Bonus Winter Learning Journey

Bonus: This year two new sports are being added to the Paralympic Games. They are canoeing and triathlon. In the triathlon the athletes must swim 750 metres, cycle for 20 kilometres, and then run for 5 kilometres. Paralympic athletes may also compete in other sports including archery, boccia, football, judo, powerlifting, rowing, sailing, swimming, sitting volleyball, track cycling, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis. To learn more about all of the Paralympic sports, please visit the 2016 Paralympic Games website.

Imagine that you are on the Paralympic Committee and you have been asked to create one new sport to add to the competition for this year. Use your awesome imagination to design a brand new Paralympic sport. Please remember that some of the athletes will not be able to walk or run and others may be blind or deaf. On your blog, please write:

1. The name of your sport,
2. A brief description of how you play the sport, and
3. Three rules for the sport

The name of my sport would be called stacking, the aim of the game is to try and stack books until the timer stops.

1. You cannot use anything to help the books stand up right.

2. Once the timer stops you are not allowed to do anything with that stack of books.

3. If your stack of books fall you are disqualified.

Day 7 Activity 2

Activity 2: It is very expensive for each of the Paralympic athletes to fly from New Zealand to Rio de Janeiro to compete.  Most athletes have to fundraise in order to make the money that they need to go on the big trip. Recently, Harvey Norman announced that they will be helping to raise funds for the New Zealand Paralympic team. What could you do to help raise funds to support our amazing Paralympic athletes? On your blog, list 2 different ways in which you, your family or friends could raise money to support the athletes.

1. The first idea is that we could have a sausage sizzle or a bbq to raise money in order to help them.
2.The second idea is that we could have a big raffle.

Day 7 Activity 1

Activity 1: At the first ever Paralympic Games in Rome, the athletes competed in eight sports. Cycling was one of them. For the cycling event, two people compete together as a team – one of the people has a disability and the other does not. Here is a picture of a para-cycling team from New Zealand:

At the moment the most famous para-cycling team in New Zealand is comprised of two female athletes – Emma Foy and Laura Thompson. Emma is blind but Laura is not. Together they work as an amazing team. Imagine that you were asked to compete in a tandem cycling event and you had to choose one person to compete with. Who would it be? On your blog, tell us who you would compete with and why. If it was me, I would choose my son, Aronui because he’s pretty fast and very funny. He would make me laugh as we biked along and would be very supportive and encouraging! I know that I could trust him to be a good teammate. Who would you choose?

I would choose my brother because he is very fast and is always there for me when I need help.

Bonus Winter Learning Journey

Bonus: Imagine that you are sitting in the crowd at the opening ceremonies for the Rio Olympics this August. The ceremony has just started and all of the Olympic athletes are parading around the stadium in their uniforms when all of a sudden…

In your blog, write an ending to this short story. It should be approximately 10-20 sentences long.

The ceremony has just started and all of the Olympic athletes are parading around the stadium in their uniforms when all of a sudden....

A helicopter flew across the huge stadium and landed right next to the host, Richie McCaw. Smoke came crawling out like spiders as a dark figure walked out. That strange dark figure was actually..... Darth Vader. Darth Vader turned to Richie and said in a serious voice " Richie, I am your father." Richie, with a surprised look, that turned into a wide smile jumped in the air and yelled " I knew it , I KNEW IT." Richie than ran inside the helicopter and transformed into a trooper. They both set off into the evening sky and left the Olympics to never be seen again.

Day 6 Activity 2

Activity 2: The opening ceremonies for every Olympic Games must include formal speeches, a parade of athletes, songs and dances that showcase the culture of the host country. Follow this link to watch the highlights of opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.

In the opening ceremony for the London Olympics there were a number of famous English people including the Queen, the Spice Girls, David Bowie, U2, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney. Imagine that we were going to host the Olympics here in New Zealand in 2024 and you were invited to be on the committee that decides who is invited to participate in the opening ceremonies. As a member of the group you must choose one of the following people to be in the opening ceremony: Richie McCaw (rugby player), Lorde (singer), Kane Williamson (cricket player), Maria Tutaia (netball player), John Key (prime minister of New Zealand) or Shaun Johnson (league player). On your blog, tell us who you think is the best person to choose and explain why you think that they are the best choice!

I think the best person to choose is Richie McCaw because it would be pleasent if he could tell us all about him

Day 6 Activity 1 - Entertaining the crowd

Activity 1: For all Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, the athletes from each country must wear a special uniform. The uniforms change each year. Look at the 3 pictures posted below. They are pictures of the uniforms that our New Zealand Olympic teams wore in 2012, 2008 and 2004. For this activity, you are asked to rank the uniforms from best (#1) to worst (#3). On your blog post your rankings and provide a brief explanation of why you ranked the uniforms in that order.

1. New Zealand Team Uniform – London Olympics 2012 #3

                  I didn't really like this uniform because it didn't really represent New Zealand.

2. New Zealand Team Uniform – Beijing Olympics 2008 #1

                            I like this uniform the best because the fern represents new life. 

3. New Zealand Olympic Team Uniform – Athens Olympics 2004 #2

                       I like this one second because I liked the fern, but I think it could use more colour.

Bonus Winter Learning Journey

Bonus:  Jesse Owens was a black American athlete who participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. He is considered to be one of the bravest and most inspirational Olympic athletes because he competed at a time when the leader of Germany (Adolf Hitler) did not want black men competing at the Olympic Games. Here is a picture of Jesse from the 1930s.

Can you think of someone in your own life that inspires you? On your blog, tell us who your inspirational person is and why they inspire you.

My inspirational person is my mum, because she always encourages me to do things that I don't believe that I can do.