I think some safety behaviors thats important to me is keeping myself safe and thoughtful online. It’s really crucial to be aware of social media. Like knowing whats fake and whats real and keeping yourself safe from creeps.
The five trusted people I could go to if I feel something isn’t right is my parents, my teachers, my counselors, my brother, and one or two of my friends.
In my opinion, social media and technology impact teens a lot on addiction. I have noticed that my friends usually spend 6 or more hours on their phones. And sometimes a lot of people keep repeating memes on the internet which makes me know that they’re on their phones a lot!
Some strategies you could use to help yourself be safe online and in everyday life is just trying to be mindful and careful of your decisions. If someone makes you uncomfortable, say no or block them if you can. You could also use teenage mode online, and avoid speaking to strangers. And the most important of all, report to a trusted adult if you feel uncomfortable about something.
The biggest takeaway that I learned was that blue light impacts your sleep. I never knew that blue light could make you even more awake, and take away your sleep time. Which is weird for me since I sleep faster when I watch my phone.
I learned about Dystopian Fiction by reading the Giver and writing academic paragraphs responding to questions about the text.
What did I learn?
I learned about writing academic paragraphs, academic discussions, building my vocabulary, using transition words, and reading comprehensions.
What worked?
Some parts of this unit that I’m proud of is that I improved how to write academic paragraphs and have academic discussions. I feel like now I could write academic paragraphs really well. Like adding a lot of text evidence and using good transition words. We also practiced a lot of discussions, and I thought that I’m getting better and communicating and building off my peers ideas.
What did not work?
I think some things I could work on is talking more during discussions. I usually have a lot of ideas and things to share about when discussing with my peers, but sometimes I don’t really get a chance to speak since I feel like my idea isn’t that great. Next time during discussions, I think I’ll try to share more of my ideas to create a better discussion for my peers.
Personal Relevance
In this unit, the learning helps us know more about the Dystopian Characteristics that actually happen in real life. We also learn more about how people actually get controlled over these characteristics, and let us get a idea of people around the world.
WHAT WE DID: We started by completing an investigation to determine the relationship between potential energy and height. We also built the model in class, and then took data from the model. At last, we wrote a CER conclusion.
In this unit, we worked on research of Ötzi the Iceman. The activities we did were Observations, Inferences, and Wonderings, CER Paragraph Writing, and answering “open” and “closed” questions. All of these observations and research helped us learn why we should care about the past.
What did I learn?
During this unit, we learned why we should care about the past. The reason why we should care about the past is because we could find out how past people lived. Like how they survived, what resources they had, and even just what it was like back then. Caring about the past lets people have an idea of what it was like back then in their world; it’s like a small window to the past!
What worked well?
I think what I did in this unit that I was proud of was research about Ötzi. I was really interested into that topic, and had a lot of ideas about his clothing, supplies, and his death. It was fun to observe more about a 5300-year-old Iceman, especially since these days, I don’t even care about the past that much.
What did not work?
I think what I could’ve done better was the mock trial. I had good things to say to prove my point to the Prosecution team. For instance, my theories of how he died and why he went on the mountain despite his health conditions. But in the end, I didn’t have that much confidence to say it. Next time though, I would definitely share my thoughts out loud.
Personal Relevance
The collaboration and communication skills I learned in this unit were very important for my future. By collaborating, I found that it was easier to work out a big idea than being by yourself. I noticed that my partners and I could build off each other’s ideas, leaving us with an even bigger idea. The communication skills I worked on were also great for me, since I’m always kind of scared of presenting to others. This time though, I feel like I improved my presentation skills, and learned to speak confidently.
In this project, we were supposed to work in groups, and pick out a desert we want to bake. After that, we had to calculate the math for the desert we’re gonna make, like the ingredients and price. At the end, we had to sell our deserts to students.
What did we learn?
During this project, we learned the ways of calculating ingredients from one unit to another, the unit price of each ingredient, and the total sell price and markup price.
What worked?
Some parts that worked during our baking session were the calculations and furthermore bake sale. I think we did very well on the calculations, often finishing our task on time, and being accurate. However, when the bake sale first started, our cookies weren’t drawing much attention. Until there were 6th graders that wanted to buy our cookies. At the end, our cookies were also sold out which was great!
What did not work?
I think some things that our group should work on is maybe making our stand look better. I think that our cookies didn’t look that yummy, and the stand also didn’t look fancy enough. A lot of people didn’t like mint too. Next time, I think we should’ve brought take-away bags, tinfoil, and posters to make our stand look better. It could attract more costumers.
Personal Relevance
The way that learning this could help me achieve my goals in life is having a good and successful sale if I were to sell anything. This project helped me learn how to calculate all the requirements to sell my deserts, and how to attract costumers.
Me and my partner built a car made out of paper, wheels, and tape to hold a egg that wouldn’t crack off a ramp.
What did I learn?
I learned Newton’s Laws during the egg car challenge. We saw Newton’s first law, Inertia, when the egg wanted to stay in motion but the concrete wall blocking it causing it to stop. Next, we saw Newton’s second law, acceleration, when we saw that the more mass we put in the car, the faster the car goes. Finally, we saw Newton’s third law, action-reaction when the egg hit the wall and the wall pushed back with a equal and opposite force.
What worked?
What worked with the design we made was that it was pretty stable, and the egg was kinda well-protected. It also had all the expectations, as while as being able to work well.
What did not work？
Some changes that I think me and my partner could improve is adding more crumple zones. Our crumple zone was really weak, and if we add more I think it could’ve stopped the egg from cracking a bit. We also could’ve added a more thicker, stable base so the car could move more freely.
