Multiline Graph of Maori Population 1836 - 1901

 

The decline in Maori Population from 1836 - 1901

What does the graph show us? 

In 1836 Maori population easily outnumbered the European population for 20 years the Maori population being 100k to 100. The Maori population began to decline from 1846 till 1881 where the population stabilized at 20 000 throughout the next 10 years from 1886 to 1896. From 1896 to 1901 the Maori population increased by 5000. While the Maori population was decreasing European populations were increasing rapidly. Europeans had a population of 100 for 10 years before starting to increase in 1846 to 10 000, from there on European populations skyrocketed reaching 790 000 people in 1901. 

Why Do you think Maori numbers dropped? 

Maori numbers began to drop when european population began to rise, this is because of the trading system between races, the maori provided the europeans with food and other survival resorces in return europeans would trade them muskeets with would aid the maori in war. Hence the muskeet wars began and thousands of maori people died fighting for land and utu. 

Know Your place

 Over the last half of the term, we have been focusing on the topic "know your place". This meant learning the history behind canterbury but also the modern canterbury and what new developments are being made to further expand it. For this assessment, we were tasked with using a relatively new tool that we experimented with on a topic a while ago called Prezi. We were then given questions about what canterbury is to you, The history of canterbury, What canterbury is like today, The canterbury environment, and landmarks around the canterbury area and their significance. 

https://prezi.com/view/2OPJNDWajJtZnrkSgDxc/

Greta Thunberg + The Greta Effect

 

Waste Graph

 What can be done to reduce what goes into your rubbish bin? 

Some of the best ways to reduce how much is being discarded into the bins, are to reuse containers or packaging that you may be useful in the future, such as plastic containers, bags, jars, ice-cream containers, etc this prevents the need to purchase containers to store leftover food or other items. Another solution is to reduce how much u purchase from the beginning, instead of grabbing the first item you see looks for items that have recyclable packaging by checking for the symbol on the box or container. 

Where was the majority of waste going? Waste/Recycling/Compost?

The majority of my waste was going into the compost bin with 15 pieces of rubbish going into the compost bin over the span of 3 days, this was closely followed up by my waste total with 13 pieces of rubbish going into the waste bin, lastly, I had 9 pieces of rubbish that ended up being recycled. 

Did you find one day had more waste than any other day? Why? 

I found that i had the most compost waste on Friday when i attended school and they provided

kahciar sucks

Waste Article

Waste has been a big problem over the past year ever since the lockdown where the  EcoCentral closed its recycling operations for four weeks, leading the to council tell the residents they could put any rubbish that could not fit in a red wheelie bin into the yellow one. Even though this rule was temporary its till a continued practice by the residents and the number of recycling trucks that have had to be dumped due to the high percentage (Over 10%) of waste in one day was equal to the number of trucks that were dumped in the previous year. To prevent this from happening the council has gotten extremely strict as to what people are putting in their recycling bins by reviewing what people have in their bins and giving out warning stickers on the recycling bins that contain red bin waste. Residents receive a total of 3 warnings before their yellow bins are confiscated completely, since the warning system was applied 664 yellow bins have been removed, To get the bins back, people have to pay $97.65 and sign a statement promising to abide by the rules. Their bins would be monitored to make sure they kept that promise.

The only items that can go in the yellow bin are: 

Clean plastic bottles and containers (3 liters and under) numbered 1 are things like soft drink bottles

Clean plastics bottles and containers (3 liters and under) numbered 2 are things like milk bottles

Clean plastic bottles and containers (3 liters and under) numbered 5 are things like family-sized yogurt and ice cream containers

Metals: aluminum cans, metal tins, or aerosol cans

Clean glass: clear and colored glass bottles or jars

What can go in the green organics bin :

We accept all food waste and garden waste in your green organics bin:

food scraps, fruit and vegetables including pips and stones

leftover meat, bones and fish

bread, pastries and flour

garden waste, most cut flowers, pruned branches, leaves and grass clippings

coffee grindings and tea bags

cheese and butter

human and animal hair

paper and cardboard used for food, i.e pizza boxes, fish and chip paper,  kitchen paper towels, shredded paper and serviettes

newspaper

shells and shellfish 

Clean cardboard and paper; newspapers, flattened cardboard boxes

These items must go in the red bin:

Takeaway coffee and drink cups

Takeaway containers, such as burger boxes, fast food and takeaway boxes

Containers over 3 litres, such as large water and oil bottles and bulk cleaning containers

All lids including ice cream containers, butter and family sized yoghurt lids

Fabric bags, textile and clothing

Soft plastics such as shopping bags, plastic film, bread, pasta, and rice bags, frozen food bags and courier bags

Liquid cartons, such as juice cartons, almond and soy milk

Compostable and bio-degradable bags and packaging

Ash, timber and sawdust (let ash cool for at least five days before disposing of it in the red bin)

STUFF ARTICLE LINK 

Greenpeace!

