BRICS Studies

In humanities we have been learning how to solve extreme poverty and were given a project realted to that. We learned about 5 different topics relating to poverty; health, education, employment, environment, and gender. We were assigned a topic and one of the B.R.I.C.S countries. I was assigned gender in Brazil. First, we had to find a project that had to do with resolving the problem. Then, we had to find websites that explained the following things: overview of problem, overview of solution, challenges of the project and successes of the project. Then, we had to create a paper about it. The week after we turned in the paper, we had the BRICS Summit where we were separated into comitees. It was interesting to collaborate with so many other people because I saw so many other points of view. The core values I noticed the most were critical thinker, communicator, curious and risk taker. I think that the most challenging part of the assignment was forming the resolution. I think that the easiest part was probably collaborating with other people because you can share ideas, it is not only you thinking of everything. I think that I did pretty well. I previously did MUN, and that it helped a lot. I think that it is important for us at Graded to learn about extreme poverty so that we can learn about the world that surrounds us. The purpouse of our study of poverty was to learn that there are so many aspects of this world, and the people in it.

You Can Never Get Too Deep When it Comes to Data!

In math, we have been working on a project with data from the responses we got from the Challenge Success Survey.  I thought that this project was extremly interesting because we got to encorperate our knowledge of most of the things we had learned about in that math unit.  I really liked taking on my project from a different perspective.  I also got to expirement with different websites that were really cool.  I got to learn all about misleading graphs, graphs and so many other things that I hope you find as cool as I did.  I embedded my project, but unfortunately, after all my hard work I discovered that my animations and audio files do not play in blogger. Therefore, Ms. J, I have emailed you the full powerpoint presentation which includes ALL audio and animation. If any of my classmates or other teachers are interested in seeing the full presentation, please just send me an email or comment below! I will send it to you right away.  Enjoy!

                                                                                                                              Tashi

Relato Pessoal

Na aula de Portuguese, fizemos um projeto chamado "Relatório de Pessoal." Neste projeto, tivemos que seguir as regras 5

1. Considere quatro contas pessoais
2. Compartilihar com outra pessoa
3. Escolha o seu favorito
4. Escrevendo sobre o momento
5. Grave seu áudio

Gostei deste projeto, e eu gostaria de fazer algo assim de novo!

The World in A Drop of Water- Wrap Up

Last week, we finished Lab Nine.  It was one of my favorite labs.  In this lab, we looked at water under a microscope.  We got to see so many amazing things, and one of my friends in the other block saw a "water flea" (a cladocera) laying eggs.  I learned about things I never would have guessed have happened before.  Somethings that suprised me were-

• The Eyespot- This is a feature we saw on the euglena.  It can sense lighter or darker.  When it senses the light, it directs the euglena to the light so that the plant can perform photosynthesis.  
• A feature on the amoeba allows it to form a layer around it called a cyst when conditions are harsh.  If the water is too cool or too warm, the cyst is formed and will stay there for as long as it needs.
• On the paramecium and vorticella, small hairs are around them called the cilia, which means eyelash in latin.  They are small  hair-like extensions that help the cell capture food and also help it move around.
• In the paramecium, there are not one, but two nuclei.  The larger one is called the macronucleus, and the smaller one is called the micronucleus.  Both nuclei are of equal vitality.  A scientest performed surgurey on the cell twice, once extracting the marconucleus, once extracting the micronucleus and concluded that the cell needed both nuclei to function.

I enjoyed this unit so much, because I was able to learn so many new things about fresh water, and I had never really wondered about it.  I am so excited to see what this next unit shows us!    

Science Test

In science, we had a test about cells.  We got to look at our test, and correct it.  I thought it was a good experience to correct it, because we were able to understand what we got wrong, or how we could improve in what we got right. 
 In general, my answers were coherent and clear, correct, but I maybe could have added more details.  One of the hardest things for me was finding the similarities and differences between the cells, but once I understood it, it was much easier.  I think that I could have speant more time studying, although I did study a lot.  Overall, I think I earned a B, based on what I got wrong, and how I improved my answers.  (My responses demonstrate mastery of the learning goal(s). There are no major errors or omissions regarding any of the content and skills that were explicitly taught. Some evidence of analysis, synthesis and/or evaluation; may demonstrate originality and insight.  )

A Drop of Water is an Ocean

In Lab 9 in science, we will be looking at the water from the waterfall Represa Guarapiranga and water from our class fish tank. I think that a drop of water is big and deep enough for things to live inside of.  I think that the following things will be there.

