Matariki has MANY names around the world
There are 9 stars of the Matariki
The 9 stars are known as the Pleiades
Hiwa-i-te-Rangi - the youngest wishing star
The first modern-day Matariki celebrations to place in Hawkins bay in 2000
Around 500 people went tot he first Matariki festival but by 2003 the numbers had risen to 15,000 people
The reappearance of the seven Matariki stars, in late May or early June, signals the beginning of the Māori New Year
Matariki is one of the star clusters nearest to Earth.
Matariki – signifies reflection, hope and our connection to the environment
Pōhutukawa – connects with those who have passed on
Waitī – ties to bodies of freshwater and the food within it
Waitā – ties to the ocean and the food within it
Waipuna-ā-range – associated with the rain
Tupuānuku – is for food that grows within the soil
Tupuārangi – is for food that grows up in the trees
Turangi – is the star associated with the winds
Hiwa-i-te-Rangi – the youngest, is the wishing star that also ties into our aspirations for the coming year
Here are things that I found out that people do when the Matariki come:
Have a celebration with friends and whānau.
Learn or do some weaving.
Learn about stars and see Matariki through a telescope.
Talk to people in our family about our family history and stories.
Fly kites.
Watch kapa haka performances.
Learn about Māori origin stories and culture.
Give respect to the Whenua (land) on which we live.
Learn more about how we can care for our Mother Earth Papatūānuku
Here are some more things that happen when the Matariki come:
Finish storing up food for the winter.
Create new woven clothes and baskets.
Remember our ancestors and listen to old tribal stories.
Learn about the natural world.
Learn to play string games.
Celebrate the coming year.
Make, decorate, and fly kites.
Ways to celebrate Matariki:
Cook with the traditional Maori vegetables
Explore the outdoors
Spend some time with kids/family in the kitchens
Set exercise goals
Get involved
The best time/place to see the Matariki is:
From early June, before sunrise, look to the north-east horizon.
Binary and ASCII
On Wednesday we are learning about Binary and ASCII.
(I haven't yet finished mine, but I'll make it)
Binary is a number system that uses 1’s and 0’s to represent all of our normal set of numbers. You can use the place values as multiples of 2 to work out how to do it for yourself! Try watching this video to give it a go yourself!
ASCII is a set of encoded symbols that a computer uses to turn Binary into letters and other symbols from the English language (like what is on our keyboard). I turned my initials into binary numbers, and then turned those binary numbers into an ASCII code! Using colors to represent the 1’s and 0’s, my initials in ASCII can be represented by the pattern you see in my image below!
(even though it's not in a necklace yet I will still make it into one soon)
What do you think?
Have you ever tried encoding anything in binary or ASCII?
Could you have a try for yourself?
Can you work out how to write my initials in ASCII from the pattern above?
Anyway bloggers,
See you next time!
