What did we do?
We started by completing an investigation to determine the relationship between potential energy and the hight. We also made a lab report and built a model of a rollercoaster. After that, we took data and wrote a conclusion CER.
What did we do?
For this unit, we are working on percents and rates. At the end of this unit, we had a bake sale. We had to use our new knowledge that would help us bake and sell our goods. The purpose of the bake sale is to celebrate and show what we learned.
What did we learn?
We learned about rates and percents. We learned how to find a good price to sell our goods for, we found out how to find the markup price, we learned how to convert percents to prices, and more.
What worked?
We sold almost everything, and everyone liked cake pops, which is really good. Also, we made a lot of money.
What did not work?
Something that didn’t work at first was that we could not get the chocolate coding on the outside to stick and stay on. Every time we tried to put the cookie dough inside, it would just plop in. But later, after many attempts, we figured out that we had to freeze the cookie dough for 20 minutes and then put it into the hot chocolate. That is how we got it to work and for the chocolate to stay on.
Personal relevance:
This learning can help us in the future because we might have some situations where we would need to do the same thing. For example, if you are a baker, you would need to know this. Also, if you just want to know how to convert things, it will make your life easier.
What did I work on?
During this unit, we worked on writing CER paragraphs. A CER paragraph is a paragraph that has Claim, Evidence and Reasoning. We learned what a claim is, evidence is, and what reasoning is. A claim is an opinion or belief you have that you think is true. But to have a claim you need evidence and reasoning. To get evidence, you need to research. When you find the evidence, you need to support your claim; you need to explain why it supports the claim. That is what the reasoning is. At the end, it all ties up, and you get a full CER paragraph.
What did I learn?
The big question we worked on in class was: Why should we care about the past? Well, we should care about the past because it helps us better understand ourselves, our lives, and our world. Knowing about the past is good because it can help us prepare for the future.
What worked well?
I am proud of the article I made at the end of the unit about Ötzi the Ice man. I was a court reporter for the Ötzi mock trial, so I had to write an article about the mock trial and Ötzi. I had to explain where it was, who Ötzi is, what is going to happen, and who thinks Ötzi was murdered or not murdered.
What did not work?
I think I could have improved on getting more evidence that support my claim that Ötzi was NOT murdered. Next time I could look at more articles and videos then the ones I already had. Also, I could have done some more research.
Personal Relevance
During this unit, we also worked on collaboration and communication skills. Being able to collaborate and communicate is really important because it allows you to be confident, get ideas, share ideas, and build on other people’s ideas.
Ötzi mock trial article:
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What did I do?- We had to make an egg car that could go down the ramp with both wheels on it, the egg can not be cracked, the egg needs to still be in the car, and you can only use the materials provided. The materials: 3 A4 papers, 4 wheels, 2 axels, 1 meter of tape, and a straw. We also only had 2 lessons to do this. I did this with my partners Tara and Audrey.
What did I learn?- All three on Newton’s laws are a part of the egg car challenge because first, the egg car will keep moving once pushed and will not stop until it is acted on by an unbalanced force, the wall to stop it. Second, the egg car is light so it is easy to move so once we push it, it goes fast. That’s why we need it to have a seatbelt and a bumper. Third, when the car hits the wall at the end, the wall hits back at it. There is force coming from both objects making it stop. But when the car stops, the egg wants to keep moving because of it’s inertia (Newton’s 1st Law) so that is also why it would need a seat belt to prevent it from flaying out of the car.
What worked?- I think the seatbelt worked well because our egg stayed in the car and did not roll off.
What did not work?- I think we could have made the Crumple Zone a little better because it was not very stable and kept falling off. Also, it didn’t really do anything because I feel that it wasn’t strong enough.
Personal Relevance- I now know how a real car or vehicle works. I know that there is a crumple zone and that if the car crashes into something, the crumple zone would make it so that it is less likely for the passengers to get hurt. Also, the seatbelt is meant to protect someone when the car just suddenly stops. The seatbelt would prevent you from flying out of the car because of your inertia.
What did I do?
The balloon car was built using wheels and axels, a balloon, a straw, a rubber band, and a styrofoam plate. We used it to learn about Newton’s 3 laws. (Law of inertia, Law of F=ma, and Law of action and reaction).
What did I learn?
Newton’s 1st Law states that an object at rest stays at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion stays in motion unless acted on by another unbalanced fore. We see this law in action when the car starts to move but keeps moving until it hits the wall (that is the unbalanced force). Newton’s 2nd law is F=ma which means Force = mass acceleration. We see this with the balloon car when the heavier it is, the more force it needs to move it. Newton’s 3rd law states that every action has an equal, opposite reaction. We see this with our balloon car because when it bumps into something, it stops moving because the object it hits sends an equal and opposite force back to it causing it to stop.
What worked?
We put more air then other people which helped it because it made it go faster which it good, and that worked better.
What did not work?
Something that did not work with our balloon car was that something was covering the air from coming out so it went a little slow, but when we lifted the balloon up a little, it worked much better.
Personal Relevance
The balloon car is like a rocket. In the real world, the balloon car has air in the balloon, and it makes the car move. A rocket has gas in the the rocket so it can cause the rocket to go up into the air. The balloon car was like a rocket in the real world, the balloon car has air in the balloon, and it caused the car to move. I can also see Newton’s Laws in the real world on rollercoasters and cars. It is important to learn about this because then we know the reason why it happens.
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What are we doing?
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 is working?
I enjoyed planning the character traits for my story. I think it’s fun to think of the character’s traits because there is going to be a protagonist, antagonist, and supporting character.I also enjoyed planning my theme and the plot.
Areas of growth
I think something that was challenging for me was writing four pages in two lessons. I was not able to finish my story because of it.
Personal Relevance
Writing creative stories can help me get better on finding the theme of the stories or books I read. I can also do better on finding the plot in the story. And also know how to make my story attractive for the reader. I really enjoyed the unit because you can write about anything and it’s really free to anything.
What am I most proud of in Art class?
In Art, we have worked on many things. For example, we worked on cardboard, clay, and plaster. I am most proud of a piece I’ve made with cardboard. I made a fish that died that has a lot of little plastic pieces on it. I made this because there is so much plastic all over and even in the water. Living things in the water eat these plastic pieces and they eat so much that they get chocked or hurt so they die. I made this piece so that people know what is going on and they realize what is happening.
This is the piece I am proud of:
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What did we do?
In science, we worked on using our critical thinking to solve challenges such as, how to get the Indi Robot cars to go from one place to the other and we also used Gravitrax to make a rollercoaster.
What did I learn?
I learned about how I would be graded for critical thinking and what critical thinking is. Critical thinking is my ability to solve problems and make the right decisions.
What worked?
I thought critically when I problem solved to make the tower shorter in the Gravitrax because the slide for the ball the roll on was too short, so I made the tower shorter, and then it fit perfectly.
What did not work?
I struggled when the Gravitrx tower was fine, but when it kept getting smaller because it was getting to the end, so we had no choice but to end the rollercoaster.
Personal Relevance
In the future, today’s learning will help me because if I ever have a problem, I would know how to solve it. That is what critical thinking is.