• Germs/Bacteria
• Algae
• Dirts

Some questions I have are:

• What kind of cell, (animal or plant) do water cells fit into?  
• Will the sanity be affected between the two water sources? 

I think that in the water from the waterfall, we will find more germs because there are more things, like fish, plants, garbage and maybe even contaminated rain going into it.  I think that in the fish tank water, we will see less bacteria, but more leaves and dirsts or sands.

Looking Back to The Three Gorges Dam Essay

1) What is your artifact?

This artifact is my Three Gorges Dam Essay.  

2)  What is The Three Gorges Dam?  Why is it controversial?

The Three Gorges Dam is a dam located in Southern China on the Yangtze river.  It was made because the Yangtze was growing extremely wild and would many times

flood, taking lives.  The dam now provides one-ninth of the nation’s energy and keeps the river from flooding.  The dam did not come alone.  Worldwide controversy rapidly spread after the building of the dam. There were many valid arguments, for or against the dam. The dam is controversial because there are so many pros and cons about the dam.  Some people for the dam argue that it generates a lot of energy, prevents flooding and transportation is safe.  Those against the dam may argue about the 1.13 million who were displaced, the money spent and the relocation programs that were inefficient to those who needed it.   

3)  What is an argumentative essay?

An argumentative essay is an essay that argues a claim with 3 fact-based arguments that support your claim.  Your goal in writing an argumentative essay is to argue against people who disagree with your claim.

4)  What is your essay’s claim?

My essay’s claim was that the Three Gorges Dam should not have been built.  

5)  What process did you go through to complete your essay?
Well, first of all, we looked at videos and read articles about the Three Gorges Dam.  Then, we chose what side we would take on the issue.  (For or against the dam)  Then, based on the information, you would choose your arguments and find evidence that would support that your argument.  Then, you would piece together the puzzle by writing the essay.  Finally, we would do our introduction and our conclusion and proof-read.

6)  What was one specific area where you demonstrated success?

I was particularly proud in getting a 4 in “Central claim is well-supported by textual evidence.  Use of relevant evidence is sustained throughout the entire analysis.

The core reasoning follows from evidence.”  It was one of my original struggles that I was able to overcome.

7)  What was one challenge of writing the argumentative essay?

I was challenged by making all of my paragraphs melt together, to become one.  Originally, all of my paragraphs were stacked together like bricks, but once I found the cement to put between them, the essay fit together.

8)  If you could rewrite this essay, what would you do differently?

I would try to make my conclusion more detailed.  During revisions and edits, I could not think of a particularly “good” ending, but then, after we looked at the essay again, the ending just clicked in my mind.

9)  Comparing your argumentative essay for the common writing assessment last quarter to this one, where are some areas where you see growth?

In fifth grade, to finish fourth quarter, we did our persuasive essays, and I implied everything I had basically learned from there into the first argumentative essay, not realizing that the two were different, but there are quite a few differences.  

10)  What core values does this relate to and why?

I think that the core values that this essay relates to would be:

• Critical Thinker because you had to think about the dam from two different perspectives before your could choose what side you would take.
• Curious because you needed to try and find information that had not been used in class so that your essay stood out.
• Communicator because you had to communicate your ideas into your essay in a way that made sense.
• Persevering because you had to find evidence that supported your claim, you had to proofread, edit when something was wrong.  It was a long process.
• Risk Taker because you had to think of new evidence that supported your claim, that made sense, even if nobody else was using it.  

My Essay 

Our debate in preparation for the essay.  

...Until You Get it Right

An elective I do is band, and I play the trombone.  I really enjoy this instrument because it has taught me to persevere through things.  I have been struggling with SmartMusic assignemnts, but I practice the song assigned and I am able to do it.  I have learned that I need to persevere through things that I would normally have trouble with and give up on.   

I have attatched a MP3 of me playing an assignment that I had trouble with.  I had done a few takes until I got a score that I was proud of.  There were many things that I am happy with.  For example, the slurs, that I usually have trouble with, and reading the notes nd playing them correctly.  I hope that you enjoy this video as much as me!

