First Amendment

Amendment means to fix or to amend something.
First Amendment is the most important because it makes Americans who they are today.

Freedom of Assembly

• Occupy Wall Street 
• they can stand because they have the right to stand and do so. 
• protesting because they felt as if they were not being paid fairly. 
• If public safety is an issue 
• the 1% of rich people say that they own the money because they work the hardest. 

Freedom of Religion 

• We stereotype Muslims due to their past actions. 
• The FBI are constantly spying on Muslims. 
• Can the state decide if a certain nationality should be allowed in the U.S.? 
• Racial and religious stereotype can lead you down a bad path. 

Freedom of the Press 

• Do students have the right to post anything? 
• No, they do not have the freedom of speech because they're posting controversial stuff on the school's website.  
• It becomes a federal because it's the first amendment. 

Freedom of Speech 

• A school in Jefferson County, Colorado wanted to promote patriotism, teachers and students protested. (school told teachers and students to not teach about civil disobedience.) 
• Law states that no one can stop people from expressing what they feel. 

Freedom of Petition 

• When people want something they can write a petition and receive peoples' opinions. 
• Ex. of petition - pipeline carrying environment harmful oils under thirteen states, religious groups against, others for. 
• People have the right to petition to the government. 

How a Bill Becomes a Law - November 16, 2015

1. Bill is proposed in the House
2. Bill is referred to the Committee in the House
3. Voted on and passed in the House.
4. Referred to Committee in the Senate
5. Voted on and passed in the Senate
6. President signs the bill....
7. It's a law

Basics of the Branches

Branch: Executive
Main Duty: Enforces Laws
Head of the Branch: President and Vice President

Branch : Legislative
Main Duty: Create the Law
Head of the Branch: Congress (House of Representatives and Senate)

Branch: Judicial
Main Duty: Interprets the Laws
Head of the Branch: Supreme Court (9 members of the Supreme Court)

Which of the three branches of US Government is the most powerful?
The most powerful branch of the the three branches of the US Government is all of them. They are all equally important, and they all work together to help the US grow. But as an individual, the executive branch is the most powerful.

Federal, Concurrent, State

reserved - States

delegated - Government and Federal



Federal - Delegated

• Declare war and make peace 
• Coin and print money 
• Admit new states 
• Pass laws regulating immigration 
• Raise and support armed forces 
• Regulate foreign trade 
• Establish post offices 
• Make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its powers

Concurrent

• Collect taxes 
• Make and enforce law 
• Establish courts 
• Establish charter banks 
• Conduct elections 
• Borrow money 
• Provide health and welfare of the people 
• Make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its powers 

State - Reserved

• Regulate trade within a state 
• Pass license requirements for professionals 
• Pass laws regulating businesses within state borders 
• Establish local government 
• Establish and support public schools 
• Pass license requirements for professionals 
• Regulate trade within a state 
• Pass regulating businesses within state borders 
• Make civil and criminal laws 
• Determine qualifications of voters and voting process 

Six Purposes of the US Constitution Preamble

1. In order to form a more perfect union,
a. better than the articles of confederation.
b. more perfect than before.

2. Establish justice,
a. legislature at federal, state, and local levels.
b. courts at federal, state, and local levels.
c. law enforcement at federal, state, and local levels.

3. Insure domestic tranquility,
a. peace between states, counties, and cities.

4. Provide for the common defence,
a. national military (army, navy, air force, marines, coast guard)

5. Promote the general welfare, and
a. social programs to help elderly and needy individuals.

6. secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,
a. maintain civil rights (including voting) for ourselves and our children.

American Revolution - November 2

1. Battle of Trenton

• November of 1776 
• Washington's Continental Army was almost at its end. 
• Only had 6,000 men who were ready to give up. 
• Washington sailed on the Delaware river and attacked the Hessians who resided in New Jersey. 
• They won the battle with 900 prisoners. 
• First victory for the Americans - first moment America stands up and won + gave them confidence. 
• They learnt that General George Washington can make a very good leader in battle. 
• Attack on the night of Christmas and into boxing day. 
• Had a spy who convinced the British there wasn't an attack that day, when the Americans were actually attacking that night. 
• Americans start to use more strategies instead of just standing there. 

