Social Studies: Re-creating The Past

Today in Social Studies we had to watch a clip from Band of Brothers. Our task was to describe in our own words what the soldier discovered and what impact it had on them. 

Here is my description of the clip:

In the Band of Brothers clip, we see soldiers discovering a concentration camp. These soldiers see the terror of the Nazi’s concentration camps observing frail Jews and spoiled bodies of dead Jews. They were in shock and disbelief as they saw pale, sickening, very skinny Jews walking around weakly. This would have an immense impact on the soldiers as it was a very pitiful scene to experience. Later on, we see all these lifeless bodies get buried leaving a long-lasting effect on the soldiers. This would give the soldiers so much guilt about seeing these poor lives suffer and go to waste.

Social Studies: The Einsatzgruppen

The Einsatzgruppen

Furthermore, on studying "Holocaust" we began working on some mapping about The Einsatzgruppen. Einsatzgruppen basically means "The cleanup squads" in German. We were given paper copy maps for us to locate and label where the countries that were involved in WW2, as well as the locations of the death camps. 

What I found curious about this is why are the Death Camps only in Poland but not Germany?

Here is the map I created:

Science: DNA Extraction

 Today in Science we did an experiment on DNA Extraction, where we extracted DNA from a Kiwifruit. 

Aim: To extract DNA from a Kiwifruit.

Equipment: Water, test tube, beakers, spatula ethanol, kiwifruit, ziplock bag, cloth. 

Method: 

1. Cut the kiwifruit in half and scoop out the kiwifruit in a ziplock bag.

2. Crush the kiwifruit inside the ziplock bag until chunks are gone. 

3. Add 2 pinch of salt and a little bit of water to the mixture and mix it together.

4. Then pour through cloth, collect the juice in a beaker, then transfer it into a test tube.

5. After pouring the mixture into the test tube, add Ethanol. Watch the DNA separate and collect the DNA using a spatula.

Results:

As a result, there were two layers in the test tube. At the top is the foggy looking texture which is the DNA and the bottom is just the neutral mixture that was from the start of the process. The dishwashing liquid broke the DNA cells of the kiwifruit, then the ethanol separated the DNA.    

Conclusion:

Altogether the experiment was pretty interesting to do and I enjoyed the process. Next time if I got to do this experiment again, I would like to try it on a strawberry. 

Visual Art: Transcription Street Art

 Hi there,

Today in Art we began doing some transcription of Street Art. Our task was to look at various street murals and choose one we were interested in. We also looked at different types of cultural art and or just any art style. I quite enjoyed the process of having to use a grid and use a different section of the art, I used half of a flower with a bit of pattern showing. The piece of artwork I chose was a Samoan, pacific kind of art. 

Social Studies: Night of the broken glass

Hi there,

Continuing on with "Holocaust" we began working on a new topic, The night of the broken glass. We watched a video talking about what happened at the time of the event and then answered some questions relating to the video.    

1. What is meant by the term “Kristallnacht”?

Night of broken glass.

2. When did this event occur?

9th and 10th of November, 1938.

3. How many synagogues did the programme claim were burned?

267 were damaged or burned.

4. How many Jews were claimed to have died as a result of this event?

91 Jews were claimed as dead.

5. How many were said to have been sent to concentration camps?

30,000 were sent to concentration camps.

6. What was the reaction of the German people to this event?

Germans forced the Jews to pay for the cost of the event. They would disown/deport them and even ban them from attending school. They were basically blaming the Jews.

Show how Kristallnacht was planned in advance:

As we already know that the event of Kristallnacht was planned ahead of time due to a document being sent out on the 8th of November 1938, before the event happened. The documents included what the Germans can and cannot do. For instance, particular care is to be paid in business sections and surrounding streets, non-Jewish businesses are to be protected from damage under all circumstances, officials are to arrest as many jews especially wealthy ones and for the time being, only healthy male Jews or not too advanced age are to be arrested. In conclusion, the Night of the broken glass was set up by the Germans.

