Benjamin's Portfolio

Dystopian Fiction-The Giver

December 17, 2025 /

What did I do

We learned about the characteristics of dystopian fiction and read the book [The Giver]. We also learned about dystopian fiction by writing academic paragraphs and discussing topics collaboratively.

What did I learn

I learned how to write academic paragraphs, do collaborative discussions, build vocabulary and use transitions words. We learned about the characteristics of dystopian fiction and read the key text The Giver. To deepen our understanding, we practiced writing academic paragraphs analyzing dystopian elements in the book, and worked in small groups to discuss themes/dystopian characteristics like memory, social control, conformity, and freedom.

What did I learn

I learned how to structure clear academic paragraphs (with topic sentences, evidence, and analysis) and participate effectively in collaborative discussions—including how to build on peers’ ideas. I also built vocabulary specific to literary analysis and using transition words to connect my ideas together.

What worked

Im proud of our group conversations, my prep work was full and detailed and I was able to contribute to our group conversation/discussions about the different characteristics of dystopian fiction. Im really good at writing academic paragraph structure, I developed skills for collaborative discussion, expanded my vocabulary knowledge and learned to use transition words.

what did not work

I struggled to connect dystopian concepts to real-world examples during discussions. My academic paragraphs sometimes didn’t have specific text evidence from The Giver to support my claims.

Personal Relevance

This unit made me aware of the life of some people under the control of totalitarianism governments, this was also the first dystopian fiction book I have ever read, it has taught me the hardship of some people in the world and the entertainment of dystopian fiction.

Health Reflection

December 16, 2025 /

We learned that blue light affects sleep and blocks the melatonin from going into the brain. The most important safety behavior to me is the be safe online, when you go online, you need to be safe from online phishing and gaming addiction.

We (me and my partner) made a comic about social media addiction. The five people I can trust is my mom, dad, sister, teacher, and our councilor. On social media, people can use unrealistic photos and filters to make them look better, this can impact teens because they think these photos are real and can be affected by thinking that they are not as good as these people on social media.

To protect myself on social media, I can set restrictions to block other users texts or invitations, this can protect me from inappropriate texts and phishing. I have learned that social media can be addictive and can harm you in ways like self hate and jealousy.

Roller Coaster L4 Lab and Model

December 12, 2025 /

We started by completing an investigation to determine the relationship between potential energy and height. We also wrote a lab report, built a rollercoaster model with foam tubes, tracked data for the success rate of different starting heights of the rollercoaster and then wrote a conclusion using CER formatting.

Roller Coaster.mp4

Volleyball Reflection

December 9, 2025 /

I learned how to do a legal underhand serve. We played games using the skills that we learned. (Bump, set, serve) I enjoyed beating the girls during ALL of the competitions. I also improved on my legal underhand serve that we used during the friendly competitions. I think overall, my skills have improved during this unit.

Unit II – Ötzi Unit Reflection 

December 1, 2025 /

What did I work on? 

In this unit, I observed images of Ötzi the iceman and read different articles that decided if the iceman was murdered or not. We also learned how to write CER paragraphs about whether Ötzi was murdered or not. At the end of the unit, during the mock trial, the witnesses (me) answered open and closed questions asked by the lawyers, trying to tip me off to whether the iceman was murdered, or not, depending on if they’re the prosecution team or defense team. 

What did I learn? 

I learned that we should care about the past because the more you know about the past, the better we can understand the present and predict the future. The things people have done in the past can influence the actions we take on now. This can also relate to religion, traditions, and why people act a certain way in the present. 

What worked well? 

I am proud of the preparation work I did for the Ötzi mock trial. I was fully prepared and was ready when the time came, I answered all of the lawyer’s questions precisely and honestly. When the lawyer asked a question, I already knew the answer because I prepared fully during the preparation phase. There were no questions that I couldn’t answer. 

What did not work? 

Overall, I think my performance was great during the trial, but 1 thing I could improve on was my voice, I could have spoken louder and clearer into the microphone when I was speaking, as to project my voice across the room. Another thing is that my partner didn’t get to answer as many questions as me, (not distributing the questions evenly) If i were to do this again, I would definitely give my partner more chances to answer the questions given. 

Personal relevance:

In the future, I can use these communication and collaboration skills when collaborating with others, when sharing with others, and when working together to reach shared goals, I will have to communicate effectively to reach our goals. We see these skills every day in our daily lives, when discussing a group project, bargaining, or just daily communication.

Soccer reflection What did I learn

November 20, 2025 /

I learned the rules of soccer. I learned how to dribble and pass affectively.

What helped

My teammates were nice. They passed the ball and got plenty assists.

What Im proud of.

I’m proud of my achievements and my learning and growth in this soccer unit.

Egg Car Reflection

November 16, 2025 /

IMG_0262.mov

What did I do?