Man on The Flying Trapeze 

Metacogntion Project Reflection

In math, we have been working on our iPads to complete a project about metacognition.  Metacognition is thinking about your thinking and listening to the voice inside of you that asks "Why am I doing this?'  I have found it very interesting because we were always aware of the fact that there were voices in my head that I had never really thought about or noticed.  My inner voice usually says asks me why I am doing what I am doing.  I think that reflecting on my thinking helped me as a mathematician because I was able to speak out loud and before I did something.  As a mathematician, I have learned that I need to talk to myself when I am solving a problem.  I have also become more aware during other subjects.  For example, when I am writing, I now think "what is the pupose of this sentence?" or "will this help improve my writing peice later on?"  I really enjoyed this entire process because I feel I have become a better mathematician.

Looking at Our Lunch- Post Lab Questions and Answers

Post Lab-
Today in science we will be looking at lettuce cells. I think that we will see a brick wall type of structure.  I think that we might see the tear in the leaves.  I do not think we will see the nucleus because when we looked at the elodea, we did not see it.  We will see chloroplasts (because plants perform photosynthesis)  The possible functions the cells might be photosynthesis.
_________________________________________________________________________________  Answers-
In science, we looked at lettuce leaves.  I thought it was really interesting because I thought that we would see a brick wall type structure, but we actually saw other things.  These are some notes of what we saw-
Upper Layer 40X-  We saw many shapes that were not really any particualar shape, and they were all close together, overlapping.

Upper Layer 100X-  We saw the stoma and epedermis.  There were wavy lines around it.

Lower Layer 40X-  Jigsaw shaper peices with coffee bean shaped cells scattered around, in no particular order.

Lower Layer 100X-  An oval (the coffee bean up close) with long, stretched out spaghetti like lines connected to it.

They were all very interesting to look at, especially the lower layer at 40X.
If chloroplasts were placed in darkness for a long time, I think that they would stop functioning because they need sunlight to make the food for the rest of the plant.  The plant would therefore die, because the small "kitchens" would not work.  If they were placed in light 24 hours for a couple of days, I think that the cells would not be able to rest.  They would have to constantly keep going in the heat, and some plants are not made for the heat.  The stoma would not be able to open and get water to feed to the cells.  The guard cells and stoma would not have any water to open up to if they were placed under the sun on a summer day.  The plant would dry up and die.    

Lendas

Na aula de português, nós tinhamos uma projeto de lendas.  Nós escolhermos uma lenda na Lower School Library.  Depois, tivemos que contar e ouvir lendas diferentes dos nossos colegas.  Quando nós ouvimos todos deles, você tinha que escolher a sua lenda preferida que você quer usar para o projeto.  Depois, tivemos que estudar sobre nossa historia e sobre a estrutura de uma lenda.  Quando terminamos a primeira versão do nosso texto, tivemos que revisar coisas como masculino/feminino, conjugaçāo, e ortografia.  Após esta etapa, nós colocamos a versão final na apresentação.  Tivemos que escolher ou desenhar uma imagem para colocar no seu slide, personalisar o seu slide com cores que combinassem com a sua lenda. Eu gostei desse projeto porque você tinha que ser muito criativo durante o processo e eu gostaria de fazer mais uma vez.   

Lendas e Contos Tradicionais 2014 turma 1

Publish at Calameo or read more publications.

Science 3rd Quarter Reflection

This quarter in science was full of achievments and ideas.  So many fun things happened.  We had our Science Fair and we had started studying cells.
The core value I have found that I am the best in is curious. I think that I am mostly curious because I am always excited to learn about new things. I like to notate what I learn and I love to listen to what is newly planned. I want to become more of a risk taker. I have always had a little bit of a stuggle with this when it comes to science. I have new ideas, but I am scared to mess up a lot if I were to use a new strategy. To become more of a risk taker by looking description of the word before class. Every day, I will focus on one of the values in the description until I improve in that. I will try to move on to another one until I am more of a risk taker.  
During the science fair, I learned so many new things. I learned to always be bold and unique. It will help you because different ideas make you stand out from others. I also learned how important it is to be inclusive. We were working in a group of three and that meant that someone could have been left out. I also learned that you have to be innovative because the more creative you were, the more it payed off. It was a huge part of the science fair. You needed to be innovative when you are choosing your topic and innovative when you design your board. Also, when we were looking at the cells, we had to be critical thinkers. For example you had to use your prior knowledge to think of the names of the parts of the cell. You had to think of what part of the cell is what.  
Third quarter was so much fun, and I cannot wait for Fourth quarter!

