Today, I completed yesterday’s second to last activity for the whole Summer Learning Journey this year regarding the Critter and Creatures theme. This task is about hunting for bugs around my property. I only found a few, but not much because most of them were in my pets’ bellies. I finally managed to find 6 bugs in total with 3 of which were alive and hand fed.

The rule was meant to be leaving the bugs alone because they might bite or sting. One of them was a shell which I left alone and followed the rule.  Another was a dead mosquito which was safe to touch, so I moved it to take a photo. The last I followed this rule was taking a photo of a spider in my bedroom. The 3 unfortunate critters and creatures were caught by me bared handed and hand fed to my very old white hen. She ate them all and found them delicious.

Here are the only bugs I found in my property.

What would you do if you capture them?

Today, I completely Thursday’s Step It Up activity with the Pekapeka or the New Zealand’s native bats. For this task, I learnt a little about the Pekapeka and their threat. After learning about mustelids and feral cats being the main predators, I had to design a predator free roosting box for the Pekapeka.

My designing includes a nice high pole under the box to blend in the environment, like tree. The predator guard is a upside down cone that made of extra slippery, anti-grip material so the mustelids and feral cats cannot climb straight up or from the side, and if they try to cling onto the guard, they will slip off and fall. The entrance is under the box but above the predator guard so the Pekapeka can climb naturally and safely into their nest. I also added some bats silhouettes as decoration, identification and some breathing holes. There is an inspection door for the bat keepers or DOC (Department of Conservation) researchers to check.

Here is my design on Canva.

If you are the predator, how will you outsmart this system?

Today, I continued yesterday’s activity – the Peripatus Step It Up. For the Step It Up activity, I have to build a catapult and test how far it can shoot. I first made a very simple small catapult with a clothing peg, some popsicle sticks and elastic banks to hold everything together. Then I decided to try to build a bigger version of catapult with some popsicle sticks, masking tape, wooden skewers, a plastic straw and a rubber band. Just for the fun of it and also wanted to see if it will make any different compare to the small one. My hypothesis is the bigger the catapult, it will shoot the further and higher. The smaller the catapult, it will not shoot very far.

This task was originally meant to shoot slime, but it was pouring and thundering outside, and I didn’t want to get the carpet stuck with slime, so I used some of my Go game pieces for the catapult to shoot instead. Go is a type of board game incase if you don’t know what Go is.

Conclusion: The small catapult is easy to make, launches really high, but not very far. The big catapult is really good for launching, high, far and strong. It is a bit harder to made, but it’s a lot more fun to shoot. You can hear the how hard it clashed the wall from my video.

If you have a catapult in the wild, what would you shoot at?

Today, I completed yesterday’s activity with our native part worm part insect shooting superhero – the Peripatus or the Ngāokeoke! They are New Zealand’s giant native earthworms, are full of surprises, some stretch over a metre long, some glow faintly in the dark, and a some even smell like vanilla or violets when disturbed. They glide through deep forest soil like slow, muscular ropes, leaving tiny volcano‑shaped mounds where they push earth to the surface. And when they’re startled, certain species can shoot out a burst of slippery slime, helping them slide deeper into their tunnels before anything can grab them. They’re quiet, ancient ecosystem engineers shaping the forest from below.

For this task, I was inspired by the shooting slime and delicious meal. I needed to make my mushy snacks. I started off with making mashed potatoes, using a folk, butter and some boiled potatoes. Then I prepared some pâté with butter and cream cheese on crackers. Here is some photos of my delicious snacks inspired by Ngāokeoke.

             
Top – Mashed potato and bacon cracker. Bottom left – Pâté cracker. Bottom right – Apricot cream cheese cracker.

Conclusion after tasting: I found both mashed potatoes with some bacons sprinkled on top and pâté on crackers are the best. Cream cheese on cracker tasted ok, but definitely not my favourite, a little bit too sweet for me. I personally preferred savory snacks better.

What is your favourite mushy snack?

