Safety on the road

 

Football

Football is one of the most beautiful games in the world. The rules are simple: Put the ball in the back of the net. The game goes on for ninety minutes plus extra time. If the game in drew at the ninety-minute the go added time. They play 15-minute halves and if the score is still drawn it goes onto penalty shoot-out.

All you need to play football is a ball and something to mark the goals. To start a match of football a player has to go into the middle of the pitch, wait for the ref to blow the whistle, and pass it back to one of your teammates. The game is then started. The 60-100 meter field has 11 players on each side. They all have set positions. The main positions are strikers, midfielders, defenders, and a goalkeeper. 

There are many rules in football. Such as if you foul someone you get a free-kick where you got fouled. However, if the opponent has fouled you in the penalty box it is a penalty. The player gets a free shot 9 meters away from the goal with no defence
in the way. Offsides are another crucial rule in Football. The attack always has to be behind the last defender. If the attackers are in front of the last defenders it is called offside. The defenders get a free-kick.

Football coaches coordinate and instructs the football players. The coaches train to make game plans and tactics. The coaches will pick the formations of the team and the positions. In a professional league If the team loses over and over again, they can get fired. Coaching is very important.

In conclusion, Football is one of the most popular sports around the world and should be played a lot more.

The Changes in our ocean

The changes in our ocean are not changes, their problems that we need to change. 

Every day millions of people rely on fish for food and good nutrition. When people take too much fish out of the ocean it creates problems. Lot’s of species go extinct from overfishing. The population is too small so they cannot breed which sadly leads to extinction. Huge big fishing trailers Scrape at the ocean floor getting hundreds and hundreds of fish to sell at huge fishing markets. When this happens it wrecks the coral reefs and ocean floor. 

Even though plastic has done great things for us it has also done bad. We have made lots of inventions with plastic but it is very harmful to marine life. Up to 8 million bits of plastic go into the ocean every day.  88% of the sea surface is plastic which out of every 3 fish 1 of them is contained with plastic. Fish think plastic is food so they eat it. The plastic makes them feel full but they are not and then they starve to death. 

As the years pass our globe is getting hotter. This is because of us. The pollution from factories and cars goes up into the air and makes holes in our ozone layer. The ozone layer is like a thin blanket that protects us from the sun. When the pollution makes holes through the ozone layer it makes it hotter. The ice caps start to melt which makes the sea rise. Many marine life species can’t live because the temperature of the water is too hot. This is a global problem that we need to fix.

We have to remember that they were here first and were just mucking up their world. To help stop these problems we need to not overfish, don’t use plastic, and try not to make as much pollution. If we can do this It will change the ocean back to how it was, when it was healthy.

By Troy

How a political party wins an election in NZ

In an election, every voter gets two votes. Parties compete to win as many electoral votes and party votes as they can. To get any seats in parliament, a party needs to win at least 5% of the party vote or win an electorate seat.          

Your electorate vote goes to the person you most want to represent the area you live in. Each party chooses people to stand in the election. The person with the most votes is called an MP. Normally the person that the parties choose to stand on the behalf of their party.

There are currently 5 political parties in parliament. These are the Act Party, Green Party, Labour Party, National Party and the New Zealand First Party. 

Voting places close at 7.00 pm on election day. Each voting place counts the votes there. The process of counting the votes by hand begins with an early start from 9:00 am. From 7.00 pm, results go to a central office in Wellington, for the announcement as they arrive. A person needs to ensure no voter has voted more than once. Special overseas votes are also included. People count the votes which usually takes about two weeks. The results of the election become official when confirmed by the Chief Electoral Officer.

The two major parties that have dominated the government are labour and national. This is because they have a lot more people and better ideas that will benefit the country. However, not everyone agrees with the ideas. That's why parties are normally made up of people that have a similar idea of how to make our country a better place.

Like the last election, for example, New Zealand First joined up with Labour and the Greens. This is called a coalition. So they can join the number of seats they have in parliament. The leaders from the three coalition partners parties negotiate to determine who will become either Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister

By Troy