The document signed by Reinhard Heydrich, SS Gruppenfurer.

Social Studies: The Nuremberg Laws

Hi there,

Today with the subject mentioned in the title, we looked at the Nuremberg Laws and answered 5 questions relating to them. Nuremberg Laws are basically the official rules that the Nazis passed to protect the German blood and honour pure in 1935. My answers are the ones highlighted this time.

1. Provide two examples of ways in which the Nuremberg laws affected the rights of German Jews.
German court judges could not refer to legal commentaries or opinions written by Jewish authors and Jewish university students were not allowed to sit for doctoral exams.

2. What other actions were taken that discriminated against Jews in Germany? (Remembering) 

Like what was said in my other blog post about Hitler, the quotes are other actions that were discriminated against the Jews, for example, “The Jews hate the white race and wants to lower its cultural level so the Jews might dominate”. Another example was in December 1935, the Reich Propaganda Ministry issued a decree forbidding Jewish soldiers to be named among the dead in World War I memorials.

3. Why do you think that the Nazis passed these laws? (Understanding)

The Nazis passed these laws because they believed that the presence of Jews in Germany threatened the German people. They believed they had to separate Jews from other Germans to protect and strengthen Germany as well as lowering their ‘pure’ German blood. Therefore, they forbid them from marrying or having any sexual relationships of their kind to Jews. Aside from that, they are prejudiced towards Jewish in general. They think they need to be superior to them, especially in their own country.

4. If a New Zealand government passed a law that provided for different treatment of a named racial group in New Zealand, what do you think the reaction of most New Zealand people would be? Why do you think this might be the case? (Applying)
I think the reaction of most New Zealand people if the New Zealand government passed laws that provided a different cure of a named racial group in NZ, would be conflicted. It is because many believe in equality and justice in this country. I think it would be unfair in some cases. It would just make netizens more angry and partial.

5. Do you think these Nuremberg laws were racist? Explain your point of view. (Evaluating)
I certainly think that the Nuremberg laws are racist. Why I think that is because they all violate most human rights. It is prejudiced, biased and discriminatory rules. These laws are unfair and shouldn’t have existed, to begin with.

Social Studies: What did Hitler actually say about Jews?

 Hi there,

Today in Social Studies we began a new topic, Nazi Anti-Semitism. We read about Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party in Germany, and looked at statements that he wrote from his book called the Mein Kampf (My Struggle). His book was written during his time in prison in 1923, as he attempted to seize power by force in what became called the "Munich Putsch". Our task was to provide two quotes, one from each statement, which shows Hitlers anti-semitism and explaining how these statements represent anti-semitism.   

What did Hitler actually say about Jews?

Quotes: 

"The Jews were responsible for bringing negroes into the Rhineland with the ultimate idea of bastardising (lowering the quality of) the white race which they hate"

"The Jews hate the white race and wants to lower its cultural level so the Jews might dominate".

These quotes describe Hitlers anti-semitism. He is against Jewish people but did not invent the hatred of Jews. Hitler has many reasons why he hates the Jews; blamed them for the defeat of the Great Depression, he thinks Jews hates the white race and wanted to dominate them, he lowered their cultural/political level in their own country and spied on an innocent German girl, he planned to seduce, contaminate her blood and remove her from the bosom of her people. Back when the wars even started, it is clear that Hitler already has a quarrel of prejudice towards the Jews.   

   

Textiles: Recap

 Textiles: Recap

Today in Textiles we did some recap on some basic skills that we already know about sewing. We did some recapping on how to work the sewing machine and how to set it up. We then had to display some of the sewing techniques to see if we remember how to do them. The following techniques are a backtrack, pivot (sewing a corner), and sewing 6mm, 10mm, and 15mm seams.  I found this difficult to do since I haven't done this in a long time, but eventually, I got there with some help. 

Here are some photos of me attempting to do the basic skills listed above: