In this unit I learned about dystopian fiction by writing academic paragraphs and discussing topics related to the book the Giver.
What did I learn?
We built a vocabulary range and figured out how to use swift transition words. We learnt how to write an academic paragraph using transition words to tie all the ideas together. Additionally we had collaborative discussions on the book.
What worked?
I am proud of my ability to write a fluent and good academic paragraph.
This is an example of an academic paragraph I wrote. I believe that I have done a great job connecting my ideas and creating a good paragraph.
What did not work?
At the start of this unit I struggled a bit to connect and flow all my ideas while using good vocabulary. I used “I” in my paragraphs occasionally because of the fact that I wanted to express my own opinion. Than after the constructive feedback given to me I improved the paragraph and made the overall structure better.
Personal Relevance
I think this learning can actually help me achieve many things in life. For example in the future I can better create and link my ideas together. Making my general vocabulary an linkage better.
In this project we did a few things. We started by compelling an investigation to discover the relationship between Pe (potential energy.) and Ke (Kinetic energy.)
Than after discovering the specific steps for our investigation we created a model based on the investigation.
Afterwards created a Lab Report to determine the route for our investigation. For this we constructed a consis paper on the materials we would use and the specific steps that would happen for us to succeed.
Afterwards we collected the data from our model and wrote a conclusion CER to summarize what we did and constructed a detailed summary of our project.
Our class learned how to master many things. We understood how to make chirograph observations, inferences, and wonderings. We also learned how to use a CER paragraph. (Claim, Evidence and reasoning.) When understanding how to be a great expert witness in court, we learnt the ways to identify a closed and open-ended question. This helped us understand the category of the questions asked us and the reply needed.
What did I learn?
We learnt that caring about the past can realistically help ourselves make less mistakes in contrast to our ancestors. Humanity can learn from their past wrongdoings and mistakes to improve their social morals and understandings. For example, when our ancestors implanted a questionable policy or law that caused bad economic gains our society can learn from this and use this understanding to help us the society grow. Really, instead of forcing you to learn all the actions our ancestors did, it can help us grow as a person and have some guidelines created by our ancestors.
What Worked well?
For our class activity we hosted a small court room to “debate” on whether Ötzi the iceman was murdered or not. The overall courtroom behavior wasn’t really graded on, but the actual process to do so was graded. I found this little event very fun to prepare and do as you were assigned a role to prepare for. This worked very well for me and because I was an expert witness, I understood how to answer certain questions thrown at me in many ways.
What did not Work?
Even though I learnt about a lot of things in this unit I still believe that there are a lot of places I could improve on. When doing the Ötzi CER paragraph for example, I think I could’ve elaborated on why my reasoning had any actual connection to my evidence. Yes, I did ok but there were places that I could’ve helped myself excel in.
Personal Relevance.
Now the more I grow up the more I realize that history isn’t just random events that have taken place in the past. They actually help us grow our economic policies and laws. For example, Ötzi is important to everybody living in the world. This fully preserved mummy not only helps a social studies project, learning about this helps people understand the lifestyle of people 5300 years ago, people lived differently from the way we do currently and realistically this can help us make less mistakes in life. For all history can help my life a whole lot.
The assignment was to create different types of sweets using the metric system. After that, we had to sell the sweets at different prices. For example, you can sell the Rice Krispies for 3 “dollars” and the cookies for 6 “dollars.” It is purely based on your preference.
What did we learn?
We learnt how to convert the US system (table spoons and teaspoons) to the normal metric system, which is basically grams and kilograms. We learnt the strategy to use unit rates in our daily life, calculating the batch price than dividing it by the amount of pieces that the batch can produce.
What worked?
Actually, baking the treats themselves worked perfectly. Following the recipes wasn’t too hard and we actually managed to create it without any problems. This process worked very well for all of us and we managed to actually do it all.
What didn’t work?
When actually doing the math behind the cookies and treats, it was a bit challenging to show the work for your process. For example, step three required you to create a sheet that showed your calculations. In this step, it was quite challenging for me to actually show my work clearly. Though I did it at the end
Personal relevance
This actually connects to my life quite a lot, as it helps me actually be able to bake when I grow up. For example, finding out the unit price can help me actually make different cookies when I grow up.
I learnt how to apply Newton’s 1st and 3rd law to creating an egg car. We created a crumple zone to absorb the reaction caused by Newton’s 3rd law. Additonall we created a seatbelt to control the eggs inertia according to Newtons 1st law. This way I learnt how to apply Newton’s laws into real life.
What Worked?
We made a very interesting design and we made a very thick crumple zone. This caused for our egg car to work. Without having the egg to break.
What did not work?
Well many things actually didn’t work while doing the investigation. At first we actually completed an egg car but the wheels refused to stick on (well they did but didn’t move.) After that we had to create a whole new cart which took a long time. After doing so finidng out a correct crummple sone was also a challenge.
