Art work based on novel studies
Kitty IV
The Mary Rose
Night of the Notables
Madam Curie
Enid Blyton
Nancy Bird Walton
Charlie Chaplin
Douglas Mawson
Hiroshige
Hiroshige (1797 – 1858) lived in Edo, today’s Tokyo. He explored the potential of atmospheric landscape depiction in a way unrivalled by any of his contemporaries. His scenes of every day life communicate a very lively image of nineteenth century Japanese society.
The famous series “the 53 stages of Tokaido Road” documents a journey made in 1832 along with Japan’s most important route between Tokyo and Kyoto. The series demonstrates the effectiveness with which Hiroshige was able to use mist, snow, rain or moonlight to evoke atmosphere in his pictures.
Hiroshige inspired numerous western painters including the impressionists such as Degas, Monet, Pissarro and Van Gogh.
Science in the City
On Tuesday the 11th of August, Classes 5H and 5W of Artarmon Public School were privileged to take part in the Science in the City excursion. We travelled around the city, visiting several locations at which activities had been organised.
After departing the train, our group headed for Sydney Grammar High School, where we attended a science presentation by the “Surfing Scientist” of popular television show “Rollercoaster. Following demonstrations of do-it-yourself activities the scientist experimented with liquid nitrogen, as well as explaining some basic science principles. For example, he poured the element onto a balloon, and we watched, amazed, as it first shrank to a wrinkled piece of rubber, and then began expanding until it returned to its original size. The scientist gave explanations for the outcomes of each experiment, providing us with scientific information that was both factual and interesting while presenting humour to the audience.
The next destination was a science tent organised by Australian Geographic, and as we entered we were met by an onrush of children from many other schools studying the displays. The wide range of topics covered included studies of birds, with talons, claws and wings on trays, insects, with many unique specimens captured in glass, and fruits and vegetables, with an interactive site. There were also arrays of microscopes arranged on tables with samples beside, for viewing. The activities were organized to promote the study of science and to transfer positive thinking towards science to the children, and each contained information which was educational and appealing. At the conclusion of the event each student received an issue of the Australian Geographic magazine, as well as exciting extras such as CD’s.
Following a short lunch break at the cloisters of St. Mary’s Cathedral was a tour of the Australian Museum. The first exhibit, dinosaurs, consisted of detailed bone structures which adorned the exhibit in mystery and wonder. Each display contained a different piece of information which gave explanations to illustrate the Mesozoic era. Replica fossils, skeletal forms of dinosaurs and bone pieces were scattered around the exhibit, with passages to accompany them. Interactive activities were also included in the displays, letting the students learn while enjoying an exciting activity.
The “Surviving Australia” exhibit featured equally fascinating displays, but instead of looming skeletal dinosaurs were detailed models of past and present animals which have adapted to the harsh conditions of this country. Such animals include the Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, a great predator and feared creature of its time, and the Diprodoton, a species of marsupial which dwarfed the current forms. An interactive presentation on predators of Australia completed the exhibit, with facts and images emerging after short periods of time.
To conclude the excursion, we participated in a hands-on robotics workshop. We learnt to work with new technology, and programmed the LEGO Mindstorms ™ robots with instructions and directions, and that robots can only be as smart as you make them. The challenge was to create a robot that could knock down all the pins on the wooden boards without losing control. The software we used consisted of several icons signifying different functions and a list of possible actions to give the robot, such as “accelerate” or “drive in square”. Each instruction had a programming guide, leading us through the developing process.
In conclusion, the Science in the City excursion proved to be both fascinating and engaging. We learned important scientific principles and were introduced to the magnificent wonders of the past – the dinosaurs and the ancient animals, as well as how to work and program robots. However, improvements could have been made on the eating periods, as there was no assigned spot for students to have lunch or recess. The content of the excursion was informative and interesting, and the experience was memorable.
