Feature Article Blogpost

For the last few weeks in RLA and Health, we have been working on making a feature article. Throughout the making of our articles, we have chose a topic, developed a slant (or opinion on the topic), researched, had a design lesson with Ms Dowd, and designed our article.

Over the past weeks, my topic and slant changed quite a bit. My original topic was sleep and how it related to stress, but after attempting to research this topic, I couldn’t find any sources. This made me change my topic to sleep deprivation. Now, I had to develop a slant. My first slant was about the negative effects of sleep deprivation. But I felt that it wasn’t specific enough to make my article unique and stand out from the others. I thought about making my slant more specific, and using the knowledge I already had, I broke the negative effects into two parts: physical health and mental health. I chose to focus my article on how sleep deprivation negatively affects teenagers’ physical health, but then I realized I was more interested in researching about the negative effects on teenagers’ mental health. So then I changed my slant to how sleep deprivation negatively affects teenager’s mental health. That was the last change.

My researching process was fairly simple. My sources were from Webpath Express, a research engine, which can be found on the SAS library website. For the note taking, I used a three column chart. The first column was the source information, the second column was the notes itself, and the third column was the analysis, where I analyze how the notes relate to the article. On top of that, I highlighted my notes to organize my data even further. Each color represented a topic. Here are the colors I used:

Yellow: Related to Mental Health/Behavior Slant

Green: Sleep Hours, Facts & Percentages
Blue: Solutions

Orange: Causes
Red: Domain Specific Language

After the researching process came the drafting. There isn’t much of a process when it came to drafting, so I’ll skip that and move on to designing my article. Before designing our articles we had a lesson with Ms Dowd about design. I learned that an article has to have multiple columns and all the images have to fit each of the columns. For example, an image can be one column wide, two columns wide, etc. But it can’t be one and a half columns, etc. Also, I learned that there is a drop caps in every article at the beginning or introduction. A drop caps is when the first letter in a paragraph is bigger than the rest. Finally, I learned that you should use a color pallet and be repetitive with the colors in your article. When I say repetitive, I mean sticking with it for the entire article and making it a pattern. Like all the subheadings will be green and all the body text will be black.

Designing A Spinner

Project Adventure Reflection

1. Name and explain your game and rules. 
The name of my group's game was Marco Pacman, a combination of the popular game Marco Polo and Pacman. The objective of the game as a Pacman is to be the last Pacman standing while the objective of the Marcos are to get everyone out.

The rules are as follows:
There are two Marcos who are blindfolded and the rest are Pacmans. The two Marcos are watched and accompanied by someone not playing for safety purposes. This game must be played in a gym with lines on the floor. All the Pacmans have to stay on the lines and can't jump lines, but the Marcos can travel anywhere. When the Marcos yell Marco, everyone else replies Pacman.
If a Pacman gets tagged by a Marco, the Pacman must sit down in between any two lines and can tag other Pacmans traveling on the lines to get back in, but this can only happen if the player is on their butt. The Pacman who got tagged must sit down in the nearest gap in between two lines and the Pacman who tagged the other Pacman is back in the game.
The game ends when all Pacmans are sitting down and out.

2. What were the challenges/ difficulties of working together as a team? 
Communication was a big issue. We all had great ideas but compromising to finalizing the game came with lots of conflict. Everyone had a good ideas but making them into one idea was an issue because everyone wanted to share their new ideas instead of trying to work together to create one idea.

3. What was the benefit of working together? Explain? 
The benefits of working together was that a lot of different ideas were being created, which allowed us to really choose which idea was the best. Also other group members have different perspectives about your ideas, which can make your idea even better. Finally, working together gave us team members to test our game on a smaller scale, to see if the game actually works.