2. Battle of Saratoga

• September 19, 1777 to October 7,1777 
• The British were confident that they had the superior force to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. 
• The miscalculations of the British were later revealed by secret letters. 
• The spying and letter writing games from both sides resulted in the surrender of the British. 
• It was the battle in which the British troops surrendered to the Continental Army. 
• After the Continental Army's victory over the British, France decided to become America's ally. 
• Marked a major turning point in the revolutionary war. 
• Benedict Arnold, after this battle, thought that he wasn't given enough credit. - Has a massive ego. 
• The French are now the suppliers for the Americans back in the colonial era. 

3.Valley Forge

• Where: Valley Forge was located 30 km northwest of Pennsylvania 
• When: In December 1777, General Washington brought his 12,000 men to Valley Forge. 
• What: The only enemy was the brutal winter. Around 2,000 soldier died of disease and malnutrition. 
• Who : 
• Continental Army 
• General Washington  
• Baron Von Steuben - German who trained the Americans - trained them military strategy and taught them formations and discipline on how to conduct a good battle. 
• Valley Forge is still a very important message for Americans today - fight for liberty, never give up, etc. 

4. The Naval War 

• Event took place during February 1776.
• Where? The Atlantic Ocean, near Carolina 
• The West Indies, Nassau, Bahamas 
• Gulf 
• Who? 
• John Paul Jones 
• Esek Hopkins 
• General Sir William Howe 
• The US damaged the British fleets operating ability 
• American troops seized the British's main supply base 
• Major supply base in Bahamas. 
• Patriots had a much smaller navy 
• The Patriots only had 100 ships, while the British lost around 200 
• small but effective. 
• John Paul Jones was the first American figure and was a good commander at sea. 

5. Guerilla Warfare 

• Improper warfare of which a small group of armed civilians use military strategies like ambushes to sabotage large military groups. 
• The Battle of Black Mingo. 
• September 14, 1780 
• The Patriots ambushed the Loyalists and won. 
• The Patriots drove out the Loyalists and Francis Marion became well-known. 
• You had to have very good geography, while in the swamp knowing your way through the swamp will benefit your team. 
• Ended up losing supply lines. 

6. Battle of Yorktown

• After being harassed by the Continental army in the Carolinas, Cornwallis retreated to Yorktown and George Washington stormed and surrounded him with the help of the French troops. 
• On October 19, 1781 Cornwallis sent out a drummer and a white flag of surrender. 
• Important because it was the last major battle between America and the British. 
• Final Battle of the war. 
• Solidifies George Washington's time as a leader, America thought about making George Washington into King George Washington but then thought that President was better. 
• Arnold goes to London and lived the life as a poor man since he was a traitor.  

7. Treaty of Paris

• Benjamin Franklin had very good relations with the French. He really enjoyed partying and was constantly hungover. 
• September 3,1782. 
• End of American Revolutionary war. 

SMART Fitness Goal

I, Joycelin Wong, want to improve my mile time by a minimum of 20 seconds by the time of the next quarter. I will do this by going to the gym (running on the treadmill) and eating healthier. I will do this at home and at the gym. I want to do this because I want to be confident/proud of my mile time. As well as feel healthier and have better stamina. I will reward myself by taking a break from running and being lazy.

Application Essay Pitch

Ellis Island Reflection

How do you think people felt upon their arrival to Ellis Island?
People would feel very anxious or very nervous. They would also feel very scared especially because if they had an infection or had a sickness, their future would be paused and that would prevent them from starting a new life in the Americas. People who had passed the six second medical screening, they would feel very relieved and happy.

What do you think the immigration hall screening was like?
It would be very chaotic, with everyone being nervous and anxious. There would be seas of people, and immigration officers trying to finish their job as soon as possible. People were asked many questions about their personal lives. The immigration officers would act really tough and would look down at others.