Journey to a New Planet
By Eleanor Armstrong 6H
In 3222 AD on a small planet, close to the sun, called Earth, a disaster was afoot. With almost all of the planets resources diminished, the population of Earth had been reduced to approximately 1 million people. As their weren’t many people left in the world, and it was pointless for them to remain scattered across many different continents, an order was made by the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth XII (currently the most powerful authoritative figure) for the entire population of the world to re-locate to Australia as it had the best climate and a reasonable amount of space. This had been a worse case scenario so the people of Earth knew that they were in big trouble. Scientists had been frantically trying to find a suitable planet that was able to support human life until one very lucky day…
Sally Torode was a girl of about 15 years of age who worked as the personal assistant to Professor Harold Psyches. In character she was quite immature and she wouldn’t behave herself. Despite all these bad qualities, at heart she was quite thoughtful and she really wanted to please the Professor. You might be wondering if she is so disobedient, how she got the job as personal assistant to an acclaimed Professor of Astrology. Well, the one thing that landed the job with Professor Harold Psyches was her way with technology. When she saw a new technologically advanced instrument of some sort she became almost crazy with greed to get her hands on it. She was the sort of girl who showed her mum how to work a new gizmo in the household. Also when she did get to try it out, she instantly knew how it worked and what it would be used for. In other words she was a computer genius. This is the main reason why she landed the contract with the Professor and became his personal assistant.
Back to the point, one day, when Sally was programming the CleanBot to organize the Professor’s desk (he was quite a messy man), she came across the prototype of a new, high-definition telescope, tucked away in one of the many nooks and crannies in the Professors office. She left the CleanBot to tidy up the desk and crept over to the corner. Making sure that no-one was watching, she slowly turned the telescope on (amazingly, she knew how to do this at a glance) and took a peek through it into the dark night sky. She randomly tuned the telescope to focus on a patch of sky, somewhere South-West of the laboratory. She zoomed in and looked closely at one if the clusters of stars in that area. The most central group seemed to be brighter and closer than the rest as it gave off a strong, blue-green light. Again she zoomed in to the telescope’s maximum potential. She was starting to get excited as one particular star was bigger than the rest and this star seemed to be the source of blue-green light. Could this be a new undiscovered planet? She had never heard of a planet located in that area of space that gave off an aqua glow!
Quickly, she hurried ran over to the Professor’s private quarters and knocked sharply on the wooden mahogany door, 3 times. ‘TAP! TAP! TAP!’ “Professor, professor, sir I think I’ve found something!” she shouted piercingly. “Found what?!” grumbled the Professor, annoyed that he had been interrupted during his afternoon nap. “I think I’ve found a new planet!” Sally screamed hysterically. “A new what?” shouted back the Professor. “A new undiscovered planet, sir!” she shrieked. “It’s probably just another star” mumbled the Professor knowingly “now if you don’t mind I’m going to go back to my nap!” “Please come and see” Sally pleaded putting on her most sad face.
“Uurrggh, fine, but please, next time you think you’ve found something interesting, don’t wake me up during me nap” said the Professor annoyed. Grumpily, the Professor rose from his bed, still in his navy blue dressing gown and tattered night cap. He slipped his feet into his fluffy bunny slippers and grudgingly followed Sally out of the room and down the hall.
“Look, look, just in that cluster of stars” said Sally excitedly, pointing and jumping up and down, after they had arrived. With difficulty, the old professor bent down and peered through the telescope. When he drew back, Sally could see his eyes were sparkling with joy. “My word” whispered the Professor in awe, “you’ve got it my girl! It’s a new planet! I can’t believe it!” Then Professor Harold Psyches, who was meant to be an old man, jumped into the air and started doing a little jig. Sally joined in and they were both dancing round and round the room as if there was no tomorrow. “We must ring the Queen” said Professor Psyches, excitedly yet humbly.
Immediately, both of them ran over to the telephone. Carefully, the Professor dialled the numbers ‘10203040’ (the Queen’s emergency hotline) and the phone began to ring. At the other end a lady picked up the phone. “Hello this is Queen Elizabeth here, what is the emergency?” the lady said in a bored voice, as if this had happened millions of times before. “Mam, your highness, um, your honour…” the Professor stuttered, “Can I just say what an honour this is, um, your royalness”. “Get on with it man, I haven’t got all day” said the Queen impatiently (as you can probably guess, the Queen wasn’t a very nice character). “Yes, of course, we, um, think we have discovered a… a new planet” said the Professor carefully. “A what?!” screamed the Queen. “A new planet, mam” said the Professor, frightened. “Well then what are you waiting for? Tell the police, pack up the lab, inform the public and round up the animals. We’re going into space!” the Queen yelled, almost hysterically. “Not meaning to be rude, mam, but shouldn’t we look into the matter first?” questioned the Professor, hesitantly. “Are you questioning my judgement?” boomed the Queen, suddenly ferocious. “No, no, your highness, of course not” stammered the Professor, scared out of his wits. “Good, well, get to work” said the Queen, immediately back to her normal self.
