PE Tennis Reflection

In PE, we just finished our tennis unit. The movement pattern we were focusing on was the rotation of our bodies when we swing. Here are a few sentence prompts/questions I had to answer. My swing is shown at 2:34 in the video above.

A. Two things I think I am doing well with my forehand swing are... WHY?
I am doing well with my follow through because I bring my racket over my shoulder, and make that and the swing one motion. This is effective because it makes the ball travel faster and smoother. I am also positioning my body well for the ball, because I have a low, athletic stance, and I drop my back foot for the ball.

B. Two things I’d like to work on with my forehand swing are… HOW?

One thing I want to do is consistently keep the ball low, and close to the net. I can do this by keeping my racket face parallel to the net, and pushing the ball straight through instead of bringing it upwards. Another thing I want to do is rotate my entire body, instead of just my arm. I should do this by making sure my hips turn. 

1. Are you in a forward facing ready position? 

Before I hit the ball, I am facing forward, in an athletic stance. 

2. When ball comes, do you move by dropping your racquet foot back?

I do drop my racquet foot back when the ball is coming. 

3. Does your wrist stay firm? 

I think I kept my wrist firm because my racquet didn't wobble. 

4. Do you start stroke low, then swing up and over the ball to impart topspin to the ball? 

For my backhand, I did swing over the ball. But in my forehand I went straight through more than over the ball. 

How do Demographics Affect My Life?

We may not realize it, but the growth and structure of the population of our country makes a big difference in our own lives. After our unit in Social Studies about demographics of a country, I have become aware that the population statistics of the country I live in affect me.

One way population growth has affected me recently is the haze from Indonesia. Because there is a worldwide growing population, more people want produce. Indonesia is burning palm trees so they have land to produce more. This is affecting me directly because it is the air I am breathing, and it is cancelling some after school activities.
The image to the left shows how population affects my lifestyle. Since I live in a zero/slow growth country, I live a life that is more convenient than someone who lives in a rapid growth country. For example, I can take a half hour long shower, while someone in India would use four cups of water in a shower.

Finally, this connects directly to my future as an adult. When I grow up, the country I live in will affect my job, my lifestyle, the number of kids I have, etc. For example, if I lived in a country with a demographic like Singapore's, I would most likely be living a fast-paced city life; and by living in a city, I would probably have one or two kids. Learning about demographics will help me now and in the future, because it affects my life.

Kavya Plate Boundary Excersise

The animation above shows how Iceland was created through two divergent oceanic plates. The plate on the left represents the oceanic North American Plate, while the one on the left represents the oceanic Eurasian Plate. Since the two plates are diverging, they are separating, and the space in the middle leaves magma that is not dense underneath. This is why the magma surfaces, and hardens immediately, which creates rock. This is how the country of Iceland was created in between these plates. The two plates are still moving apart, so Iceland grows approximately 1 centimeter from each side or plate that moves. Iceland will continue to grow this way.

Catalyst 10 9/16/15

Order of the earth's sublayers from the center of the earth outward:
Inner Core, Outer Core, Mesosphere (Mantle), Asthenosphere, Lithosphere

Photo Credits

How Old is the Ocean Floor?

In science, we have learned about the continental drift, and are learning about the age of rocks in the ocean and on land. This post is about the age of the ocean floor.

This map I have labeled shows the Mid-Pacific, Mid-Atlantic, and Mid-Indian ridges. At these ridges, new rocks come up from the earth's mantel, and push aside the old rocks. This is why most new rocks are at the ridges, or in the middle of the ocean, and older rocks are closer to land and near continents.

This map shows the Mid-Atlanic ridge, and its youngest and oldest rocks. The youngest rocks in the Atlantic are about 0.5 million years old, and the oldest are about 172 million years old.

Where are the oldest parts of the oceans?

The oldest the parts of the oceans are closer to the continents and land. There are some exceptions, but in general, the closer you get to continents, the older the ocean gets. This happens because the newer rocks come up to the surface in the middle of the ocean, and push the older rocks aside, and put them near the continents.