Today I completed Wednesday’s kick start activity with the Pekapeka – our native bats. For this task, I first did a quick match up quiz about pekapeka. That was really quick and easy warm up task. Then I had to make a bat ornament.

I was given some instructions on one way to make the ornament including using some stencils provided, twigs/branches, black paper/card, and some string to hang the pekapeka. It was raining and thundering when I was doing this activity, so I thought of my own alternative. I had an indoor plant by the window and I thought I might just use it as part of my bat ornament.

I found this Chinese paper cutting craft with 5 bats on it, so I printed and cut it out carefully. After I finished, I first place on my sweat shirt and see how it look on me. Then I put it on a pink sheet of paper and slipped it in a clear pocket folder as if it was laminated, because I don’t have a laminator at home. Here are some photo of the ornament placing around because it is portable.

Do you learn better when following instructions or when you think of something new?

Today, I completed the last science experiment with Eleanor. This experiment was to germinate a seed, as demonstrated in a bag by Eleanor. To do this, Eleanor told us to use seeds such as fruits like watermelon and apple, or even plants and vegetables like beans! Eleanor’s bean took 2 days in the bag stuck on the window with sunlight to sprout, and there was a soaked paper towel in the zip lock bag. After demonstrating the experiment, Eleanor allowed us who were on the meeting to ask some questions about it. Some of the questions were addressing root vegetables and whether they would work or not. Eleanor replied with the fact that root vegetables are a different and another thing.

For the experiment, I filled a jar with green mung beans and water. I left it there, soaked, under the cupboard overnight. The reason why I didn’t put it under the sun was because it was night time already by the time I was starting this experiment, also mung beans don’t need sun to sprout or germinate because beansprout doesn’t need photosynthesis. When the mung bean sprouts are long enough, it is very delicious to scramble with eggs and spring onions which usually take a week to be long enough and ready to eat.

Before Eleanor announced this experiment, we also had some kumara and ginger sitting in the kitchen that was sprouting on its own. Here are some photos of our sprouting foods.

Left to right – day 0, overnight, day 2, day 3, day 4.

First photo – sprouted kumara. Second photo – sprouted ginger.

At what stage do you like eating your foods? Sprouts, baby leaves, massive leaves, fruits or roots?

Today, I complete the last Māori activity for this year’s Summer Learning Journey. This task, themed with living locally, was to create a song based on the song “A Pūkeko in a Ponga Tree” which I think was based off the “12 Days of Christmas” song. I used a template to create my song, with the “koha” being Christmas and “Aotearoa” being true love parts pre-made. I also had prompts with the syllables allowed to keep in tune.

I found making the song too easy, and I thought people would be more interested in the song sung by me with pictures on the endemic creatures I chose. I thought it would be fun and easy to add, but it took me a lot longer than I expected. The hardest part was getting all my lyrics right and having enough breath. This made me felt proud when I finally managed to complete singing the whole song.

My song’s creatures are mostly in Māori, so you may not know them. My chosen endemic creatures are the Tokoeka, Pūpū Rangi, Tūī, Tuatara, Mokomoko, Kea, Kākāriki, Takahē, Pekapeka, Giant Wētā, Tukutuku, Hoiho.

Tokoeka is the Southern Brown Kiwi.
Pūpū Rangi is the Giant Kauri Snail.
Tūī is a native bird.
Tuatara is a reptile.
Mokomoko are lizards.
Kea is the alpine parrot.
Kākāriki is the New Zealand Parakeet.
Takahē is the New Zealand native bird in South Island.
Pekapeka is the New Zealand native bat.
Giant Wētā is a common New Zealand native Wētā.
Tukutuku is the Harlequin Gecko.
Hoiho is the Yellow-eyed Penguin.

Here is the song I created.

