I chose questions 4 and 7 (Extension) that best described my thinking, because I showed my statistics skills that I learned in Unit 2 such as regression plots and scatter plots. Throughout unit 2, I learned a lot of new things more on the statistics side. Statistics was never my strongest field in mathematics, having the lowest score overall in my MAP skill level test. I think I improved the most by reviewing terms like average/mean, and learning new plots such as scatter plots. However, one skill I still have to learn next time, is to interpret data better. I think statistics is very hard, because there aren’t one correct answer, and could draw and interpret data sets in multiple ways. I need to know how to do this, because I struggle a lot. The biggest challenge on this assessment was that I needed to interpret data correctly. This was a big challenge because I couldn’t decide the correct way to interpret this data. There was no real strategy, and I studied more than other tests to prepare this test.
Goal Reflection & End of Sem 1 Reflecting:
Last unit, I set a goal to turn in all of my assignments in time. Although I still had some missings (1), I still think that I improved massively, and here is why. I created a plan for semester 1 to use some of the tools the school provided me, which was very helpful because the G8 teachers provided us a tool to use on the first semester of school which was microsoft to-do, which was a very good tool to stay organized. Thorugh this, I showed my strength to hand in assignments in time, stay organized as possible, and to listen in properly for new instructions. I want to still improve my attention span in class, and to find new seats when my friends are near, since it might distract me from having to do work in-class.
Next Steps:
Next steps for this process might be to determine who distracts me to most in class, and who could be beneficial in my academic learnings in school. I will get stuck with this goal, because I always want to sit with my friends in school. I would try to stay away from them in class as much as possible, to improve my academics moving on.
1. Describe your story and what real-life situation it modeled?
The story follows Kai, a determined student who has just received his acceptance to Zhejiang University after overcoming the challenges of a national exam. However, his joy is overshadowed by the stress of a delayed acceptance letter, which threatens his admission due to strict timing rules. The narrative models the real-life situation of students facing logistical challenges when transitioning to university, highlighting the importance of timely communication and planning in academic pursuits.
2. What part of your project are you most proud of?
I am most proud of the detailed description of the two routes Kai could take to reach the university. By breaking down the journey into distinct legs with varying speeds and conditions, I was able to effectively illustrate the complexity of decision-making in real-life scenarios. This aspect not only adds depth to the story but also allows readers to engage with the mathematical concept of piecewise functions in a relatable way.
3. What was the hardest part of creating your piecewise function?
The hardest part of creating the piecewise function was accurately representing the varying speeds and durations for each segment of the two routes. Balancing the need for realism with mathematical clarity required careful consideration of how to segment the journey while ensuring that the function remained easy to understand. Additionally, I had to ensure that the transitions between different speed segments were logical enough.
4. If you could revise one part of this project, what would you improve and how?
If I could revise one part of the project, I would improve the explanation of the piecewise function itself. While the narrative provides a clear picture of Kai’s journey, I think a more explicit breakdown of how to calculate the total travel time for each route using the piecewise function would be better. This could include step-by-step calculations or visual aids to illustrate how the different segments contribute to the overall travel time.
5. What did this project help you understand better about piecewise functions?
This project helped me understand that piecewise functions can model a real life scenario. They allow for the representation of situations where conditions change over time or distance, as seen in Kai’s journey. I grew an appreciation of learning piecewise functions, because it helps with everyday decision making.
The purpose of the project was to explain romantic connections between the protagonists and the antagonists. The conclusion of the analysis was that the relationships that Rose has with Jack and Cal have been very negative, and should be fixed.
Some important health topics that have been learned in health this unit was how to keep boundaries, the dangers of sexting, and healthy relationships.
How to keep boundaries: In health, I have learned how to keep boundaries an d concepts of consent by a video that was shown in health class, which was very important to know, because when one doesn’t know how to keep boundaries, one would be in a lot of trouble, and would be negative socially.
The Dangers of Sexting: In health, I have learned the dangers of sexting. Although I already knew this topic, and the dangers behind sexting, it is still an important concept to talk about in grade 8, so that all the grade 8 people know the dangers of sexting, and know that it is unfair and it is an act of assault and to humiliate the other on the other side of the conversation.
Healthy Relationships: In health, I have leaned how healthy relationships are important, and learned the characteristic of a healthy relationship, as well as a unhealthy relationship. This was important in health to learn, because most grade 8 people did not know the importance of having a healthy relationship.
This unit we learned about swimming survival skills and water polo. We spent some lessons learning about survival swimming and just swimming in general, but most of the lessons were dedicated towards water polo, switching from defense to offense.
One glow for this swim unit was that I learned the techniques of passing and tactics by coach Michael.
One improvement I still need to make is the defensive capabilities in water polo. I noticed that on the attack, I am very agressive, but on defense I play too chill sometimes.