Sustainable Fishing

Sustainable Fishing - 

Sustainable fishing is where you ensure that there will be fish in the future for other people to have. But the best thing to do currently is not fish at all due to the fact we have already pushed marine life to the brink of extinction by plastics, shark finning, fishing, and bycatch. Letting the population reproduce and grow back to a safer population.  There is no possible way to restrict how much fishing boats are catching and the number of dolphins or other sea life due to bycatch. As long as we still eat fish, fishing companies still have a motive to continue fishing, as the fishing industry is a very profitable business.  

How is commercial fishing a threat to dolphins and birdlife?

Fishing is by far the biggest threat to dolphins and birdlife. There are many different techniques to fishing, some more lethal and “efficient” than others, one of the worst fishing methods is trawlers where a massive net hurds in schools of fish then closes the top of the net trapping the herds of fish inside. This method is dangerous as it has the highest rate of bycatch, meaning several other aquatic life gets stuck in the nets as well. Most bycatches die in the fishing nets before they can be released back into the ocean. Not only are trawlers killing thousands of marine life, but it is also most if not all fishing techniques that are harming the ocean's ecosystem. 

Shark Finning

What is shark finning?

Shark finning is the disgusting practice of slicing off the fins of a live shark then discarding what's left into the ocean, leaving the sharks to die a slow, sad, gruesome death. The fins are then dried and sold as the main ingredient in the traditional Chinese dish, Shark fin soup. Every year millions of sharks are caught and farmed for their fins leaving millions of dead, decomposing, finless sharks at the bottom of the ocean floor. 

Why is it a delicacy? 

 the traditional dish Shark fin soup dates back to over 1000 years and it plays an important role as an indicator of social standing as shark fin soup can range anywhere above $100 for a single bowl. With the country become more wealthy the demand for shark fin soup has skyrocketed meaning more sharks are being caught for their fins. For such an expensive dish the fins are bland and have no taste, nor is there any nutritional value. Usually, there is flavoring added to the dish to give it a taste. 

How is this impacting our oceans? 

Sharks play a big role in keeping the food chain stable, as they are the apex predators. With the shark population decreasing rapidly due to shark finning and bycatch they are being pushed to extinction. This will destroy the ocean's ecosystem as a new predator will take the shark's place, with no predators the animals will overpopulate and run out of their source of food and eventually die out. This chain goes on and on until eventually there is nothing left. 

The Starfish Poem

 Starfish poem - 

Once upon a time there was a wise man 

who used to go to the ocean 

to do his writing. 

He had a habit of walking 

on the beach 

before he began his work. 

One day he was walking along 

the shore. 

As he looked down the beach, 

he saw a human 

figure moving like a dancer. 

He smiled to himself to think 

of someone who would 

dance to the day. 

So he began to walk faster 

to catch up. 

As he got closer, he saw 

that it was a young man 

and the young man wasn't dancing, 

but instead he was reaching 

down to the shore, 

picking up something 

and very gently throwing it 

into the ocean. 

As he got closer he called out, 

"Good morning! What are you doing?" 

The young man paused, 

looked up and replied, 

"Throwing starfish in the ocean." 

"I guess I should have asked, 

why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" 

"The sun is up and the tide is going out. 

And if I don't throw them in they'll die." 

"But, young man, don't you realize that 

there are miles and miles of beach 

and starfish all along it. 

You can't possibly make a difference!" 

The young man listened politely. 

Then bent down, picked up another starfish 

and threw it into the sea, 

past the breaking waves and said- 

"It made a difference for that one."

