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

Command Econamy

In humanities, we have been studying economy and multiple different types of it.  In the past few days, we have been learning about command economy.  Today, we really went deep into this topic and discussed how it works,  what countries used it and how it came to be.

Think about your participation in the bake sale. 
(Our bake sale did not work out)

Think about what happened to your money after it was earned.
How did you feel when the money was distributed equally to the class?
I thought it was unfair because our group did not bring in food, but still got money.
Why did you feel that way?
Like I said, our group did not do anything, and still got money.  I feel like it was unfair to the groups who did bring in food.
What might be the benefits to this system?
I think that the benefits might be that there is no fighting over fairness, because everyone gets an equal amount of money.
What might be the disadvantages?
Since everybody gets the same amount of money, it is unfair to those who do not work a lot to those who work every hour.

Think about the reading.  Why have many countries moved away from communism?
I think many societies moved away from communism because they have realized that it is unfair to those who work hard and are still paid the same as those who work only a little bit.

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.

Remembering

1)  What does Obama think Mandela’s death should prompt people to do?

 Although Mandela did pass away, his lessons did not.  Obama said that we should use what Mandela left for us to reflect on ourselves.  

2)  What does Obama mean when he says, 
     “We cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not yet done?”

Obama is essentially saying that we can not always put ourselves first.  You have to help others, donate money and think of people other that you. 

3) When Obama says, 
     “Young people around the world – you, too, can make his life’s work your own,” 
     What does he mean?  How did Obama do this?  How might you do this?

He means that we should be inspired to make changes just like Mandela did.  It does not matter your age, as long as you are aware and are open to help.

4)  What are some of the problems the world faces today?  How can people stop them?

Some problems are poverty, hunger and multiple types of inequality.  We can try to stop it by donationg to different organizations that help.  If there are little things happeneding, you can be the one to try and stop them.  A lot of people think that if there are some organizations out there, they will stop poverty, but that is not true.  It depends on everyone working together. 

  
      

SUTTS Reflection

I thought that Step Up To The Stage was a very good experience.  I have learned so much, and would love to learn even more.  Now, I feel so much more confiedent and understand how I can improve myself.

1)  What are the qualities of creating a strong presentation?  (Content and Preparation)

Qualities of a strong presentation would be always being prepared, having evidence and visuals.  Also, making sure that you have minimal content and using key words.

2)  What are the qualities of delivering a strong presentation?  (Delivery)

Qualities of delivering a strong presentation would be having confidence, a good pace and volume, clarity and preparation.   

3)  What did you feel was one strength of your informative speech?

I think that my presentation was very organized and  I had helpful visuals too.  

4)  What was one area you feel you still could improve upon?

I think I could improve on talking a little slower and taking my time.

5)  What would you do differently the next time you have to present before an audience?

I would work on the clarity and volume of my speech.  I would also like to work on keeping my presentation about one thing, not going off topic.  
My Inforamtive Speech Presentation

Refleção dos Lendas

Na aula de portuguese, temos um projeto sobre lendas.  Estamos usando o site Calaméo para ver outras lendas e na final aula de portuguese, nos tinhamos uma "Classroom Assignment" que nos ir por outras pessoas na aula e ler os historias deles.  A historia que eu gosta de mais era do Homem do Saco.  Essa lenda e um ensinamento por que ele fala que voce presisa ficar obiedeinte com adultos. O homem do Saco e um homem que quando vi crianças brincando na rua no meio noite, ele te pegaram ele trouxe para casa dele e fiz sobão deles.  Essa lenda e um ensinamento por que ele fala que voce tem que ficar obediente com adultos.

Science Reflection

In this past unit of science, we have been learning about matter and it's building blocks.  Before this unit, I knew nothings about it.  Here are the things I have learned about:

Atoms

• Democritus and his theory 
• Atoms and what it is made of (below)
• Neutrons
• Electrons
• Protons
• Their arrangement 

States of Matter

• Gas
• Liquid
• Solid
• Plasma

Throughout this unit, I have learned about the importance of atoms and matter.  This unit was very interesting too because we got to watch brainpops and see interactives.   We did labs to see things visually. This was also a good experience because we got to organize ourselves the way we liked, and work together in our study groups.  I enjoyed learning about this topic because it was new to me, and I got to dig deeper and find out more and more.  I wish we could have learned even more about atoms!   Below is a short clip that my study group made.