This unit talked about different mental health illnesses and the stigma behind each illness, with the students learning that the mental health illness shown isn’t what the majority of the public think.
Anxiety: I used to think that anxiety was a illness where it makes you more nervous than other people. However, after the presentation, now I think that anxiety are repeated episodes of feeling terror, and that one of the causes for anxiety is genetics. My thinking changed like this, because I saw many stigmatization of anxiety from the presentation such as anxiety can be defeated very easily, when that isn’t the case.
Depression: I used to think that people with depression usually doesn’t know what to do with their life, and had a bad childhood such as signs of PTSD causing depression. However, after the presentation, now I think that depression can be found in everyone with the circumstances, and is a condition where one doesn’t have any interests in activities for a prolonged period of time. My thinking changed because the presentation clearly represented that everyone could have depression.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD): I used to think that OCD is an organizing disorder, and that OCD is not a disorder that is terrible to have, and that it could have benefits. However, after the presentation, now I think that OCD is a mental illness also comes with thoughts of violence. My thinking changed, because the presentation talked about many negative symptoms that come with OCD, and it changed my thinking that it is actually a negative mental illness.
Addiction: I used to think the same and for this illness, Ii think the same way because I learned what addiction is.
Eating Disorder: I used to think that eating disorder is people binge-eating all the time, but I now think that it isn’t as simple, and many people after binge-eating go through mental toughness and hardship. My thinking changed after hearing about the different mental illnesses.
Summary: I thought many of these mental health meant people that are very unfortunate, and I had many misconceptions that mental illnesses could be fixed easily with therapy etc. Now I think that mental health is a huge problem, and my thinking changed like this after I heard of all the stigmatization of different mental illnesses such as Anxiety, OCD, PTSD, Addiction, Eating disorder, Depression. I thought that the majority of the public thinks the same way I did before, but I feel like this is why more mental health conditions cause more harm than needed. Due to public stigmatization.
FIndings: Some surprising findings I had is that mental health conditions can be stacked on top of each other, such as one having PTSD and OCD at the same time due to the right circumstances. This surprised me because I thought that mental health illnesses couldn’t be stacked on top of each other.
How I view myself and the others: After this project, How I viewed the world has changed massively, because now if I have a friend that has a mental illness, I would probably support that a lot, rather than stigmatize the whole situation.
A goal I have for science class this year: Currently, I struggle to keep the organization process going, so recently, I started to get 2 in my 3 for 3s. I can improve this situation by finding a new organization app that is on my Ipad or Phone so that I can get frequent notifications rather than my computer, which I don’t really use.
Some progress I have made towards that goal: I found an organization app that is called “minical” that I use often to get notified to review for class tomorrow, on my phone and ipad so that I could frequently study.
Proud achievements in this class: One of my proud achievements I have for this science class, is that I have turned in all of my assignments on time, and showed great understanding of science with the frequent 3 for 3 is class time, getting a 3 most of the time.
The Biggest Challenge: One challenge or obstacle that I had for this year was to frequently study for this class, and have made it a goal for the next quarter so that I can overcome this obstacle.
I have demonstrated that I am a decent active learner in science class, turning every assignments in on time, and also the 3 for 3, having demonstrated decent science knowledge inside the classroom.
WOOP Goal: To improve my organization skills, and stay on time for all my assignments.
How??: I have an app called minical, which tells me what to do in one specific date, giving me notifications that informs me to do stuff. If I use the app frequently, seeing the notifications on my phone, then I would stay organized.
3 Problems I have: Procrastinating, not doing my tasks, Having no motivation to do my work on time.
3 Measurable Datas:
How much technology use I had before and after using the app {Baseline (Before using the app): 3 hours}
The number of tasks I actually completed during each of the 7+ days {Baseline (Before using the app): 2 tasks on everage}
The number of notification pop-ups on the app itself (Baseline=3 notifications to be more focused on work) (Notifications can help be stay notified and when on social media, get a pop up so that I can get back to work)
Screenshot
Functionality of Minical:
Minical allowed me to stay organized more than ever, as it provided me with more than enough notifications about when something should be done. For example, I had math class on Sunday at 4:30 PM, and minical tells me 30 minutes beforehand, so that I have the minimum to get to my math class. Furthermore, for every time I set up a scheduled event, the Minical app notifies 30 minutes beforehand, so that everything is on time. This helps with my WOOP goal, because my WOOP goal was to improve my organization skills, and stay on time for all my assignments. Minical massively helped, because it got me notified all the time, with enough time to spare and reminding me to complete assignments.
There are Minical’s promise of a “effective and simple” calendar app. Minical does a great job of being a calendar app but also a really good option in organization. Minical’s design. Furthermore, Minical has gotten over the expectations of simple planning. The app itself is really simple to use because it automatically connects with the icloud one has, for easier planning with tags with the person’s tagging in icloud too, and recommendations for young children as well, since the simplicity of the calendar app allows for simple, but effective planning.