The main message behind this poem is that your input, even if it's small makes a difference. We need to help our ecosystem and all it takes is the courage of one person to put a small amount of effort into standing up and doing something about it and people follow their lead and start encouraging other people to the same. This is shown at the end of the poem when the man asks why he is bothering to make a difference (Throwing starfish back into the sea) when there is so much damage (Miles of starfish). He then explains to him that even the smallest amount of effort can make a difference by throwing a single starfish into the sea and saying "It made a difference for that one." 

News Article - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

 PLASTIC BECOMING PART OF OUR DAILY DIETS?!

Over the years garbage has been building up in the ocean and we have left it to build up for long enough and the horrifying effects of our actions are starting to reveal. Your toothbrush, your water bottle, the wrapper on that chocolate bar you ate, where did it go after you threw it in the bin or dumped on the side of the road? Every year on average 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean through rivers and streams. That 1.15 to 2.41 million tons of plastic end up in The great pacific garbage patch is a massive patch of rubbish just floating in the middle of the ocean and this is only one of the 5 massive patches of rubbish. This floating island of rubbish measures 1.6 million square kilometres, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France. It is estimated to have 80,000 tonnes of rubbish which is almost equivalent to the weight of 115,000 full grown elephants, WOW. 

You may be thinking how the hell does 80,000 tonnes of rubbish end up in a big clump in the middle of the ocean? This is due to the water currents pushing all of the rubbish further out to sea, the rubbish then gets trapped once they enter a gyre (Circular currents) that is how the rubbish ends up on a scarily massive island.Once they enter the gyre it isn't likely for the rubbish to escape the area until the plastics degrade into smaller pieces (microplastics) under the extent of the sun, or get washed away by waves or ingested by marine life. 

So now we know what the problem is and how it got there, but why is it a problem at all, why should we care that there are tonnes of plastic floating around in the ocean? This is where the big problem of microplastics comes in (Tiny plastic particles.) Effectively, the ocean is becoming plastic soup. All our waterways lead out into the ocean so not only are we polluting our ocean we are polluting our water supply as well. It has been proven that microplastics have been found in our drinking water. A recent study by OrbMedia analyzed 159 water samples, sourced from both tap water and bottled water in 14 countries, and found that over 80% of all samples contained tiny plastic particles, with an average of 4.34 plastic particles per liter of water. Not only has it been found in our water supply but it is also affecting the food and crop that we consume, It has been confirmed that The number of microplastics in pre-cooked, vacuum-packed instant rice could be as high as 13 mg per serve.

Every living and breathing person has probably consumed microplastics by now, but what does that mean for us, is it something that can cause extreme health effects? Because we are new to the knowledge of microplastics, researchers don't know for sure what effects microplastics have on our health. But “there can be no effect,” says Pete Myers, founder and chief scientist of the nonprofit Environmental Health Sciences and an adjunct professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University. Digesting microplastics likely exposes us to chemicals that the plastics contain which are known to be harmful to humans. These chemicals have been linked to a wide range of health issues, including reproductive harm and obesity, as well as organ problems and developmental delays in children. 

So we know that plastics and waste we produce can all come back to bite us in the ass, but what effect does it have on marine life and the environment and what does it contribute towards climate change and global warming? The most direct effect of the garbage patch is on marine life that populate in areas of pollution. Due to the size and colour of the plastics fish and other aquatic animals easily mistake the plastic for food and once it enters their digestive system it can cause a lot of harm. Some of the most important animals that take part in caring for our environment are whales and dolphins, and it's been recorded that at minimum 300,000 whales and dolphins are slaughtered each year according to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). This is due to the effects of habitat loss, rubbish, and by catch. Dolphins and whales not only look after ocean but our whole ecosystem, when they resurface for air they release phytoplankton which plays a key role in absorbing carbon dioxide.But due to the decreasing population of whales and dolphins less phytoplankton is  being released when whales resurface for air, meaning that less phytoplankton are absorbing the excessive amount of carbon dioxide polluting our atmosphere.

The great Pacific Garbage patch

 With a new term comes a new topic in social studies, we are going from focusing more on history-based topics to more geography-based topics, and what more perfect topic than the ocean, the title is called "trashing the world." This topic is all about learning the importance of the ocean and the effect that we have on the ocean and vise versa. We have kicked off this topic by looking at the giant plastic issue in the great pacific garbage patch. This is the slide show I created reflecting what I have learnt so far from this topic.