Malo e Lelei Reader,
Happy Tongan Language Week!
Over the last few weeks, we have been learning about engineering and what engineers do. It has been really interesting to find out about the different kinds of engineering and how they help solve problems. Usually, we have engineering lessons in the school hall, but yesterday our lesson was canceled, which was a bit disappointing because I was excited to work on a project.
Even though the lesson was canceled, Room 9 still had a task to do in groups of 3 or 4 students. If some of your group members were in different classes or not there, you had to start the work without them.
I was in a group with three other students, but only one of my friends was in my class. The other two were from different classes, so they weren’t with us that day. Our task was to find a book about engineering and then plan what we wanted to do. We had to make a cover page for the book, but we decided to finish the main work first before making the cover.
We had to choose one type of engineering to focus on: Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Civil Engineering. Most people chose Civil or Electrical Engineering. I don’t think many picked Environmental Engineering because it seemed less popular.
After choosing Civil Engineering, we planned four things we wanted to learn about it. Then we started building a model bridge, which was based on what we learned in earlier lessons. Sadly, we didn’t finish the bridge in the time we had.
Even though we didn’t finish, it was a good experience because we practiced working as a team and planning. I’m looking forward to finishing it next time.
Thank you for reading my blog post. 😃
Fakaaue—Danielle ❤🔥.
Kia ora, I really like how you’ve shared so much learning lately – it shows your commitment and enthusiasm for different subjects. In this post, your explanation of the engineering task was clear, especially the way you described group work and your choice of civil engineering.
What do you think was the most important skill you practised in this session – planning, teamwork, or applying what you’d already learned about bridges? Next time, you could add a short reflection on why you think it’s useful to learn about engineering, since you’ve clearly taken a lot away from the lesson.
Keep it up! Whaea Lorraine
Kia ora Whaea Lorraine,
Thank you so much for your encouraging and thoughtful feedback! I really appreciate your kind words and the way you’ve highlighted the clarity in my explanation and the enthusiasm I’ve shown.
Reflecting on your question, I think the most important skill I practised during this session was teamwork. While planning and applying prior knowledge about bridges were essential, collaborating effectively with my group helped us combine our ideas and strengths to complete the task successfully. Teamwork allowed us to communicate, problem-solve, and support each other throughout the project.
I also like your suggestion about adding a reflection on the usefulness of learning engineering. Next time, I will definitely include why understanding engineering concepts, like those in civil engineering, is valuable not just for academic growth but for real world problem solving and innovation.
Nga Mihi – Danielle.