Hanging Around on our Swan Plant

There's lots of activity on our swan plant. The largest inhabitants are the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. But there's also a few other inhabitants - and they don't all get on well together either. Read on... Click on pictures to enlarge them.

So, briefly, this is what is happening:

1. The monarch butterfly lays eggs.
DANGER! DANGER! Wasps eat the eggs, ants carry the eggs away.

A caterpillar egg, on the underside of a leaf. Why do you think butterflies lay their eggs here?Un huevo

2. The eggs hatch into larvae (tiny caterpillars).
DANGER! DANGER! Wasps eat the larvae (Check out this photo)
3. Larvae grow into caterpillars who eat and eat and eat milkweed (swan plants)
DANGER! DANGER! Praying mantises and shield bugs eat caterpillars.

Caterpillars hanging out together.
Las orugasHow can you tell one end of a caterpillar from the other?Una oruga.

4. Caterpillar turns into chrysalis (pupa)

Una crisálida

5. Fully grown adult butterfly emerges. A newly emerged adult butterfly. The chrysalis was on an orange tree. What can you tell about the colour of a newly-emerged butterfly? Una mariposa.

One of the reasons why it took so long for our caterpillars to show up could be because of the pests

We have definitely had wasps around our garden but we haven't actually seen them eating caterpillars yet. Something to look out for...

We also have a never-ending supply of ants at school, and on the swan plant, so this could also be a reason for the slow arrival of caterpillars this year.

However, one of the most interesting interesting problems facing the caterpillars are aphids - and they don't even eat the caterpillars!

Aphids (and two dying? caterpillars and a ladybird if you look closely)
los áfidos

Aphids feed on the sap of the plant and pass on viruses which affect the health of the plant - and therefore the food supply for the caterpillars.

But then, (and this is the really interesting part), the ants defend these aphids and 'farm' them by collecting a honey dew they secrete.

But the good news is that lady birds attack and eat aphids. One lady bird can eat about 600 aphids in its lifetime! So, look after the lady bugs - they are helping keep plants safe from aphids.



Check this site for more information about the monarch butterfly in New Zealand.

Swan plant seed pod bursting.

Today, in Spanish classes, we decided to change what we usually do and learned about the life cycle of the butterfly, in Spanish, instead. We went outside to our class garden and counted chrysalids and caterpillars - in Spanish.

¿Dónde están las orugas?
Aquí están las orugas.

el huevo = the egg
los huevos = the eggs
la oruga = the caterpillar
las orugas = the caterpillars
la crysálida = the chrysalis
las crysálidas = the chrysalids
la mariposa = the butterfly
las mariposas = the butterflies
la hormiga = the ant
las hormigas = the ants
el áfido = the aphid
los áfidos = the aphids

One caterpillar decides to make its chrysalis under a geranium leaf. I wonder why.

What is happening in our garden?

This is a self-sown swan plant. Some of the lower branches got too long and heavy to be supported by the trunk, which split but didn't break away completely.

Because it was still alive and growing, we left it so we could have plenty of leaves for the expected caterpillars.

It took a while, but eventually caterpillars were noticed. We didn't see any eggs but they must have been there.

This is the seed pod which looks a bit like a swan's body - until it bursts and drops its seeds.
It's taken a while, but we finally have some activity on the swan plant in our class garden.
Check out this site to find out all you wanted to know - and more- about the monarch butterfly in New Zealand.



There are quite a few lady bugs around too.
What are these little guys going to grow into?

Here's a quiz about monarch butterflies in North America. (It has questions and answers - see how you go.)

Here's a simple chart of the life cycle of a monarch butterfly.

And here it is in Spanish.

Putting the Fun into Fund-Raising for Christchurch

Christchurch written in cans.

On Thursday our school held a " Water Day" to help raise funds for the Red Cross's Christchurch Earthquake appeal. Everyone paid $1.00 and contributed one tin of food as an entrance fee. For this activity our school raised $450 and donated 537 tins of food. Last week our mufti day raised close to $1,800 dollars for the Red Cross.

For a water day, there are hoses and big troughs of water on the field and the students fill up water pistols or squirty bottles and throw water at each other.

This time, we had a zoom slide. Mrs Whitehead brought a big piece of black polythene and everyone ran up to it then slid along it. We used a garden sprinkler hose and lots of detergent to keep it slippery.

Year 8 Sewing Class Progress:

Ben, Callum and Chris have finished sewing their boxer shorts. Everyone else is nearly finished.

Two Minutes of Silence for Christchurch

At 12:51 today, exactly a week from the 6.3 Christchurch earthquake, our students observed two minutes of silence to pay tribute to the victims of the disaster.

After students ate their lunch there was a bell to gather in class lines on the field. Our entire school, along with the rest of New Zealand, remained still and silent for two minutes. Then a bell rang and everyone continued with what they were doing prior to 12:51.

Click here to find out more about the earthquake.

You can find regular updated information here.