How did you feel when you arrived at the classroom and learned about your fate?
I felt really nervous, because I had heard stories about what you had to do in order to be accepted as an American citizen. I felt anxious, and I was very precise with what I had written down on my Passport paper. I made sure that every detail was correct. I felt more and more nervous as soon as I got closer to the immigration. When Mr.Elms had asked me the questions, I panicked a bit and said the first answer that came into my mind. Something that I learned about my fate was that I was a midwife, who was eight months pregnant and had to be quarantined. When I said that my child was due in one month, I had instantly regretted giving that as an answer,  as I had a chance of going into America.

Letter to Bartolome de la Casas

Dear Bartolome de la Casas,

I've recently been taken away by the government and now I am currently struggling to stay alive. When I first arrived I was constantly yelled at and screamed at in a language that I was unfamiliar with, this had confused me as I had no idea what they were talking about. They had also put me in the mines, being inside the mines had me feeling very squished. The walls were very close to each other, having a large amount of people all stuck into one mine, everyone was stuck in a small space for a very good time. Being an average height, it was still pretty difficult to go through the mine, as I kept on bumping my head on the top. When I was younger, someone had told me that everyone was made equally by God. The encomienda are very against this. The new system is treating people of the same race very badly. They're killing people and are working these people till they are ill or injured. We are struggling and are dying, we need your help. Please send help as soon as possible. Please Bartolome de la Casas, please I beg of you.

You friend,
Juanica

My Wellness Prezi

Astronomy Parents' Blog Post

Something that my dad learned was that there isn't any proof as to seeing life forms in our galaxy. Another thing that my dad learned from my lab lesson is that NASA has been using the Hubble Telescope to take many of the amazing pictures of the galaxy that we've seen everywhere. My dad thought that I could've been a bit more confident towards my topic, but still showed confidence throughout my presentation, he thought I needed to do a bit more practice, without looking at my notes too often. One question that my dad had was how long would it take to make a suitable and most accurate telescope in order to find life on the galaxies?

Project Adventure Reflection

Throughout our class period today, I feel as many of the task roles have showed throughout my group. I think for myself, the task roles that would best represent me would be the helper. I also feel as everyone in my group including myself also share the task role of the brainstormer/initiator. In class today I showed the task role of the helper, especially when I helped by collecting all of the needed equipment. For example, I went to the equipment area to collect dodgeball, hula hoops, jump ropes, and spots. By doing this, I quickened group movement by helping and doing things for my group. At the beginning, I helped collect all of the equipment, and helped place the right materials in the right area. Another situation where I showed the task role as the helper was when I helped collect all of the dodgeballs that were all scattered around the field, as well as the coloured spots. Though the whole group showed this task role all together, I showed the task role of being a brainstormer/initiator, as well as the rest of my group because once we were playing one round of our new game, we all knew that something was wrong and that we had to change something. Once I realised what we had done wrong, I made the suggestion of putting more dodgeballs, and putting them closer to the obstacles in order to make the game easier and more fair. One task role that I want to work on next class is the encourager, though our group mainly agreed on most of the suggestions, I feel as we lacked a bit of encouragement, so I would like to work on this factor a bit more. Overall, I feel as in today's class I showed the task roles of the helper, and a bit of the brainstormer/initiator.  

Science Burning Question Reflection

We have just recently started our astronomy unit, and was asked to come up with a burning question that interested not only you, but as well as your partners as well. Our burning question is Can there be other living forms in our galaxies' goldilocks zone, if so why are we not aware of them? This interested me because over the years I've always known about the galaxies, but weren't truly aware of how the galaxies work. Another thing that interested me is life forms being in the galaxy itself, I saw that there have been many debates over life forms in the galaxies but we never seemed to have the answer as of how or what type of life forms, so that really inspired us to do a bit more research. Something that we are still quite confused about relating to our burning question is whether there are actually living forms in our galaxies. We have done a little bit of research relating to it, but haven't gotten a clear answer. We've seen traces of fossils on one of the planets, we've seen that there might be a few other civilisations in the Milky Way. Other than that there hasn't been much of an answer as to whether there have been a trace of life forms. In order to get these answers we will continue to doing more research, and find a lab/lesson in order to help our understanding of the galaxies and it's life forms and in order to help the audience understand our topic more. We need to do a bit more research, and find more details that we could connect to each other in order to find the answer.