Exploring with Iodine

During science, we have been using the microscope to look elodea and onion clells.  It was really cool, because we got to see things like the nucleus or cytoplasm.  We first looked at Elodea with water, and then with idodine.
Before doing this experiment, I had expected for the elodea and onion cells to look rectangular, like any other plant cell.  If we were lucky, we might have been able to see nucleus.  I did not think we would see very detailed pictures of the cells.
When I actually saw the cells, I was in awe, because they were so interesting because there was so much to look at.  My favorite to see was elodea 4X because you could also see the outside of the actual leaf, not just a little part of it.
I also really liked to see the onion cells at 100X because you could see the nucleus up close.  It was really interesting because I realized that that was what funtions a cell to do something.  They are what controls the cells.
We also looked at cheek cells!  We took a toothpick and rubbed it in the inside of our mouths.  Then, we put iodine on a slide and stirred our toothpick around in it.  Then, we put another slide on top of that and out it under the microscope.  We saw little flakes, that looked like confetti that were a really dark green, almost brown.
I wonder what would happen if we were to look at an onion cell that was still alive.  Would we see cytoplasmic streaming?  Would things be more enhanced and detailed?  I cannot wait to do another lab like this!

Onion Cells

Elodea Cells 

Theme- City of Ember

Curiosity is a great thing to have, but it could also be a costly thing.  It can be worth the risk. 
For example, in the chapter ''Something Lost, Nothing Found,'' Sadge had gone to the unknown regions out of curiosity.  He did not find anything and his nerves got the better of him.  He can only remember this from his curiosity.  He should not have used his curiosity here, but in a place where it could be more useful.  He was unable to find something and could have used it in a way where he can look even deeper into the situation.  Later into the book, Doon and Lina tell the guards about their discovery about the mayor, but they do not believe them.  Although this was an amazing discovery founded by their curiosity, they shared it with the wrong people.  Finally when Lina is caught by the guards, she tried to convince them that it was not a lie, but they did not believe her.   This shows that there are consequences in curiosity.  Curiousity helped Lina and Doon all throughout City of Ember and did risk themselves, but it was the net that caught them in the end.

I used to think that "The City of Ember'' was about two children that wanted to explore and discover new things.  I read that Lina liked to run and wanted to be a messenger.  She also knew her way around Ember by heart.  I also read that Doon wanted a job in the pipeworks because he wanted to fix the generator.  My initial thoughts when I read these were that the theme could be freedom and adventure.

Now, I realize that the City of Ember is really about how curiousity is something that will help you.  I see that you should not be afraid to take the risk.  I noticed this later in the book, when Doon and Lina are wanted for spreading untrue rumors.  They risked telling someone where their curiousity had lead them, and they soon had to pay for it.  I realized that theme is not something that can just be seen by taking the first idea that comes to mind, it is something that you have to dig deep to find.  

Answered Questions- Science Fair Reflection

After all the hard work of bringing in materials and making our poster board, we finally presented it on the day of the science fair!  I would like to reflect and share how my group's project went.  Our project was the reaction between coke and mentos.  Our independent variable was the coke.  Our dependant were the different flavors of mentos.  Our constants were the meter sticks, the coke and the mentos.
The only thing that I knew about my topic before we started researching was what actually happened in the experiment.  These are the things that I wanted to find out-

• What caused the reaction?
• What ingredients are in mentos that cause the explosion?
• How high can the explosions really go?

Throughout the resarch process, I learned so many cool things about our project.  For example, suprisingly enough, the reaction is actually a physical reaction, not a chemical.  Also, to answer one of my earlier questions, it is not an ingredient in mentos, it is actually the tiny pores in the mentos that make the carbon dioxide go in them and make the coke flow more easily out of the bottle.  So, during my research all of my questions were answered.  A new question I have the I did not research is if the type of soda/fizzy drink affects the explosion.  My plan for my future science expirement is to work alone.  I think that I will work alone because I might be less distracted and more focused on only my project.  One of my favorite parts of this expiriment, not counting the fair, was probably preparing the board and doing the actual expirement.  I feel like one of my core value strengths are being innovative and being innovatine while making this posterboard was really important.  Doing the actual experiment was actually really cool too, because we where able to see that coke and mentos could really go up 3 meters!  One of the more frusturating things in my group was disagreeing about certain things.  We had problems sometimes with having an odd number of people because it sometimes felt like there was an odd one out.  If I could change anything, I might have changed the script lines, because sometimes in certain presentations, there was someone who had less lines than others.  During the science fair, I tried to project my voice as much as possible, because I know that that is one of the things I struggle with. I know that our collaboration was as big a challenge as anything else because there was an odd number of us, and we had to evenly divide and conquer.  We also ran into quite a few disagreements as a group, but were aable to overcome them by calmly talking them out.  In the end, I was kind of half satisfied, half not satisfire with my topic.  I liked it because it was intersting and there was a lot to learn about, but I disliked it because there were a lot of different groups doing it, so it was not really origional.  When we were about to present, I felt kind of nervous, but then I realized that I knew all the information.   I liked the QR code system because it was really organized and it was not handwritten, although there were some irrevivent comments, not really focusing on the project as much.
Overall, this was a great experience and I am so excited for next year!

