Welcome to my blog post where I described my PLP Oregon Coast field study experience !

I will be writing some of my trip highlights including restaurants and important locations we went to :

Our first important stop was a Cabela’s ,a huge outdoor equipment shop .It was a fun experience as I got a taste of US culture for the first time .Because it was labour day there were a ton of American themed T-shirts and banners .This was also my first time going into a hunting store that had guns and other hunting weapons in it .Although I didn’t purchase any firearms it was really interesting seeing different snipers and rifles for the first time in my life .Cabela’s really gave of the vibe of a hunting store as there stuffed animal heads all over the place and a huge fake mountain with a mini aquarium inside.

The Astoria Column an important part of my trip because thats the business my group had to interview .We asked a lady questions about the Astoria Column business to create our ads .Our group practiced what we needed to ask during the interesting and how we would introduce ourselves .I personally thought the interview itself went smoothly and our group got a better understanding what we needed to advertise .We didn’t get exact answers on what exactly we had to put in our ads or on how we could advertise Astoria Column to convince more people to visit .But instead I got a general sense its business.I leant about what type of people usually come here the most ,what they come here for, and how important the Astoria Columns history was .Other than the interview we also got a chance to walk up Astoria Columns spiral stare case and look at the awesome panoramic landscape views once we got to the top .Seeing Column itself was an amazing experience as its the world’s only large piece of memorial architecture made of reinforced concrete with a pictorial sgraffito frieze.

My personal favorite part of this trip was the Tillamook cheese factory simply because I love cheese .We went on a tour of the cheese factory .We got to learn about the factory’s cheese product process and see the factory in action producing cheese .Seeing the different machines for cheese production and packaging was so satisfying because everything just seemed so flawless and efficient. It was also a great learning opportunity as we leant about Tillamook ,Oregons agriculture history and the origins of the cheese factory .After tour we got to sample some of Tillamook’s 🧀 ! The different cheeses were all so tasty in their own ways .In my option the smoked cheddar was the best flavor because it was just so rich and it was my first time tasting smoked cheese .Finally we went to the factory’s gift shop .Sadly we couldn’t buy any food related items but the I had fun looking at the shop’s merch .

Another highlight of my trip was the Marine Hatfield science center(We went to the Marine Hatfield science center twice I am only about some of my personal highlights throughout the whole experience) .The Hat field Marine science center is a marine research center and an education center .Some staff toured us through the visitor area at the center which had an cool tsunami machine and a topographic map projector where we got to play with sand ,and a flight simulator .I enjoyed trying out all there interact machines that taught us about marine research that were related to the Oregon Coast .

The most memorable part of my visit and the center was R.O.V challenge .We had to work in groups to create R.O.V’s limited pipe’s ,connects ,and motors to pick up spoons.My group came up with a decent R.O.V design that worked in theory but we failed to figure out ways to connect our motors.But at the end we figured it out and created a successful R.O.V that could pick up spoons .Reflecting on this challenge I wish I thought about and discussed with my group the mechanics of how the R.O.V would actually moved by following the standard protocol of assembling the motors .But overall this challenge challenged our teamwork skills and creativity.

The food:
A lot of the meals we eat in Oregon week trip were easy prep food like wraps or crackers ,but we also got go to restaurants and try tasty food.
-A restaurant went to was a road side restaurant called Clark’s .The burgers and fries where nice and this was my first time going to a road side restaurant.
-Thai food takeout ,I am happy I got to try unique foods from different cuisines .
-Pig and pancake was a fun family-style restaurant with a cool gift shop .I ordered their french toast and it was mid ,but on the bright side their other food that I didn’t try look appetizing.
-The buffet we went to in Oregon was by far the best restaurant we went too .Their desserts were exceptionally good and they just had a good food selection like ribs and pasta .

Overall the Oregon trip was an enjoyable and great learning experience .I made many fun and memorable experiences with my classmates ,teachers ,and friends .friends. While it had its share of ups and downs—living in camps and yurts wasn’t exactly my preference, and the constant traveling became quite tiring—the overall experience was definitely positive.I am looking forward to future PLP trips!!

 

Overview :
Welcome to my blog post documenting the Medium is the message project .We leant about different concepts of media specifically advertisement ,what it is ,techniques ,and how it affects society etc  .This was a really great hands on learning experience as we actually got to create an ad for a company using what we leant .

Keystone 1:
Keystone 1 introduced us to topic .Learning and analysing media to understand what media was .We had to fill out questions relating to our experiences with ads and interview a person for their answers .And finally we had to write a paragraph about what media is .This keystone gave me a better understating of what Media was and how it was effecting peoples life .