ESO. Wide Field Imager View of a Milky Way Look-alike NGC 6744. Digital image. Http://commons.wikimedia.org/. N.p., 1 June 2011. Web. 14 May 2015.

Always With The Questions

Now that I have finished my research and observation, I have a few questions and a few things that I still want to know about my animal. I think that one question that I have is why are white faced sakis more likely to show aggressive behaviours towards other species/primates instead of other males? As I researched, I found out that male white faced sakis don't have as much interaction with other males in the wild, due to the fact that they are usually found in family groupings. But when I was at the zoo, they were grouped as band, and didn't show aggressive behaviour toward each other, instead showed it to the lemurs. How has living in the wild, in a family grouping affected them when moving to the zoo or into captivity? Another question that I have about white faced sakis is how do they defend themselves, for example since they have canine teeth do they use their teeth? As I continued on in my research, I didn't really find much about how they actually fight. So my top two questions is why are white faced sakis more likely to show aggressive behaviours towards other species/primates? And the other questions is how do white faced sakis defend themselves while fighting? If money and time were not an issue, something that I would do to find out the answers is fly myself to northern & central South America and watch white faced sakis in the wild, instead of watching them in captivity. While in the wild, I would like to watch white faced sakis in their natural habitat and in a family grouping. I think that during my stay, I would also want to watch some male on male behaviours if there were any, or I would also like to see how white faced sakis fight. I think that with unlimited money I would like to see what their canines look like up close, since I wasn't able to see any pictures of them. I think that by going into the wild to watch their behaviours up close would really answer my questions. I think this because when other primates come into their territory, the dominate gender which is the male will most likely defend their territory and family. And if there were two dominate males, I would be able to see why they are not very likely to fight. All in all, I hope to find the answers to my questions very soon.

White Faced Saki Blog Post #1

Throughout my research on the White Faced Saki, I've learnt so many things about not only them, but also other primates. I think that one of the most interesting things that I've learnt about White Faced Sakis is that unlike other primates, they have non-prehensile tails. This shocked me the most because looking at their habitat which is neo-tropical rainforests, moist lowlands, and spend most of their times in the tree tops. I thought that with this type of habitat, White Faced Sakis would have a prehensile tail because they would be able to use it to grasp onto tree branches helping them travel. Instead they have a non-prehensile tail. I learnt that the reason why they have a non-prehensile tail is due to the fact that they use it to balance when on tree branches. If I were to put myself in Jane Goodall's shoes something that I would want to learn about the White Faced Saki they're impact on the rainforest, or their impact on the ecosystem. I think that I want to learn about this because every primate has a different effect on the rainforest, so I want to know how they effect it's environment. I think that if I were to be in her shoes, and were able to see them in the wild, up-close, I would want to see their behaviours  in real life. I think that I would want to see all their social behaviours and interactions and how they differ from other primates up-close.

Digital Life Pledge

I know I spend a lot of time on social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Skype, etc. I constantly check it from time to time through out my day. Due to this, I've constantly procrastinated my homework or I will be doing my homework at one time, then stop and scroll through my phone. I tend to not talk face to face with my parents as much now.

I pledge to not go on social media when the time is not right, for example I will only go on social media when I am taking a break from homework or during my free time. I pledge to stop looking at my phone during dinner, and to stop constantly looking at my phone for hours.