4. Discuss ways that your team problem solved to make the game better (this could have been as the class played the game). How would you modify the game if you played it again? 
There were many tweaks we made to our game as we were finalizing it. An example of this was the rule where Pacmans could get back into the game by tagging other Pacmans, this made the game more fair and more interesting.
Something we could modify is the way people travel on the lines because it was quite hard for the Marcos to tag the Pacmans when we played the game in PE as a class. This was because all the Pacmans were running and the Marcos were walking. Another thing we could modify for next time is the rule for when a Pacman gets tagged. Instead of sitting in the gap, they would sit on the lines, this would solve the issue of the Marcos having difficulty catching all the Pacmans.

5. What did YOU contribute to the team?
As a team member, I contributed to the making of the rules and the testing of our game. Whenever we tested our game on a small scale, just our group, I would find all the possible scenarios that might happen in a real game so that we could make rules to fix that. For example, I showed how our original idea, tag on Pacman lines (the taggers are NOT blindfolded), would take forever when I just kept on chasing my teammate as that person just continuously ran until the got so tired the gave up

Math Normal 7th Grader Project

Narrative Blurb

Life is good for teenager Scott Cruz. He has many friends, does well in school, and lives a happy life. Can life get any better? Well sadly, things changed in a heartbeat for Scott. On the way to his 8th grade graduation, at age fourteen, Scott’s world was turned upside down. While driving on a busy intersection, his taxi driver wasn’t paying attention to the incoming traffic and crashed head on into another car, hard, causing Scott to fracture his skull. Upon waking up and finding himself in the hospital, he gets the bad news: his skull fracture caused him permanent deafness in both ears. Dealing with his sudden disability was hard, but thankfully he had his older brother to go to for help. But what happens if he relies on his brother too much? Well, he’s about to find out.

Statistics Homework 3: Data Analysis

How alike or different are the data values from each other? 
They are pretty similar, they all have quite similar values of central tendency. The biggest difference in these three data sets is that the thrid set's data is more spread out that the first and second's data.

Which data values occur more frequently or less frequently? 
Some data values that occur more frequently than others are 7, 7.5, and 8, and this is the cause for the mean to be 7.5. There are some data values that occur less frequently, such as 1.5 and 4, and they are outliers.

How spread out or close together are the data values in relation to each other? 
I would say that the first set and the second set of data values are pretty close together, with the exception of the 1 on the second set, and the third set of data values are very spread out. The reason the thrid set is more spread out is that the thrid set has an outlier, 4, that messes up the data. There is also another outlier, 1.5, in the second data set, which made the data seem more spread out.

How spread out or close together are the data values in relation to a measure of center?
The measure of center for all the three data sets are about 7.5 and 8. However, the data isn't that close to it. Yes, there are a lot of students with the shoe sizes of 7.5 and 8, but there are way more students with shoe sizes of 6 and 9.

What do you infer about the shoe sizes of 7th graders?
I infer that the average shoe size in 7th grade is 7.5

Globalization Blogpost

1. What aspect of globalization your cartoon is criticising? (Highlight one)

cultural/social             technological/environmental            political/economic

2. Which visual techniques or literary devices (from the list above) did you use in your cartoon? Explain why you used it and why you think it is effective.

Symbolism: We used symbolism in our cartoon. An example of this is how Monopoly represents the real world. The money, houses, and properties represented the real world’s money, factories, branches (stores), and countries. Apple owns most of the properties and Nokia owns only one. By doing this, we show how Apple has so many stores and factories that they are just taking over the world, leaving little space for Nokia to grow.

Personification: We also used personification in our cartoon. An example of this is when we made the Apple and Nokia logos players of the game Monopoly.  They had money, houses, and property. They could also buy things such as houses and properties. The two companies, Apple and Nokia, are playing this game in the real world. They both have different amounts of money and different amounts of properties and are both competing in the economic world, just like how two people would compete in a game of Monopoly.

Exaggeration: We used exaggeration in our cartoon. Example of this is when we gave Apple everything, like all the properties and lots of money, and gave Nokia basically nothing. In the real world, Nokia is not doing that bad, but in the cartoon we wanted to exaggerate the point that Apple is taking over the world and became such a big company, it’s basically eating all the smaller companies/local businesses because Apple is grabbing customers before they can reach the smaller companies/local businesses. Basically, in the cartoon, we wanted the readers to notice that Apple has everything, giving them a big advantage and power.