Here are some photos of how the two minutes silence were observed around New Zealand

The Treaty of Huia 1

We have been learning about the Treaty of Waitangi and have formulated our own class treaty. Just as the chiefs and Captain Hobson discussed the important issues which needed to be included, so also did we discuss what was important for us to get along together peacefully in our classroom. This is the treaty that we all decided upon:

We, the members of Huia 1, 2011, agree:

- to respect each other, the staff and our community

- to be loyal to our school

- to lead proudly

- to set and achieve goals for now and the future

- to have fun

- to treat people the way you want to be treated

- to work hard

- to have a positive attitude

- to make cool choices

Students line up to sign our treaty.
Some wanted to be the last to sign so they could put their name at the very top - as Kawiti did when he wrote his name above Hone Heke's.

After signing the class treaty, class members shook hands with "Captain William Hobson" and received a gift of a lolly - unlike the Maori chiefs who signed and received a gift of tobacco...

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Sewing Update:

The year 8s are making a pair of boxer shorts each. Last week we learned to pin the pattern pieces to the material, making sure we had each piece laid correctly on the grain of the fabric.

Then we cut each pattern piece out carefully.

Each pair of boxer shorts has four pattern pieces - two front and two back pieces.

Current Events - in Huia 1

Our school has subscribed to a weekly current events quiz. We get a new quiz every Monday. Some of the questions are multi-choice, some have photos.

This is the current events quiz we did this afternoon. Some of these questions will be in the Friday morning Quiz. How many can you answer correctly?

1. What has the minimum wage in NZ been raised to?
2. What internet site is said to have played an important part in the demonstrations in Egypt?
3. What decision is the Maori Party making about Hone Harawira this week?
4. Which NZ cricket player was accused of poor behaviour on a flight from Sydney to Dubai?
5. Food poisoning is said to have caused the death of a NZ woman and serious illness for two others when they were travelling in what country?
6. What is the name of the current system affecting weather in the Pacific? (Hint - it brings wetter weather,including cyclones and is a Spanish word....)
7. Which English actress has been linked to Australian cricket player, Shane Warne?
8. What was significant about a special landing of a plane at Wellington Airport last week?
9. In what country is Johannesburg the largest city?
10. Bush fires have destroyed houses in which Australian city last week?
11. Police are trying to get rid of an overseas gang from which country?
12. Which team won the Team of the Year at the Halberg Awards last week?
13. In what South American country were there two large earthquakes over the weekend, after a devastating 8.0 earthquake this time last year?
14. Margaret Thatcher was the prime - minister of which country?
15. Which NZ town is famous for gumboots?

In assembly this morning we learned about what happens to the paper we bring to school for recycling. We get paid $50 per tonne of paper and cardboard we bring to school. The company which recycles the paper needs as much as they can get because they do not have enough. Paper that goes into the ordinary kerbside recycling bin gets mixed up with glass and is no good for recycling into other paper or cardboard products. Broken glass can damage the machinery and cause millions of dollars of damage. So... tidy out your cupboards and send all your unwanted and unused paper, magazines, books and cardboard to our school.

We also had a "Financial Literacy" lesson today with a guest speaker, Julian, from the ASB. We learned how to save money by setting "CAR goals". CAR stands for Clear, Achievable and Realistic goals. We played a game where each team had $1600 and we had to make decisions about what to buy and what not to buy to go on a holiday to Hawaii. We had to consider using cash or credit cards, insurance and package deals including food. We learned that we have to pick a job that we like, not necessarily a job where money is the most important. It's good to have passion for the job you do. It is good to spend money wisely.

On Friday we had our first Options classes. Everyone has a Spanish lesson with Mrs Lee, Mrs Vincent or Mr Yates. Year 7s learned to say, " ¡Buenos días!”. We are practising singing Frere Jacques in several languages (at once) for our assembly next week. We plan to sing it in French, Spanish, English and Mandarin.

The ICT options class with Ms Gifford is learning to use a computer programme called "Pencil". We are learning to make a 30 second movie. It involves a lot of copying and pasting. At the end, there are 30 clips and you have to press play for your movie to start. In Mrs Irwin's and Mrs Whitehead's art classes we are learning to do sketching and in Mrs Hansen's technology class we are learning about basic circuits.


We had our first ukulele lesson with Mrs Lee and learned to play C,F,G and G7. (There is no chord called H!)

(Written with help from Hoani and Bhaban)

Practise our 100 Need to Know words here (Part 1a) and here (Part 1b).

Preview the vocabulary for the next 3 chapters of the novel "Holes" by Louis Sacher here.

And remember ... our first homework project is due on Friday.

Sew and Sew

Today, in Poutama (technology), the Year 8 sewing group learned how to sew straight lines and zig zag on the sewing machine. We learned how to use an iron and practised by ironing our calico sample for the hot setting and on Mrs Vincent's rayon table cloth for the cool setting.

*Mrs Vincent thinks she might bring her ironing every week now that the Year 8s can use an iron safely.*

Make sure no one can trip over the cord and check the water level if it is a steam iron. Check the heat is at the right setting for the type of fabric.

We learned how to sew on a button (and it's fun, says Hunter.) Some of us need to practise for homework. Here's a Youtube site to help you learn how to sew on a button.


We also used tape measures to find out our hip measurements so we can get the right amount of material to make a pair of boxer shorts each.

Year 7s learned to cut wood, drill holes, hammer nails and how to make a star with nails and fishing line. We learned that we have to wear goggles and ear muffs when we are using the drill.

Tomorrow we start our first Spanish lessons.

¡Hasta mañana!