Screenshot
Minical is an effective and a simple app to use. However, there are some limitations to Minical itself. First of all, Minical can be a little bit annoying with the many adds in the app. This can distract one from actually staying on minical to plan, and do work, and rather be distracted with the ads, clicking on the ads and being addicted to social media. (Ads are above inside the picture)
Usefulness of Minical:
Screenshot
One of my baseline data that I had before using minical was to lower my screen time, and the screen time average for me before minical use was 3 hours. After using minical however, I almost dropped half from last week, and dropped 46%, using my phone only 1 hours and 43 minutes.
Furthermore, after the use of Minical, I have improved from getting only 2 tasks done, to all of my tasks being done and handed in on time, because of the many notifications minical gives me beforehand, to remind me.
In addition to the notifications handed out to me for Minical, Minical gave me all the notifications of the events that were scheduled to happen and some of my homework over the break in school.
Minical has overexceeded my expectations, and has proven that my hypothesis works, because Minical loaded me with all the notifications and reminders, that I stayed more organized than ever in several months. (Evidence below)
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Consequences of using this app: Although Minical has had some issues or limitations with the many ads it kept showing the audience, there were no such major consequences of using minical, because it is not a disracting platform, with it just being a calendar app, and it keeps one organized and up to date with their own goals.
App’s effectiveness on other areas: Minical in my opinion, can only be an organization app, because there are no other features than a calendar itself, and it is a plain app to help with organization. Other uses of this app such as to help sleep better or cope stress, wouldn’t help because it is just a plain black calendar.
Design:
Minical encourages continued use by simplifying planning. For example, I first logged in to Minical, and MInical already connected my google calendar apps and all my calendar apps to make for an easier use. This was extremely helpful and it is a beneficial app to use for daily schedule planning.,
This app makes money by popping up a plus menu everytime, where the it says to get Minical plus. This influenced the design to be more simple than it actually should have been with Minical Plus, but the simplicity of the design simply made MInical more better.
MInical can definetely create some dependency for some, because the app makes you dependent in your life by organizing everything for one, but it can also make people build healthy habits. I know this from my personal experience with this app. Minical made me build the habit to do everything that I need to do in that singular day, which is a very healthy habit to have.
Background Information: This project was based on an AI chat with an alien, teaching english grammar, so that grade 8 students could take this chat and learn better english grammar moving forward. After the alien chats, that the students have worked on for the past 3-4 weeks of school, students had a conference with the language arts teacher for feedback, and to celebrate their learning.
Strengths and Weaknesses/Reflection: This project in my opinion, had some strengths and weaknesses. Something I did well, and something I could possibly improve. For example, one thing I did well or excelled at, was to actually teach the alien grammar. Teaching grammar was felt easy by me, and taught the alien all 8 parts of speeches, and taught sentence structures. One thing I could have improved on, was to actually know the things the alien said. I noticed that because I taught the alien too much stuff, the alien started using vocabulary that I didn’t even know clearly. This affected my grade a bit, and would improve on it next time.
The Science Behind Our Brain and Its Effect on My Life
Throughout this teen brain project, I learned about how the teenage brain works compared to the adult brain. For example, I learned that teens have an amygdala that is triggered more often, and that is why the core reason for a teenager to be stressed out. The understanding of this brain health made me better at understanding myself, and developed healthy coping strategies when stressed such as mindful breathing exercises
Unexpected Discovery
One of the unexpected and surprising thing I learned throughout this project is that when the amygdala triggers the FFF (Flight, Freeze, Fight) response, the PFC , Prefrontal cortex shuts down. This is surprising to me because I thought that teenagers could rationally think under a high stress level situation, so the PFC doesn’t get blocked, but turns out, the PFC actually do get blocked, causing us to not rationally think.
Above picture is my analysis on a situation and the relations between the PFC, Amygdala, and the Hippocampus.
Teens Vs. Adults (The understanding/relations behind it)
Not only did I learn what the difference between the teen brain and the adult brain is, I learned how to make connections between them and how our understanding of out brains improve communications and relationships. When we look into our brain and understand our brain, communication might be so much easier since both parties know how to deal with stress, and communicate with words when stressed, using the PFC more than someone who doesn’t know brain health.
Stress Management and What Works For Me
This unit has taught me how to manage stress in correct ways such as box breathing, mindful breathing exercises, exercising, having a good sleeping pattern, etc. However, some healthy coping strategies that I like to use is exercising often. This not only reduces my stress level a lot, disconnecting from the real world for a few hours until I focus again, but it also helps me forget some of my issues too, helping me get ideas on how to solve them because of my active brain. Furthermore, I also try to listen to music and have a good sleeping pattern. Listening to music does the same thing as exercising for me, and having a sleep pattern makes me wake up the next day in an organized fashion, without being too grumpy and stressed out.