The Professor slammed down the phone, still looking a little flustered, but beaming all the same. “Come on Sally, we have to inform the authorities and tell them about this little, sorry big, discovery of mine” babbled the Professor. Unfortunately for Sally, the Professor neglected to mention that it was Sally who had found the new planet, not he. “I think I will call it Harold world, sorry just pulling your leg. I know HP117. ‘H’ for Harold, ‘P’ for Psyches and 117 for my birthday, the 11th of July”, Harold told Sally importantly. “Yes, sir” sad Sally grudgingly, all the excitement drained from her voice.
The next day, the good news was announced to the public and the news spread like wildfire. Everyone was overjoyed and they scurried back to their houses to pack up their belongings. A month later after many days of packing and rounding up animals, the population of Earth was ready for take off. All the animals had been placed into plastic boxes with food and water and lots of space and all the people had packed their belongings into cardboard boxes. During this period of packing the scientists had been building many rockets for transport (remember this was the 33rd century so it didn’t take so long).
When everything was done, the people were divided into groups and they boarded the rockets. Everybody settled down comfortably and they were off. The Queen was given a slightly smaller, private rocket in which the Professor and Sally along with their families were invited to travel in. “So can you fill me in about what HP117 is like?” the Queen asked. “Well, um, ah, it’s a…” the Professor trailed off, unsure, “Well?” the Queen questioned expectantly. “I know” said Sally quietly. You see amidst all the fuss about how great the Professor was for discovering a new planet; she had been doing some research. “Yes dear, can you tell me what this idiot can’t?” the Queen said kindly. “HP…117,” Sally began grumpily’ is a planet approximately 30 light years away from the planet Earth. This planet’s average temperature is 17 degrees Celsius and there is an abundant source of fresh water, more than the equivalent of water frozen in the Arctic and Antarctic. Other than that I don’t know much about it…” “That’s quite alright. The information you just gave is quite helpful. At least we know we are not going to die as soon as we step onto this um, what is it, oh yes, HP117” the Queen said brightly. At last all the rockets took off at once.
For about a week they traveled in 5 star comfort and gazed out at the amazing landscape in space. Many stars and meteors zoomed past their windows, of all shapes, sizes and colours. After they had been traveling for exactly 7 days, 16 hours and 24 minutes, they could see in the distance a large cluster of stars with a blue-green glow emanating from the centre. “I think we are getting closer, sir” said Sally, on the edge of her seat with excitement.
From the stars they could hear a strange humming noise. No-one took any notice of it at first but as they got closer, the noise got louder and soon it was almost too loud to bear. “What is that noise!” screamed the Queen, though not many could hear her over the sound. Then, straight ahead they saw it. Large fleets of what looked like UFOs heading straight for them. “Oh my word! What are they?” shrieked Sally’s younger sister, Chloe. “They’re aliens!” screeched the Queen. Indeed they were. As the fleets got closer the occupants of the rockets could see that the UFOs were full of multiple men of all sorts, all with the same angry expression on their face. The expression of war.
Everyone screamed as each UFO broke away from its tightly knitted squadron and began the form a moving circle around each of the rockets. “We’re surrounded!” shouted Sally. At this point the supposedly tough Queen fainted into the arms of her padded chair. Sally, probably the only person with any common sense at that time, sent out an order to all the pilots of the other ships to halt. Immediately all of the rockets cam to a stand still.
