Tracking the Disease- Science

In science, we conducted an experiment to show how diseases spread. Each student had a beaker of lab made saliva. We went to a part of the room of our choice, and added a bit of our saliva to someone else's. They did the same to us. We went back to our table after 3 rotations, and added a disease indicator to our saliva. If it turned purple, it meant we had been infected on that day. I got infected on Day 2.
On Day 0, four people were infected, which was approximately 19% of the class. On Day 1, 11 people were infected, around 52%. 17 people were infected on Day 2, which was about 81%, and on Day 3 21 people or 100% of the class was infected. The graph above shows the number of people infected on each day in blue. It shows the percentage of people infected with the red line. Here are some questions we had to answer.
1. If you were trying to avoid catching a disease, what could you do?
I would wear a mask or other disease protection, because I know that in reality we don't share saliva with people, but we touch them. Using this protection can stop these diseases from spreading from person to person.
2. Imagine you are the health director of a health department in the town where the disease is spreading. It is your job to prevent people from getting sick. Explain what you would recommend to try to prevent people from getting infected.
I would recommend that people wear disease protection, and stay clean by washing their hands often. This is because soap can disinfect our skin when it is dirty/infected.

To see more of my graph, and another graph I made, click this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nVj1HWWDXNtGstZJJLfB0RMx43mOuxApzKY_OneFugw/pubhtml

Stress Buster Tool Kit

In Health, we've been learning about stress and how to deal with it. So, our class made a presentation called the Stress Buster Tool Kit. Everyone had their own slide where they described what they did to get rid of stress. My slide is Slide 7, and my stress buster is doing my hobbies.

Name Design

The first project we did in art was our name design. We had to draw our name in a creative way. I took a lot of steps; here they are:
First we had an ideation, where we drew four ideas for a name design. Here, we just got our basic ideas out.

Then, we chose our favorite, and drew a full sized rough draft.

You might notice some paint which was where I tested different medias for my final. But my next step was to trace my draft onto another piece of paper. After testing the medias, I made my final. I chose water color for the buildings in the back so they looked plain and fit as a background and I also used water color for the sky so that the sky could fade. For my name, I chose color pencil so I could blend and have a wholesome look. After all that, this is what my final looked like:

My favorite part of this assignment was how we got to go through a lot of different steps so that we could really take our time and turn out with a great, unique product. I enjoyed choosing the medias because it required a lot of thought and you had to imagine how it would make the final piece look. I was really proud of this project, specifically how I chose media and color. 

A challenging part for me was brush control, and I think it's something I can work on for next time. I think this because I went out of the lines while using water color. It was also a challenge to be specific while making the full sized rough draft, but I think they turned out pretty well because I made specific details. 

Dividing Fractions

We have been learning about fractions in math lately. This past week we learned about dividing fractions, and how to explain specifically how dividing fractions works. For homework, I had to explain how 3/4 divided by 1/8 works with a visual representation, so here it is.

My model above shows how 3/4 divided by 1/8 works. The shaded area is 3/4 (of one whole). We are cutting up the 3/4 into pieces that are each 1/8 (of one whole). You can see that there are 6 eighths that fit into 3/4. So really, it is very similar to dividing whole numbers, when you look at this model. Another thing my model shows is that we are cutting the 3/4 in to groups of 1/8 out of the whole. It is not 1/8 of 3/4. You can see this because if you were making eighths of 3/4, then you would have a total of 8 parts, and the parts would be smaller. 

Egypt Museum Project Reflection

What artifact did you choose and why did you choose it?

I chose the Papyrus of Hunefer because I thought it was a really interesting artifact, and it shared a lot of interesting information with us. The beliefs in specific that it shared were really fascinating. I also thought there was a lot to explain and a lot to infer about the artifact.

How did you go about making your artifact?  (plan, supplies, steps, etc.)

Because my artifact was a papyrus, I started by making the the actual papyrus. I know that papyrus paper has crossed strips of the papyrus, so I cut out strips of paper and glued them back the way a papyrus paper is made. I did this to give the real papyrus effect. Then I drew on the drawings depicted in the Papyrus of Hunefer. I colored them in with colored pencil, and outlined with black marker.

What obstacles did you face with your project?  How did you overcome them?

I wasn't very sure how I was going to make the papyrus, so I actually tried it multiple times and finally found a technique that worked for me. I was also worried about how the papyrus would look, so I took my time with it and tried to be as accurate as possible.

What did you learn about yourself in this project?  In other words, what will you “take away” from this experience?

