Weekend Recount

Last Saturday my friends and I had a sleepover at my house. We picked up my friends and wasted no time driving to Rainbows End.

When we arrived and had bought our park pass we dashed towards the stratosfear and lined up for the extreme. When our time arrived we hopped on and we hadn't even buckled in our seats and we were already cracking jokes. Up in the air Jessica and Leanah were still cracking jokes, unable to breathe. 

The ride came to a stop and we hopped off, going to the store to grab some hot chips. The rest of the day was spent rushing to other rides then back to the stratosfear. 

When the park came to a close we drove back to my house before going out to Denny's for dinner. Then when we had enough we went back to my house and played with board games.

This has had to have been one of the best weekends!

Wood Tech Evaluation

How well did I do in completing all of the things that I needed to do for this project?
1) The design ideas?
I think that my design ideas are mediocre.

2) The Final Choice?
Out of all my design ideas I think that this was the best idea for me.

3) The working drawing?
I had a few problems with marking the working drawing but once things were sorted it was extremely helpful.

4) The marking out?
I mucked it up the first time by using a normal ruler. Of course, it was fixed and I went onto sawing.

5) The sawing?
I had difficulty with this part. I was struggling to saw it and when I did it was crooked.

6) The chiseling?
Aside from being nervous, this stage went fine.

7) The assembly?
It was fun putting it together.

Looking at what you have produced,
1) Does it work?
It does a perfect job at holding pencils.

2) Does it look good?
I think it does.

[Thank you to Winnie for helping me to take this photo]

3) Is there anything that you would change if you were to make the same project again?
I would make sure that I cut my wood straight and I would drill in the holes before I glued it together.

4) Is there anything else you wish to say about it?
Besides how happy I am with this, no.

The Step Process of My Project

Step 1. I used a ruler and the piece of wood I am going to make my project out of to make a full size working drawing of my pencil holder.

Step. 2 I used a tri-square and a ruler to copy the measurements from my drawing onto the wood.

Step. 3 I marked a square line at 90° across and along the sides using a tri-square.

Step. 4 I cut off the first piece of wood using a backed saw and a bench hook to keep it in place. I didn't have enough wood so Sir gave me a second piece.

Step. 5 Next I marked out two joints using a pencil and a tri-square.

Step. 6 Sir used a marking gauge to mark out where the joints would end.

Step. 7 I then cut along the lines using the saw and a bench hook.

Step. 8 I realised I had cut crookedly so I sandpapered the sides, not helping the problem.

Step. 9 The next week I took my project to Sir and he cut it for me along with gluing in my joint.

Step. 10 After gluing in the joint he cut out a thin piece of wood and nailed it to the bottom.

Step. 11 I waited for half an hour.

Step. 12 The next week I took my project back to Sir and we marked out the holes for the pencils.

Step. 13 He then drilled the holes and gave it back to me.

Step. 14 I sandpapered the fuzzy bits and then marked out small crosses on the side.

Step. 15 I took my project back to Sir and he drilled out holes where the crosses were.

Step. 16 He then smoothed out the edges.

Step. 17 My project was returned to me once again and I sandpapered it for the last time.

Wero Whitewater Trip no. 2

Today was our third trip of the year! We had the chance to go back to Wero Whitewater Park and try out kayaking.

When we got on water the first thing I did was almost tip over. We had spent a few minutes hanging around the beginning trying to get used to paddling. In that time more than five people had fallen overboard. 

Once it was time to paddle to the other side of the course, a bunch more kids fell. We had to go through minor obstacles. When we arrived to the other side there were a few kids still struggling so we had to wait for them. In the meantime the rest of us were paddling around in a circle.

Our last task was to get back to the beginning and for no one to fall over.

At the start of the week I hadn't expected kayaking to be this fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this session.

Plastic Bag Ban

During the weekend I went to Sylvia Park and almost immediately I noticed that most stores stopped selling plastics bags. I had thought it was only supermarkets so once I got back home I searched up the cause of this.

I read from here that stores are now banned from selling plastic bags. Any store caught could potentially be faced with a fine, or the ministry will contact the business and try to figure out why they haven't stopped giving out plastic bags.

It's wonderful that there's now a law against plastic bags. Around 28% plastic waste have been discarded, leaving 72% to end up in the ocean or stray somewhere in our environment. Even if it's only a little bit, we're reducing plastic waste.

5 Day Vacation

On the first week of holiday my family and I went down to Invercargill for a five day vacation. On Thursday we checked into our hotel and relaxed.

On Friday we went out for lunch with my aunt and uncle and had dinner with my mums' best friend.

On Saturday we drove out to Riverton to visit my late nana. We then drove to the beach. The weather was horrible, the clouds were dark grey and it was close to raining. My neice and I hopped out of the car, running straight towards the edge of the beach not yet covered with water. My niece was throwing stones into the water. In doing so she did not see the water rushing towards her.

On Friday we went to Queenspark, having lunch with my mums' high school friends. The weather didn't clear up but that didn't stop my family from playing on the park. We just got a little bit soaked.

On Monday we flew back to Auckland.

Technology Wood

I have chosen to make a pencil holder for myself. I think this is the best choice because I have too many pencils, coloured and all, and I don't have any more space for them.

It will be used for securing my pencils. I will place it on my table in my room.

For this project I will have to consider smoothing the sides.