Social Media Argument

Scratch Game

Running Reflection

I think that something I did well on was pumping my arms and keeping me arms at a 90 degree angle. As you can see in the video, I kept on pumping my arms and when my arms were at the back they still were in the 90 degree angle. I think that another thing that I did well on was running tall. Something that I need to work on as a runner would probably be running on my toes. Another thing would be keeping my head up and my eyes forward. As you can see in some of the clips, from time to time I would be looking at the ground. And as it's hard to see, I'm not consistently running on my toes, from time to time my feet are flat on the ground which is slowing me down. In conclusion, some of my weaknesses in running is keeping my head up and my eyes forwards, and running on my toes. While some of the strengths are pumping my arms and keeping that 90 degree angle.

Should Insects be Included in Our Diets?

Have you ever realised that insects are already included in your diet? Never thought about that right? Insects are contained in most of your foods, leading to 500 grams of insects being eaten per year. If insects are being eaten already in some form, why stop now? Continuing to include insects in our day to day diets can bring us many different health benefits.  Without us already knowing, most foods already contain bugs in them. From processed foods, chocolate, to even fruits and vegetables. 1,000 species of bugs are being eaten, without us even knowing. If vegetables and fruits are bringing us vitamins and health benefits, aren't the bugs that are included with them too? Everyday, people in developed countries are eating 80 kilograms of meat per year. We all know that pigs, and animals such as cows have the ability to carry unwanted diseases without us being aware of it. Pigs are just like humans, we're able to use their organs to replace one of ours'. We're always worried about catching an unwanted disease, but knowing that you could get a disease from an animal you are eating, is unbearable. On the other hand, insects are nothing like humans. Insects wouldn't be able to pass on deadly diseases onto people, if insects are part of our diets, our chances of catching an unfortunate disease would decrease.  Out of the many different animals in our world, 80% of these species are insects. If we continue or start to eat these insects, we would never get bored! With all the choices and the ways we could eat them. In some countries, insects are known as a delicacy. Cooked in many different ways, this could lead to another health benefit of the huge spectrum of insects. Insects could be sneaked into a diet by putting them into dishes with other healthy ingredients. We all know that food dye isn't as healthy as we thought, but what we didn't know was the insects are one of the many ingredients in it. Food dye with insects as one of their ingredients would cost the same amount as gold. People who eat insects would have less of a chance of getting a disease and a healthier way of eating them.

Brickfilms :)

Healthy Snack

Crunchy Berry Parfait 
Ingredients: 

• 1 cup of vanilla low-fat yogurt 
• 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries 
• 6 fresh strawberries 
• 1/2 cup of granola 

Directions:

Layer 1/4 cup yogurt into the bottom of a bowl. Top with about half of each of the sliced strawberries, blueberries, and granola; repeat layering.

Q. How might I make my snack even healthier? If you think it cannot be improved because it is already extremely healthy, explain why is is so healthy. Consider fat content as well as sugar levels.
A. I think that I could've changed some of the ingredients, so that the sugar level is lower. I think that by changing the fruit into something else that is sweet but has less sugar in it. Other than that, I think that it's still pretty healthy, all the sugar is natural and is coming from the fruits.

Q. How did my snack compare to others?
A. I think that the presentation of my snack was pretty good compared to others, they also had really pretty food. But before presenting I forgot to bring spoons, so I had to run to the Grab and Go to receive spoons. The taste of my snack, was healthy and tasty, even though mostly everyone had tasty food, but some had snacks that tasted too healthy.

Q. What advice would I give next years 7th graders about this assignment?
A. One advice that I would give to the 7th graders next year about this assignment is to spend time on it. Spend a lot of time preparing it, and maybe even try it out before the actual date. Make sure that you spend time finding the recipe, and make sure that if your first attempt doesn't work to have extra time. Another thing that I would give them as advice is to really think about the ingredients they're putting into the snack, and to be aware of the different sugar and fat levels. Overall, they should just have fun with it.

The Cause Of Destruction?

As all buildings will not fight the forces and destroy, our building could crumble due to our light styrofoam base. Even though our base is isolated and is weighed down by several washers, this could end up into pieces. With forces of the shake table being strong, if the satay sticks don't stay in the foam, our building could go flying when forces shake up and down. This could also lead into the second factor behind the destruction of our building, and that factor is the satay sticks. During the "earthquake" the satay sticks could completely just fall out of the foam, not being securely stuck into the styrofoam. The satay sticks, which are also holding up the floors and are in a cross bracing method, could lead the building into collapsing. Either the shake board could be so strong that the sticks fall out, or the floors fall onto each other. In conclusion, the cause behind of the destruction of our building would be due to the isolated styrofoam base and the cross bracing of satay sticks.

Our Credible Source

What's Influencing Engineers' Choices For Buildings?

Q: What are the factors that influence engineers’ choices for adding elements that make a building more resistant to earthquakes?

