This year in science, I have really enjoyed the experiments that we did. I especially enjoyed the loremite experiment, because we got to do the different steps by ourselves mostly (and I broke a mortar). I also learned a lot from that experiment. The thing I found most interesting this year was probably the asteroid mining project. I hadn’t even heard of it before the assessment, so I learned a lot of new and interesting things. I think that the most challenging thing for me in science this year was preparing for the exam. Although I ended up doing well on the exam, I wasn’t sure exactly what to study for, so I was worried that I hadn’t prepared for the right concepts. Because of this I had to guess some of the answers on the test, but luckily it was fine. I think I improved on the style of writing up experiments and scientific essays. Last year I didn’t really know how to properly do this, and I think I improved a lot this year with the practice of different assessments. Next year, I want to further improve using information from a text in my work, perhaps using in-text referencing. This year Mr. Fedley always suggested that I should do that, but I always forgot when I actually was doing the work.
In science recently, we have been looking at light and how it is reflected and refracted through objects. I have decided to research telescopes because I feel like they are interesting, as they are our gateway to outer space. First of all, reflection is when light bounces of an object and reflects at a different angle. For example, if you shine a light on a mirror it will reflect in another direction. Refraction is when light passes through a new object and bends when it comes out of it. For example, if a light goes through a clear plastic object, it will go in a different direction. Telescopes can do both of these things, although there are different types of telescopes for both.
Most of the time telescopes just refract light. When it goes through the lens it bends to create the image that we see through it. This makes something far away seem a lot closer than it is. In reflecting telescopes, curved mirrors are used to magnify the light. This works by the light bouncing of both mirrors, before going through a refracting lens. The first telescopes were recorded in 1608 in the Netherlands. The credit goes to three different people for inventing it: Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Janssen and Jacob Metius. However, shortly after, Galileo created his own version and greatly improved it in the following year. This is the telescope that became very famous.
An obvious limitation of telescopes is that there is a certain point where you can’t see any closer. By this point the image will get too blurry, and you won’t be able to see clearly. In a simple refracting telescope, the light goes into the objective lens, which gathers it and bends the light into focus. At a certain focus point, the light coming in from different directions meets in the middle to create a bright point. At the very front of the telescope there is an eyepiece, which magnifies the focused image to the size of the person’s pupil. Telescopes are actually a lot more interesting than they seem, as they can use light in different ways to display an image.
The process described above
Image Source:
“Akash Ganga: Centre for Astronomy (AGCA).” Akash Ganga: Centre for Astronomy (AGCA). N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2013.
In math class we created a survey to find out more about other international school students and sent it to Penang International School in Malaysia. When we got the data back, we analyzed it and put our results and conclusions in the presentation below:
4. She also mentions her grandparents, parents, brother, aunts and uncle.
5. She loves them and is proud of her family, because she tells Thuy a lot about them.
Activité 2: Vrai ou faux?
1. Vrai
2. Faux
3. Faux
4. Faux
5. Faux
Activité 3: Quelle photo?
1. b
2. a
3. c
4. d
Activité 4: Cherche les expressions
1. Je peux…?
2. C’est… or Ce sont…
3. Elle est adorable or Elle est très intelligente.
4. Ils sont heureux.
5. Il/Elle a… ans.
6. Il est parfois pénible.
Activité 5:
Isabelle’s family is similar to some I know, because she has cousins, aunts and uncles a brother and more. It is a bit different to mine, because she only has three cousins and I have more, and she only has one sibling. However, this is also very common, it just depends on the person and family. There is nothing that special about Isabelle’s family really.
We are currently on the final stages of our second unit in Technology class this year, Fair Game. The unit question is ‘What does cooperation and collaboration look like?’ and the significant concept is ‘How we solve problems depends on the conditions of the environment and group dynamics.’ The goal of the unit was to, as a class, create a theme park using Minecraft. Each group of four students had their own section to create, each with a different theme. In my group was Jem, Keina and Justin, and our theme was underwater. In the sections, each student had to make an individual structure. In my group, I was in charge of creating the rollercoaster and cart ride. Although I was a bit stressed out in the last few lessons, I managed to finish my attractions in time.
During the first of the four stages of the Design Cycle, Investigate, one of the things I did to prepare for the final project was create tests to use to evaluate the outcome. The ‘tests’ were basically yes or no questions to see if we had completed the assignment correctly. I have found that I passed most of the tests, for example: my structure is connected to the theme of underwater because of the lapis lazuli blocks I used for the base of the rollercoaster. My structure is complete, it fulfills its purpose and its size makes sense compared to the other structures. I think that my structure attracts attention, as it is a giant blue rollercoaster in the sky, and the placement makes sense to lead to the underwater section. The only one to really think about is that my structure isn’t completely easily accessible. This is because it starts at the edge of heaven, which is way far up in the sky, so you need to go up a lot, just to go back down again.
I had to adjust the plans for my attraction a bit when I actually built it in Minecraft. Some of the things I wanted to put in the rollercoaster, such as a sheer drop, I couldn’t actually make. I also originally planned to make a squid tunnel around the cart ride, but in the end I realized that it would be too hard to make and would take up too much space. This is because everything is built in blocks, and it would be nearly impossible to not let water in to the cart ride while not getting trapped in with all the squids. It would have been really nice if I could have added this, but I think that everything works better this way.
