14 Nations on our Geography Trip!
The two hundred dinner guests at Mitai Maori village in Rotorua were asked for their countries of origin. Among the 19 different nationalities present, Lynfield College students represented 14!
The development of Rotorua as an international tourism destination was the focus of the Level 3 Geography trip, which also involved a trip to Whakarewarewa thermal reserve, a cultural concert and a tour of the historic bath house. The modern trend toward adventure tourism was experienced by the group riding the gondolas and luging on Mt Ngongotaha.
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University of Auckland Economics Competition
Congratulations to our economists - Kiran Patel, Dillon Pentz, Samuel Rendal and Helen Xia on their excellent performance in the 2016 New Zealand Economics Competition.
They have been awarded High Distinction, which places them in the top 5% of participants!
To recognise the achievement University of Auckland invites them to an Awards Presentation evening on 13th of October.
We hope that this has motivated their interest to study Economics further.
PWC Scholarship Awards
Congratulations to Muskan Verman on receiving the PWC Scholarship Award.
With this PWC Scholarship Muskan will be off to a great start once she completes this year:
> $7,000 towards her university fees over the course of her degree
> A PWC staff member to mentor her during her study
> A paid summer internship to develop the foundation skill for her career
> Access to business networks amongst the best and brightest minds in New Zealand at their social and scholarship events
> The opportunity to learn about what they do behind the scenes, so she can choose the career path that best suits her.
Congratulations also to Rishab Goswami who has been awarded the following aspects of the PWC scholarship awards.
> A PWC staff member to mentor him during his study
> Access to business networks amongst the best and brightest minds in New Zealand at their social and scholarship events
> The opportunity to learn about what they do behind the scenes, so he can choose the career path that best suits him.
The Power of Water
At the west coast beach of Muriwai, lifeguards protect surfers and swimmers from the destructive power of the three metre waves. The Level 3 Geographers learn that these swells, formed over the Tasman Sea provide the dramatic conditions which shape the coastline; breaking rock and forming beaches.
On the field trip students compared currents, beach slope and sand movement between two locations, to explain why a short distance makes a world of difference. The group lunched in the town which is under steady threat from the advancing sea.
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In search of the 8th natural wonder of the world
The Pink and White Terraces near Rotorua inspired Victorian tourists to journey for weeks by ship, then walk for two days. Our Level 1 Geography students only needed a bus trip and a night away to visit the location where the terraces vanished in the Tarawera eruption of 1886.
On their guided tour of Waimangu rift valley near Rotorua, students stood on the shore of the lake Rotomahana, which now hides the remains of the terraces. Only a few days after their visit, a small eruption destroyed a patch of scrub the students had walked past.
In contrast to this volcanic destruction, the group luged down Ngongotaha, a mountain created by much earlier tectonic activity.
Gathering information to help their understanding for three internals, the group also visited a dairy farm and got up close to a herd of Jersey cows, the stars of one of New Zealand’s most important export sectors.
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Double podium finish for Geography teams
| Lynfield College Geography teams gained third place at two interschool competitions. At the Auckland Geography Teachers' Association Year 12 & 13 quiz, Sam Hudson, Dave Sharma, Karan Kalsi and David Johnson placed ahead of 21 other teams.( our team in photo to right) At the NZ Board of Geography Teachers quiz for Year 11, Bryn Litherland, Tony Liu and Jonathan Subritzky also picked up the Bronze. Lynfield College regularly gains high placings in these quizzes. |
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Assessing the Impacts of the Chocolate Industry
The students from 10AZ and 10PR have visited the Auckland zoo as part of a unit of work they have been doing on the chocolate industry, in Social Studies. The students have been looking at human rights and environmental issues within the industry.
While at the zoo the students learnt about the impact palm oil plantations are having on the environment of species such as the Sumatran tiger and Orang-utan. 80% of the world’s palm oil is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia. There they are logging the rainforest which is the natural habitat of orang-utans and many other species. It is believed that at the current rate of deforestation some species of orangutans will be extinct in the wild as early as 2022.
One of the issues with the use of palm oil in New Zealand and Australia is that there are no laws around labelling products that contain palm oil. These exist in both Europe and the USA. This makes it difficult for consumers to make an informed decision when purchasing items at the supermarket as palm oil can be labelled in many different ways here. These include sodium laurel sulphate, vegetable oil, emulisifer 422 or 476 etc.