Then, like a voice out of hell, something began to speak over all of the rockets communication system. “Igga-bugga-whoo-whoo!” it stated fiercely. Nobody could understand what he was saying. Sally ran over to the rockets controls and began to work her magic. She programmed the computer system to translate the language with other ancient languages of Earth. After a matter of seconds the words “Who are you?” flashed on the screen in red print. “He said ‘who are you’” Sally told the rest of the passengers through the communication system. “Flaba wabba shinga too, siyat riyat toe! Mush mish mash Schmizians mosh mesh lish losh. Ogle ogle tim taa whum whum whum!” the voice boomed with an air of authority. “You are not welcome here, on planet Schmizma! We are the Schmizians, rulers of space! Go go, away now, go go GO!” Sally repeated, freaked out by the seriousness of the situation. Sally spoke into the translator so the words would be spoken in the Schmizians native language. “We come in peace. We seek a new home” said Sally, articulating each word precisely. One slightly larger UFO moved out of the circle and in front of the window of their rocket. It was a frightening sight that met their eyes.
One large alien sat on a throne of moon rock. For one fleeting moment Sally thought it was cheese. Anyway, the alien was huge and was bright purple to signify his royalty. ‘He looks like a blob of putty’ Sally thought but of course she didn’t voice her opinion out loud. “Flubby whoo chinga loo. Wunush push desmond light. Opa opa knee oogle waa!” the thing shouted. “He, sorry it says this is our planet, not yours. We can speak all languages, what language do you speak because this is tiring!” Sally translated, chuckling. Sally switched off the translator function and spoke into a mega-phone. “We are the people of Earth and the majority of us speak English. DO you speak that?” Sally asked tentatively. All this time the Professor had been cowering behind a chair and the Queen still lay unconscious in her throne. The big purple alien thought for a moment and then boomed in English “Aaahh, people of the Earth. I like that race except sometimes they can become too obese but anyway. We shall go back to the planet Schmizma and settle this there. We are wasting precious fuel”. Obediently Sally moved the rocket forward slowly and motioned for the others to follow. They were still surrounded by many UFOs so the procession took longer than expected.
Eventually they arrived. When the rockets landed and the people came out, they were amazed at the planets beauty. It was almost exactly like Earth in what it had but everything seemed to be more radiant than what was found on Earth.
BRAINS
I think I have a left brain tendency as I am logical, rational, structured and organised. I asked my mother about right brain and left brain tendencies, and she said that people that are right handed are normally left brained, since the left part of your brain controls your right hand, so left handed people tend to be more spontaneous, impulsive, flexible and intuitive. I myself don’t really believe this, because not all people who are left handed are spontaneous and flexible and not all right handed are organised and structured, like I sometimes am if I am excited to be doing something and rush into it.
The reasons I think I have a left brain tendency are that if we are doing group discussions or partner work, my partner and I usually discuss it until we are very clear about what we have to do, or until we find a suitable answer to our problems. Like what Mrs Serrouf gave us and a partner to do, Rambungi, a project where we had to build a transport system for a new island full of people. My partner Calista and I discussed it over and over again and organised it so that it was very precise. Another example of this is when Mrs Scott provided us with a project called Wet and Wild, a website dedicated to saving animals.
The website is competition between classes in a school. The team has a list of twenty-four clues, and you have to find the exact names of the animals which these clues describe. I am in a group with Joshua as team leader, Hugo, Stanley and Calista. Even though Joshua is the team leader, I guide them along to what the animals related to the clues are. That is the last example of my left brain tendency.
A Comparison between “Moonshadow” by Simon Higgins
and “Dragonkeeper” by Carole
The books of “Moonshadow: Eye of the Beast” and “Dragonkeeper” are both interesting ones based on historical fantasy. They share similarities and have differences.
Firstly, both novels had an important quest respectively. In “Moonshadow: Eye of the Beast”, Silver Wolf, a disgruntled warlord, was planning to topple the Shogun from his power and to plunge the nation back into chaos using a foreign secret weapon. It was a gun that could fire multiple lead balls, one after the other, and with improved accuracy. Once his swordsmith turned the plans into a reality, no amount of amour would save the Shogun or his men. Moonshadow was working for the Shogun who wanted peace in the land of Japan. He had the quest to steal the plans. The quest was very important because it would save the whole nation from plunging back into chaos. Silver Wolf’s “new unique firepower mowing down man and horse like a sickle passing through weeds (Page 36)”. It was so destructive that Silver Wolf would easily win the war. Consequently, the whole nation would be in chaos.
