In this unit, we learned about proportionality, percentages, tax, tip, and simple interest. Our final project was to choose a topic, (shopping, bank, food) and compare which store/bank was the best, meaning cheapest sometimes, or best taste, or best interest, or best discount. One thing that I found challenging at first was presenting, because I thought it was going to be really awkward, and it was, but I survived. One thing that I think was fun is searching up which stores were the best, because it was fun to see the difference from some real brands and some knockoff ones.
The task here was to create a visual presentation for our Transportation and Communication Technology Project. Because I chose the smartphone, and I also enjoy drawing and sketching, I had a idea to draw a hand dropping a smartphone, with little images of the positive impact, negative impact, and solution.
Write one thing that you think you did well.
One thing that I think I did well was the hand, because I have never sketched a hand with shading before.
Write one thing you think you need to work on for next time.
One thing that I need to work on for next time is drawing reflective surfaces like the phone, because it doesn’t look like a phone’s surface at all.
When I was writing this essay, I started with thinking about which country to choose, and which technology, then transitioned to gathering information from credible resources, and starting to slowly write this essay.
One thing I did well in my essay.
One thing that I think that I did well in this essay was writing my reasoning, because I think that I persuaded the reader.
One thing I still need to learn to do.
One thing I still need to learn to do is gather more evidence, because when I searched up ‘The smartphone’s impact on South Korean society’, all of the articles were about South Korea banning phones in schools.
This unit taught me how to compare different quantities and sizes in a clear way using scale factors and ratios. I learned that I can figure out how many times bigger or smaller something is compared to another and use that to solve real-life questions.
For example, I now know that this math is really useful when I’m shopping or comparing different products. Like in the word problem, I can compare the prices of different-sized detergents by finding out how much each one costs per liter.
This showed me that math isn’t just numbers on a page. It helps me make smarter decisions about what to buy and understand relationships between quantities in the world around me.
How do you think your summatives compared to your formatives?
I think I did better in the summative because I got all of the conventions right, unlike the formative, where I only got a 1 in conventions.
What are you proud of?
I am proud that I got a 4 for conventions in the CERER formative, and didn’t make any mistakes.
What were some challenges for you?
A challenge for me was explaining my reasoning deeply enough. I could state my claim and the evidence, but really explaining why the evidence matters was tricky. Another challenge was turning my creative story idea into a full, detailed paragraph.
How effectively did you use feedback (both from peers and teachers)?
I used feedback by working on my conventions and practicing them.
If you could redo the summative assessment, what changes would you make?
If I could redo it, I would add more sentences to explain my reasoning. I would also write a longer paragraph for my own story idea, adding more details about the character and the world she lives in.
What advice would you give yourself for Unit 3?
I would tell myself to start brainstorming creative ideas right away when we begin a new unit. This way, I’m not starting from scratch when it’s time for the project. I would also practice more before.
Set one goal for future work:
My goal for the next unit is to improve the reasoning in my CER paragraphs. I will do this by always asking myself: So what? after I present a piece of evidence, and then writing a sentence to answer that question. I will also practice my presentations before I present.
In this unit, we learned how to make music, perform pieces, and give good feedback. One thing that I struggled with was choosing a piece, because it was hard to choose between a hard piece that sounds good, and my favorite piece. One thing that I liked in this unit was talking about how to write the music with my partner. In conclusion, this unit was fun, meaningful, and taught me a lot about music.
For my portfolio reflection, I chose to answer the question: how do our body systems work together when we play a favorite sport? I learned that playing a sport, like ping pong, requires amazing teamwork inside your body. Your nervous system is like the boss, sending signals from your brain to your muscles telling them what to do. Then, your muscular system follows the orders, making your arms and legs move to hit the ball. This shows that the body is a system of subsystems because these big systems are made of smaller parts, like nerve cells and muscle cells, all working together. The most impactful activity for me was the dissection because I learn best by touching and seeing real things, which made the heart and lungs much easier to understand. If I could improve one thing, I would try to get an L3 on my first try by using a checklist before I turn anything in, so I can catch mistakes and do my best work right away.
In this unit, we learned about healthy decision making and how to choose your best choice. The DECIDE model helps you think about how to make decisions by using 6 steps; define, explore, consider, identify, decide, and evaluate. These work because 1. you can’t mess this up, and 2. it’s really straight forward. This is helpful because it works well. I also learned how to avoid drugs and how drugs harm our life, and also how we shouldn’t use drugs below the age 25, because our brain will develop wrong.