A: I think that one factor that influences engineers' with their choice for adding elements is that bigger buildings should be able to sway. If they make sure that their building sways, but they also have to make sure that their building doesn't sway that much till the point of touching nearby buildings. So the factor would be the location of the building. Another thing factor that influence engineers' choices is making sure that the first story of their building must be well supported, and that the connections between layers should be strong. Another factor that is very important that would influence an engineers' choice is the different types of materials they choose to use to build their buildings. Using wood and steel is better than using brick, stone, and adobe, which are brittle and will break. By using wood and steel to support your building, it would also absorb the shock of the waves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How are we doing?

I think that we're doing pretty good, we had our base done and started on adding our different floors. We started off roughly, not having the right materials or not having the right amount, but we still didn't want to spend that much money. We had another plan with our base, which was similar to our first plan, but we twitched it a bit. After figuring out how to deal with our isolated base, we started rolling. We started to join the base and the first floor, and even started to add our cross bracing. During the next lesson, we plan on finishing adding the floors and the cross bracing, and maybe to even start practicing.

Before the cross bracing 

Our isolated base 

Current Progress 

Earthquake Proof Structures

Q: What are the forces generated by earthquakes and other factors that affect building stability?
A: I think that one factor that affects the stability of the building are the seismic waves. The seismic waves are the energy from the earthquakes. They move outward in all directions away from their source. Since that there are two types of seismic waves, the body waves and the surface waves. In an earthquake, body waves are responsible for the sharp jolts, this would lead to unstable buildings into pieces. But something that makes an earthquake deadly is population density, the size of the earthquake, and the type of ground. Something that we did with our plan of our building, is that we decided to had an isolated foundation, that will hopefully help prevent the building from falling while being on the shake board. When we first started, we were told that the plan for our first building was not going to be successful and that it would collapse. So we decided to re-draw our plan, I think that we had concluded on one design, and tried using the cross bracing method and the isolation foundation method. Next class we will attempt to start building our structure.

Our current plan 

Our first design plan 

Learning From Earthquake Resistant Buildings

Recently, we've been assigned a group project to make an earthquake resistant building. Before actually getting down to business, we had to independently come up with ideas of how we could build these resistant buildings and what we should avoid. Something that I learned that would help the building from being destroyed is to use cross bracing. By using the cross bracing method, it absorbs the motion during an earthquake and protects the building from damage. Another thing that I would make sure to add to our building is that the bottom or also known as the foundation should be symmetric. The third thing that I learned from my building design board is that the materials that we use should be light weight. One thing that I would definitely avoid is having the foundation be asymmetric, as I read that asymmetric buildings undergo torsion and extreme corners are subjected to very large earthquake forces. Another thing that I learned, that I will not be adding to my building is having sudden changes in lateral stiffness. Something that I learned, that is pretty interesting but will not fit to class made buildings, is that buildings should not have swimming pools or large tanks of water at the top of the building. Thirdly, we will avoid to make our building very slender. Lastly, something we will avoid is to make our building in a inverted pendulum type building. In conclusion, with this activity, I've learned a few things about what makes a good earthquake resistant building and what we should avoid in this project.

IT Brickfilms #3

Mathematical Reflections #2

In math class, we've recently started a new unit on integers and rational numbers. In the last unit, we started off with the first mathematical reflection, so here's another. The first question asked was (1.A.) "How do you decide which of two numbers is greater when both numbers are positive?" Well, when you first look at a number, if one number has more digits than the other, then that number with more digits is greater. If they both have the same number of digits, then look at the first digit of the number, if it's greater than the other, then that number would be greater. If the first digit is equal to the other number's first digit, then look at their second digit. Looking at the second digit and so forth, and seeing if they are greater or less than the other number's helps identify the greater number. (1.B.) "How do you decide which of two numbers is greater when both numbers are negative?" You can tell if one negative number is greater than the other by looking at a number line and looking at which one is close to zero. If you're not looking at a number line, just ignore the negative sign, and look at the actual number (digits.) The smaller number is greater while the greater number is smaller. For example, -10 and -5, -5 is greater. (1.C.) "How do you decide which of two numbers is greater when one number is positive and one number is negative?" We all know that the positive number is always the greatest. When you look at a number line it could help you determine the greater number by looking at the placement of the numbers. The positive number would be on the right and the negative number would be on the left.

(2) "How does a number line help you compare numbers?" A number line can help you compare numbers because as said before the negative numbers are on the left and the positive numbers are on the right. When comparing one negative number and a positive number you can just look at where the number is, either on the left or on the right. If you are comparing two positive numbers, you can look at a number line and see which one is closer to zero, if it is closer to zero than it is less than the other number. Something similar would go for the negative numbers, the number closer to zero would be greatest. Something that could help you on the number line, is using the jumping method. No, you don't actually jump on a number line. When you are using the jumping method, you see how many jumps it would take one number to get to another.

