Explanation Writing - The Rain Cycle - Lucy D

Evaporation, condensation , precipitation these simple three words might not seem important to you but think again! These words are apart of the incredible water cycle, and once you read this you’ll be looking for more!

But first, let's have a closer look at water. Water is made up of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Its chemical formula is H2O and water has three different states, liquid, solid and gas which we will be talking about a lot. The word water usually refers to water in its liquid state. The solid state of water is known as ice while the gas state of water is known as water vapor and the liquid state is water, The existence of water is essential for life on Earth and 70% of earth is covered in water, Water makes our plants, trees, food and most of our resources and without it, well we would be a very sad planet. So let's take a close look on how it changes..

The first step in the water cycle is evaporation. During a typical hot day the heat from the sun will dry up water from the surface of the earth, but not completely. The water dries up into invisible water vapour (sometimes just before this happens you can see the steam) which travels up into the sky. This is called evaporation.

Secondly is condensation, when the water vapour goes up into the sky the warm water vapour presses against the sky’s cold air and this creates water droplets. The cold air causes the water particles in the vapour to get attracted to each other and clump, so they become water droplets. Then the water droplets form into “clouds” .

After this, is precipitation. When the water droplets turn into clouds, some are darker than the others. This is because some clouds are filled with water droplets more than others, and sometimes ice crystals due to the coldness in the sky’s atmosphere. Finally the cloud gets too heavy and lets some of the water droplets go which is RAIN, this is precipitation, and the last step of the cycle.

In conclusion we’re so lucky to have water, after all without water our planet would be nothing and we would not survive. Water has an extraordinary cycle which we probably see everyday without even noticing! I hope this piece of writing has helped you to easily understand and appreciate the amazing water cycle.

The Ultimate GSS Student - Ruby

Inspirational Leader - Jean Batten - Rose, Sasha, Sofia

Inspiring leader - Rosa Parks - Poppy, Josie, Sarah

Persuasive Writing - Why should we go to school? - Anija

‘Uhh School’ is what most kids say when they wake up on Monday morning before school. I think school can be very boring at times but there are some pretty good reasons for going to school.

One reason is that we learn how to socialise with both boys and girls in many different ways, such as playing sports and talking to them. The benefit of this is that when you get older you know how to socialise with both genders.

You also learn lifelong skills like how to write and read, as well as how to solve maths problems. These skills will be very important when it comes to getting a job. Jobs are very important so the harder you work at school the better career you will have. Another reason to work hard is that getting into University is crucial at times. Some jobs require you have to have a special University qualification especially in jobs like vets, doctors, dentists or any job that has a big part in other people’s lives.

At school you get lots of awesome opportunities like going to sports events where you get to represent your school, as well as getting leadership roles and leading groups in activities. Which helps you learn how to lead and work with different types of people.

You also meet friends at school that you can catch up with whenever you like, some of your mates you make at school are your friends for life. Friends have a big impact on your life, if you don’t have any good mates you ought to have a pretty dull life.

Going to school can change your lives so next time you go to say “Mum why do I have to go to school?” think about if you didn’t go you wouldn’t know how to read, write or even add two numbers together.

Persuasive Writing - Should the NZ Flag be changed? - Carson

The New Zealand Flag should not be changed.

The New Zealand flag should not be changed because it will cost $26,000,000. This flag shows history and it was already changed in the 1800’s.

The New Zealand flag should not be changed because it will cost $26,000,000. Instead with that money you could donate it to the cancer society or something else. If it does not get changed it would just be wasting money with the referendum.

If we change the flag we will just be throwing away history. That flag holds a lot of history. The soldiers ran into the first world and second world war with it. We have won rugby world cups with it and olympic medals with the old flag.

The New Zealand flag was already changed in the 1800’s so why change it again? If we change it other countries will think that we have so much money to throw away because we’re changing the flag so much.

So I think that we should keep the flag just how it is.

Speech Finals are happening on Wednesday this week (beginning at 9.30 am).

Congratulations to Frankie and Ruby who have made it to the  Year 3 and Year 4 finals! :)