Do the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic ocean basins have the same age and patterns?

In general, all ocean basins follow the same age pattern (that the younger rocks are in the middle) but an example of an exception would be in the Pacific. There are no old rocks at the western outline of North or South America, while there is a huge outward bulge of really old rocks coming from eastern Asia. In this case, it would just mean that the tectonic plate is at the border of a continent. But in the Atlantic ocean, the tectonic plate is exactly between Africa and North and South America.

How does the age of the ocean floor compare with the age of rocks on the continents?

Rocks on land are 2.5 billion years old on average, while rocks in the ocean are 80 million years old on average. Erosion is one factor that tells us why the ocean rocks are so much younger than rocks on land. Since more erosion happens in the ocean with the water, it eats the rocks away, leaving newer or younger rocks. Another factor could be plate tectonics and ridges. When the new rocks come to the surface of the ocean, and push the older rocks aside, the older ones could either go under the surface, where they are not visible to us, or they could form new land (or connect to land), which would become the old rocks on continents.

These questions were the same as the questions in your pre-test. Reflect on what answers, if any, you changed after completing these activities. What did you learn from these activities with GeoMapApp? Did you need a lot of help from friends or your parents or teacher? What do you think helps you learn new material in science class? 

I think the GeoMapApp helped me understand the age of the ocean really well, because it was a great visual representation. Before I used GeoMap, I think I had a slight idea about what the answers were, but I wasn't sure, and didn't understand them in detail. I know this because the length of my answers has increased, and I was able to explain my answers in better detail. The one question I was way off on was the third one, because I said that rocks in the ocean were older, but my explanation didn't make sense. So the explaining was really where I grew here. Sometimes, the questions confused me, so I learned some things from my parents and teachers. In science class, I like when we get to have an activity like GeoMapApp on our laptops and be able to go at our own pace. But the big downside of using our computers like this is that if we are doing it at home, we can't ask our teacher about any questions. It's better to do it in science class, so we can ask our teacher to explain something to us, or show us something.

Portfolio Design

In art, we have just finished making our portfolio name designs. The idea was to draw your name creatively on your portfolio, which we will be using for the rest of the art semester. For my design, I wanted to incorporate one of my interests, so I used a basketball design and theme. Below is a picture of my final product.

To the left is a picture of my first ideas sketched out. I really liked the way my first one looked, because it involved my interest, and I liked the detail it involved.











Below is a picture of my full-sized rough draft. It is slightly blurry, but I did make some changes here, because I used the 7B to my advantage. I did this by putting it directly underneath my last name, and I curved the letters in my last name. I liked this idea because it really fit my theme. I also reorganized the layout and composition of the design.

 I made some minor changes in my final, like outlining 7B, and moving the basketball and the basket to the lower area.


Reflection Questions:

1. What was the best part of this assignment?
I liked how we got a lot of freedom with how we put everything together. The color, the media, and the techniques were all our choice, and we got the perfect amount of help and assistance. In terms of my own work, I'm really happy with my idea and the detail. I think the detail really paid off, and normally ideation is a difficult stage, but I'm proud of this idea.

2. If you could do this assignment again what would you do differently?
I think I got behind on time because I spent too much time drawing my name on my final. I think it was because I was unconfident and unfocused about the way I drew it. Next time, I want to focus a lot more on my final, and draw lightly, so that I can erase if I need to.

Age of Ocean Floor Pre-Test

1. Where are the oldest parts of the oceans?
I think the oldest parts of oceans are the areas closest to the continents, because that's where the oldest rocks from the mid atlantic ridge are. There might be some sort of connection between the oceans and the rocks.

2. Do the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic ocean basins have the same age and patterns?
I think they would have to have different age and patterns, because they split into continents/countries at different points in time.

3. How does the age of the ocean floor compare with the age of rocks on the continents?

I think the age of the ocean floor would have to be certain age older than the rocks on the continents above it, because the ocean is always there before the rocks are.