Hacksaw Ridge Summary

After a tragic incident with main character Desmond Doss, almost killing his brother at a young age, ever since he has refused to use or hold a gun nor engage in war. He was also influenced to not kill because of Religious beliefs and by almost killing his dad, William Thomas Doss and . This was lead to his parents getting into a argument. Moving to present time, Doss managed to save a man’s life, which brought him to the hospital where he found the love of his life, Dorothy Doss. Desmond’s wife was a inspration to him. She always stuck by his side, even when the worst of times occurred. He explains to her his interest in medical work. His father, who was a PTSD World War 1 veteran was very upset about his decision. These descions of not wanting to carry a gun in his training took him to court to plead guilty so he can be released without any charge. But he refused to comprimise with his beliefs. Fortunately, his dad had bailed him out and the court let him continue on to be a combat medic, mercifully.

The Japanese had planned on attacking Pearl Harbour, he joins the Army as a combat medic. While running back to safety from to many Japanese army, Desmond, hears the cries of dying soldiers, and he is then returning to save them. He carries them and hides them from the opposing side, whilst getting them down the cliff’s edge one by one with rope. Every time he manages to save one person, he prays to save one more. “Please Lord, help me find one more.” The day goes by while doss has been saving plentyful groups of men, he manages to escape Hacksaw Ridge with Sargent Howell, under the enemies fire. Without even using any sort of gun, his bravery managed to save 75 men at war in Okinawa, Japan. His fellow soldiers, who laughed at him and continuous bullying to drive him out of training earnt his respect and admiration for his actions on Battlefield. This created reinforcements, having to go back to war for another day. Desmond Doss had prayed for them before they went up and fought. In an ambush set by Japanese soldiers who pretended to surrender, he saves others by deflecting the enemies gerenade. He was wounded by this, but luckily the war was over and they had won.

English Practice Assessment

 

The waves are rolling over each other, one by one. Each wave crashes onto the beach like charging horses. They stop at different points of the sand, they wash back shells and stones into the ocean. Clashing and clinking of every wave makes you drift into a dreamy sleep. Seagulls aggressively shouting aloud that wakes you up in a fright. As the sun goes down, the sky looks like a painting. Remarkable colours of pink and orange that reflect onto the rocky hills. It seems like the sea is starting to slow down, and the wind is getting faster. Beneath your cold feet, there is a rock. A rock that has a smooth surface and is perfect for skipping. When it skimmed past the still water, it made a splish and a splash. The ripple effect makes a vibration on the top of the water. As the wind picks up I am able to smell the eggy seaweed in the air. I can even taste it. The seaweed has been washed up onto the shore. It’s slimy to the touch and can get tangled up. I pick up a piece to catch sight of thousands of little baby crabs zooming around. These crabs are barely visible to the eye. I could stomp on them without notice. Suddenly the night darkens and the moon reflects onto the sea. It makes a shimmering pathway that you could walk across. The rusty white windmills watch over the coast, their tall but silent sentinel. Every single part of this place, and its imperfections make it feel like home. 

 

Journalism Level one 💌

01

Introduction

Hello readers, hope everyones new year is going good for you so far! Happy 2025. 

This year we are going to be doing Contemporary Journalism (Level one). Contemporary Journalism approaches your own thoughts and opinons and unravelling news and information worldwidely. I am looking forward to this because I want to get a good knowledge on investing and looking more deeply in things that are and aren’t always real on the internet. I’m also hoping I get all the credits I need for this subject.

We started off with the introduction: “What is Contemporary Journalism?” and what types of content we are going over throughout the year. First thing was to share a story, place or artefact that is significance to you to make connections to each other or family, hapu, iwi and to places. My piece I made was digital on a poster. I choose a significant place that connects me and family. Significant story

02 

Understanding Social Inquiry

Social relating to our society and human behavior and Inquiry which are based off asking questions and trying to get infomation. Through social inquiry, we ask questions, gather information and examine the background to important social ideas and events. Big ideas are connected through shared concepts relating to culture, identity, social organisation and globalisation. One good way to connect these ideas was to create a mind map or connections web.

It’s a bit hard to see but on my mind map there are 3 main concepts Hononga, Culture and Identity. which all lead to the similar idea. This will help so when we look into more tricky things it will help to understand and retain infomation better.