Keystone 2:
Keystone 2 taught us about media literacy ,what media is doing .We leant about 5 core concepts and applied them to some media we see on a daily basis to see how different types of media are trying of affect us .Our assignment for this keystone was filling out an ad chart about different types of ads and information about them including the ad form ,the target audience ,the ad techniques used ,the appeals ,what types of ads there where and the message of the ad.Researching 3 different types of ads(commercial ,print ads ,web ads) gave us an opportunity to target different forms of ads and learn more .

Keystone 3:
Our final keystone we interviewed a business in Oregon and created ads for them .Then we showcased our ads with our business group and presented it in an exhibition .We used a launch cycle to help with the learning and making process of creating a good advertisement
-The first stage was Look ,listen ,and Learn .This stage was mostly learning about my business the Astoria Column .What the column was ,it’s business ,and other additional info that we thought was important .We also had to define the brief ,which was basically understanding our end goal and what we need to learn in the process to complete it .
-The second stage “Ask Tons of Questions” was for asking questions to get a better understanding about our business .In my case my questions where mostly related to marketing to get some info on what my ad should focus on or target .
Some examples for my ads were:
-What would you say is your biggest problem in attracting customers?
-What makes Astoria Column Unique compared to other land marks in
Astoria
-Is there any specific design principles you want your ad to follow?
-The third stage about understanding the problem or process
In this stage we looked at potential competition the business might have and it’s target audience .We also spent some time understanding the process of making an ad ,which partly did when researching and investigating ads in our earlier keystones
-The fourth stage “Navigate Ideas” was about navigating ideas as the name suggests .I looked at different design ideas to brainstorm what I might want I ad being .I did that by creating a mood board of Astoria Column .The mood board included beautiful photos of the Column ,its breath-taking scenery ,and its rich history ; that was the vibe I wanted to give of in my ad .Our whole group had to come up with 3 design principles to follow ,this helped us with understand ,remember ,and  uphold important elements we want to include in our ads .One of our design principles was that we must include a photo of the Astoria Column(Obviously)
-The fifth stage was to create prototypes ,these where some of my prototypes before the final product .I was fun experimenting with different colours and photos to create an appealing ad .

-The sixth stage was to highlight and fix our ads
I noticed that the colour scheme of my second draft .The green seemed really unnatural and contrasting to the rest of of calmer photos .I though that I would ad white space in my ad to bring attention to words Astoria Column  it it just didn’t match with the color scheme and high quality photos .So I decided make brown my main colour scheme bc it relates to Astoria Column , it’s the column’s colour scheme,and  conveys emotion relating to nature and wholesomeness .Another main problem is that people don’t know what Im actually trying to advertise
To fix that I changed the border from green to brown .And made “Astoria Column” the same font .I also changed the white space to art depicting Lewis and Clark showing part of Astoria Columns historic appeal (it also fits the colour scheme).Then I added more contact information and a QR code on the bottom of the page .Finally ,I added a quote from Astoria Columns’s official website that imply that Astoria Column is a fun adventurous place that tourists can visit .

My exhibition experience :
I worked with 5 other classmates to set up our exhibition area .We had about one week to discuss foods to bring ,costumes ,how we would arrange our stand ,and individually worked on a keystone presentation .It went pretty smoothly and our communication was ok .Before the actual exhibition we helped set up the gym and our exhibition area and it looked really great .The preparation was also good as we all had our outfits and brought our food .This exhibition itself was pretty fun as got to see other peoples exhibition and I was happy to finally get the exhibition over with .I do hope next exhibition we assign breaks because people including where leaving for way too long and leaving the area empty .

Keystone 1:

Keystone 1 was mostly learning about how we interact matter .What matter is and ways we can describe matter .

Their are two main ways we can describe matter ,we can describe its physical properties or chemical properties .A physical property is a property of a substance that can be observes without changing the substance itself .Like its looks or its density .And a chemical property is related to its chemical attributes like its reactivy or pH level .During keystone 1 we did activity’s observing chemical or physical properties .Some things we did include ,finding the density of objects by dividing mass by the volume or doing experiments to find out wether something it was a physical or chemical change .
Our final project in keystone 1 was about making observations about an object we choose :

keystone 2:

Keystone 2 was learning about different states of matter

We learnt that there are four states of matter solid ,liquid ,gas, and plasma .We also learnt the kinetic Molecular Theory and how matter changes in state .We played with an program that showed how different matter act when in different temperatures.It showed us how matter was always moving and how different temperature can change the state of matter .Also relating to KTM we leant about diffusion and osmosis which we did an experiment on .Out final project in keystone 2 diffusing gummy bears .This project was very intriguing as we had to come up
with our own experiment including our hypothesis ,our process, and our findings .

