Lockdown Blog! Again...?

Hi there!

Last night at 11:59 p.m. the whole of New Zealand went into lockdown, as you probably already know. 

If you have been reading my blog since early last year (if you have, thank you!) you would know I had a lockdown blog about what I had been doing to keep myself from going stir crazy. 

That blog, even now, is still my most popular blog of all time, racking up 89 views and (for me) a very impressive 6 comments. I am very proud of this achievement,  I definitely don't check every once in a while to see how many views it has...

So anyway, I am going to do another lockdown blog, as it seemed like people loved it last time. Will I be able to do it again? I am hoping so, yes. Although this may not be as interesting as my original lockdown blog, I hope you will still find it interesting!

What have I actually been doing at home so far? 

After waking up stressing I was going to be late for school and then realising we're in lockdown, I started doing schoolwork from my English and Science classes. My goal is to stay on top of my schoolwork this lockdown, even if it is only for 3 days at the moment. I am doing this because when we do go back to 'brick and mortar' school I want to be ready and not ridiculously behind. 

I also am in a bit of a predicament; exercise. In short, I had surgery on my knee in April to replace a torn ligament. I am doing rehabilitation so I can go back to sports as soon as it is safe for me to do so. I need to go to the gym 5 times a week, 3 times doing circuit training to strengthen my muscles, and running on a treadmill 2 times a week. 

Here is my predicament: Gyms. Are. Closed. :(

I can go running throughout my neighborhood, no issue there. But, a lot of the equipment I need I don't have at my house, for example a barbell. I will try to innovate and create the best home gym I possibly can and hope we get out of lockdown soon.

I also have some sad news. My family's lockdown garden from last year has completely gone away. There are planter boxes outside with shriveled plants laying inside them. I am pretty sure there are no more plants that are left. Our pre-lockdown amusement greenhouse we bought has been packed down and retired to our garage. Luckily, it has a dual purpose! The structure of our former greenhouse can actually be used as a drying rack for clothes when it is raining outside!

Thank you for reading my blog, stay safe!

English Scholarship Pathway: What have I learnt?

Hi there!

Today I participated in an English Scholarship Pathway, or ESP. We learnt about Narratology Theory, Rhetoric Theory, Philosophy, and Shakespeare.

The class I enjoyed the most was Philosophy, although the other classes follow extremely closely!

I liked Philosophy because it made me think and question my morals and ethical beliefs and try to open my eyes to how others viewed things. I enjoyed asking 'Why?' to statements such as 'I bought food from the supermarket' and 'Lollies are good'. You would say your statement and other people would ask "Why did you buy food from the supermarket?", then you would answer. This would continue until there was no knowledge left at all which humans know about or until you ran out of knowledge. 

This activity made me think very deeply and it led well into the next portion of the class: Metaphysics. Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy which asks questions like the following:

- Are we living in a simulation? What even is reality?

- Are you dreaming right now? Is your consciousness the only one to exist? 

- How did everything come into being? Why?

- What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?

I found it fascinating that people ponder these questions for life, but each person will have a different answer and view, which can change over time too. 

After Metaphysics, we moved onto Ethics, specifically 'The Trolley Problem'. We looked at different perspectives of the trolley problem too, such as if there was a person large enough to push onto tracks. Our original ethical beliefs changed with each different scenario. 

Lastly, we focused on being human. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be a person? 

We watched a video of a robot being constructed as an introductory trailer for a PlayStation 3 game. In the video, we see a robot being constructed and being tested for tasks it needs to complete and gets named Kara. 

Kara passes her testing, but after being told she will be sold she says "I thought I was alive". After saying this she is disassembled, as she isn't supposed to think. She is able to convince the tester to stop and let her go and the video fades out. 

Personally, this video encouraged me to think about being alive and all the things people can experience, good or bad and how it can shape them. 

If the teachers who taught us are reading this post, THANK YOU! It was an amazing experience and I really appreciate everything you shared with us and the time you took out of your spare time!

Thanks for reading!

Social Studies: What have I learnt this week?

Hi there! 

Today I will be sharing what I have learnt this past week in Social Studies. We have been learning about different cultures/ethnicity that have faced discrimination.  

We read passages about The Dawn Raids of the 70's, and Asian Hate. 

I learnt that in the 1950's, Pacific people were encouraged to work in N.Z. as there was a shortage of workers. Flash forward to the 70's (when the economy fell), some people, including politicians of the time started saying the Pacific people had overstayed their visas and were staying illegally. The police force started raiding houses of Pacific people, bringing dogs frothing at the mouth and flashing lights in the faces of people who lived in those houses too, all early in the morning hence the name. Luckily, a couple of days ago, on behalf of the Government, Jacinda Ardern apologised for the Dawn Raids and took part in a ifoga, a Samoan forgiveness tradition. 

We also read a piece of writing from a student from Iraq at another school in Christchurch. She wrote about how she wanted to start embracing her culture. She used to straighten her hair, ask her mum to make 'English' food and be asked to 'say something in her language' but refuse, all because she was afraid of what others would think of her. Now, she wants to wear her naturally curly hair proudly, she tells her mum to make all the Arabic dishes she can and instead of refusing to say something in her language, she will. She says she shouldn't ignore culture, because it would be like erasing half of herself. 

The last thing we learnt about this week was Asian Hate. We read a post by an actor called Simu Liu. He expressed how the Asian community has been experiencing a lot of hate crimes, stemming from COVID-19 and the association that people who are of Asian descent are to blame for COVID-19. Hate crimes toward the Asian community skyrocketed up to 1900% higher than it was last year. He also mentions the misrepresentation of Asian people, including in the media. Although it is a problem being dealt with, Asian people are still stereotyped for 'being smart' or 'good at maths', some of the most common stereotypes Asian people face. 

Thanks for reading!

Science: DNA Extraction Experiment

 Hi there!

Today I will be writing about an experiment I conducted in Science.

Aim: 

To find DNA from Kiwifruit

Method: 

1. Mush half a kiwifruit (discard skin) in a ziplock bag with a splash of water and a small teaspoon of salt. 

2. Strain the solution through a cloth into a beaker.

3. Add a squirt of dishwashing liquid and stir.

4. Pour into a test tube.

5. Place the test tube in a beaker filled with WARM water.

6. Leave for 10 mins.

7. Slowly pour 5mL of methylated spirits down the side of the test tube. 

Results:

Discussion: 

Here is a diagram explaining:

An adult human can contain 50 trillion to 100 trillion cells, all of them (apart from red blood cells) contain a nucleus. A nucleus can be thought of as 'the control centre' of a cell, since it contains special instructions which tell that cell how to function. 

These instructions are positioned on chromosomes. Humans have 46 chromosomes in every cell in their body, one half (23) coming from the mother and the other half (23) coming from the father. 

DNA structure

Chromosomes are made up of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules. A section of DNA gives instruction for specific characteristics. Hair colour is a good example of a characteristic, otherwise known as a gene. The scientific way of describing what DNA looks like is a 'double helix' however an easier way to remember is a twisted ladder. 

DNA is made up of simple repeating units which are called nucleotides. A nucleotide is made up of a sugar, a phosphate and a base.  Here is an example:

There are four different nucleotide bases which are found in DNA:

- Adenine (A)

- Thymine (T)

- Cytosine (C) 

- Guanine (G)

Since they are made up of different chemicals, not all of them are compatible with each other. An easy way to remember what bases go together is: Curly letters go together as do straight letters. This means that A and T go together and G and C go together. (Note: C and C cannot go together, same applies to G and G)

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed this experiment. I found it quite fascinating that the kiwifruit mixture separated into two sections after adding the methylated spirits to the test tube. Next time, something I think would be interesting to look at is the kiwifruit DNA under a microscope to see all the formations.

Thanks for reading!

Social Studies: Germany & The Great Depression

 Hi there!

Today I will be writing about Germany and The Great Depression, something we have been learning about in Social Studies.

Why was Germany hit the hardest during The Great Depression?

Germany was hit the hardest because of all the money they owed in reparations also, the contribution of the Wall Street stock drop in October 1929 added to Germany being hit the hardest, since they were already so low on money to fund their country. 

What did Germany agree to by signing the Treaty of Versailles?

Germany signed The Treaty of Versailles on the 28th of June 1919. The treaty only came into effect on January 10th 1920. The treaty held Germany responsible for starting WWI. They also were forced to comply with some harsh penalties too, including loss of territory, extreme amounts of reparations and lots of demilitarisation too. 

How was Aotearoa affected by The Great Depression?

Aotearoa was affected by The Great Depression, but the damage wasn't immediately apparent. From 1930, export prices started to plummet and by 1933 fell to 45%. To New Zealand, a country very strongly dependent on agricultural exports, this wasn't pleasant to hear or experience. Unemployment rose to 12% in 1933 and people who were lucky to still keep their jobs experienced wage cuts as much as 20%. Episodes of unemployment riots occurred throughout Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over a six month period. The government tried to ease the effects of the Depression by putting in unemployment relief schemes. However this would require men to travel long distances for very little pay. 

Thanks for reading! 

English: How do I respond to a moral dilemma?

Hi there!

Today I will be writing about the Trolley problem. Here is a video about it.

This is a very difficult decision to make, and there are many views. I will write perspectives from three perspectives, saving 5 people by sacrificing one, sacrificing 5 but saving one or doing nothing at all. 

I think if I were in this situation, I would most likely panic but save the 5 people by sacrificing the one person on the separate track. If you save the 5 people you are more likely to be viewed as a hero by the general public, and you would only have to tell one family that their family member has died as opposed to 5. I would choose this option because technically, it is not my fault that the trolley is loose. Someone is bound to die, all I am doing is changing the amount of people who will. 1 person has less family than 5 families all together so it will cause less pain overall. 

Another option is to let the 5 people die and save one. Some people would be inclined to choose this as they might view flicking the switch as them murdering the one person. They are letting events happen as they are 'supposed' to. A person might believe that there is an unknown force acting and that they shouldn't toy with it, as it might harm them. 

Or, you could turn around and not do anything at all. People might be too torn up, or not want any responsibility of deciding who shall live and who shall not. They don't want to live with the knowledge they could have chosen how someone would die.

28/07/2021

The Trolley Problem + variations 

For all of these variations, I will be discussing them with Rieya, one of my classmates. 

The Jim Carrey

The Jim Carrey trolley problem is the same, apart from all the people being Jim Carrey. The person on the separate track is Jim Carrey from his 'Dumb and Dumber' acting period, something very nostalgic for lots of people. On the track there are 5 clones of Jim Carrey.

I would let the trolley on going straight, killing the clones. I would do this because if Jim Carrey has already been cloned, he can be cloned again. Another reason is that people don't love Jim Carrey clones, they love the original, real Jim Carrey. 

The Thread

In this version, there is no second track, but a fat man who is standing right by the 5 people trapped on the tracks. If you shove him onto the tracks, his body would most likely stop the trolley and save the people. You know nothing about him, only that he is on his phone composing a text message and vaping. 

In this situation I think that would push the man onto the tracks in order to save the 5 people. I would do this because I don't have any connection to the man so it wouldn't be as painful to do. Also I would do this because He is standing basically on the tracks and is on his phone in a dangerous place, so he is most likely going to step onto the tracks and sustain an injury or die. 

The Long Overcoat

You can't be sure, but it looks like there is a very tall person standing alone, but when you continue looking it seems as if there are two people, one sitting on the other's shoulders. Are they children? Are they trying to trick someone? Why? They're probably up to no good. But is it worth pushing them onto the tracks and getting a jail sentence?

This is a tough one, but I wouldn't push the 'children'. I chose this because the people on the track are adults and are going to die sooner than the 'children' whereas the 'children' have longer to live and are the next generation of life. 

The Hitler 

The man on the separate track is Adolf Hitler. 

I would flick the switch to the separate track. I feel this is self-explanatory. 

The Violinist

Like the overcoat scenario, there are two people standing. However this time, one of the people is a world-class violinist who has been surgically attached to another person. Whatever has happened to the two people, one of them looks sick of the violin playing, he might welcome death.

I think that I would let the train kill the 5 people, because there aren't very many people who still play violin. Also if the two people have been surgically attached, they can be separated. 

The Henchman

Same problem as the original trolley problem, except the fact that you are now a mob boss who has henchmen. One of your henchmen is standing by the switch, and a simple nod will tell them to flick the switch, no nod to leave it. What will you decide?

I think that I would tell (nod) the henchmen to pull the lever, because I would be saving more people and wouldn't give me as bad of a reputation. 

The Chiseled Features

The lone person on the separate track is athletic and attractive, whereas the other 5 are not. Are attractive people more worthy of life? Yes? No? It's up to you to decide and see how your decisions show what type of person you are...

I would save the 5 people by sending the trolley to the separate track. I would do this because a person might be attractive, doesn't mean they are a good person. Also, the 'ugly' people can always get plastic surgery if they want to. 

The Bowling Pins

Instead of lying across the tracks, the 5 people are arranged in bowling pin formation. While still horrific, it does seem funny they are arranged like that, you just can't help hearing the 'bowling ball knocking over pins' noise in your head. 

I think that I would flick the switch to the separate track, because I would feel horrible killing people who have unwillingly been arranged like bowling pins. 

The Bluetooth

You know nothing about the lone man, but the 5 people are wearing Bluetooth headsets. You go to Twitter asking what you should do, but you are hit by the trolley at 64 km per hour, you never got the chance to save the people. 

I think that it is unfortunate that I went on my phone to decide who I should save. If I hadn't been hit by the trolley, I would have saved the lone person, because the people shouldn't be wearing Bluetooth headsets in such a dangerous place. 

Thanks for reading! 

Art: Christchurch Street Art

Hi there!

Today I will be writing about a piece of street art in Christchurch and why we like it. Here is a link to more photos.

I like this photo because it caught my eye with all it's bright colours. If you look closer, the lips are actually made up of letters and makes you want to try read all the letters and see what they say. 

Thanks for reading!