Article Summaries

Source Analysis 

A source is anything that can be used to provide evidence in research. This can be a book, website or artefact. What can we do if these sources are providing us the truth? Well, we need to have good critical thinking to determine. One of the ways we can do to tell if this is the actual truth acrynom A.D.A.M. This is one of the ways that our most helpful to me, but there are lots of other great methods you can use.

A –  Author, who created the source that you are looking at? 

D – Date, when was this source created?

A – Audience, whom was the source made for? 

M – Meaning/Message, what is the author trying to convey in the source?

Source Analysis Activity

Now we had to analyse some sources, this is to help us get a start off so it gets easier when approaching other things similar. Our source was a fast fashion news article.

Source Analysis

21.02.25

Data

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data

When investigating social issues, students need to understand the two main types of data used in research: qualitative and quantitative. Both types are important for forming a well-rounded understanding of social problems and solutions.

Qualitative

This is more of a descriptive form. A non-numerical data that explores people’s experiences, opinions, and meanings.

It’s characteristics are based on words, observations, and themes rather than numbers. Qualitative can also be collected through interviews, focus groups, case studies, and open-ended survey responses. This helps to get a perspective from people.

Quantitative

A numerical data that can be measured, counted, and statistically analysed.

It’s characteristics are based on numbers, percentages, and statistics. This can also be collected through surveys with closed-ended questions, official statistics, experiments, and structured observations.

Combined Data

Many social studies investigations combine qualitative and quantitative data for the complete picture.

🌍History of Earth

Aim

Make a timeline of Earth out of rolled toilet paper. Take a roll of paper and unroll it across the classrooms.

Method

One square is equivalent t0 12.5 million years. Each billion years takes up 80 sqaures. As you roll the toilet paper, count each square and write down the timeline.

Results

Discussion

Why are there big gaps between events? – The big gaps are there to represent how long the event happened for. Evolution takes really long.

When did humans come be in existence?

Humans first existed around 300,000 YA ago. Modern humans existed 100,000 YA.

The most damage to the earth has occurred when?

Since the industrial revolutions since 1760 to 1840. We burn fossil fuels which really damages the planet.

Why do you think we have a right to destroy the earth considering we have only been on the planet 100,00 years? 

No, we only have one Earth and it is something we should cherish. We only have one planet and it is something to look after, which we don’t. Ice sheets are melting, extinction in animals are happening, bleaching, poulltion, loss of coral reefs, sea levels any so any more bad events has happened today on planet Earth.

Safety and medicine

How can teenagers be safe with medicine?

When we take medicine, we don’t see some issues of how much or how little we take. Medication can end up causing problems. Some ways of making mistakes when it comes to medication are: taking to much, taking the wrong medicine, mixing up your medicines and accidentally changing the order when you take it.

Some of the best ways to ensure medication safety is: reading the label (it can help you select the right medication for the right times), having a doctor give you timetables when to start and stop and taking capsules with water or milk so there isn’t a chocking hazard, or crush the capsules and mix them with a soft drink or food.

And to store it safely you can find proper guide for medicine storage on the labels since medicine have varying storage reqiurments.

Drugs Assignment

LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide)

Also known as: Acid, Loony Toons, Doses, Mircodot, Golden Dragon and many more. 

LSD is one of the most mood-changing chemical. It comes from a lysergic acid (potent hallucination) that is found on fungus that grows on rye and other types of grain. This drug is formed in illegal laboratories, mostly in the USA. Lyserigic acid has no scent, color, but has a slight bitter taste to it. These drugs can be sold on the street in small tablets calling them (‘mircodots’), capsules or gelatin sqaures. Taking in something like this can last up to 12 hours, from other users experiences either were really good or really bad.

Lsyergic Acid can come in different forms as they can be converted to a liqiud for distribution. These can be capsules or gelation sqaures (small pieces of paper) . Gelation sqaures can be decorated with designs or cartoon characters ( “Loony Toons”), they are very small, which can be very easy to take in. Although it is easier to find LSD in liqiud forms.

LSD is usually swallowed or dissolved under your tounge, but it can also be sniffed, injected or smoked.