Keystone 3:

Keystone 3 was to create a video game that showcases any scientific concept we leant during this project

I used scratch to code my video game because it was easier to grasp and actually make a game that other coding programs .I decided to make a zombie shooter game that highlight the four stages of matter .I tried to play with scratch for a little bit and watched some videos to understand the basic mechanics of the software but I couldn’t actually figure out how I would make my game actually work .So I decided to break everything down by starting on the basics and adding more complex elements to the game as I go. Using this method and watching some scratch tutorials I managed to finish my game .
The game – You had to shoot matter zombies and each wave gets increasingly difficult as the zombies changes its state .It starts out with slow solid zombies (Because the molecules in a solid are slower than the other stages) and ends with an extremely hard plasma final wave .

Overall this project challenged my critical thinking skills and improved my understanding on

 

Over the course of this year I have grown as a PLP learner  by improving on my work habits and teamwork .I can say I achieved the final grade a wanted but I still feel that some of my work didn’t meet  expectations.But these experiences have led me to understand what I have to work on more .I will be using my experiences in PLP to discuss my strengths and opportunities for growth .

Part 1 :

One thing I consistently had to work on was my work ethic. It involved prioritizing important tasks, meeting deadlines, being punctual, completing my work, managing my class time effectively, and striving for productivity. This semester, I made a conscious effort to stay on top of my work, although it proved to be more challenging than I initially thought. Nevertheless, I am slowly improving.

In terms of science, I believe I have successfully completed all my assignments and met most of my deadlines, which makes me proud of my progress. However, the situation was different in humanities, especially after the Oregon trip. With a substitute teacher and the absence of the teachers who usually kept me in check, I became confused about the required work. As a result, I handed in the second keystone for humanities one week late because I had to redo it. Even though I collaborated with a friend (although it was an individual project), we didn’t meet the requirements. Instead of describing different ways and techniques of advertising, as expected, we focused solely on reviewing commercials, forgetting print ads and web ads.

This experience taught me that I am responsible for my own work and I should improve my ability to listen to instructions. It also led me to reach out to a teacher for help in staying on top of my work. When it came to my final product in humanities, I was really proud. I not only liked the outcome but also felt proud of myself for staying on top of my work throughout. I realized that it wasn’t difficult if I made use of my class time and motivated myself. Doing multiple ad drafts helped me avoid last-minute rush. I finished early and was one of the first to get my ad approved, which surprised me. I also managed my time well for my final keystone, which I personally believe turned out well. It explained the process of creating my ad and discussed the colour choices and techniques I used.

Being productive in class has become easier as the rules have become stricter. I have developed a more productive mindset and reduced procrastination. This semester, I also learned the importance of finding motivation. Initially, I was not meeting my own expectations, which made me realise I needed to step up my game, especially since my humanities grade from the first semester was not satisfactory. This realization motivated me, and it has paid off as I am currently meeting my expectations (or at least I think so).

Another project that I wasn’t proud of was a science gif. Although I completed it before the deadline, I ended up cramming all the work into the last day and finishing it .The final product wasn’t that bad though .

Part 2 :

I have improved on my team work and communication skills in PLP .

-Everyday in science or we have to sit next to a random person and some times work on assignments or projects together .This helped me get used to expressing my ideas and cooperating with other people 

-The Quests in Oregon also made me realized that teamwork can come along way

-I really wanted to help me group do something but I didn’t know how 

In the last quest instead helping my teammates .I voluntarily tried to help and contributed as much as possible .I think this might have helped and motivated my other team members to work to getter more .The result of that was getting first place in our quest  possibly got a record for the quest .

Part 3

A project I enjoyed this year a was Science’s sciences Mind over Matter project 

Where why looked at theory reality’s most basic elements (atoms) .And did different projects to test these theories out of showcase our understanding .

 In our first keystone we looked at the correspondences between volume ,density,and mass .The final thing we had to do for this keystone was to choose an object and figure out is volume. By measuring and weighing the object .

In our second keystone we learnt about diffusion 

 We did an experiment with gummy bears to test how they react to water over night .It was really surprising they grew instead in the water instead of melting .My and my friend decided to do a bit of extra research on why that was happening and worked to getter to make a good keystone documenting our findings .

Our last keystone was about making a scratch game relating to something we leant during the first two keystones .This keystone was the the best one yet .It made me remember how to used scratch even though i didn’t use it in 2 years .I made a shooter game where the particles get harder to shoot every stage because they are heating up making them go faster.