My Favourite Animal's Adaptations

For today's science homework we were asked to write a blog post about our favourite animal's adaptations and how those adaptations help this animal survive in their environment. Well, my favourite animal is the penguin, and it has many different physical, structural adaptations that help them be successful in their environment. One adaptation that some of the penguin species have are bare patches around their eyes that play as heat windows. Theres areas have no feathers which allows excess heat to escape. These patches become very pink once the penguin is warm. These patches around their eyes help these penguins be successful in their environment because penguins are usually found in colder areas, or when found in warmer areas they use these patches around their eyes to keep them cooled down. Another adaptation is penguins have almond-shaped glands beneath the skin above their eyes which helps them filter out the excess salt from the ocean. The salt drips down their beak, then the penguins make a sneeze-like sound, and then are able to shake the salt off. This adaptation helps them in their environment because penguins usually find their food source in the ocean, eating krill and other sea creatures, penguins tend to spend a lot time in the ocean. With these glands this helps them get rid of the salts. The third interesting adaptation that penguins have that they have a downy under portion of feathers that traps a layer of air against their skin. This layer of air is then warmed by body heat, their feathers overlap and form a barrier, keeping water away from the skin. This layer of skin, helps penguins stay warm from the harshest of winters. This helps them be successful in their environment, because as said before penguins are usually found in colder areas, and by having a layer of blubber and this downy under portion of feathers that traps air helps them stay warm. The fourth adaptation is their webbed feet. A penguins' webbed feet enable penguins to shoot through the water at speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Another thing that the penguin's webbed feet does is they help the penguin steer it's way through the water. The position of their feet on the lower part of the body aids in both steering and hydrodynamics. Penguins also use their webbed feet to release heat. This adaptation helps them be successful in their environment because as said before, penguins spend a lot of time in the water and swimming in the ocean, their webbed feet helps them guide themselves in the right directions. This adaptation also helps them because as said before, penguins tend to be found in colder areas and since their webbed feet provide heat, it helps them stay warm. The last interesting adaptation is that penguins have black backs and white bellies, this pattern of colours is called countershading and helps the penguins camouflage them when it is in the water. And as said before, penguins spend most of their time in the ocean, having these colour is an effective form of protection. Countershading also helps the penguins hunt with more success. This adaptation helps the penguins be more successful in their environment because since this countershading camouflages them when they are in the water, they are able to hide from predators and are able to protect themselves. This also helps them safely and effectively hunt their food underwater. Overall, penguins have many adaptations that help them be successful in their environments.

Genius Hour Update #7

Today in class, I continued on my research. I think that I've learnt a lot more this class, I think that some transferable knowledge is the three factors that make up success on youtube. The article I read that really helped me was written by Freddie Wong, a fellow youtuber, who makes skits and short films. He mentioned in the article that there aren't any secrets behind the success on youtube, it's about defining your goals, listening to your audience and making quality content. This led me to further learning, and it helped connect the dots of what actually helped with success on youtube. It helped me come up with some sort of answer to my driving question. What makes a successful youtuber has many factors to it, by making high quality content with good lighting and a good quality camera, will attract viewers to watch your videos. By keeping a consistent schedule with your content, and making youtube videos that you enjoy making, this will make viewers want to come back to your channel, soon building your fan base and support, getting more views and doing something you love will bring you success.

Infomercial Reflection

What is the message your infomercial is attempting to convey? 
The message that our infomercial is trying to convey is that you don't need a picture perfect body to be the picture perfect image. We decided to convey this message because many youths in today's society struggle with eating disorders and body images due to the fact that media and many other factors influence people to be a specific image. By conveying to people that you don't need a perfect body in order to fit into today's society would really help decrease the risk of having or developing an eating disorder. 
What are the facts to support this message?

• Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder) in the United States.
• 86% report onset of eating disorder by age 20; 43% report onset between ages of 16 and 20.6.
• In a survey of 185 female students on a college campus, 58% felt pressure to be a certain weight, and of the 83% that dieted for weight loss, 44% were of normal weight.
• 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.
• From ages 15-24, anorexia is the most common cause of death.

What are the visuals to support this message?

Throughout the video, we show visuals that support these facts. And at the end we show a picture of a person looking at their reflection, we then have the caption of our message. We thought that if we show the audience the negative effects of having an eating disorder and what it does to one's body, that we would be able to convey the message to accept your body and to not want to be somebody else.

What is the audio to support this message?

We included some sad/happy song, during the clips of where we give the audience facts about eating disorders, the song that we included was sort of sad yet not depressingly sad. We didn't do any voice overs, because we thought that it would give off a better voice and mood if we weren't speaking.

How have you presented your message in a way that will engage your audience?

We used video clips that we film ourselves, and picture. I think that this will engage the audience because the clips that we show relate to the facts, instead of including video clips that don't connect to the message at all.