chloride, sulphur dioxide, ash and other materials into the atmosphere. Usually, it's fine as these mostly blow away, but the heavier gases can stay low and cause respiratory problems or other health issues in locals. Same goes for ash, which can also darken skies, hurt air quality, contaminate water, coat highways, cover yards and ground aeroplanes. The whole breathing stuff particularly affects older people, infants, people with lung diseases or other lung problems like asthma but anyone should be cautious. 
    Landslides can completely change the landscape around a volcano. When landslides can move dirt up to 100km/h, it could destroy nearby villages. Pretty scary stuff. Not too harmful to us as humans but the consequences following or someone happening to get in the way is a different story.

Spooky Scary Skeletons

For the Halloween themed junior social, year ten drama created their very own haunted hallway to welcome the younger students to the events. However, we did not actually get to participate in the hallway as said social was cancelled. So instead of experiencing it, I'll do my creative writing thing and walk you through it using the power of the English language!

Even though we didn't actually get to do the hallway, on
Halloween night, I did the makeup I had planned to do
on the night anyway.

We begin at the entranceway to the room behind the stage. Starting behind a curtain, you would be greeted by our ringleader, played by Joey. The ringleader would walk you through the curtain where you'd meet a tight alleyway. The narrow aspect of this was to make the person feel small, inferior, or even trapped. Potentially, you could be jump scared by one of the many failed experiments, played by Jay, who hid to your left. As you continue to walk this narrow alley, you'd feel the eyes of the stalker, played by Kaiden, burn into your skin from inside his black box. Maybe you'd hear the laughter of our very own clown, played by Meagan, from behind her white screen, hiding how she sits inside the space of her shelves. Here, space begins to widen. Stairs lead you up to Miji's character, who sits atop his platform but before you go, you may feel for the trapped ex-nurse, played by me! As you descend from Miji's platform, creepy music plays from the piano, but be careful to not fall, that would hurt. To leave, walk through the falling webs and tinsel and find your escape. Just be sure to not take anyone with you.

Graphing

What does the graph show us?
The graph shows us the rapid increase in the population of Europeans
living in New Zealand and a steady decrease in the Maori population

Why do you think the numbers of Maori changed?
A lot of Maori were dying due to vast causes. These include stuff like
the musket wars, carried diseases etc. They were also beginning to be
"bred out" as many Europeans had Maori partners.

Why do you think the numbers of Europeans changed?
Europeans were rarely involved in anything that would get them killed.
They had some form of aid for diseases and as the news spread, more
and more Europeans would arrive.