Ayoung's Portfolio

Unit 5-Abuse of Power & End of Year Reflection

May 25, 2026 / Amy Kim

Main Theme

-What was the abuse of power or concept you explored?

The abuse of power that I explored was the 2024 Martial Law Declaration.

-What have you learned about the research process and finding evidence?

I learned that researching the abuse of power is very different from researching normal topics. When people in power do something wrong, they usually have the ability to hide evidence, change the rules, or control the story. This taught me that I couldn’t just rely on a single Google search or a standard textbook to find the answers. Instead, I had to become a detective—looking for hidden patterns, noticing what information was suspiciously missing, and listening to the stories of people who were treated unfairly.

Presentation

-What did you do to prepare for the Pecha-Kucha style presentation?

I focused on condensing my research into a fast-paced story and choosing powerful images instead of text for my slides. Since the slides don’t have any text, my biggest step was practicing speaking smoothly over and over to make sure my speech matched the pictures and flowed well.

-What was challenging about this presentation?

The most challenging part was the rule that we couldn’t use text on our PPT. Because the slides only had pictures, I had to memorize exactly what to say without relying on bullet points to remind me. It was really hard to explain big, complicated ideas about the abuse of power using only images.

-What is one area you can continue to improve in your presentation skills?

I can practice more on making less hesitations by practicing it more because I think I could have done better if I had known what to mention for each pages better.

Personal Growth

-How have your ideas or skills in Language Arts developed since the beginning of the year?

I think I have developed greatly in my CER writing and presentation skills.

-What TOP 5 books have you read this year?

1984, The Animal Farm, The List, Salt of the Sea, One of Us is Lying

-What is one book you would recommend?

Salt of the Sea

-What is one book that was challenging for you?

Justice

Unit 4: Format of Art Reflection

May 13, 2026 / Amy Kim

In this unit, I used mathematical thinking to bridge the gap between abstract concepts and my own creative artwork. During the Folding Paper activity, I applied spatial reasoning and symmetry to transform a flat 2D plane into a 3D form, making sure each section remained congruent through precise folding. When I worked on my Trace and Construction Line Drawings, I utilized proportional reasoning and geometric construction to map out midpoints and intersections, which helped me maintain a consistent ratio so my subject didn’t look distorted. Finally, while creating Digital Tessellations, I mastered rigid transformations—like translations, rotations, and reflections—to tile the plane without any gaps or overlaps. This required me to understand angles, as I had to ensure my shapes met perfectly at each vertex to fill the space, proving that mathematical logic is the foundation for the patterns I create.

I believe that math and art are two sides of the same coin because they both rely on patterns, logic, and structure to make sense of the world. Through these activities, I’ve realized that math provides the “rules” or the invisible skeleton—like proportions and geometric transformations—that allow art to feel balanced and professional. For example, using symmetry in paper folding or rotations in tessellations showed me that math isn’t just about solving for $x$ on a worksheet; it’s a creative tool that helps me build complex designs. Ultimately, I think knowing math makes me a better artist because it gives me the precision to turn a simple idea into a perfectly aligned masterpiece.

Unit 4: Matter and Energy Cycling in Ecosystems Reflection

May 8, 2026 / Amy Kim

Q. Considering your exploration of ecosystems throughout the unit, what factors do you believe contribute to pleasant pond turning green?

A. Based on our exploration of ecosystems, Pleasant Pond is likely turning green due to an algal bloom driven by excess nutrients (specifically nitrogen and phosphorus) from fertilizer runoff. Warm, sunny weather accelerates this process, causing algae to grow rapidly.

Q. Discuss what you learned about the 4 matter cycles and energy transfer and mention photosynthesis’ role in these processes.

A. Water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles through the environment and living things repeatedly. These cycles require energy to move, and photosynthesis is the process that captures that energy. During photosynthesis, plants take in sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create food. This food contains stored energy that passes to animals when they eat the plants. This energy allows carbon to be built into bodies, nitrogen to be used for growth, and water to be moved through plants and back into the air. While matter stays on Earth and moves in circles, energy from the sun enters the system and eventually leaves as heat.

Q. Think back to your ecosystem in a bottle variable change (you changed 1 variable in your bottle by adding plants, blowing into the bottle, or adding fertilizer). Did the prediction you make come true?

A. The prediction wasn’t true. When we put in the nitrogen fertilizer, we expected the ecosystem to be lusher. However, the plants in the ecosystem had started to die after we put in the fertilizer. I think this is due to nitrogen fertilizer run off, where the excess fertilizer caused some green algae to disrupt the water ecosystem and ruin the whole ecosystem.