I was getting slightly stressed about the time management because I wanted to start making my artifact very early, but I was really busy the week before the project was due. I was really worried/stressed that I wouldn't get the project finished on time. Finally, I didn't finish as early as possible; but I finished on time, and I was proud of what I had done. I learned that even if you can't get started super early, if you get started early enough, you don't need to worry and/or get stressed.

Don't Think, Just Do

These past few weeks in RLA, we've been working on writing strong personal essays with BLAST off leads; SHAPEly conclusions; and different types of evidence such as personal anecdotes, expert opinion, or other people's anecdotes. So here is my personal essay.

Don't Think, Just Do

Every weekend, I tell myself I’ll do my homework on Saturday, so I don’t have it for Sunday. But it never happens. On Saturdays, I’ll have chats, games, and other interferences open while I slowly inch along with homework. Then on Sunday, I’m working like crazy trying to get homework done before dinner. The reason for that is procrastination. Having something to do, but not wanting to do it. Stalling. People have all sort of solutions for it. But for me, it’s just one philosophy that gets me through that. In fact, that motto helps me in various ways. I believe the motto “just do it” can give me confidence, make me do things I need to, and stop me from worrying.

First, I think saying “just do it” gives me confidence. I remember once I had to give a book talk on Harry Potter, where I was dressed up, and planned to talk in a British accent; no one else had done anything like that. I can still think back to that moment. Rapidly twiddling my fingers, I sighed and thought, I don’t think I can do this. What if it doesn’t turn out the way I want to? What if no one likes it? The rest of the students settled down; that was my cue. I shut my eyes and thought, Ok. I’m just going to do it. Be confident. I didn’t think about why I did not want to do it and just did. In the end, my book talk was a big success. You see, saying “just do it” gave me quick confidence in that situation. All in all, “just do it” stops me from thinking too much and therefore makes me forget my underconfidence.

“Just do it” can make me do things I don’t want to. Procrastination, for example. As a student, I procrastinate all the time. There are times when I have around an hour to do homework, and I know it’s better to start early, but I don’t want to do it. Many websites say that procrastination is human nature. Everyone procrastinates. However, in my opinion, the best solution to it is just to not think about it and just get right in to it. I asked my mom, and she told me that she has a lot of household work that she can procrastinate on; but when she tells herself “just do it,” she thinks about how it just has to be done. For her, “just do it” is also a way to forget why, and just do. Nobody denies that there are some really specific ways to get over procrastination, I think the basis of all of those strategies is just doing it and getting started. In other words, even if you have an idea that can get you around procrastination, you still need to get started. Every time I procrastinate, I hear the words, “just do it” in my head, and that really helps me push the mental obstruction out of my way, and just get straight to what I need to do.

Finally, I think just do it stops me from worrying. I worry about doing things all the time. When I say, “just do it” I don’t think about why I worry, I just go ahead and do. Writing this essay, for example. I didn’t have the right essays to choose from, and I was worried about how it would all work out. I remember that as I walked out of the RLA classroom, I thought, Oh no. What am I going to do tonight? I have to find reasons for that essay, or figure something else out. And I have to do it all by tomorrow. At the end, “just do it” told me not to think so much, and just to get into it. I had prepared some faulty reasons for that current essay; but before long, I found myself drafting this passionate essay. Not only that, but my mom said that she uses “just do it” when she is pondering about something or doubtful if she should do something. She said it makes her not worry as much, and believe that it’s ok. At the end of the day, “just do it” stops me from thinking so much; and equally important, stops me from worrying.

Some people have other solutions to these problems. On one hand, people have all sorts of organizational solutions; but on the other hand, “just do it” is a way to get started. Underconfidence, procrastination, and worries are barriers; and just do it pushes them away. Once I get it into my head I don’t think. The bottom line is, it’s just do it, and that’s it.

Fitness iMovie- How to Improve Your Pushups

We made this video to show people the importance of fitness. This movie helps people improve their push-up score, and doing these exercises can help one to continue improving; that helps personal fitness. It teaches someone that they should keep improving, and these are some ways to do that.
My role in this video was one of the 'trainers' who was trying to help this student's pushup score. This plot was meant to show someone that these exercises help them specifically for pushups, and it's not to hard to do them.
Making this video taught me that I need to strengthen the right muscles to do the right exercises. I, myself sometimes struggle with pushups, and now I know that I can use these. Doing that research helped me understand that you don't need have a hard workout to do pushups.