I really enjoyed this project because it was fun an  I reminded me that I enjoyed coding .I was surprised because I didn’t know atoms could be that interesting 

Part 4 :Why I’m able to move on to 9th grade 

-I think that although I need to improve on my work ethics a promise that I understand all the content we learnt in PLP and I am pretty sure I met the grade that I wanted .And in grade 9 I am going to try to work harder and aim for higher goals and standards .All PLP assignments and projects made me realize how much more I want and have to improve as a learner .That’s why And that’s why I’m going and am ready to PLP in Grade 9.

 

How was the product made ?

In humanities we first leant how about triptychs what they were and what they represent .Then we learnt about renaissance innovations and how they changed the world .We had to take notes to use for the triptychs .After all that we begun working on our triptychs .

The triptych had to be based on one of the important renaissance innovations .I choose medical innovations because I had a lot of notes on it in Craft .The triptych had to represent the innovation during the renaissance in the left panel ,the innovation now ,and the old tradition way of the innovation .

I started We first went to google earth to looked for renaissance photo that somewhat resembles our faces .Then I used superimpose(Editing/photoshop app) to photoshop my face on

What did I take away from the this project ?
-I learnt how to use superimpose
-I learnt more about the renaissance
-I learnt how innovations from the renaissance change the way we live today

 

From draft triptych :

 

 

 

 

 

 

1)Snowboarding was inspired other sports

Moder snowboarding was created in the 1960s by Sherman Poppen, who developed a toy for his children by combining two skis together .
He also added a rope so they could control the board when going downhill .
Over the next decade, Poppen and a manufacturer soldmore than a million snuffers.
In 1977, Jake Burton impressed the crowd with bindings he used to secure his feet on the board at a snuffing competition .
In that same year he founded burton snowboards ,which is now one of the first and most popular snowboard brands .
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2) Some resorts used to banned snowboarding

Most North American ski resorts banned snowboarding in the 1980s because of insurance and liability.
They also didn’t have the best reputation because a ski patrol worker stated on TV “They’re endangering the public and possibly themselves!” At least the sport was more accepted in Europe.
However, as snowboarding gained popularity, so did its reputation, and it was no longer banned.

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3) There are risk involved in snowboarding 

The majority of snowboarders who are injured are beginners .
Beginners have an increased risk of fractures and injures because they fall frequently .
A lot of snowboarders get injured because they constantly have to use every muscle in their body to shift weigh, turn, stop, and balance  .
But compared to skiers, snowboarders are 50% -70% more likely to get injured, but less likely to die .

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4) The tallest mountain to go snowboarding 

With an elevation of 18,360 feet, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is the tallest snow mountain in the world to snowboard on.
There is a cable way up to the peak, which is over 4500m high. There are also many old thousand-year glaciers.
It is easy to see why it is so popular with skiers and snowboarders.

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5) Richest place to go snowboarding

 

Besides being one of the most expensive snowboarding destinations in Switzerland, Gstaad also boasts 220km of trails and 57 lifts, so you can call it a snowboarder’s paradise.
It also has some of the finest shopping in Switzerland, five-star hotels, and restaurants.

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6) Most influential snowboarders in the world 

Jake Burton ,Shawn White ,and Terje Hakonsen

The company was founded by Jake Burton, who was inspired by snowboarders and built the snowboard we know today. As of 2018, Burton accounts for about 32% of snowboard sales worldwide.

Snowboarder Shaun White holds the world record for the most X Games gold medals and Olympic gold medals.

While Terje never officially retired, it was rare to see him compete after 1990. He now records films and works for sponsors.

Hi everyone ,my name is Claire and I am a PLP learner .

While doing these activities in PLP I have learnt a lot about myself as a PLP learner .These activities/projects include Laptop Memoji ,User Manual ,Dream board, Bucket list and digital selfie .

These activities help identifying who I am and things I like .And helped me build my tech skills.

Laptop Memoji :This helped me practice my keynote skills that would be very important later on .An example being using instant alpha to remove the background of a photo making it transparent .We used this skill to make stickers for our laptop .

User Manual :This helped me understand myself a bit better .By writing about myself in third person and writing sort of a guide to using me .I identified and remembered a lot of things about myself like my likes and dislikes .I also learnt how to use pages better.

Dreamboard :This identify what I daydream about and what I want to do in the future .And the other activities with the dream-board helped me find set goals to achieving my big dream .I have even started to work towards my goal because of this activity .

Bucket list : In this activity we made a list of want we want to do in our lives before we die .And it makes me think more about the stuff i could do in my lifetime .And its like making dreams come to reality because some of the things on my list are crazy.

Digital selfie :This project helped me understand my ipad camera more .I now know how to make things brighter and use photo timer .