(3) "When you add a positive number and a negative number, how do you determine the sign of the answer?" When you add a positive number and a negative number, the answer will also be a positive number. For example, if you're looking at a number line, and the problem you're trying to figure out is +7+-5=? You would start at 7 and you would count towards the zero, since negative numbers are on the left, you would "jump" to the left. You would end up landing on 2. Alway remembering that whenever you add a positive with a negative, you end up with a positive number.

(4) "If you are doing a subtraction problem on a chip board, and the board does not have enough chips of the colour you wish to subtract, what can you do to make the subtraction possible?"
Knowing that when you add negative one to positive one, those numbers cancel each other out, meaning that they would equal zero. If you add an amount of pairs (negative one and positive one) to the problem, it would just be adding zeros, so it wouldn't harm the equation. Then, by breaking these pairs up, you get enough chips for both the positive and the negative, by erasing the extra chips, you are able to make the subtraction possible.

This picture of a number line, was taken from Creative Commons. 

This picture of negative and positive number chips, was taken from Creative Commons.

Wellness/Fitness 2014

How smoothly would your wellness wheel roll?
I think that my wellness wheel would roll pretty smoothly, but sometimes it may not. I think my wheel is mostly pretty balanced, but in some places it would be a little unbalanced.

In which areas of your life are you most well?
One area of my life that I am most well is in my social wellness. I have many friends that I can go to in good times to celebrate and I have friends that I can call whenever I feel sad or low. Sometimes, not most times, but sometimes I also express my emotions by laughing, crying when I'm sad and I also express anger or fear. I take time for fun and I have a satisfying and fulfilling relationship with my family, even though sometimes we fight.

In which areas of your life are you least well?
The area of my life that I'm least well in is my psychological wellness. I don't always achieve goals I set for myself, but sometimes I do. Most times I put off important tasks to the last minutes, and I definitely need to work on that.

What improvements would you like to see in your wellness wheel?
I would like to see my psychological wellness improve, so my wheel could be more balanced. I can achieve this by achieving more goals, associating with more people with positive attitudes, etc.

MY WEEKLY FITNESS

Record an average week of fitness. List your average daily exercise in the table below.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 hour of walking	30 minutes of walking	1 hour of walking	1 hour of jogging	30 minutes of swimming	1 and a half hours of power walking/running	one hour of swimming

What healthy benefits of exercise caught your attention?

One of the healthy benefits of exercise that caught my attention was that exercise improves your posture and that it can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 60%.

What benefit would you like to improve at?

One benefit that I would like to improve at, well as I said before, exercise improves your posture. And as my mom has always told me, I have pretty bad posture, so that would be something that I would like to improve at. 

In your opinion, are you getting enough exercise? Explain.

Even though I do get some exercise in throughout my week, I still think that I should be getting more exercise. I do walk and run throughout the week, but I think that if I joined a sport that I enjoyed I would definitely get enough exercise.

If you need to make some changes, what are they and how will you achieve them? If you get enough exercise, how will you maintain?

One change I need to make is to do a lot more exercise, I will achieve this by getting motivation such as friends to come and join me, so I could also fit in another factor of wellness to the exercise part. If I do achieve the goal and if I do get enough exercise I will hopefully maintain this by writing down a schedule and writing how long I've been doing exercise.

List 3 ways in which exercise helps you maintain different areas of your wellness

1. Exercise can help you socialize with more people. Joining a new sport, means joining a new team full of people, so what a better place to meet new people.

2. As most of the benefits were talking about, exercise really helps your physical feature. It makes you more fit, and yet you are much more healthier. Exercise also reduces the risk of sicknesses.

3. Exercise can help your spiritual wellness improve.

First Brickfilms

Themes and Memoirs

We've just recently started the unit of Memoirs in RLA. To lead us with the process of learning about this genre, we read Everything Will Be Okay. This story/memoir talks about when James Howe found a kitten in the forests, this kitten wasn't in the best condition, it had pus coming out of it's nose and eyes. James, brought it home, hoping he would be able to finally be able to call something his own. When his mom found out, she immediately told him to give it to her so he could put his clothes in the wash, never knowing what type of diseases it could carry, waiting for Paul, James' brother to come back. Paul worked at Dr. Milk's, the vet that was located in their town, James hoping that he could someday follow in the footsteps of him and work there too. Soon, James finds out who he really wants to be and discovers that it's okay to be different. I think that one idea from this mentor text that has stuck with me constantly, is that it's okay to be different and that you don't always have to follow in the footsteps of people. This mentor text taught me this because, well, James was taught from Paul and his father that hunting was right. James had a thought and a dream that he wanted to go hunting with his dad to make him proud. After, finding the kitten, and seeing Paul putting it to sleep, it made James wonder, was this really what he wanted to do? Thinking about the deer that once hung from the tree, haunted James but still helped him learned that he didn't have to be like his brother. "I will never work for Dr. Milk. I will not go hunting with my father. I will decide for myself what type of boy I am, what kind of man I will become." This lesson today, we were talking about "themes," I was asked why my teacher decided to give us "characters" to think about it? Well, a theme is a lesson that the reader learns from the story, the story is about the characters, a story without a character is like a story without a plot. We learn the lessons from what the characters go through, what the author wants the reader to leave the story with. If we were looking at Everything Will Be Okay, the different characters taught and showed different themes. Therefore, I think that's why even though we are looking at themes we were also looking at the characters.

