Elena's Portfolio

Social Studies Unit 2: Essay

January 13, 2026 /

By: Elena Zhao C2

By: Elena Zhao C2

During this unit, we also wrote a CERER essay after the researching for 3 different articles about the topic that we chose. we started with the evidence section, continuing with reasoning. Consequently, after having individual conference with Ms. Sawyer, we will finalize our essay by writing a introduction and conclusion in a unified format. Eventually, at the day for the presentation, we will explain the positive and negative impacts of the transportation or communication, and who are responsible to fix these problems, and it succeed or not, which is been written in the essay earlier. We will also be graded on our essays to check if our essay’s meets all the criteria.

One thing I did well in my essay is I am informative on my essay by writing all the information from the graphic organizer into my essay. Additionally, I can fully interpret my evidence and not repeating the similar information in different evidence. One thing I still need to learn to do is to describe how my reasoning can led the evidence to be connected with my claim and my thesis of the topic I had chosen and to be more concise for reader to have a more profound understanding of my explanation.

Math Unit 3 Reflection:

January 8, 2026 /

By: Elena Zhao E1

  • U: What do you understand in this unit?
    During this unit, I had a better understanding of percentage in math problems and real life shopping or banking situations. I understand how to use percent methods and equations to solve for a percent of a integer or the change of the original percent to a new percent that can also be relevant to our daily lives.
  • N: What new information did you learn in this unit?
    The new information that I learned in this unit was the formula’s for percentages, especially the percent change, percent increase or decrease, and the percent equation. These formulas supported me to better connect the percent and number together to a substance. For instance, if there is a discount in a item, and is marked as a percentage, then I can realize the formula that I need to use to identify the amount of finance that I can actually save after the discount.
  • I: What was interesting in this unit?
    The most interesting aspect during this unit was working on the final unit, because we are able to choose a item that we want to compare the markup price with delivery fee included and discounts to make the best buy and the prerequisite is that the quality is consistent.
  • T: What was tricky for you in this unit?
    The most tricky part for me throughout this unit was solving interest problems that were in the CFU, which I had misunderstand a part of the question, and also was puzzled during the multi-step problem. Consequently, after corrections, I had fully understand the question and I am more confident to solve simple interest problems in the future with percentages and proportionality.

Post #2- Social Study Unit 2 :Visual Presentation:

January 5, 2026 /

By: Elena Zhao C2

Photo: IMG_0282.HEIC
Video: IMG_0385.MOV

One thing that I did well is my visual creation: Despite the time that I had used at home to rebuild my vehicle. Fortunately at the time of presentation, I had presented a colorful and stunning creation, especially the background of the vehicle is been colored in different layers and the cardboard used under the blue components of my car.

One thing I need to improve on for next time: I still need to work on is improve my reasoning section from the essay because during this unit, my reasoning doesn’t explain how the evidence fits the claim properly and completely.

What the task was and why I chose to do your presentation in this format:
The tasks during this unit was we need to choose a communication or transportation during the 1800-2000. A better choice can be choosing a topic that contains a historical event and a development of improvements. Consequently, we will find three different articles in order to fill in the graphic organizer that must answer these questions such as the positive impacts, negative impacts, who where responsible to fix the negative impacts, what are the long-term and short-term impacts and did the problem get fixed or not, etc. Subsequently, you will start to write your own essay with the researched topic in a CERER format. After having individual conversations with the teacher to finalize your essay including introduction and conclusion, there are two distinct format to present your final project (visual creation or digital creation). Ultimately, with all the preperation with the script, you will present your whole project in front of the whole class and 1v1 with parents to share your learning outcomes!
The reason that I had chose to do the visual creation is because I am more familiar with researching or making by my hands and finding tutorial or model drawing and it makes me feel fulfilled by seeing the final project with all my effort in the pass few weeks!

Science Unit 2: Cells and Human Body Systems Portfolio Reflection:

December 16, 2025 /

By: Elena Zhao C1

My essential question: What happens inside our bodies when we get sick?

