Welcome to the first week of the Summer Learning Journey. For our first week, we are going to be learning all about the land habitats here in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is going to be a great adventure!
DAY 1: In the Beginning...
Activity 1: The Legend of New Zealand [4 points]
According to Māori mythology, much of Aotearoa New Zealand was formed when Māui, a powerful demigod, fished it out of the sea. Legend has it that Māui created a magical fish hook from the jawbone of his grandmother and that one day he took his hook, boarded a boat, and rode out into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Once at sea, he threw his magical hook into the water and caught a fish. This ‘fish’ was actually the North Island of New Zealand! In honour of this legend, the North Island of New Zealand is sometimes referred to as Te Ika a Māui or ‘Māui’s fish’ and the South Island of New Zealand is sometimes referred to as Te Waka a Māui or ‘Māui’s canoe’.
To learn more cool facts about New Zealand, check out the Tourism NZ website. Read the fun facts posted on the website and choose your ‘Top 3.’ On your blog, post your ‘Top 3 Fun Facts’ about NZ in your own words.
Fact 1: The Moari name for New Zealand is Aotearoa which mean the long white cloud
Fact 2: New Zealanders are called kiwis, but is not a kiwi fruit. It is New Zealand’s native bird that is flightless
Fact 3: New Zealand is one of the least populated countries in the world with over 4 million populations.
Hi Leah Chloe-rose here I love the facts that you added But fact 2 doesn't make much sense. next time you could get your mum, dad even any siblings you might have.
ReplyDeleteKia ora Leah,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Hazel and I am part of the Summer Learning Journey (SLJ) team. I’ll be helping Allie and the team out in Toki Pounmau over the Christmas holidays. Welcome to the programme, and I hope that you keep up the blogging over the next few weeks.
I enjoyed reading your facts about New Zealand. Which one did you find the most surprising/interesting? One of my favourite facts about New Zealand is that we are one of only two countries in the world that has two national anthems (the other country is Denmark). Our two anthems are 'God Save the Queen' and 'God Defend New Zealand'. Which one do you prefer?
Keep up the great work, and I look forward to seeing more of your posts soon.
Hazel :)
Hi, Leah, Alex here, hope you are enjoying your holidays. Great post. Chloe-Rose is right fact two the But is not a kiwi fruit, part confused me.
ReplyDeleteKind regards
-Alex :)
Hi Leah, it's Anahera. I like your post, and sometimes NZ feels pact but it's not. In the USA I heard they call kiwi fruit kiwi.
ReplyDeleteFrom Anahera