I reviewed forehand and back serve, making sure they are legal. I also learned to do a long distance over head shot.
What worked?
My backhand serve is pretty good and I can receive the birdie pretty well as long as it is not a long distance shot.
What did not work?
My forehand serve is really bad and I can’t even hit the birdie. Also it is hard for me to receive and do long distance forehand shots because I miss and cannot hit the birdie.
What did you improve on?
I improved on a shot called “drop”. I learned that it is hitting the birdie just only a tiny bit so your opponent does not have time to get there and receive the birdie.
What can I work on?
I can work on forehand serves and forehand long distance shots.
I learned about dystopian fiction by writing academic paragraphs+discussing topics related to the book: The Giver
What did I learn?
I learned about building vocabulary, writing academic paragraphs, using transition words, and participating in collaborative discussions.
What worked?
I was able to write academic paragraphs while using good transition words. I was able to write a paragraph, not a sentence. I could also include text evidence and complete my homework on time.
What did not work?
I could improve on building vocabulary. I practiced my vocabulary, but I sometimes forget the definition of the words and can’t use them correctly in the story.
Personal relevance
In the future, I will definitely use these skills, especially the collaborative skills. These skills will be important in my other educational things, like science. It will also help me when I get a job.
We first started by planning and completing an investigation about height and potential energy. Then we planned a investigation with a roller coaster model, and took data. Lastly, we wrote a lab report with a whole CER conclusion, and made them into a video.
I worked on making observations, inferences, and wonderings by completing them with photos. I also worked on CER paragraph writing, looking at other CER paragraphs, finding the C(laim), E(vidence), and R(easoning), and then writing a CER of my own. Lastly, I worked on identifying and answering open and closed questions correctly.
What did I learn?
Caring and finding out about the past helps Is learn about life in the past. We learn about what people from the past live like. For example, learning about Otzi the iceman helps us know what happened in the prehistoric era. Caring about the past helps us learn more about history and culture, also giving us ideas about what people in the past eat, what they do, where they live, etc. It’ might also help us understand how humans have changed over periods of time.
What worked well?
Most things worked well. I was able to complete my work on time. I also did well on researching for the case, and I prepared well for the Ötzi mock trial. I researched enough things for the topic, and I had enough information for being an expert witness and answering questions from the prosecuting and defending lawyers.
What did not work?
I could of improved on my actual performance in the trial. I had prepared well, but when it comes to speaking in front of a large group of people, I am not that good at it. I got nervous, so I couldn’t remember some of the information that I do know. I also could have been a better jury member, because I did not take notes for the closing statement.
Personal relevance
The collaboration skills I practiced in this unit are important in the rest of my life. Some of the skills are the 3p’s. The three p’s stands for pausing, putting ideas on the table, and paying attention to self and others. It will help me with my job, especially if my job is something related to a lot of talking and communicating. Even if not, communication skills are important for everything, even if it’s just a simple thing like buying food from the store.
We baked something, calculated the profit, sale price, and cost.
What did we learn?
We learned how to calculate the profit we earn. We also learned how to calculate rate and unit rate to help us find the profit, cost, and sell price.
What worked?
We were good at calculating, and we were able to actually make an profit. We were also able to sell out pretty quickly, and people liked our s’mores bar.
What did not work?
Our thing sold out really quickly, and I think we could of made more. Also in some parts of the math, we forgot to include the units.
Personal relevance
This will help me because if I really am going to sell something, this will help me find the profit, and I will definitely use rates and unit rates in other ways in my life.
I learned about freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke kick, and snorkeling.
What did you do well?
I did well on all the styles of swimming, especially freestyle. I learned how the hands are supposed to be like. I also learned how to actually do a breaststroke kick, and also the movements of the hands. I can also remember the hand signals when snorkeling, and recognize signals that other people make.
What do you need to improve on?
I need to improve on actually snorkeling(not the hand signals), mostly the breathing part. When I put on the snorkel, I feel like I cannot breathe and when I swim, I have to stop in the middle and come up to breathe with my nose.
What helped?
My friends helped learn, and the teacher’s suggestions really helped.
We built a car using only paper and tape with no wings or parachutes that could protect a egg from breaking when going down a ramp and bumping into a concrete block.
What did I learn?
Newton’s first law is seen when the car gets stopped. The egg wants to keep moving forward and fly out, so we built a seatbelt to prevent that from happening. Newton’s third law is seen also when the car stops. The concrete block pushes back with the same force when the car bumps into it. To stop the force from breaking the egg, we built a crumple zone to soften the bump.
What Worked?
Our egg was able to survive. The crumple sone crumpled and stopped the egg from cracking. Also the seatbelt stopped the egg from flying out.
What did not work?
At first, the egg kept flying out. After that we were able to fix the seatbelt and keep it in place though.
Personal relevance
Now I know that Newton’s 1st and 3rd law apply on a lot of in other cars. There are seatbelts and airbags to help prevent flying out due to Newton’s laws.
We made a balloon car that only used the balloon and air to move. The materials we used were styrofoam, straws, a balloon, a rubber band, hot glue, and wheels and axels. We used it to learn about Newton’s 2nd and 3rd law, but it also applies for Newton’s 1st law.
What did I learn?
Newton’s 1st law states: A object at rest tends to stay at rest, and a object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by a unbalanced force. We see this law in action with the balloon car moves. The unbalanced force is the air coming out of the balloon, and the balloon car moves forward.
Newton’s 2nd law states: The higher the mass of the object, the more force needed to accelerate it. We see this law in action when in the investigation and we added washers to the balloon car, the distance traveled decreased when the size of the balloon stayed the same (same force).
Newton’s 3rd law states: Every action has an equal, opposite reaction. We see this law in action when the balloon car moves. When the air comes out of the balloon, it is the action. The reaction is the result of the balloon cart moving forward.
What worked?
The investigation worked well because we were able to plan it related to the 2nd law of motion. We had to plan an investigation that proves Newton’s 2nd law of motion using our balloon car. I worked well with my partner, Xitong, and we were able to complete the work on time and correctly.
What did not work?
It was a struggle when our balloon car broke whenever we tried to glue the straw on because the glue melted the styrofoam. To solve this problem, my partner thought of a really good idea. Make a hole in the styrofoam and just poke the straw in the hole. It worked and the straw stopped flying off.
Personal Relevance
I see Newton’s 1st law in real life when you are riding a car. When the car suddenly stops, you will keep wanting to move forward so you will fly out due to your inertia (if without seatbelt). It is important to know these laws because they help me know and understand some basics of the world and how force works.