How did what you learn about cells and human body systems help you to answer this essential question?
The body systems and cells helped me to answer how we get sick is by learning the 7 different body systems (7 out of 11) profoundly with specific examples, dissections for the pigs heart and lungs, and also the bullfrog body. For cell learnings, we learned the organelles for both animal and plant cell, and made a L3 jelly model with candies to represent each organelle’s position and functions. Ultimately, combining with all the learnings, I am able to connect the body system and specialized cells for muscular dystrophy disease (my final unit project / presentation)

How does this relate to the idea that the body is a system of subsystems made up of groups of cells?
Firstly, cell is the basic of live, all distinct organelles forms into a individual cell, then similar types of cell forms into tissues. Similarly, tissues make up organs, then organs makes up organ systems, then the organ systems collaborates together to form into a larger and more complex individual organisms.

Which learning experience was the most impactful or memorable for you as a learner?

During this unit of learning body systems and cells, the most most impactful or memorable 2 experiences that I believe are the dissections for pig’s heart & lungs & Bullfrog, and other modeling activities, especially the edible cell, and the cell clay model or the AI body system project. These experiences had tremendously impact my learning on providing a more vivid and reified learning on different cell parts functions and location of each organelle from the cell to work as a whole. Consequently, these 2 experiences also provided a better understanding for complex body systems and subsystems collaborating in human bodies and also in animal bodies for my education.

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.
I would definitely improve on working towards extension for L4 opportunities for just for each project now but also for better success in future science education because there were 2 different L4 project, but I didn’t made it to L4 (I only made it to 3.5), so I aim the work even more efficient for researching more unfamiliar context that is ahead of our current learnings. Additionally, I can enhance future learning experiences by spending more liberate time on researching and comprehend the information to reach L4 successfully.

Health Unit #3 Reflection:

December 12, 2025 /

By: Elena Zhao

During this unit, I had learned about different methods and websites for deciding to make the correct and healthy choices to prevent impulsive decisions due to peer pressure.

First, I had learned the 6 different steps used in the decide model to help me identify whether I should do that specific incident or not. The decide model is separated in 6 steps: Define the problem, explore your options, consider the consequences, identify your value, decide what to do and decide what to do. Our topic that we had considered about is vaping. Because for a 16 years old sibling, is affects their metabolism and growth (both mentally and physically) and they want to invite you also try it once. So after the 6 steps of decision making, I decide to refuse any excuses my sibling told me to try the vaping to stay healthy and not be addicted to vape from the ingredients inside the vape to prevent from long-term negative impacts on health (could appear in lungs). Ultimately, I can also use this method for future hard decision makings to stay safe and healthy or following others to damage my own body.

The different effects that I learned after learning from one of the websites and listening to others’ presentation:

  1. Teens-Health: This resources typically provides advice for kids tips and variety topics also that supports for parents to care about teens health and numerous aspects.
  2. Better health: This website is more general as a whole by giving tips for survival, healthy tips from depression that is accessible for all ages and sex. I is also appropriate for MS students during growth to have some tips to stay healthy and learn more about tips that supports you to stay positive.
  3. Youth Now: This type of website is aiming at interpreting the different types of drugs and information of preventing from drugs.
  4. Kids Helpline: Educates people to make good and healthy options also for both mental and physical choices. It also provides story lines that corresponds to our daily situation needs and even further communication option for personal and supportive help.
  5. Finally, this last resources is also about drugs via providing recovery informations for teens or maybe adults who may started to drug or people at risk of being addicted to drugs. Also, there are information relevant to consequences or drugging and further information for teens who are curious about drugs and want to know how might the long-term impact their bodies.

Effects of distinct substances:

These 5 different topics of substances that taught me about the future consequences of consistently drugging, vaping or smoking and some strategies to prevent from doing these types of things and considering the consequences of the result of vaping, smoking or drugging.

Soccer Reflection (L4 Soccer foot dribble):

December 10, 2025 /

By: Elena Zhao

What did you Learn?
During this unit of soccer, I learned how to dribble the ball with my feet better than last year, and also to kick the ball in further distance by doing the right position when starting to kick the ball to the goal during actual games.

What helped?
I think the techniques of kicking the ball with the inside part of my feet instead of kicking it directly with the tip of my foot.

What is something You are proud of?
I am proud of the collaboration that our group had done in each session of games, because even though their were teammates that our better than us, we were communicating with a polite manner to make each game more faire. Also, I am proud that I had saved couple goals for our group to be tie.

What is something you can improve on?
I think I still need some practice for different aspects in soccer because I am still not really familiar with soccer.