Rollercoaster
Although I really like how my final product turned out, there are some things I wish I could have done to improve it, perhaps if I had had more time. I think a main thing I should have done is made a few exits along the way of the cart ride, because there is only one alternative exit to the rollercoaster coming down. Especially since the cart ride loops back around the whole UnderwaterWorld, it would have been much more convenient for any visitors to be able to leave another way without needing to break the glass and flooding the cart ride. While building, we also had a few problems with starting the mine carts at the beginning of the cart ride, so I would improve that if I could. Also for the whole group, I think it would have been better if the shipwreck had been closer to the other attractions.
Cart Ride
I feel like I did quite well during the Investigate stage, but then during the Plan, my work went a bit downhill. I think this is because I missed quite few classes, so I was behind on the work, and I didn’t really know what activities we were supposed to do. However, during the Create, I feel like I made a comeback and completed my structures well, considering that I had hardly ever used Minecraft before it. In conclusion, I am very proud of what me, my group, and our whole class have done in this unit. I think everything turned out very well and it was successful also as an experiment.
Design Cycle
To conclude, I have created a tour of our underwater section:
Last week we had a visitor come to our school and perform for us during music class. He played the shakuhachi, which is a wooden Japanese vertical flute. The koto teacher and another koto player came as well, and they performed a few songs together. We had to think about the question ‘What makes music sound like it belongs to a particular part of the world?’, as we are starting a new unit.
Other than the koto and shakuhachi, we also got to hear the shamisen, a three-string instrument that resembles a banjo without frets. During the class, the three people performed a few songs, one of which was modern, one old, and one originally written by the visitor. The songs were quite long, but it was interesting to hear the style of music, and to try to find out what made them sound Japanese. Part of the answer to that was the pitch and scale of the notes the instruments play, and also the fact that the sound vibrates as the instrument is played.
I think that out of the three the instrument I liked the most was the shakuhachi, because I had never heard it before, and it had an interesting history in both Japanese and Chinese culture. The visitor also brought various sizes of the flute, with the larger ones having a deeper sound, and the smaller ones are higher. It was also interesting because it is in many ways both similar and different to western music. For example, it is a type of flute and is played similarly, but it has a more natural sound, and it obviously looks different, being vertical. It was really nice to learn more about Japanese music, and it was great to meet the talented visitor. I hope we do more things like this in music in the future!
The bigger words are things that we thought of with Child Labor, such as ‘industrialrevolution’ and ‘dangerous’. The smaller words that are harder to read are all the products made from Child Labor nowadays, the bigger of those in the top 25 products. Also if you noticed the continents, the size of the words depended on how many countries of that continent have Child Labor. We got this data from a website called Products of Slavery, created by the human rights organization, Anti-Slavery International. They are a charity that is working to end all forms of modern slavery around the world, including Child Labor. We made this Wordle to try to make people aware of modern Child Labor and how it is affecting the world.
In art class, we have just finished a unit on line drawing called “Make Your Mark”. The unit question was “How can we communicate visually?” and the significant concepts were “What are the big ideas?” and “What do we want our students to retain for years into the future?”. We started by copying some line drawings by artists such as Van Gogh, then we practiced different line techniques to use in our final drawings. When we started working on them, the first thing we did was take a few pictures and put them together in different ways, experimenting with the layout and placement of everything until we found something we were pleased with.
I think that my first line drawings were not bad, but I didn’t really understand the fact that you use different line techniques, and it isn’t good to outline things completely. When I was originally drawing I was literally looking at one part and trying to duplicate it perfectly, and that can be harder than just taking the basic idea and trying to use a similar technique. I think that practicing the line techniques separately really helped me to improve the skills that I had and learn many new ones. By the time I got to my final drawing, I had a much greater understanding of how to portray different tones and textures, especially when using the techniques of scumble and stipple. I also think that the texture of my shed looked better than I imagined when I looked back at it.
My first line drawing.
My final line drawing.
I think one of the things that really helped me improve was my confidence in the drawing. At first I was really afraid that I would mess up everything, which made it harder to finish anything. This is why I didn’t get even close to finishing my practice drawings. I do admit that the first time I put the marker down on the page of the final drawing I still had that terrified feeling, but once I got used to it and knew what I was doing, there was so much more space for my own creativity to come in. I think that one of the things I did best in my line drawing was the mountains behind the shed; I did a good job of showing the light source. I also think that I drew the tree on the left quite well, but it was a very challenging thing to draw, as there were little opportunities to use tone.
Obviously I still feel that there are many areas for improvement in my drawing. I think that my drawing is too dark in some places, for example when the grass on the left below the mountains nearly blends in with the tree and in a way, ruins the effect. I feel like the grass is almost a bit too mechanical as well, in quite straight lines following the exact same pattern over and over. I also feel like the technique in the sky is good, but I didn’t draw carefully enough and was a bit careless, because the lines get very crooked and the spaces between quickly change from being too small to too big. Instead of this I should have taken more time to check back on the proportions. I also think I could have improved on different aspects of the stairs, because the line technique of the wood changes after a few steps. Also, the proportions of the stairs get a bit strange towards the middle, with some of them being longer than the ones at the front, which contradicts the composition of my drawing.
Overall, I am quite proud of myself, even with all the areas I could have improved in. Considering that this was the first real line drawing I’ve done, I think that I did a good job. No matter what your skills are, everyone can create something so simple and still wonderful. In my opinion, the most amazing thing about this is how much one person can do with a simple black marker.