Personal Relevance
After this challenge, now I understand how car’s safety designs reduce the amount of injuries and deaths during accidents. It also helps me learn more about Newton’s Laws. Furthermore, it even gives me an idea of what cars to pick!
In this unit, we learned to make personalized products by using Inkscape. We learned some skills on how to design on Inkscape, and then printed the designs on plywood with laser cutting. For instance, I made a keychain that had a rainbow with a girl and her dog.
In 3D modeling, we learned the skills on how to make 3D designs on Tinkercad. After that, we made our chess pieces with our own unique design, and 3D printed it. At last, we checked if there was any parts that needed some fixing, which left us with our finished product.
The Balloon Car was built using plastic bottle caps, a balloon, straws, and a plastic container. We also needed to fill the balloon with air to make the balloon car move forward. We used it to learn about Newton’s Laws.
What did I learn?
Newton’s First Law – A object at rest tends to stay at rest and a object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon a unbalanced force.
EX. (We see this law in action when the balloon car was originally at rest, but then moved forward because of the air in the balloon.)
Newton’s Second Law – The higher the mass of an object, the more force and acceleration is needed to move it.
EX. (We see this law in action with the Balloon Car when we put more mass in the balloon car, the harder it is for the air to push it. So we need to add more air so the car would move forward.)
Newton’s Third Law – Every action has an equal, opposite reaction.
EX. (We see this law in action with the Balloon Car when the car hits an object, which causes the balloon car to move backwards a bit while the object moves too.)
What worked?
Collaboration worked well because I enjoyed working with others in my class. We had to build on each other’s ideas, and work together to achieve our goal. It was really fun, seeing how we could build a bigger idea with each other’s personal ideas.
What did not work?
It was a struggle when me and my partner found out that our balloon car wouldn’t move when we completed it! To solve this problem, me and my partner saw that the air wasn’t getting out the straw. So we made a bigger hole for the straw to fit in, which eventually made our car move.
Personal Relevance
The balloon car was like a real vehicle in the real world. When I saw that the balloon car needed force, acceleration, and motion, I knew that cars and other vehicles needed the same thing to move. Not only that, but I also knew that if a real car hit against something, then both the car and other object would have the same reaction.
Writing a fictional story based on a theme that matters to me.
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 enjoyed planning my story when I thought about my character standing up for herself. It was fun planning how she would stand up for herself with the comebacks to Sasha. I also enjoyed thinking about this as an actual event that could happen in schools, and maybe this story could tell them to stand up for themselves too.
I’m also proud of my plot in the story. I think it’s pretty realistic and that peer pressure happens anywhere, so it could be similar to what people are experiencing.
One of my favorite lines in the story was when the character stands up for herself! “First of all,” I waved my finger in front of Sasha’s face. “What’s wrong with being a bookworm?” I stormed. “Second, hating someone for different preferences is such a joke. Everybody has their own hobbies and opinions. Not everybody has to be like you! Partying every day, buying expensive products after your daddy’s credit card! Oh, and finally, shouldn’t you apologize to me? All I ever did was tell you that I had lessons for my performance, and you didn’t care one single bit! Put yourself in other people’s shoes, would you?” I thundered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Areas for Growth
Some story elements that were challenging to plan was what was gonna happen at the end. Will Naomi go back to Sasha because Sasha actually has some inner insecurity? Or will she just hang out with her real friend, Mia? It took a bit of time to think, but at the end I managed to figure it out.
I thought more about my antagonist and thought maybe she was better off as just mean, it was mostly due to lack of time though. If Naomi went back with Sasha, it would definitely make the story a lot better.
My least favorite part is when Naomi feels sensitive and overthinks. I could relate to that and it usually makes me feel uncomfortable. When someone says something they don’t mean in a way, the other person usually overthinks which is really like me. Just seeing Naomi be sensitive makes me feel weird.
Personal Relevance
Creative writing is very important for the creativity of your mind, you could write things and imagine things that you don’t even know of! It makes you express your mind out loud, with unique ideas of your own! I really enjoy creative writing, I have lots of creative ideas and it’s a chance for me to share.
In our unit 1, Olympics, we worked on getting to know more about the Olympics, and researching of a country that we think should host either the Summer Olympics or the Winter Olympics. We first watched some videos of the Olympics, then we worked with a partner on a project where we had to present why people should choose to host the country we picked during the Winter Olympics.
What did I learn?
One thing I learned during this unit was that Global Sporting Events were created originally to honor the god Zeus. But later in the years, Global Sporting Events were a way to unite countries together and have fun. Global sporting events also helped others explore different countries, like if a visitor was at the hosting country to cheer their country on, they could also explore the beauty of the hosted country. It would be great to cheer for your country while enjoying your time there too.
What worked?
I think what worked for us while doing the Olympic Hosting Country project with my partner was that our research was very persuasive and specific. We had a lot of evidence, reasoning, and pictures that we thought would stand out while presenting. We also had a good script, which seemed very persuasive when you read it.
What didn’t work?
Although we had great research and scripts, I think we didn’t do that great presenting. Both me and my partner didn’t have that much practice, which made us nervous while presenting. We also weren’t familiar with the script, so we always looked at our note cards for some help. Overall, though, our presentation was fine, it’s just we could’ve done better.
Personal Relevance
The collaboration and communication skills I’ve practiced in this unit is communicating with others when researching. For instance, building off each other’s ideas. That strategy was used often when me and my partner were researching, which both helped us create more evidence for our script. I also practiced communication skills when presenting, which will definitely be a great use in the future. I’m always nervous when presenting to others, but after this experience, I think it’s not that bad.
