Egypt Museum Project Reflection

1. How well did you feel that you as an individual and as a group-member were at solving this challenge? (Problem: How might you create an interactive exhibit that will encourage young visitors to care about the civilization of ancient Egypt)

I felt that I did an ok job with my interactive exhibit. I thought of an idea that was ok, trading with my boat. It's interactive because I'm using the boat to do something, not just looking at me. As a group-member, I felt that I did an ok job too. I had given feedback to the people in my group about their interactive exhibit idea. Overall, I think I did an ok job.

2. Describe your learning process from start to end...as an individual, and as a group-member.

As an individual, I first looked at different books to find artifacts related to my characteristic which was technology. I found many artifacts. After getting a little background of the artifacts, I choose one that I found most interesting. From there I researched about that artifact and used the information to make my artifact caption and my artifact.


3. What aspect(s) of the project challenged you the most?

The researching challenged me the most since I choose the cargo boat. It would be easier to research if I choose someone's cargo boat so it would be more specific. So I looked on the internet to find an owner. It was hard but I found an owner. Now there was another problem that challenged me, researching on that specific boat. It was difficult researching information about the artifact since there was not much information about that artifact. So that is why the researching phase of this project challenged me the most.


4. What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of myself and my group. I think that we did a great job making our artifact and putting everything together. I think that my group showed the visitors how important our characteristic was.

5. What part(s) of the overall experience do you think you will remember the most?

I think that I will remember sharing information to the visitors the most. Teaching them about my artifact will be the experience I will remember the most.

IT Animation

Student VS Beast

Mesopotamia Contribution: Hammurabi's Code

Here's the link to my blog about Hammurabi's Code!

http://hammurabiscode.blogspot.sg/

Math Reflection, Fractions and Decimals

When is it more useful to use fraction or decimal notation?

Fractions and decimals are both really useful, but there are times where one way is better than the other. For example, fractions are really easy to use when you are dividing numbers because fractions are division. But, when fractions get too big, they're hard simplify, add, etc. Decimals are easy to use when you do anything, from division to addition. The way you solve decimals is the same way you solve natural numbers. But there is a huge con, it's when decimals go on forever and ever.

Examples:
1) 5÷3
For this question, using fractions is more easier because all you have to do is take 5 and make it the numerator and take 3 and make it the denominator. So the fraction your going to end up with is 5/3 which is equivalent to 

1⅔. This way is way easier than using decimals because the way your going to solve the problem using decimals is long division, and with problems like this, long division will take forever.

2) 0.25+0.80
For this question, using decimals is the fastest way because all you have to do is add the two numbers like how you add natural numbers. You could use fractions but you would have to do two steps to get to your answer. Step one is to convert the decimals to fractions and step 2 is to solve.

When comparing two positive whole numbers with different numbers of digits, such as 115 and 37, the one with more digits is greater. Does this rule work for comparing decimals?

No it doesn't because with positive numbers, the more digits the bigger but with negative numbers (decimals), the more digits the smaller. You can see how it works on the place value chart.

Examples:
1) 2100 or 0.1232523
2100 is bigger because it is positive, even though 0.1232523 had more digits. 2100 is bigger because 0.1232523 is a negative number.

Submarine Model Building Reflection

Question 1

Draw a colored sketch of your submarine model in the floating, sinking or neutrally buoyant position.

I choose to sketch my submarine model in the sinking position.

Question 2

Part of the design process, is to think of design ideas to try and then test to see how those design ideas actually work. 

• Describe any design ideas that you had which did not work as expected.  
• Describe any design ideas that you had which did work as expected. 

It took 2 models to get to the model I have now. One model did not work as expected and one model that technically works.

The model that didn't work was a bottle with many medium sized holes placed everywhere. The bottle cap was closed and there was a tube stuck into the interior of the bottle. Inside the bottle there were many rocks. It could sink but because the rocks could move freely inside the bottle, if the bottle tilts just a bit, the whole bottle would be vertical. There were too many rocks inside that I couldn't get the model to float again. 

The second model or the model that technically work was a model that was sketched above. It had 3 large holes and small holes. It had lots of metal taped next to the 3 big holes. The bottle's cap was still on. There was a tube that was stuck into the interior of the bottle. It could sink and rise halfway. I didn't have enough time to make the tube stiff and not be able to move around in the bottle. My model would be complete if the tube was stiff.

Question 3

• Describe at least two ways that your model works like a real submarine.
• Describe at least two ways your model works differently than a real submarine.

2 ways that the model works like a real submarine:

-They both use the same method to sink and float. Both of the submarines take in water to sink and release water to float.

-They both can sink and float as many times as it wants to.

2 ways that the model works differently than a real submarine:

-There is no giant blowing air into a tube that makes the submarine float and sink. For model purposes, we used a tube. But in real life, there can't be a tube.

-The model can't move around, it can only rise and sink. On a real submarine, it can move around.

Question 4

Did you ever feel like you were not going to be able to successfully modify the plastic bottle to make it dive and float like a submarine?  If you did not give up, what strategies helped you persevere and keep going? 

There were many times where I felt like I couldn't modify the bottle to make it work like a submarine. One reason was that the materials were scarce. Materials like stones are actually very important to make the model submarine work. Another reason I felt like I couldn't do it is that when you make a mistake and you have to restart, you feel like you don't have anymore time to create a new one. 

One strategy that helped me kept going was learning from your mistakes. Like if you create a hole in the wrong place and it ruins the whole experiment, you learn from that. Next time you don't add holes in the wrong places. Another strategy that kept me going believing in yourself. I believed that I could make a whole new submarine with my new plan.

Fraction Comparison Reflection

You know how to compare fractions using cross products, LCD, and logical reasoning. When is it better to use one method over another?

Methods - Pros and Cons

Cross Products
Pro: It's a quick way to compare fractions, you only need to solve 2 equations.
Con: When the numbers get higher, it's harder to solve the equations.

LCD
Pro: Once you find the LCD, you just need to compare the numerators.
Con: If the LCD is really high, it's harder to find the new numerator.

Logical Reasoning
Pro: It requires no solving of equations!
Con: If the numerators are about the same, it's really hard to compare.


Examples

1) 5/7 or 6/8
For this question, I would use cross products because it's the quickest way to solve it. The numbers aren't huge and massive. Logical reasoning would not be a good method to use for this problem because the numerators are really close to each other. You could use LCD to solve this problem but that would take longer.

2) 21/35 or 46/70
For this question, I would use LCD because it's the easiest way to solve it. The LCD is pretty easy to find because 70 is a multiple of 35. Cross products would be another way to solve this problem but the numbers are really high which makes multiplying them harder. Logical reasoning would be hard to use because if you simplify the fractions, they both are more than 1/2.

3)3/82 or 32/35
For this question, I would use Logical reasoning because it's easy to use logical reasoning for this question. Also, you don't have to waste time doing unnecessary math. LCD and cross products would not be good methods because the numbers are really high.

Sportsmanship - On the Sporting Field and in Everyday Life

Sportsmanship to me means being positive to others and being cool when good or bad things happen. One way I have shown sportsmanship this year is by shaking the opposing team members hands and say "good game".

3 ways that you can demonstrate sportsmanship in PE or on the sporting field:
-Always play fair
-Accept the judgement calls of the coaches and the officials without argument
-Offer encouragement to teammates, especially when they make mistakes

2 ways that you can demonstrate sportsmanship in everyday life:
-Being positive
-Following instructions/rules

1 new way that you can demonstrate sportsmanship:
-Include my teammates more often