Q. If you could improve ONE aspect of your learning in this unit as a whole, what would it be and why? Provide a change that could enhance future learning experiences.

A. I think I can use the rubric as a final checklist before submitting assignments. This would help me ensure that I haven’t missed any specific details about the matter cycles or energy transfer requirements. By making this change, I can produce more accurate work and better understand exactly what is expected for each scientific concept.

Unit 4: Problem solving Reflection

April 16, 2026 / Amy Kim

U: What do you understand in this unit?

I understood the key formulas of solving operations and solving areas and volumes of geometric shapes and how and where to utilize it.

N: What new information did you learn in this unit?

I learned that solving operations can be used in various parts of our life such as construction, baking, and landscaping.

I: What was interesting in this unit?

It was interesting to use cube shaped boxes and pyramid shaped boxes to compare their volume relationship.

T: What was tricky for you in this unit?

It was tricky to identify which sign to change to, either -(minus sign) or +(plus sign).

Clay Artwork Reflection

April 16, 2026 / Amy Kim

How did you demonstrate persistence while creating your clay artworks? Use specific ceramic vocabulary (for example: slab, coil, pinch pot, knead, wedge, score, slip, blend, sculpt, glaze.)

I demonstrated my persistence when I took plenty of time to knead and wedge my clay over and over again to avoid having air bubbles in my slab that leads to cracking.

In what ways did your skills grow between your first clay artwork (the tile relief) and your final piece? Use specific ceramic vocabulary.

I was able to control the carving knife much more fluently than before. In addition, I was able to utilize the amount of the glaze better in order to display the deepness of the color that I wanted to show.

How does your final clay piece connect to your identity? (Return to your planning for a reminder of your intentions.) What do you plan to do with your clay artwork?

It connects to my identity because it uses curved lines that aren’t really in shape and in the inside part of the cup, there is a whole painting of delicate sea animals, opposing to the clean outside of the cup. This shows my flexible mindset and show I truly shine more internally than externally.

SLC Reflection

March 16, 2026 / Amy Kim

(Since I didn’t do SLC, I will only talk about my plans for next year.)

I can try to work more on responding better to parent questions and making sure the links work.

Unit 3: Growth, Development, and Reproduction Reflection

March 8, 2026 / Amy Kim

Part 1: Essential Question and Standard Reflection

The genetic difference of the apple causes the differences in the traits of the apple. Additionally, the environment can also change the apple by effects like the temperature, humidity, and food availability. Sexual reproduction is used to get the best possible genetics of an apple by receiving genetics from both the parents but on the other hand, the asexual reproduction helps the clone of the genetics to be produced.

I learn the best with extra questions to work on because this provides me with better understanding. The Review Games and worksheets (Kahoot, Gimkit, and Spongebob worksheet) was the most impactful or memorable for
me as a learner. Before I did the review activities, I wasn’t fully understood about the concept, but after I learned using them, I was much more comfortable with the concepts such as Punnet Squares. In addition, the Extended learning activities and Extension (Non-mendelian genetics, Dihybrid Punnett square, connections between math area models and monohybrid Punnett squares) made me more interested in the subject of genetics and made me feel more comfortable in learning those.

In this unit, I could do a better job on CER writing, especially in the aspect of connecting the reasoning to the evidence. In the future, I will focus on clearly explaining why and how the evidence proves the claim so that my reasoning directly links the evidence to the main idea. This will help make my scientific explanations stronger and easier to understand.

Orchestra Reflection

March 3, 2026 / Amy Kim

This semester in orchestra, I learned a lot about teamwork, responsibility, and how my part fits into the bigger sound of the group. Playing the violin has challenged me to listen carefully to others while keeping my own rhythm and intonation steady. One of the biggest improvements I’ve made is in my bow control — I can now produce a smoother tone and stay in tune more consistently.

Performing in concerts was both exciting and nerve-wracking, but it felt amazing to hear how all our practice came together. I also enjoyed learning how different sections — strings, winds, and percussion — blend to create the full orchestra sound. In the future, I want to work more on sight-reading and shifting to higher positions so I can play more advanced music and contribute even more to the group. Being part of orchestra has taught me patience, dedication, and how great it feels to create something beautiful with others.

Unit 3 Dystopian Writing Reflection

February 25, 2026 / Amy Kim

One thing I noticed about myself as a write

I noticed that I have strong detailed sentences when writing such as using a variety of words and transitions to make it lush.

One goal I want to work on in my writing process

I will try to balance the number of context and dialogues because there wasn’t enough dialogues for the audience/reader to be actively engaged in the story and imagine it.

One way I was an active learner during unit 3

I spent less time talking to my friends during the project.