My Science Fair group- Claudia (Right) Rosanne (Middle) Me (Left)

Digging Deep With Doon

       Doon Harrow is caring and selfless.  Right after everyone chose their jobs on Assignment day, Doon felt did not want to be messenger, and he explains the reasoning behind it and he taps Lina on the shoulder and says; 
"Will you trade with me? he asked.  
"Trade?"
"Trade jobs.  I don't want to waste my time being a messenger.  I want to help save the city, not run around carrying gossip."  (Page 15)  This shows that Doon is selfless because he wants to help save the city.  He knows about what could be coming, and wants to help protect people from it.  Further into the book Doon makes a selfless act that shows he is a good person.  It says;  Now he could see only two courses of action: he could give up and do nothing, or he could start to work on a different movable light. Doon didn't want to give up, so on his day off one Thursday, he went to the Ember Library to look up fire.  (Page 117)  This idnicates that Doon wants to help the city so that nothing bad happens.  It also proves that he is selfless because on his day off, he did not spend it relaxing at home.  He spent it looking for a solution for the city.  Lastly, on page 82, we learn how other people really think of him. it says:  "Lucky for you Doon Harrow was around," said Nammy Proggs, who'd been watching them with her sideways glare.  "He's a good-hearted boy.  Anything breaks at my house, he fixes it."  This lets me realize that Doon is always there and happy to help.  Nammy Proggs is elderly and she probably can't do as much now, but Doon helps her fix things.
Source

Economy

In humanities, we have been studying econemy and were given an assignment to create a product, a good.  We had to pay for our own recourses (using Hum Bucks) and make something helpful to students.  Our group made a bag with pockets and a makeshift speaker.  This was to model Free Market Econemy.  Free market econemy is good because supporters believe that the governmanet should not tell people how much to make.  It is bad because it is based on supply and demand, therefore there is scarcity with certain recourses.  We modeled scarcity, and a real life situation is, when there is a popular invention and many companies want to purchase it, it becomes rarer and more people want it.  If I could do one thing to change this system, it would be to try and reduece the importance of supply and demand because it causes scarcity and prevents lesser companies from growing.  I am really enjoying this unit because we get to see and understand things that are happening in the real world.

November Reflection

I remember in the beginning of the year, when people asked me if I liked math I would always put my head down and say no, I am bad at math.  But over these past 2 quarters I have realized there is no such thing as being “good” or “bad” in math.  I have always had trouble with math, but that does not make me bad at it.  It means that I have to put extra effort into it and try to improve my understanding.  I have realized that there are parts in math that are strengths to me, like rounding decimals to certain place values or doing long word problems and I have even improved on multiplying and dividing fractions.  I want to work on being more organized in prime factorization because I made an easy mistake that threw off my whole problem.  For the future, I will try to work on what I have trouble with as a whole and not just do certain things I am proficient in.  I will also try to persevere through situations.

Bouncy! Reflection

In science, we did a lab called Bouncy!, in which we learned about editing recipes using ratios to make homemade silly putty.  We had a table on our worksheet that said how many tablespoons of glue or borax.  We had 4 cups, and the 4th cup was the most successful, 5 tbsp of glue : 1 tbsp of borax.  Then, we had to edit the other three recipes so that they would all become perfect slime.  We mixed it up into one glob.  To see if it bounced or just fell, I took a bit of it, rolled it up into a ball and dropped it onto the table.  It rapidly expanded until it was flat.  I thought that this experiment was really fun and the whole time I was fully engaged.

"Somebody... Wants... But... So": Walk Two Moons

"Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech is about a 13 year old girl named Salamanca (Sal) whose mother leaves her at a young age.  All that Sal wants is to be able to be reunited with her mother.  She tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but is unable to.  When Sal is on a road trip with Gram and Gramps to find her mother in Lewiston, Idaho, she tells them about Phoebe, The Lunatic and Phoebe's theory about their blood thirsty neighbor.  When Sal, Gram and Gramps arrive in Lewiston, she is dismayed with secrets and loss.