Everyone is different in why they want to take in drugs. In teen years, it is often a time to explore and learn more about themselfs as they grow into adults. Teens disire to do something new or risky is a normal part of developing. Teens may also use drugs/alcohol to:

  • Relieve boredom
  • Feel good
  • Forget their troubles
  • Ease their pain
  • Feel grown up
  • Showing their independence
  • To fit in

Short term effects:

    • Euphoria
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Increased body temperature
  • Hallucinations
  • Possible anxiety and paranoia
  • Confusion
  • Having an out-of-body experience
  • Feeling that what’s happening isn’t real

Long term effects:

  • Flashback hallucinations when not using LSD
  • Increased risk of bloodborne infections from injection
  • STI from risky sexual behavior when using
  • Tolerance

Taha Hinegaro/mental and emotional

When someone takes LSD, it can really change how they see and feel things. The changes can make them feel very different, and sometimes confused or scared. This confusion can make them feel anxious or upset. If these feelings are intense or last a long time, it can be tough for their mental and emotional well-being. So, what happens to their body and mind with LSD can deeply affect how they feel overall, both physically and emotionally.

Laws of Lysergic Acid

LSD is illegal in New Zealand. Some laws around LSD can be classifed as a ‘Class A’ drug. The maximium penalty for possession of a Class A drug – like heroin, LSD, Cocaine or P – is six months imprisonment or a 1,000$ fine, or both. But, if it is only your first drug offence, you’ll usually just get a fine for possession or use of Class A drugs. The drug LSD is classified by effect is hallucinations. Hallucinations are things when people see images, hear sound and feel sensations that seem very real but do not exist.

We can’t stop anyone from using drugs, it is their choice on what they want to do. However, there are someways you can do to be safe when taking drugs.

When you take in a drug for the first time, you want to try it for the second time, then the third. It begins to get really addictive to the point where you don’t want to stop. If someone you know wants to stop taking drugs, doing things to distract your mind off it can help. Maybe get a hobby or do an activity, spend some time with friends and family or ring a youthline. But if you still want to continue on using drugs, don’t excessivly use it as much. As hard as it sounds, it will get easier.

Another idea for being safe when using drugs is taking it around someone sober, rather than random people who also do it in a park. Parties is a bad choice to take drugs aswell, you might end up being somewhere you don’t know when you wake up (stranger danger).

Decision Making

Scenario: It is the start of interval; you receive a text. The text is from your friend. Your friend tells you to meet them at the back of the field to use LSD with them. 

Option 1: You start to feel stressed out about the message you have recieved. You begin to think if you don’t take LSD with your friend they will stop hanging out with you and think you’re weird. So, you reply back with a ‘thumbs up’.

Option 2: Taking drugs is something you don’t ever want to do. You feel a bit anxious, but calm yourself down and assertivly reply back adressing ‘Hey, I know you would find it fun to do it with me, but I am unsure and have never done it before so I feel uncofmtable. I have to say no, very sorry hope you’re okay with that.’

Option 3: You get angry why they would want to do it at school, than just focusing on school. It starts to get you frustrated, so you snitch to a teacher about it.

What are the consequences of these scenarios? (Negatives & Positives)

Option 1: Once you have taken the drug with your friend, you start to really regret it. You begin to think ‘What if my parents saw what I just did?’ and ‘There never going to trust me again’. LSD can give you really bad hallucinations, so the teacher pulls you outside of class and end up getting caught with an illegal substance. (N)

Option 2: You sense like that was the right thing to do, not only for yourself but for everyone around you. Not only have you declined the request to use drugs, your friend completly understands how you feel and doesn’t end up taking the drug at school. (P)

Option 3: The pressure and thought of not saying anything to your friend and just letting a teacher know, is making you feel like you’ve betrayed that friend rather than politely declining. (P & N)

What are some feelings you would have on each outcome? 

Option 1: Upset, very disapointed in yourself and how you could’ve acted on it differently. Frustrated that you can’t rely on yourself or others.

Option 2: Glad you can stand up for your feelings and that it didn’t effect the other persons thoughts and emotions. You feel more calm and happy in how it went.

Option 3: Telling the teacher thought it would be the best idea, but ends up hurting the other one’s feeling. You don’t feel any relief, every feeling is gulit and in the wrong.

What is the best option?

This may be obvious, but option 2 is the best answer. Your wellbeing might have increased because you feel very confident how you handled the situtation, than just going around to snitch, you also thought about the friends emotions.

Conclusion

Hope this blog helped you understand more in depth about LSD (drug). Please note down anything else you want to know! Goodbye and have a nice day.

Consequences of Drug use

Hello readers,

This term in health, we have been learning about all lists of drugs. Today we our told to choose two drugs and talk about there consequences they have on us. I have choosen Marijuana and inhalants.