P.E Swimming Unit Reflection:

November 19, 2025 /

What we are learning:
During this unit, we learned artistic swimming techniques, we learned how to do a pencil jump into the water, oyster when floating on the water, front & back slip. Initially, I was a little concerned about my swimming skill, but after few classes of swimming, I am now more confident and master more different intricate techniques in the water. Eventually, we will have a group of people together to choreograph a about 1 minute technique performance to be recorded by the coach or by our P.E teacher.

Unit 2 Health Portfolio Reflection:

October 30, 2025 /

By Elena Zhao D1

I used to think every videos that I viewed or searched randomly about wellness influencers has formal qualifications and the information they provided are all accurate and trustworthy. Additionally, I initially thought that the content I saw online is true because the author uses strong language selections that triggers me to learn more new knowledge about people’s mental health-being with these videos that actually videos that deceive people maybe to purchase their products or inform people to generate a impression of the product or information. Subsequently, I decide to search up information on apps or social channels that I usually surf on and some recommended internet that appeals more reliable.

After learning how to utilize the C.R.A.P.P Test method, I am more careful about health videos from different influencers such as finding the currency and the accuracy of the information recorded in the video and identifying the actual purpose that the influencer prefer the viewers to watch or listen to purchase the product or pure deception of the audience.

Process of our Health Project about Mouth Taping;

This is our final project about how to use the C.R.A.A.P Test to identify whether a topic from a influencer’s perspective is precise or not. Consequently, our group did a additional video to show the different perspective from two distinct videos. We had utilized the CRAAP test by figuring out which video is providing true information that provides more positive impacts for people’s mental health. In conclusion, we distinguished that the second video about “Doctor’s warn about Risks of Mouth Taping” is more reliable by these key factors: Currency is more recent than the other video (“Claim: People should tape their mouths during sleeping”), the authority of the influencer had more formal qualifications, and the accuracy of the information provided from that influencer is more reliable and contains actual scientific knowledge and evidence.

P.E Unit 3: Volley Ball Reflection

October 22, 2025 /
  1. In this unit, I manage to regulate my ball (bumping) by using my fore arm to bump the ball to my team mate and to the other group. To add on, I was following the balls position to move around and to pass and catch the volley ball with two-hand volley in a dynamic environment.
  2. Some useful strategies for me to improve my two-hand volley skills when playing fast-paced game by playing volleyball with my friends at recess or lunch. Additionally, I can practice by using the first free period time during P.E to bump my ball to the sky and repeat the movement to be for familiar at bumping and also serve towards the net and repeat the movement.

In conclusion, during this 3rd unit about volley ball, I learned how to perform a two-hand volley in a competitive and encouraging environment for me to improve my volley ball skills.

Unit 1 Social Studies Media Presentation Reflection:

October 12, 2025 /

By: Elena Zhao

Media Presentation Video: Elena Zhao Gold E2 Media Presentation.MOV

Reflections:

Feedbacks:
My peer assessor suggested that I make my presentation title more eye-catching and bold to help the audience quickly and clearly understand the purpose of each advertisement. Additionally, she recommended that I provide a more detailed and specific explanation of my two strong language choices (slogan and caption) to align with expectations and enhance the analysis of the purpose behind creating this product.

How I incorporate:
I had incorporated my presentation that emphasizes the key details for each advertisement’s title, along with important elements like connotations, strong language choices, and non-language choices that I used. Additionally, I reviewed my presentation and made further additions to clarify the reasoning behind my decisions in completing my media project.

What am I proud of?
I am pride in creating a nature-inspired presentation that highlights my product’s unique features, including its natural components and flower-based formula. I explained how the perfume promotes mental well-being and helps individuals maintain a positive and uplifting mood, even when navigating challenges in their daily lives.

What can I still improve?
I want to focus on improving my ability to design a more visually appealing and professional logo that effectively represents my product’s identity. Additionally, I want to enhance my presentation skills by avoiding the repetition of key information, ensuring the content remains concise and engaging to maintain the audience’s attention throughout the entire presentation.

Definition of Bias:
1 positive outcome of people having the same perspective is when everyone share similar viewpoints, it can lead to improved teamwork. This commonality can facilitate communication and help everyone to achieve their goals more effectively.

1 negative outcome of people having the same perspective is that when everyone agrees too quick, it might lead to limited thinking. This means that new ideas and different opinions might be ignored, which can result in poor choices.

« Older posts

© 2026 Elena's Portfolio

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