On the first day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the second day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the third day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the fourth day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the fifth day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the sixth day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
six Kākāriki, five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the seventh day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
seven Cheeky Kea, six Kākāriki, five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the eighth day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
eight Mokomoko, seven Cheeky Kea, six Kākāriki, five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the ninth day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
nine Tuatara, eight Mokomoko, seven Cheeky Kea, six Kākāriki, five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the tenth day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
ten Coward Tūī, nine Tuatara, eight Mokomoko, seven Cheeky Kea, six Kākāriki, five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the eleventh day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
eleven Pūpū Rangi, ten Coward Tūī, nine Tuatara, eight Mokomoko, seven Cheeky Kea, six Kākāriki, five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

On the twelfth day of koha, Aotearoa sent to me
twelve Tokoeka, eleven Pūpū Rangi, ten Coward Tūī, nine Tuatara, eight Mokomoko, seven Cheeky Kea, six Kākāriki, five Takahē, four Pekapeka, three Giant Wētā, two Tukutuku, and a Hoiho in a Kōwhai tree.

This is my song sung and presented my me.

Have a go at singing my song and which verse did you get stuck on?

Today, I completed yesterday’s activity outdoors by making a “Mokomoko Manor” or a “Lizard Lounge”. The task was supposed to be set up in a sunny spot outdoors, but the rain was coming and it was cloudy in between the rainfalls. I found this task hard doing it in the rain. I collected some nectarine branches, small pebbles, dried sticks and a few used plastic trays.

I started building the lounge by making an arch with the nectarine branches. The arch was built next to a bush as part of the spot I chose. Then I put my pebbles inside that arch, laid some dried sticks next to the pebbles, and place a water bowl inside my set up. I finished the lounge by putting some used plastic trays on top to be a waterproof shelter. Here is the finished lizard lounge. Sorry about my pet chicken who thought it was for her and invited herself over. See if you can spot the hen!

Would you rather build a lounge for a chicken or a lizard and why?

Today, I completed yesterday’s first activity with the skinks and reptiles. First, I learnt a little about them, and something I learnt was the name “mokomoko” meaning small native New Zealand reptiles, such as skinks and geckos. For this task, I had to create a “mokomoko manor” or a “lizard lounge”. This means I basically had to recreate it’s habitat and environment.

To do this, I used Google Drawings and made an enclosure type of thing. I made my own branches, leaves and logs, etc, and added a rocky background like a rock wall for some extra climbing. When I was finished with the crafting and I felt pleased, I added some reptiles and wētā.

Please remember that in this enclosure, the tuataras are friends and they will not eat the wētā, skinks or geckos. These four type of creatures are friends, so none of these species will eat each other in my enclosure because they are all endangered. The only live food is the crickets/beetles or any other pests or intruders like flies and mosquitoes. They are black in my diagram. There should be enough supply of food with the fruits pile as well.

This is my diagram of an enclosure for these lizards and reptiles. I have made both a labeled version and an unlabeled version.

As a reptile, would you resist to eat your “friends” and would you rather live here or in the wild?

Today, I completed a very challenging task in another language that I did not understand. According to some examples and the English instructions, I had to create an infographic about my top five New Zealand endemic creatures. I used both Canva and Google Drawings to do this task.

My top five have been chosen because I have been learning about them throughout this summer holiday. I thought it would be really cool to include them in this task as this is the last week for this year’s Summer Learning Journey. These five creatures are the Kea, Wētā, Hoiho Yellow-eyed penguin, Tukutuku rakiurae Harlequin Gecko, and Pekapeka-tou-roa Long-tailed bat.

I recently learnt about the Kea and their cheeky behaviour and I had even made a video about them. I remember doing quite a few tasks with the Wētā, including making animations and sculpting a model. The Hoiho is one of my favourite animals that is cute and I also had researched and made a video about them. I made a comic style presentation on the Harlequin Gecko at the very start of the SLJ and it’s a very unique reptile. I chose the Long-tailed bat because in the task where I made a pick-a-path quiz, I remember this bat the most clearly and thought it would be nice to have something different from the rest.

This is my infographic on my top five endemic creatures of New Zealand.

What other endemic creatures from different countries other than New Zealand can you name?