Power to Move Continents?

What do you think gives the power to move continents? I think that since that there are layers under the Earth's crust that attract to a magnetic force, such as iron in the outer and inner core. The world is round, the magnetic force would go around the world, instead of one area. So, what really does give the continents to move? Well, continents are able to move because of the iron and the magnetic force that is around them, making them move with whatever is attracting the iron.

IT Animation

Building Quadrilaterals

Quadrilateral Rule  

If you add the 3 smallest sides of a quadrilateral, the sum must be BIGGER than the longest side. 

Basket Ball Reflection

The videos above show us doing well on our accompanying and evading, by showing our dribbling skills and the motive to catch the ball whether you were a defender or attacker. I think something our group needs to work on is going/finding an open space so it's easier to catch the ball. I think another thing that we, as a team need to work on is that we travel too much. We could also work on faking the ball. Overall, I think we did a pretty good job.

Google Science Fair Vlog

Mathematical Reflection 1

Recently, in math we've been developing our understanding of polygons and angles. Now we've finished that unit, so I'm here to reflect on my learning through the lessons and questions. One major thing we talked about was the answer to this question, (1) "what are the common properties of all polygons." We were reminded several times, and constantly came up with the answer of, "all polygons must have closed sides, there may not be any intersecting lines, there also may not be any curved lines, meaning all sides are straight."
(2) "What are the measure in degrees tell you about an angle?" The measure in degrees tell us how big or how small the angle is supposed to be. It can also tell you whether the angle is obtuse, acute, or right. "What are some common benchmark angles?" Some of the more commonly used benchmark angles are, 45°, 90°(a right angle),180°, 270°, and 360°.
(3) "What strategies can be used to estimate angle measures?" One strategy someone could use to estimate angle measures, is to use benchmark fractions, you could use them by asking yourself, "is this angle greater than or less than 90°?"
"What strategies can be used to deduce angle measures from given information?" If you are trying to find the total angle sum, you just have to multiply the size of the angles with the number of sides the shape has. Just remember that the greater the angles in the shape is, means that there are more sides. But if you wanted to find the size of the angle without actually using a protractor to measure it, then you can divide the total angle sum with the number of sides. Continuing on with that, if you wanted to find out the number of sides of a shape, you could divide the sum of the angles with the size of the angle.
The last question is, "what strategies can be used to find accurate measurements with tools." Well, the tools you can use to find accurate measurements is either a protractor or a angle ruler. Usually, a protractor has two sets of numbers on them, so pay attention to your measurements, keep on thinking, "is this angle greater than or less than 90°."

This picture of a protractor, was taken from Creative Commons.

These are a few of the types of angles, also taken from Creative Commons. 

What Hope is There For Me?

When I think of who I am, I constantly think about how hope, can help me change. This identity unit, helped me realise what strengths I had, and what I still had to work on to be the person I want to be. One strength I think I have, is that I'm hard working. I work hard to earn good grades, I work hard to make my work the quality, I expect it to be and what the teacher expects it to be. Another strength I have is that I'm thoughtful, not only am I thoughtful with my school work, but I'm also very thoughtful with my friends. Being hard working, can bring me an advantage, and it could help me a lot in the future. Using my hard work could bring me success, with good grades, leading to good colleges, which could lead to good jobs and a bright future. I can use thoughtfulness as an advantage, because the more thought you put into making time to make friends, and to keep them happy and cheerful, will make you happy knowing that they know you care and that you take time to think about how they feel all the time.

How do I want to change? That's a pretty tough question, but I think one thing that I want to change about myself is my confidence. Don't think I carry a lot of confidence, cause you're wrong, I'm a pretty shy person and my confidence level is quite low. So definitely something I would change about myself is to be more confident. Sometimes, I'm not sure how I could actually help me become more confident, but there are a lot of things that could help me, that I would like to use in the future. One of those things, is to maybe try something new, maybe trying a new sport or an activity could help my confidence level. Another thing I could do, is I could practice until I get the hang of what I'm doing so my confidence about that thing is higher, kind of like doing a presentation. The last thing I could think of the help me change would be to think about how confident people find their source of confidence, and maybe those tips would help me improve.