In “Dragonkeeper”, Ping also had an important quest. She was required to help the dragon together with the mysterious dragon stone to flee to the faraway ocean so that the dragon would “renew strength” (Page 57). It was an important quest because Danzi was the only imperial dragon left and the dragon stone was very special. “Ping must help take stone to Ocean,”(Page 69).
Secondly, both Moonshadow and Ping had special powers to fulfil their quests. Moonshadow had the unique powers to see through the eyes of the animals as well as the powers of dual sight and sight-control. With these special powers, he successfully stole the plans and defeated all his enemies. For instance, he used sight control to turn the cat into a weapon and successfully defeated the Deathless (Page 278-281).
Like Moonshadow, Ping had special powers as well. It was the powers to “hear dragon speech, harness qi and have second sight (Page 249).” Her power of second sight helped her to sense the presence of certain enemies such as Diao, the dragon hunter. “Ping remembered how she’d known when Diao was nearby and how she had known that something bad would happen in Chang’an (Page 249).” While at Tai Shan with the emperor, Ping’s special powers enabled her to sense the danger that the dragon was in. She rushed to the dragon’s rescue in time. At page 317 of “Dragon- keeper”, it was mentioned “these were Danzi’s sounds of distress, anxiety and urgency. She had never heard him make them all at once…. Ping started to run without any thought for her own safety.” She finally saved the dragon and the stone and successfully fulfilled the quest.
Thirdly, the two main characters shared some similar qualities. They were both courageous and agile. Ping was an illiterate Chinese slave who lived on the edge of one of the Emperor’s least-used royal palaces. Her master was a cruel and irresponsible Imperial Dragonkeeper. She showed courage even as a slave at Huangling. Even though she was forbidden to go into the palace, she secretly visited it at night. “This was her secret pleasure, exploring the palace while everyone else was sleeping (Page 11).” Ping showed agility when she was escaping from the necromancer (Page 233-236).
Moonshadow was an orphan who was the youngest agent of the Grey Light Order and the spy for the Shogun. He was on the mission alone. However, he was not fearful of all the challenges. “Moon was tranquil but alert, ready, eager, and more than that, fearless (Page 126).” He also displayed the quality of agility in defeating the attacks of his enemies.
Both novels were based on historical fantasy. However, they differed in the historical context. “Moonshadow: Eye of the Beast” was based on the Japanese history while “Dragonkeeper” was based on the Chinese history.
According to the Japanese historical information, the Portuguese were the first to arrive in Japan and they first introduced a new gun called arquebus to Japan in 1543 which the Japanese soon learned to make and use. But most early pistols could fire only one shot. So a gun mentioned in the novel that could fire multiple lead balls, one after the other, and with improved accuracy would certainly be very destructive.
In ancient China, dragons were perceived as the sign of emperor. The story of “Dragonkeeper” had the background of Han Dynasty. “Why don’t you call me by my name. It’s Liu Che.” (Page 276). Liu Che was the name of the boy emperor in the story. In Chinese history, Liu Che was the name for the greatest emperor in Han Dynasty. According to the historical information, Emperor Wu, or Liu Che, (156 BC-87 BC), was one of the greatest emperors of the Han Dynasty. As the tenth son of Emperor Jing, he was chosen as prince at the age of seven and was enthroned when he was sixteen years old. At the age of 70, he died on the throne, ending his 54-year rule. Emperor Wu was an extraordinary emperor with great talent and bold vision. Specifically, he was a super master of military strategy which made him a combative monarch. This accounts for his title Wu which means military force. Under his reign, the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220) became the most powerful regime in the world.
To conclude, both Moonshadow and Ping had special powers to fulfil their quests and they were courageous and agile. Nevertheless, the two novels had totally different historical backgrounds.
Resources:
- Anne Steel, “A Samurai Warrior”, Wayland, 1986
- Tim Wood, “Spotlight on Arms and Armour”, Franklin Watts, 1989
- www.travelchinaguide.com