Marijuana

Marijuana originates from the Indian hemp plant, and the parts that contains the ‘drugs’ are found in primarliy in the flowers (also known as the buds) and much less in the seeds, leaves and the stem of the plant. Marijuana, when sold, is a mixture of dried out leaves, stems, flowers and seeds of the hemp plant. It is usually green, brown or gray in color.

Marijuana are usually smoked as a cigarette (joint), but may be smoked as well in a dry pipe or a water pipe known as the ‘bong’. It can also be mixed in with food to be eaten or brewed as a tea.

What are the harms? (consequences)

Some immediate effects of taking in marijuana can be: rapid heart beat, lack of physical coordination, following with depression or sleepiness. Others will also suffer with any panic attacks or anixety. Unfortunately the consequences do not stop from there. Scientists studies have shown that, the ingredient in cannabis remains in the body for weeks and possibily months! Marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke (cigarettes). Marijuana can change structures of sperm cells, deforming them, it leads to disrupting the woman’s menstrual cycle.

Studies have also been showing that the people who smoke marijuana a lot tend to be less aware. The THC in cannabis disrupts nerve cells in the brain, affecting memory.

Long term & Short term

Short term:                                                                                                                 

  • Memory problems
  • Panic/anixety
  • Hallucinations
  • Loosing sense of personal identity
  • Slow reaction time
  • Sexual problems (more for males)
  • Increased heart rate

Long term:

• Poor school performance and higher
chance of dropping out
• Impaired thinking and ability to learn
and perform complex tasks
• Lower life satisfaction
• Addiction (about 9% of adults and
17% of people who started smoking as teens)

In the end, there is no positive to marijuana, so it would be negative. (N)

 

Challenges and Responses

Hello readers,

This week in social studies at challenges & responses.

Challenges are obstacles we face that require a response or solution. Where some of the challenges we have, or can will face and how we react to it in a positive way. We can choose our types of challenges from: Polictical, economic, social, cultural, eniviromental and more. I have done the human rights and the challenges we have every day. I have designed a short poster on all around the world struggles in human rights.

 

 

Profile of a He Whakaputanga Signatory

Key Vocabulary

He Whakaputanga

The declaration of Indepence of Aotearoa

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi

Suffrage

the right to vote in political elections

Petition

a formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority in respect of a particular cause.

Summary: He Whakaputanga

Patuone was the older brother of Tāmati Wāka Nene and a principal leader of Ngāti Hao. Said to be 108 when he died in 1872, he was a “warm friend of Europeans, supporter of the Queen’s laws, and peacemaker.”

Patuone signed He Whakaputanga sometime between 29 March 1836 and 25 June 1837. In 1840 he signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Why is it important?

Described by British Resident James Busby as the ‘Magna Carta of New Zealand Independence’, He Whakaputanga was a bold and innovative declaration of Indigenous power. It is inseparable from the Treaty of Waitangi and the issues that shape Aotearoa New Zealand. As Ngāpuhi elder Hone Sadler notes, ‘He Whakaputanga te matua, Te Tiriti te tamaiti — He Whakaputanga is the parent, Te Tiriti is the child.’

 

Basketball and Hockey Relfection

Hello readers, over the past few weeks our classes have been learning to play basketball and hockey. I’ll be going over the few parts of how each game works.

Basketball

There are five players on each team in me of the rules in basketball is that: you can’t travel with the ball, no double dribbling, the ball must stay in bounds. If the offensive team looses the ball out of bounds the other team gets control of the basketball, nce the offensive team crosses half court, they may not go back into the backcourt and no player can touch the basketball while it is traveling downward towards the basket or if it is on the rim. Gear in basketball can be: good pair of sneakers, arm sleeves, headbands, mouth guard, shin pads and of course the ball.

Court layout:

There are five positions in basketball. Center, power forward, small forward, point guard, and shooting guard.

Basketball Player Profile: 

Paul Clifton Anthony George is an American professional basketball player. Nicknamed “PG-13”, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star and six-time member of the All-NBA Team, as well as a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team. 

Hockey:

Each team consists of 11 players. Some rules are: players can only hit the ball with the flat side of their stick. The field hockey game lasts for two 30 minute halves. The ball cannot go up in the air, especially on free hits. The ball cannot hit your feet. And lastly raise the hockey stick over your hips. The gear in hockey are: mouth guards, shin pads, tights or leggings and the ball and stick ( the goalkeeper might need more gear)

Hockey layout:

Hockey player profile

Simon William Yorston is a field hockey player from New Zealand, who plays as a defender. He was born in England, 2000.