What this whole post, really is about, is what hope there is for me as a person, with my identity. Thinking of hope, it makes me wonder what hope there truly is for me. I always wonder if the hope I have will turn out right, or wrong. But one hope I have for the future that would hopefully improve my identity is to be the person I want to be, not the person that other people want me to be. I hope that I can become the confident person, the one who isn't scared of doing things, the person who is nice to everyone no matter who you are. I hope that my personality improves, but doesn't change. As, said before, there's could be a lot of hope out there for me.

TCK

Family Rituals

Grit

Grit. It's not the first time I've heard this word, but it's a word that always makes me think. Some people might have Grit while some may not. This word means to persevere for a goal, to work hard enough to accomplish something, or to make a passion come true. For me, grit is something I may have at times and I may not have in some situations. Personally, I think I need to build more grit, I give up easily, I don't work hard to accomplish a goal all the time. I find a way out of that situation instead of working for it. In the past, I've played sports, from tennis to swimming, so far I've stopped playing these sports for several not really good reasons. If I had grit I would've been able to be playing these sports till this day on. Even though I do think I can build a little more grit, I also kind of think I do have a bit of grit. I persevere to do something and accomplish a goal that means a lot to me. I remember how this summer I would line up in a line at 5 A.M. to meet a YouTuber, I stayed in line for up to six hours straight. I think this shows grit because it shows that I persevered to get out of bed (and that was quite hard), I didn't even think about getting out  of line. I was hungry and tired, but I was gonna have to work hard if I wanted to meet them. I persevered to stay there with one of my best friends, to make the best out of the situation and to meet the person I was lining up for. I think what helped me stay gritty at that moment, was thinking about how much the YouTubers' persevere to make their videos the quality people expect it to be. In conclusion, I think that I can gain more grit, while I think I also already have grit.

Hope, it's always there for you to remind you to improve on something. One hope there is for me, is that if I had grit, I would be able to accomplish more of the goals I have. It would also help me to try new passions, and to improve on them, whether I might be bad at it, or I might not. I think another hope for me would be to keep on trying to work hard to be able to use grit in better educational ways. I hope that I can use this grit in an educational way so I can get better grades and have a not as stressful school year. 

Identities

Through the whole week, we've been talking about identities. My identity, my teacher's identity, other students' identities, and characters' identities. Everybody has an identity, including character traits that describe someone, some people might have similar traits, while some might not, but no matter who you are, you are unique in your own way. Since we've been dissecting our identities, I've learned a lot about myself. Even though I'm still young, and I'm still figuring out who I am. Going through this week made me think about who I am at the moment, even though I may or may not change through out the year. Something that I've learned about my identity that was surprising to me was that I'm pretty shy. Well, my friends don't think that I'm shy, but from past experiences I've had some teachers comment on how shy I am. Another thing that was pretty shocking about my identity was that during the character test (Winnie the Pooh,) I found out that I feel the most comfortable when I'm around friends. This is true, but it was still very shocking how accurate that was. 

How can I change or do I need to change and why? Well, I think that sometimes people don't need to change, unless it was for the better. Even though I wouldn't change anything about my identity at the moment, I think that something I need to change about myself is to be more confident. I think that I need to grow more confidence because, as said before I can be shy at times and I need the confidence to not only speak up but to also try new things. How can I change? That's a pretty hard question, but I think that I can change by taking note of the people around me, and think about how confident people find their key to confidence. 

What hope is there for me? I think that there is hope for me to become the person I want to be. Not the person who everyone wants me to be, but who I want to be. I think that another hope for me could be, to be treat people better, I'm not going to lie I can be pretty mean as can other people too, but I think that I can hope and work to be a better person and treat everyone the same. 

Identity Chart

3 Items to Represent Me

The items I picked to represent me took me forever to pick/find. I looked all over my room, my house, my laptop, I even had to ask some of my friends and family. It took me some time, but I've finally come up with the three items that best represent/identifies me.

The first item that best identifies me, is a picture of my best friends, Joy and Maggie and I together. This photo was taken on the last day of school when we decided to go watch a movie to celebrate a great school year. This was also when we decided to spend some time with Maggie before she moved back Oregon. This picture identifies me because friends mean the world to me aside from family. I spend a lot of time talking, hanging out, and bonding with my friends. It also identifies that no matter how far a friend is, you can still always stay connected and close. Even though my friendships have gone through many ups and downs, I can count on most of them to support me no matter what. And I'll make sure to do the same for my friends. Another reason why this picture identifies me is because that year I met some new friends (Joy, Maggie, Heleen, and Nini,)  and these friends have changed me. I'm out of the house more, due to spending more time with them, and I've been talking to them non stop. My friends and this picture represent who I am as a person because I am a friend, I am who I am, and I can be whoever I want to be with friends, no matter where or when we're together.This picture means the world to me, and I wouldn't know what I would do without my friends.

