What do you do or rather not do in a scientific laboratory environment. Well in science class this last week we have been looking at lab safety. We talked about where everything was placed around the room meaning that we then made a sketch of the classroom and what you would do if something would go wrong.

We then had to create a video on lab safety in groups. My group included Sofia, Mimi and Izzy In my group we decided to film at Izzy’s house so that we could add humour while it also being informative. Overall we were proud of what we had come up with. So after all that here is the video:

Overall we did learn what to do and what not to do in the lab even if some of them were obvious.

World War I was horrific, over 18 million lives lost and 23 million people were wounded. So who is that we should blame for starting all of this? Well that’s what we have been looking at in class this past week.

We learned about what people thought caused the war, and what Canada was doing right before the war. Starting of with a time period commonly known as the Laurier Era. We read a few articles on who Wilfred Laurier was and what impact he had on Canada. As well as briefly looking at who Robert Borden was and what he had to contribute in World War I. We showed this all in a Keynote presentation which we were in groups for an dwe were each assigned a topic. My group included Willa, Will and Sam. Here is my groups work:

So after learning about that we then went onto look into different aspects that started the war. And think what is my point of view on this subject and who do I think started the war? Well to help us figure that out we read a book called World War: A battle of perspectives that discussed 4 different people and who they thought started the war. There was one person that I specifcly agreed with and his name is J Remak. He believed that it wasn’t one person or country that started the war but rather everyone. That everyone is to blame and yet no one is to blame.

I agree with him because he points out that no one could predict that the war was going to happen. That each country just wanted to be better then the other and yet in the long run didn’t know it would cause a massive, terrible war. For example England wanted peace and were talking about peace possibilities before Germany then went and asked them to  mobilize with them. Eventually though they decided that it would be smart to join Germany and help Austria even though not long after that they fought Russia. Some people will disagree with him saying that Germany took the most risk meaning that they wanted to start the war but in reality Germany helped Austria so if they really wanted to start a war they would not have done that.

But what were the other perspectives? Well in a video that I made with Sofia and Hannah we explain two other people talking about who they thought started the war, here it is:

This was our first draft and we all admitted that it wasn’t out best work. We were told that we needed to improve the audio as well as the transitions and background because it all wasn’t equal. So with what we then had to do in my mind we set forward to create another draft and so here it is, the second and final draft:

After filming and editing this video we felt that we had improved our work and we are all proud of it. It showed because we put more time into where we filmed and the lighting. As the teacher it wasn’t the info but rather the actual production of the video.

Overall it was interesting to learn all of the different perspectives that people think of when the war began. It is a terrible thing that happened but it helped Canada as a whole to become itself and really change the world for as we see it today. So until we learn some more war facts.

Bye for Now!

To start off the year we began it with a bang by going to Camp Capilano. A retreat that was just for one night but felt like longer(in a good way). We did this as a team work exercise and to really get the whole class working as a whole. Plus it also allowed us to get a taste of what the rest of the year would be like since a couple of the mini projects we did were about podcasts and what we will be looking a lot at this year is podcasts.

Before leaving school we looked at a few different clips of TV show intros. Not knowing what it was for though we were just told to watch it and then pick a person (or couple) and describe them. For example we watched an intro clip to The Amazing Race and I chose to right about Megan and Courtney and how from just the five second clip I thought they were Adventurous, serious, up for anything and more. So still not sure what we were doing we hoped on the bus to go to Camp Capilano!

At the beginning once we got to the park we started off with having to create an intro to a reality tv show like we had seen before with ten characters in it and no audio except music. We did this in groups of five and had one hour to complete it. My group included Sofia, Will, Ruby and Adam. At first it was hard to decide exactly on what type of intro we wanted to make but eventually chose to do a Kardashian type show. So with one hour on the clock we were off!