Personal Relevance
This actually corosponds to my life a lot. For example the seatbell of my car had saved me quite a few times in my life. When my car suddnely stops for example my seatbelt would restrain me from flying forward. I believe that the crumple zone of my car would also help a lot if (hopely not.) I am in a car crash.
For the Balloon car challenge, we built a car using a piece of plastic as a supporting factor of the car and made wheels out of small plastic tyres. We used this to learn about Newton’s three laws. It applies to all of them. For example, Newton’s third law is applied when the force is applied in one action, but the reaction pushes the car forward, causing it to propel forward.
What did I learn?
In this unit, we learnt about Newton’s three laws and applied them to our understanding of the balloon car investigation. Newton’s first law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This skill can be applied to the balloon car challenge by recognising that the air coming out of the balloon car causes it to move in the opposite direction from the direction the air was applied. This also applies to Newton’s second law. According to Newton’s second law, the more mass an object has, the more force is needed to accelerate it. This proves that putting more weight on the car would cause it to go slower and travel a shorter distance. We embarked on an investigation, and in all, it proved that the heavier the car was, the more force would be needed to accelerate it. Additionally, according to Newton’s first law. An object at rest would stay at rest unless acted upon by another force. This proves that when the balloon car is at rest it would stay at rest unless the force of the air is applied to it.
What Worked?
Building and making the car move worked very well because of the fact that my partner and I worked well together and created a “flawless” balloon car. The investigation went well, and we had to figure out a hypothesis and a testable question. All of this worked quite well, and we managed to finish quite well.
What did not work?
When building the balloon car, this challenged me in a huge variety of ways. First of all, we have to make our car go in the correct direction. We didn’t necessarily manage to do this because the tape “taped.” In the wrong direction and the balloon travelled in the wrong direction, causing us to lose the race. Additionally, calculating the length the balloon car travelled was quite hard, in this sence this investigation was quite challenging.
Personal Relevance
This balloon car challenge was like actual go-kart driving in the real world. When I saw the balloon car going forward, I imagined myself in a go-kart charging forward. The more weight the kart had, the harder it would have been to drive it forward. I always see Newton’s laws in the real world. For example, Newton’s third law takes place when I swim. Pushing the water backwards causes my body to propel forward and it helps me go faster when swimming.
Why is it important to understand the changes that occur during puberty?
It is important because once you understand what is going on in your body you wouldn’t be as scared and worried about what’s to come.
What is the change that you feel the most concerned about?
I am scared that my voice would get deeper because currently my voice is well “young” but once I grow up my voice is almost guaranteed to get deeper which scares me a bit.
When looking from information online, how can you ensure that it is credible and appropriate?
I would first see if if the website has a small lock on top of it. If it does than I would see if the information is credible and I would proceed to open and read it.
Every orchestra lesson we are practicing the pieces for the winter concert. We try to incorporate musical elements and playing techniques in our pieces. Some pieces we are playing are,
These are the songs that we are incorporating in our class. Additionally we do a lot of activities to find the beat between one another.
We are writing a fictional story based on a theme that actually matters a lot to me.
What are we Learning?
We are learning about themes and how demonstrate them in my learning. It is my the main purpose of my story and the message to all readers. Additionally we are learning how to demonstrate character development in my story. We also learned how to include plot sequence and events in my story incorporating a setting as well.
Whats Working?
What story elements did you enjoy planning and writing? I enjoyed adding a lot of story elements and incorporating the plot as well.
What elements of my story are you proud of? I am proud of the fact that I can write an interesting and fruitful story.
How did you get the idea for your story?
I watch a lot of anime and read a lot of books so I practically got a lot of inspiration from things I watch and read.
The Best Line from My Story
“Never, even if my life is in danger. I won’t allow you to bully and violate these innocent people.” This was said by my main character when he met the infamous havoc maker.
Areas for Growth:
One area I need to improve on is the fact that I should have elaborated on my ending a bit more. I rushed my ending a bit, which caused it to lose the effect that I intended it to have.
What story elements were challenging to plan and write?
I think that constantly developing my story was very challenging ,and making it go forward without stopping it was quite hard.
I utilised my critical thinking skills to address significant problems. Things such as the Indi robot cars and the creation of a roller coaster with Gravitrax helped me utilize my critical thinking skills.
WHAT DID I LEARN?
I learned about how I would be graded for Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is my ability to solve problems and make the right decisions all the time.
WHAT WORKED?
I thought critically when I problem-solved the challenges that were set upon me. For example, when messing up on the Indi Bot Challenges, I didn’t give up, instead I persevered and tried my best.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK OUT?
I struggled when my Gravitrax build kept falling apart. I felt as if I was about to give up, but in the end, it worked out ok.
PERSONAL RELEVENCE.
Todays expierience will help me thrive in life because now instead of giving up all the time I will learn to try my hardest and use my critical thinking skills to overcome all challenges.