The second item that best identifies me is my "I can't stop watching YoutTubers" poster, this poster is from one of my favourite YouTubers' merchandise line, Tyler Oakley. I got this poster at a YouTube convention, where I got many of my favorite YouTubers' signatures. I think this poster identifies me because not only is the saying on this poster true, because all I do is watch Yo

uTube videos, but all the signatures I've gotten show the dedication and hard work I put into earning these signatures. Some of these signatures, I lined up at 5 A.M. to get, and some just took me a few minutes, but no
matter how I got them they still mean the world to me. Another reason why this poster identifies me is because I value dedication, and this convention showed me how dedicated I am to things, it showed me that no matter how hard the situation is, you have to work your hardest to reach your goal. This poster means so much to me, and I wouldn't know what I would do without it on my wall to keep me motivated. As said before, this poster motivates me, you may be wondering why? And that's because during that convention my friend and I were motivated to meet these people. The story behind this poster shows who I am, because I dedicate myself to things, and I work hard to motivate myself and others to do the best we can and go for our goals. Therefore from now on every time I look at this poster hanging on my wall, it'll keep me motivated to keep on doing what I'm doing.

The last item that identifies me, is a necklace, and the pendant on this necklace is a key. I received this necklace from my parents for my 7th birthday. I remember how I kept on saying how much I wanted a key on a necklace, because one of my favorite TV shows back then was Zoe 101, and the main character had a key pendant. When I was younger of course, I didn't think much of how much meaning could be behind a key, but now I'm old enough to think more than just a beautiful key. Even though at the moment I can't find this necklace, well I mean that can also identify me as a clumsy person. But this necklace has a lot more meaning to it now, and it identifies that when I try something new I might like it, and maybe I won't like it. Relating back to the key, this could mean some locks could be opened if the key could fit and some might not. It's just like trying new things, this identifies me because I'm scared of trying new things, but sometimes I've enjoyed the new things that I've tried and sometimes I've hated the new experiences. This necklace represents me as a person who tries new things, and might like or might not like it, you never know.

Google Science Fair

I think the finalist and the invention that should win the Google Science Fair is Cynthia Lam who made the H2PRO. This is a device for those in developing countries who lack water and electricity. One reason why I think Cynthia should win is because this is two basic needs that could be met with one invention. As i said before most people in developing countries struggle to find their clean source of water, and many people around the world have electricity problems, therefore with this invention all these needs could be met. The second reason why I think the H2PRO should win is because this invention relies on photocatalytic that not only purifies the dirty water but also generates electricity. Meaning, this process only requires titania and light. The last reason why I think this invention should win is because not only will the organic pollutant get decomposed but it will also enhance the reaction rate.

The final product :) 

Collaborators

What type of collaborator are you?
I think the best type of collaborator that fits me would be the collaborator that cooperates with others in order to complete group goals.
What are your strengths?
I think my strengths as a collaborator would be that I listen to all of my other collaborators' ideas, and think them clearly before I make a final decision. Another strength that I have would be I listen to the other ideas with an open mind. I also have the determination to finish/complete our goal with the group.
What could you change to make you a STRONGER collaborator?
I think something that I would change to make me a stronger collaborator would be to ask more meaningful and respectful questions and to give more constructive feedback.

Two Decisions, Two Worlds

Two Decisions, Two Worlds

In the book “Rules”, by Cynthia Lord, a 12 year old girl named Catherine, has to deal with a brother, David who has autism. Unfortunately, Catherine’s family revolves around his disability, and she has trouble making new friends. Wanting her brother to learn the rules she has written for him when he just so happens to become “normal,” she also wants to start making new friends. But having a brother with autism and making new friends just don’t mix well. Catherine deals with the struggles of taking care of her brother, and taking care of her own life with friends. In the end, Catherine meets two new friends, learns to deal with how her life is with David, and decides what was right for her own life.

In this section, from the middle of the book. Catherine realises how Kristi feels about her life, which helps her realise that her life is split down the middle too. Catherine wanted to tell Kristi how it was like for her, being torn between two worlds, the regular world and David’s world. But never had the guts to open up because she was too embarrassed to share about her life with her brother. “...I wanted to tell her I know how it feels to be split down the middle, too. Pulled between the regular world of school and friends, and David’s world where none of the same things matter.” (pg. 135) This quote shows that Catherine keeps everything inside and doesn’t like to open up to people about how she feels. It also shows that she doesn’t have much freedom, from always taking care of her brother and barely having time to take care of herself, friends, and her life.

I represented this scene with my collage by showing a girl walking on the road, and suddenly having to decide which direction to go since the road go two different directions. The girl of course represents Catherine, while the roads that are split into two are leading her to two different places represents the two worlds that Catherine is torn between. The yellow dashes on the roads represents the different fears she has when both her “worlds” collide, and the fear of David embarrassing her in front of her friends and acquaintances.

