Summer Learning Journey Week 1 Day 3

Activity 2: The Secretive Skink [4 points]

We have a number of small lizards (geckos and skinks) living in New Zealand. One of the least common is the Chevron Skink. According to the Department of Conservation, Chevron Skinks live mostly on two islands - Great Barrier Island and Little Barrier Island. These islands are ‘animal reserves.’ Very few people, other than staff working for the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC), are allowed to live there. The DOC staff are called ‘Rangers.’ Their job is to protect the wildlife (animals and plants) living on the island.

Would you like to be a DOC ranger and live with the animals on Great Barrier Island?

On your blog list three pros (good things) and three cons (bad things) about working as a DOC ranger. At the bottom of your post, tell us whether you would like to be a DOC Ranger or not.

Pro's

1. Being able to know you are doing something useful and good, such as protecting the wildlife!

2. You would learn lots of new knowledge about animals and wildlife

3. You would make many new friends and get to know many people who share the same intrest as you; protecting the wildlife.

Con's

1. If you had to work on an island like the Great Barrier Island, you would become very isolated.

2.There are many dangers to being a DOC ranger, like getting hurt by animals or getting lost.

3. You might get bored of it.

I would not like to be a DOC ranger! I'm not a very outdoors kind of person, although I think it would be great learning many new skills and doing something useful for the environment it's not really the job for me.

Summer learning Journey Week 1 Day 3

Activity 1: Fantastic Beasts [4 points]

In New Zealand we have many unusual animals. One of the most unusual is the kiwi bird - a bird that does not have wings and can not fly. Pretty strange, eh?! J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, has recently written a new book about strange or unusual animals called ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.’

For this activity, please watch this cool book trailer. Year 7 and Year 8 students in South Auckland, New Zealand helped to make it. Once you have watched the video, use your imagination and create your very own beast. What does your beast look, smell, feel, and sound like?

On your blog, post a description of your beast. Use interesting adjectives (describing words) to tell us about your beast.

The Malignadod!

The mystical creature, Malignadod lives in the forest of balignadodical.
They are oval in shape quite similar to that of a lemon, their aquamarine hair
sticks up in all directions right from the back of their neck to the top of their
eyebrows. They don’t have fur however their skin feels like a peach, fluffy and
soft.  If you ever encounter a Malignadod you will be greeted by a deafening
screech that could severely affect your hearing, in worst cases cause you to
go deaf. But don’t be fooled by their friendly appearance they will bat their
neon pink at you and holds out its hand for you to shake. When threatened
these abnormal beasts have a peculiar way of protecting themselves, they tilt
their head back at an alarming angle and squirt lemon juice out of their
nostrils, then a strong sizzling sound erupts from inside them and a bright
green laser beam shoots out of their belly button destroying anything in its
path.  Fear not, as the forests of Balignadodical are located both North and
South of Russia, and if you ever visit one of these forests you will die from
the severe odour of rotten goose eggs that the vivid orange trees give off.

-Ella