We made an egg car with 3 pieces of paper, a straw, 4 wheels, and a meter of tape. The egg had to stay in the car and not crack, we used newton’s first and 3rd law to apply safety structures to the car. (Seat belt, crumple zone)

What did I learn?

Newton’s first law of motion is seen in the egg car challenge when the car hits the wall and stops, the egg will keep moving because of its inertia. Newton’s 3rd law of motion is seen when the car hits the concrete block, the concrete block pushes back with an equal amount of force, that’s what a crumple zone does, a crumple zone “crumples” when it hits the wall. The crumple zone will cushion the crash, as not to direct the force directly to the driver.

What worked?

Me and my partner added a really long crumple zone to cushion the crash of the car. This worked well, because even after 2 crashes, the egg in the car still didn’t crack. The seatbelts stopped the egg from flying forward due to it’s inertia.

What did not work?

I think my teamwork with my partner and our design of the car all went pretty well, I think this project/investigation went pretty well.

Personal relevance

Seat belts relate to Newton’s First Law of inertia, as they prevent people from continuing to move at the vehicle’s original speed when the car suddenly stops.

Additionally, both features interact with Newton’s Third Law, as the force a vehicle exerts during a collision is matched by an equal and opposite force, and these safety designs help manage how that force affects the safety of the passengers inside.

DT Reflection (Unit 1&2)

November 7, 2025 /
Ben.Zhai.F1.Graphic design.V1-2Download

What did we do? Unit 1

In this unit, we used Inkscape to create graphic designs for a customer. We had a choice between making a coaster, fridge magnet, keychain, and an earring design. I chose to make a keychain for my sister. After completing the design for my customer, we made a graphic design project on Inkscape for SAS to sell in the international fair.

Ben.Zhai.6F1.3DModeling.Unit-3Download

What did we do? Unit 2

We made 3D chess pieces on Tinkercad by choosing a theme as a group and making the chess pieces individually. My team chose animals as our theme, I was a zebra queen. It was challenging when I wanted to make the zebra stripes on my queen, I couldn’t fit the stripes as not to make it stick out too much, or sink into the queen, then we would not be able to see the zebra stripes.

Balloon car Reflection

November 3, 2025 /

What did I do?

The balloon car was built using styrofoam, wheels, axel and a straw. We used it to learn about Newton’s laws of motion. Newton’s 2nd law of motion tells us that, the more mass an object has, the more force is required to accelerate the object. Newton’s 3rd law tells us that, every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

What did I learn?

Newton’s 1st law says an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in rest/motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. We see this law in action with the balloon car when the balloon car is at rest, and the balloon is released, the force will make the balloon car accelerate forward.

Newton’s 2nd law says the more mass there is to an object, the more force is required to accelerate the object. We see this law in action with the balloon car when we added washers (weights) to the car, the balloon car didn’t move as much as when the balloon car didn’t have any weights.

Newton’s 3rd law says every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We see this law in action with the balloon car when the air was released from the balloon, the force of the air had an opposite reaction to the balloon car, accelerating the car forward.

What worked?

The data collecting worked well because whenever me and my partner got new information, me and my partner wrote it down and recorded it. We had to work together, be attentive and record the data whenever we got new information.

What did not work?

It was a struggle when we cut the straw in half. The air flowed out faster without accelerating the balloon car enough before there was no more air in the balloon. To solve this problem, we tried to find a straw that wasn’t already cut, although we didn’t find one, me and my partner still persevered and kept going on with the balloon car challenge.

Personal relevance:

The Balloon Car was like a real car in the real world, when I noticed how the air from the balloon made it move, just like how an engine powers a car. I see Newton’s 1 law all the time in the real world, whenever i’m trying to push something really heavy, the objects inertia makes it hard to start moving, and once it’s moving, it’s also hard to stop or change its speed. It is important to know these laws because it helps scientists/us to understand and predict how objects move.

Creative writing reflection

October 29, 2025 /

What are we doing?

Writing a fictional story based on a theme that matters to me.a23

What are we learning? 

Theme (my purpose for writing this story, my message to readers)

Character Development (creating believable characters with positive & negative traits)

Plot (the sequence of events in my story; Western and Eastern approaches to storytelling)

Setting (the world that I create for my story)

What’s Working?

I used lots of adjectives in my writing.

I think my story line/plot was interesting because there were a lot of plot twists.

I just thought of it.

The Best Line from My Story: (didn’t write it yet, at the end of the story) Tom’s friendship with Fred was worth more than 1 million dollars.

Areas for Growth:

It was hard to write the part when Fred warned Tom of Jack, I didn’t know what to say.

I dealed with this problem by thinking of something.

Personal Relevance:

I can write creative writing stories in my life when something happens in my life, I can write it down and journal it. And I can read it later in my life.

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