The girl stands in the middle of the road, looking at the roads in front of her, trying to decided which path she should go. This represents Catherine, making decisions that are always leaving her thinking which “world” is more important to me, which life should I take care of more? Deciding between taking care of David or her own life and friends. One road in the collage would represent David’s world while the other would represent her regular world. The blue background represents the sadness she develops throughout the book, or the sadness she has whenever her friends make fun of David or when David embarrasses her. The color of the roads are black to represent the dark times she goes through whenever she just wants to breakdown. I made the lines of the roads diagonal, to represent how sometimes Catherine’s life can be a bit unstable with all the drama that happens between her and David. Finally, I decided instead of having the girl facing forward, you just see the back of her head to represent the choices that shes making. But with all the drama, chaos, and struggles in her life, Catherine continues to push on to live a happy life and finds a escape to let her calm down.

This is important because in life, we get torn in between two things, but we just usually give up and find a way to forget about it. We get torn in two but we don’t try to make things right and make those things stick together. So next time you’re in this situation where you’re torn because of fear, just remember Catherine and how she pushed on to make her two “worlds” work out and balancing it out to lead up to having a happy life.   

World Religions

Do's and Don'ts of a Book Club

Types of Switches

Never Give Up

When lighting up the wicks on this candle, I decided to take a picture of it. Not only does it smell good and brighten up somebodys day, but to me, it has a meaning behind it. This picture of the candle represents never giving up. You just have to keep on burning, even when times are rough. Sometimes the flame is strong, and sometimes it's weak, but we always seem to keep on burning. When giving up, it seems like the flame is getting weaker and weaker, but when you keep on fighting for what you're doing the flame gets stronger and stronger, just like us. It shows that we have to work and persevere to get the outcome we want, and if we want the flame to keep on burning we can't let the struggles or the people blow them out.  

Never giving up - We give up from time to time, but we always seem to grow that confidence, and perseverance to push ourselves to work harder and to not give up no matter what struggles bring you. We all have to watch out for the flame, because sometimes it just won't stop burning. 

Literary Essay - Something to Hold

In life, we always have to face changes, it may be hard, but we all have to go through them. Whether is moving to a new country, moving to a new school, meeting new people, changes in family and friends, forgetting about the past. These are some of the changes the characters in Something to Hold by Katherine Schlick Noe. The author wrote Something to Hold by having characters facing many social issues, but continued on showing change for the better in each character after a turning point.

One character, Jewel, was before known to everybody as a bully; no matter who you were she bullied them. Jewel never opened up to anybody about her past, not even about the troubles she had with her alcoholic and abusive stepfather. With the story starting off with Kitty and her brothers being new to a place full of Indians, Jewel was always the one teasing them about their race. She hung out with the wrong crowd, and didn’t have true friends. Until one day, “Jewel rises up from her desk. Mr. Nute swivels his head and narrows his eyes at her. "What about the courage," "she says, looking around the room,” of the people who were already here?" "I am stunned that Jewel is standing up for me." (pg. 65) This shows the change of Jewel because she stood up to Kitty, the main character who was treated differently than everybody else. As a result of this, Jewel treated Kitty and everybody differently and even started to open up about her past, and stopped hanging out with the other bullies.

Another character that showed change is the main character, Kitty. This middle school girl, who constantly moves due to her dad’s job, just recently moved to the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. Her family is one out of a couple of other white families to live in this area. This makes Kitty have a tough time fitting in, having confidence, and not sticking up to the bullies. With being a different race than everybody else, Jewel, Raymond and other kids tease her. When one of Kitty’s brother’s friend, Howie was being made fun of by Raymond, Kitty sticks up for Howie by saying, “Why do you do things like that?” I yell at Raymond before I can stop myself.”Howie never hurt anybody.” I can feel my throat close up. Oh, God what am I doing?” (pg. 72) It is because of what she has seen bullies do, she decided to stick up for Howie after she realizes that nobody, including him deserved being bullied. She showed change by sticking up for not only herself but for other people. She grew confidence and wasn’t afraid to speak out.

Finally, Katherine Schlick Noe introduces the readers to Raymond, Jewel’s brother. Raymond does the same things as Jewel, bullying and teasing people, and treating Kitty and her brothers differently. One thing that affects Raymond the most is his abusive and alcoholic stepfather (Walter,) Raymond can never forget his past, and finds a way to get rid of his stepfather. One day when Raymond, Jewel, Kathla, and Kitty were walking on the streets, they soon were in a situation they never wanted to be in with Raymond and Jewel’s stepfather. This was the turning point that showed somewhat of a different side of Raymond. “A sudden movement catches my eye, and I’m startled by an explosion of shattering glass. The car. I spin around to see Raymond swing the bat high over his shoulder and blast out the second headlight.”(pg. 205.) And after Mr.Walters was caught by the tribal police, “Mr. Wewa studies Raymond, his face serious. “That was a dangerous thing to do,” he says. Then his eyes soften. “But it was also very brave.” (pg. 206.) After this turning point, Raymond has a different perspective on Kitty. And showed change in Raymond by letting him let go of his past, and not being afraid of his stepfather and the things that he has done to him. He also stood up to one of his biggest fears, that he had tried and tried to get rid of in the past, but finally had the boost of confidence to get rid of it forever.