At the zoo the students worked with a zoo educator who taught them about palm oil and its impact on the environment. They completed several activities that gave them some ideas about how they could recognise palm oil in products. The students also attended the orang-utan " encounter" in which the keeper gave us an insight into the life of an orang-utan. She also explained how they are looked after at the zoo and what impact palm oil plantations are having on their habitat.
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The next step for the students is to undertake their own social action about an aspect of the chocolate industry they feel could be improved. This could include campaigning against child labour, human trafficking, slavery or palm oil. The students are completing this as part of an NCEA Level 1 Social Studies Achievement Standard.
Young Entrepreneurs with a Social Conscience
Year 12 Business Studies students started the year working in project teams planning and running their own business activity with a community wellbeing focus.
This was a strange and unfamiliar leap for them and for their new chosen charity. They had to invest their own capital, time and business knowledge to create a product/service to benefit a community. One group of 6 students chose refugees as their focus. The newly formed Unified 4 Mangere Team contacted the Mangere Refugee Centre and offered their services.
| They started a collection drive within their friends and family network for used clothing and utilised their funds to purchase new pillows, as these were the high need items required by the Centre. They invited Heather Tanguay, Acting Service Coordinator for the Red Cross to visit the class so they could donate 10 Family Bags full of much needed supplies. Heather delivered a speech that emphasised the plight of refugees and made students feel their contributions were welcome. She was most impressed with the care and compassion shown by the students in their enterprise. Heather gave the students Red Cross centenary T-shirts and valuable feedback on how they could help the Mangere Refugee Centre in their second collection drive. The Unified 4 Mangere team are enthusiastic and passionate about delivering another 10 Family Bags in May. Heather will be awarding students with certificates to recognise their efforts and reinforce the message that successful businesses are socially responsible businesses!! Students from left to right – Adam Clare(Finance Manager), Emma Gomes (Co-General Manager) Sunyana Jit (Operations Manager), Heather Tanguay (Acting Service Coordinator Red Cross), Melissa Paet (Co-General Manager), Kate Thompson (Human Resources Manager), Carlos Russell (Marketing Manager) |
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~Raneeta Prasad
Year 11 Historians Research New Zealanders at War
4 classes of Year 11 History students visited the Auckland Museum and City Library on Thursday March 10th. Students were there undertaking research for their internal assessment on New Zealanders at War. The students were allowed to research any war that New Zealanders have been involved in. Aspects of WWI and WWII were both popular with the students. Topics they have chosen include:
- The introduction of conscription during WWI
- Battle of Gallipoli
- US troops arrive in New Zealand in 1941
- Battle of El-Alamein
- Battle of Tobruk
- Capture of New Zealand soldiers during Operation Crusader
- Formation of the Women’s Land Service
- Formation of the Maori battalion
The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a multitude of artefacts on both WWI and WWII so the students were able to find all sorts of unique and interesting sources to add to their research folders. Students also spent some time at the research centre at the Auckland Library in the city. This provided them with an opportunity to look at old newspaper articles using the microfilm readers as well as research information from books, transcripts of parliamentary debates etc.
The students have this week in class to complete their research folders. We look forward to seeing what they have put together.
Historians Research Significant NZ Events
On Thursday February 18 70 Year 13 History students visited the Auckland Museum and the Central Library in order to complete their research assignment into an event of significance to New Zealand.
| Topics the students have chosen include the 1981 Springbok Tour, the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the Erebus disaster, the nuclear free New Zealand movement, the 1951 Waterfront Strike, the Bastion Point Occupation, the impact the Great Depression had on New Zealand, the campaign to get women the vote and New Zealand’s contribution to the Boer War. |  |
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The first stop was the Auckland Central library where they used the research centre and special collections to look up old newspapers on microfilm and Hansard parliamentary debates. The librarians were kept very busy fulfilling all the orders the students made for books from the basement which they dusted off and used for their research. The next stop was a visit to the Auckland Museum where students had an opportunity to gather information about their event. The students need a range of primary evidence so the artefacts in the museum are a useful source for the students' research. |
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A good day’s work was completed by all the students. They will continue with this assignment for another week at school.