Ayoung's Portfolio

Month: May 2026

Unit 5-Abuse of Power & End of Year Reflection

May 25, 2026 /

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

Social Studies Unit 4: Documentary Reflection

May 25, 2026 /

Summary

To make our documentary, we had to first learn what a documentary was. Then we researched on our topic, finding information for what we had to write a script on. After that, we wrote the script and recorded it to put it on the documentary movie. Then we added sound effects, music, and pictures or video clips to go along with our plot.

One thing I did well

I think we did a good job finding photos because it was hard to access clear photos because the Soviet government had blocked most of the photos or videos from being leaked out to the world.

One thing I still need to learn to do or would do differently

However, I think it would be great for us to learn more effects used it documentaries to make it more professional like the ‘sunlight through trees’ effect.

kB9ZTVEl.mp4 link to documentary

Unit 4: Format of Art Reflection

May 13, 2026 /

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 /

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.

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