To sum it all up, through her characters, Katherine Schlick Noe tells the readers how change can help you overcome your biggest social issues. It is important because if we don’t, without a turning point in our lives, without change, our lives would be very different. So lets let these turning points leave an impact on our lives, and make it a wake up call that this change is for the better, for not only you, but also for the world around you.

Dirty Money

Dirty Money

What interested you the most about this article? 

Something that I found really interesting from this article is that dollar bills trace amounts of drugs. Another things that I found very interesting is that one dollar bill carries about 3,000 types of bacteria on it's surface. These things interested me a lot because I never knew that something we use every single day could have traces of drugs, illnesses, and many other things we never knew it could have on it.

Poetry By Me

What do you know now about poetry that you didn't know before?
 One thing that I know now about poetry is that poetry has no rules, that means you can do whatever you want in your poems, so long it's appropriate. Another thing that I learned from this poetry unit is the exact meanings of the poetry terms, such as assonance. I also learned that inspiration for your poems can come from anywhere, for example I didn't know that after we visited the Memory Garden that I would have a whole poem done. An example of something else I learned is that using stanzas, refrains, etc. can help the flow of your poem smoother. I think another thing I learned that really helped me improve my poems, is not to list things that fit the topic, for example on my on - demand I wrote about happiness, and I listed things that people do when they are happy. But now I learned to expand the topic and add more details to help the message stand out, create a vivid image, and make it more interesting.

Pick one of your poems and explain it.
The poem I decided to explain was the poem called, "Days That Amaze Me." I came up with this poem when one of the visiting poets were talking to our class. That day we also came up with poems that start out with one word. For example, I decided to write a poem about the word "Amazing," then using our five senses we described what seemed "amazing" to us and wrote about it. While writing this poem I used my five senses, and used ideas from my experiences that seemed amazing. I started off writing a first version, then carried on to writing a second version with more details. Some of the feelings or ideas that I hope to instill in my reader is that even though some days might be rough, we will soon or already have had that one amazing day that stood out to us, that makes us forget about the tough things about life, and just enjoy the moment.

Something To Hold Book Club

Water Project Update Week #3

We've made a lot of progress in raising money, we've sold baked goods, gotten donations, and started selling the different items on our store. For the bake sale, Renee baked brownies and cookies, and we've managed to make around $63.50. At the moment we have raise around $259.30. We are still continuing to sell items on our store, and are still raising awareness on our other blog. We have made a presentation to show to the class. We're still continuing on reaching our goal.

Plant Cell

My Cheek Cell

                                                                   My Cheek Cell

Water Project Week #2

My partner and I have made a bit more progress at the moment. We've sold a few items such as custom made notebook covers ($8.) Right now, my partner and I are trying our best to post more on our Instagram store, selling homemade items, and to sell/make more items. If you have an Instagram, please follow and shop at @waterprojectsasstore. We are still trying our best and our goal is still the same. We're hopping we can accomplish this in time for the due date. We're also trying our best to update the website. I hope we can accomplish it in time!

One of the notebooks made :) 

"Later" By Avis Harley

Poetry can tell stories, or just information. A word we won't stop using is "Later" we use it when we get lazy and when we don't want to do something. With this word, we keep on procrastinating until the last minute. In "Later," Avis Harley tells a story about a kid who was meant to search the word "procrastinate" up, but ends up procrastinating and doing it later.

To begin with, Avis Harley uses details to help you create images in your head by using different words we don't really use often (like "bleak".) Another thing the author does is that instead of having Procrastinate in quotation marks, he makes procrastinate like this: PROCRASTINATE. With this action, it really hooks my attention, since its the only word formatted like that.

Later, Avis Harley also makes each paragraph a different time of the child's schedule. In the middle paragraph he talks about how the child spends his time after school with friends and that he doesn't have time to check the word out, while in the last paragraph they end the poem with what he does at night, making him to check out "PROCRASTINATE" next week.

In the end, even though this poem doesn't have a very serious meaning, but it does have a fun meaning. I chose this poem because I could really relate to the situation with wanting to be lazy and doing things later. It shows that Avis Harley really knew how readers could relate to this poem, and left us maybe thinking that we shouldn't always do things later.

The Water Project Week #1

This week my partner, Renee and I started working on our water project. The goal for our water project in science is to buy a well from Tabitha and to raise awareness about the sanitation of water in developing countries. To reach this goal, we will make a website and give off information about the water crisis in developing countries. To raise money to buy a well for those developing countries, we will have a bake sale and start an Instagram store selling homemade items, to get enough money to buy one or two wells. Throughout the process we will be blogging about our process/progress in this project, if you want to see more progress and information here is the link. Check it out, and help the water crisis!