Our ten characters were:

Barbra
Bert
Bailey
Bif and Baf
Brittney
Bobby
Blair
Brad
Bear

We worked hard to get it done in the amount of time but looking back I realize that we could have prioritized better and have specific people doing a certain job rather then just sitting around. So without further a do here is our tv intro:

Next we then walked up to the actual camp and had lunch to then realize there was another project. With the same 5 people from our group before we were supposed to create a podcast that again had ten characters but this time it didn’t have to be a tv intro. We could change the characters and anything else if we wanted to. It had to be a minute long exactly and we only had one hour to complete this. So as we began talking about ideas we thought that we would still stay with the kardashian type story but this time it would be about a family and they would be talking within a household. We wanted to make this funny and improve on our task management from the previous project that we had recently completed. In order to do that we assigned each person to do a specific job. For example I was the Leader, Ruby did the music, Sofia, Will and Adam were in charge of the script while we were all giving ideas to each other. Overall for this project we really tried to improve on it from the last, since we all weren’t happy with how it turned out.

And finally the project that it had all been leading up to. We were given an assignment after dinner to create a podcast about something that makes up our identity. This time though instead of being with the same group as the previous projects we got to choose what three (or two) people who worked together. And different from the previous two we had to make it four minutes exactly also we had not an hour to complete it, but rather we had until 10:30 the next morning.  We were assigned this at 5:30-6ish and the teachers said that we could stay up all night if we had to if it was needed to complete this project. So once they said go with my group of Kate and Mimi we set off to create a podcast. We first decided on what story we should tell and what makes our identity. This took a while since there are so many ways we could have taken this but eventually we decided on two stories about our families and how certain events can change your life. By the morning we had finished but we admit that it wasn’t our best work. Everyone admired us put such personal stories out there but the actual recording of the podcast didn’t work out well. We recorded it in a bathroom because that was where it was quietest but in reality it wasn’t because it echoed, you could hear the fan in the background and the audio wasn’t even. So here is the good but could be improved podcast:

The whole point of this trip was to learn to work as a team and start the unit of podcasts. Overall I feel that we did both of those things. By the end of the trip I think that we all knew each other a little bit better and from last year there was a lot more communication going on which is a key part of PLP. Overall all three of these projects were really interesting and even though the following day I was exhausted I really did enjoy my time at camp capilano.

So until next time Camp Capilano!

What is a smart goal? Well this week in class we have been looking at what it means. SMART means:

S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Relevant, Rigorous, Results Focused
T: Timely and Trackable

So based on this we had to do a few things the first being right a goal in ten words on something we would like to improve on in school. This was mine: I would like to improve my math and science grades. I chose that goal because i have always struggled with maintaining mu math sand sciences grades and for the future that is very important.

Now that goal was very wide and wasn’t very SMART so next we had to create three goals that were smart. Each goal had to be different one about learning in school, the next about character growth and the third about learning outside of school. After we figured those out and got it critiqued we then to record it and add visuals. Here Are my goals:

1. I would like to increase my grades by one grade level in my math this year because in previous years I have struggled with that. In order to accomplish this I will ask more questions during class and have my parents and friends help, this will help me to understand the concepts more and increase my grade level. I will be able to see this by seeing my marks and asking my teacher how I am doing. This will be difficult but I believe that if I try hard I will be able to accomplish this.

I chose this image because it shows that in term one I don’t understand math and rely on myself even if it makes no sense. Then in the second term it shows me asking questions and figuring it out which then ups my grade.

2. To be more comfortable expressing my opinions in group work and being confident in what i’m saying. To do that I will have my friends ask my opinion and speak up by being confident in what I’m saying. I will be able to see this by how much I contribute in a group conversation and how many ideas that are in a project. As well I can ask my parents how they think I’m doing, as well as my teachers after big projects.

This image shows what would happen if I spoke up and became more confident in my ideas. And that if in a group we each support each other the final project will be great!

3. My goal this year is to calm my nerves before I perform music in front of an audience. This will be difficult because I have struggled with it in the past but I can change that by becoming confident in my work and practicing before hand. Also by asking my parents to help me see if I am nervous and get them to help me calm down. To be able to see the improvement i will see if i am not as nervous before performing over a certain amount of time. Also by seeing if my performances improve over time because they say that when you perform you lose 30% of your playing ability so if I’m less nervous that percentage wont be so high.

And finally this picture shows my trumpet because I want to get rid of my nerves before i perform.

Overall this was an interesting project and it made me reflect on what I need to improve on and goals that are realistic. So until next time internet!