HF Book Club #1

For the past few weeks, we have been reading historical fiction books in RLA. I read Sophia's War by Avi. Below is a video I made that highlights the book club meetings.



To reflect on these book clubs, I think  I got much better at piggybacking, as well as stammering as much. Over this year, I think I have learned to share the conversation more. I can ask others if they want to speak and share an idea without completely dominating the conversation. I also learned to share a variety of thoughts such as power, character, theme, author craft, etc. What I want to focus on for next time is speaking clearly while expressing my thoughts. I think I talk too fast, which makes me have to pause a lot. All together, I think I improved on a lot of things during this round of book clubs, but still have some things to work on.

The Box of Deceit- Greek Myth

In RLA, we have been writing Greek myths. We learned how to slow down the important moments and 'zap' our verbs. These skills add a lot of detail to the myths. I think I worked really hard on adding different types of detail like sensory detail (see, touch, smell, hear, taste). I also focused on slowing things down by using short sentences and using paragraphing to show suspense. Without further ado, here it is:

The Box of Deceit

A long time ago, there was a brave king named Agapios, ruler of the kingdom Thasos. The people of Thasos highly esteemed Agapios, as he was a brave warrior and a good leader. He was also a fine looking king– with smooth yet brave looks, and a thick brown beard. Agapios had everything he needed: an abundance of riches; love from his people; and admiration from people of other lands. But alas, the one thing King Agapios longed for was his true love Andreanna, who he loved more than life itself. She had been just like Agapios, which is why he adored her so much. She was brave and very adventurous– always seeking one or another quest to go on.

One day Andreanna got word of the demon Hypatos, who had been created by the god of the underworld, Hades. Hypatos guarded a special diamond, worth millions. Andreanna was immediately riveted by the idea of going to get the diamond of Hypatos. For her, it wasn’t about the money, it was about the thrill of the adventure. Even though Hypatos, a notorious demon, had slaughtered many powerful kings, Agapios did not want to go against Andreanna. So, he let her go, reminding her to be careful. But days went by, and Andreanna did not return. Agapios was fearful, but he also felt that Andreanna had to have succeeded, knowing her capabilities. As the people of Thasos began to get anxious about their queen, so did King Agapios. After many days, Agapios decided to go find Andreanna. When he entered the cave of Hypatos, Andreanna’s slewn body lay in front of him. He brought her body back to Thasos, and for three weeks the people mourned her death. But Agapios was infuriated. He wouldn’t enable someone to steal his love and get away. So, he called for all of Greece’s finest warriors to slay the beast, and all were in favor, after hearing about the brave Andreanna’s death. The band of warriors were victorious in their battle, and Agapios put the remains of Hypatos into a large chest, and kept it in a corner of his bedroom. 

But Agapios still yearned to be with Andreanna because there was nothing that could replace her in his life. Everyday, as he observed all the gold and riches he had in the large palace of his, he couldn’t help but remember Andreanna. ‘I must go to Hades,’ Agapios thought at once, ‘to get my dearest back from the dead.’

Agapios thanked Charon, ferryman of the underworld, for taking him across the River Styx, and made his way to Hades’ palace.

Fingers trembling, he stared in awe at the dark, deadly palace. It made him nervous, but he would do anything for Andreanna. Anxious yet fearless, Agapios walked into the palace, and bowed down to the god and asked, “Oh Hades, I have lost my wife, Andreanna, and can not live without her. Please bring her back to me!” 

Hades nodded, keeping a very solemn and calm look on his face. “Yes, Agapios. I will grant you Andreanna, under one condition.”

Agapios was delighted to hear that Hades had complied just like that; it filled him with an immediate excitement. Smile broadening, he speedily asked, “Yes, dear god. What must I do?”

“Open the box of Hypatos’ remains, and leave it open for a day. On the next night, I will give you Andreanna.”

At once, Agapios was thrilled to hear this. The gods’ conditions could be odd, however knowing how uptight the gods could be, he couldn’t believe it, and the condition seemed easy. Agapios skipped back to the palace, and the moment he returned, he unlocked the chest and threw it open. That night, he went to sleep anticipating being with his wife the very next day, but little did he know that would not happen. 

The next day, Agapios behaved in a joyous fashion. He decided to throw a party in the plateia for the return of his wife, and all the people of Thasos were invited. They drank, feasted, and danced. The sound of people singing, and dancing filled the air. But in the early evening, just a few hours before Andreanna was to return, BOOM! An ear-splitting crackle of thunder silenced the celebration. Sea splashing waves onto the festivities, the people cried out in fright.

“BRACE YOURSELVES,” someone shrieked. 

The smell of doom filled the air. The gods Zeus, lord of the skies, with a lightning bolt in his hand, and Poseidon, with a trident, hovered down the party. The sense of their power left everyone with fearful expressions. 

“AGAPIOS,” Zeus roared, as he soared down from the skies. 

Agapios stared blankly at Zeus, wondering what the gods were upset about. 

“DARE YOU DISTURB THE GODS OF OLYMPUS?” Zeus yelled, louder this time. 

“D-disturb the g-gods?” Agapios stuttered back. 

“YES, DISTURB MY BROTHER AND I!” 

“I don’t recall doing anything of the sort,” Agapios replied, utterly confused now.

“YOU CAME TO OLYMPUS, AND BEGAN TO INSULT POSEIDON AND MYSELF, AND BOTHER US, YOU MERE MORTAL,” Zeus explained.

“But, dear god, with all due respect, I couldn’t have been disturbing you, as I was here with my people.”

Zeus chuckled sarcastically, and replied, “We know how cunning you mortals can be.” He continued, “Such an offense deserves none other than a death penalty,” and withdrew his lightning bolt. 

The people of Thasos all gasped in astonishment. Agapios was still confused, but kept a straight and strong face at the god’s words. A sturdy hand at the ready, Zeus, prepared to slash at Agapios, taunted, “Any last words?”

Agapios cleared his throat and announced in a clear, proud voice, “I do not understand what I have done, but if the gods beseech a death penalty, then I am ready. It is almost night and my dear Andreanna has not returned, so if she is dead, I am ready to die to be with her.”

The people of Thasos wept at Agapios’ beautiful words, but Zeus killed him in an instant. 

When Agapios materialized in the underworld, and made his way to Hades’ palace once again, the smell of death in the air filled Agapios’ nostrils and once again. The sound of deadly creatures attacked his ears. 

He then enquired with the god about what had happened to their deal. 

Hades chortled, and in a in a sly tone, said, “Well, now that you’re dead anyway, I might as well explain to you what happened.”

Agapios, surprised, questioned, “What did happen?”

“I created that demon before the making of mankind, which is why no human knows the cause for my creating Hypatos.”

Agapios raised his eyebrows. He was stunned. But then, Hades spoke.  

“When my brothers were distributing the powers, I was given god of the underworld. I created Hypatos to bother my brothers because I was furious at them. The beast was supposed to take the form of the last being it saw when it bothered Zeus and Poseidon. But, when it came to earth, it got attached to that silly diamond, and wouldn’t do what it was created to do.” 

Mentally, time froze for Agapios. He had finally deciphered it all. Hades had tricked him. Opening the box created Hypatos again, and the gods thought that it was him who was provoking them, not the demon. He had done it all for Andreanna. But somewhere–somewhere, he had messed up.

“What about Andreanna?” Agapios questioned, regretting being so hasty with Hades earlier.

Hades stared out for a few seconds and said, “She’ll be departing to earth in a few minutes from now.”

Agapios dashed out of Hades’ palace as fast as he could and saw his beloved, whom he had endeavored so much to get back, standing in front of him. 

Andreanna gave him a smile and called, “Goodbye, my love.”  

Agapios ran towards her, but by the time he got close enough, she was gone. Not dead, but gone. 

Science- Organisms Under A Microscope

In Science, we worked with microscopes to see microscopic organisms. Above is a video of the Tubifex worm under a microscope. I see how they have a transparent outside, and red on the inside.

Above is a video of Turtle Water. I notice mainly green blotches and small tiny green moving organisms. 

Global Water Crisis:
The Global Water Crisis is a crisis about how so many people lack water, and get water related diseases. According to the World Bank and World Health Organization, 2 billion people lack access to clean water, and 1 billion do not have enough water to meet their daily needs. Organizations are trying to help with this by doing things like building wells in countries that face the water crisis.
Water is extremely important for humans; first of all our bodies are 60% water; and we use water for things like cooking, cleaning, etc.
Today, people waste water a lot. We waste water when we don't drink it, but more consequentially, we waste a lot of it on produce. The average hamburger takes 2,400 liters or 630 gallons of water to make.
Dirty water can also cause various diseases. Every minute, one child dies from a water related disease, and 1 out of every 5 child deaths is from a water related disease.

photo credits: http://becausewater.org/global-water-crisis/what-is-the-water-crisis-2/

Art Photography Assignment

Recently in art we have been working on photography. We had 5 categories of types of photos that we had to take photos for. They were Shadows with Repetition, Reflection, Rule of Thirds, Atypical Angle, and Texture.
Here is how I set up the photo I submitted for Shadows with Repetition.

When I wanted to take my photo for Shadows, I was at home, which meant I didn't have any bright lights to set up my shadows with like we do in the art studio. So I noticed it was very sunny out which is perfect to get a shadow from. One thing I learned from this project, is that most good photos need to be set up. You can't always just find something and take the photo. So I grabbed some glasses from the kitchen and set them up like shown. I would've had just one glass, but I chose multiple glasses to show repetition/pattern in my shadows. I chose glasses because glass is transparent, so I knew they would make an interesting shadow.

Reflection Questions

This photo fits into more than one category. I submitted it for Rule of Thirds, because the nail is to the left in the photo. But I think this fits into Texture as well because the nail and the area next to the nail is very sharp. Also, I had to crop this photo to make it a Rule of Thirds photo. So I was about to not submit it at all, but it was a really cool photo, so I wanted to submit it for something. In the end, I chose Rule of Thirds because it wasn't extremely sharp, but it exhibited Rule of Thirds pretty well.





If I could do this assignment again, I would probably upload photos more often because I lost photos twice, and only retrieved half of the ones I lost. I would also want to start taking photos at home earlier because I found that the photos I took at home were taken at the last minute, so I feel that if I started earlier I would've had more photos to choose from and better photos. But I was proud of the photos I did get to take at home.

RLA Mythology 2.0 Project- Fakebook

In RLA, we have been learning about Greek Myths. We had a Mythology 2.0 Project, where we had to show how characters from a certain Greek myth would use social media. Based on what conversation the characters were having and what myth we chose, we had to choose a social media website. Our choices were Fakebook, FakeTweetBuilder, Google Story Builder, and iPhone Text Messages . I chose Fakebook because I wanted my character to have different posts, and have characters reply to them. The myth I chose was Endymion & Selene, and my main character in the project is Endymion.
RR:
Endymion doesn't have character traits in this story because he is asleep throughout the story, but in this project, I tried to focus on how he would react. I demonstrated this by having Endymion post about what he thinks of Selene. Selene really loves Endymion, so her voice didn't go against Endymion in this project. I also tried to have Selene still wanting Endymion. This is important because the main action in this story (Selene asking Zeus to give Endymion immortal sleep) happened because of Selene's character trait. This relates to 21st century genre because I used more casual language, which is a modern trait, and Fakebook has features of various social media. Also, I drew in characters from related myths by using comments, where anyone can add their thoughts.

I chose this myth because I thought that there was a lot that could be said after the story, like the character's reactions. Also, there were a lot of other myths that had similar parts, so I could involve other characters.
After doing this project, I learned that creativity can take some time, and requires planning. I think this because I had to be really creative with this project, and it took me a long time to think of everything. If I was given this project again, I would spend more time on planning it all out.

If you haven't read the myth, click here for an online summary of the story.

Here is the link to my Fakebook for Endymion: http://www.classtools.net/FB/1807-cDNfae

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.