3. Explain the message regarding globalization.  
1. Use evidence from the cartoon.
2. Make connections to the globalization unit, current events, or your life to back up your assertions.

The message of our cartoon is big companies such as Apple have an unfair advantage over smaller companies or local businesses, and with the help of globalization, taking over the world with their products and demeaning smaller companies such as Nokia, as they leave less space for them to grow as they grab the customers before they can reach the smaller businesses. This is shown in our cartoon when Apple has everything and it basically gives Nokia basically no chance of growing because people are interested in bigger companies and not the smaller, unstable ones. Apple has lots of money, factories, and properties and Nokia has no money, and only one property. It’s related to globalization because it shows that international companies such as Apple, are invading countries with their products and lowering the status of local brands such as the local’s small companies, preventing them from growing. People now are so interested in the big companies, such as Apple, that they don’t bother to even check the smaller companies or local brands.

How has cultural/social, technological/environmental, and political/economic globalization transformed our world? (Give some specific examples from our unit, ITN’s etc.)

This unit has helped me understand globalization and how important it was in the modernization of our world today. Before this unit, I had no idea what globalization was. I thought it was just some small thing that didn’t really affect anything. But after learning about globalization, I now know how it changed our world in so many different ways from the technology we use to politics and economics to our culture. You can find globalization practically anywhere, after all, it made our world what it is today. Without globalization, there wouldn’t be McDonald's in Japan or Apple in China, which is a good thing and a bad thing.

Firstly, globalization has impacted our cultures. Globalization allows different cultures to learn about other cultures instead of their own. This is a good thing as cultures can improve based on other cultures or new ideas they have learned or heard. However, there are some negative aspects to the globalization of cultures. Some cultures are being wiped out as dominant, powerful nations, such as America, take over the world and basically “Americanize” it. Instead of the world learning about different, unique cultures, and growing with many different cultures, you can find McDonald's in Japan and poor kids living in third world countries drinking Coke. Whenever I visit the Philippines, there is always a time I will choose McDonald’s over the local dishes. They have McDonald’s there, so why not? America has gone into many countries and introduced its culture by building McDonald’s, KFC, Nike, and other American brands there. But although globalization has allowed America to practically take over the world with its culture, it improved international relationships. Nations are helping each other out now and are working with each other to solve global issues such as global warming and terrorism.

Secondly, globalization has impacted our technology and the environment. From the medical technologies to the advanced communication systems to the devices we use in our everyday lives, technology is all around us. The development of technologies have allowed the world to do advanced research and find medicines for diseases. Communication is now easier, you can communicate with people halfway around the globe, miles and miles away from you. Back then, communicating was very difficult, especially overseas, and would take such a long time to send mail and communicate. But now, new technologies have allowed us to communicate as fast as ever. We can now share ideas and new concepts with the whole world and be engaged in what’s happening on the other side of the planet. I facetime my grandparents who live in the Philippines. Also, globalization has introduced the web, which unifies our globe. And you can’t forget transportation! Airplanes, boats, bullet trains. They were only introduced recently and have spread across the globe. Being a kid who travels a lot, airplanes and boats are really important, what would I take instead of them? They are the only option. But with these ups, there are some downs. Globalization has affected our environment. Big companies such as Apple have built factories in China and other Asian countries which caused pollution there. We have experienced the haze from companies burning down trees and there is a possibility that China’s polluted air might travel to other nearby territories.

Lastly, the economy and politics. Globalization has promoted global economic growth. Big companies are building factories in other third world countries which is creating jobs and even lifting some people out of poverty. This can help out the developing nations’ economies as their people are working and earning more money than what the average local can make doing his average job. Nation’s economies are doing better than before. However globalization in the economy have some drawbacks. Big companies are taking over small, local businesses or even other companies. They are selling their products all over the world. People now are interested in their new products that they stop paying attention to all the local brands, who will shut down because they’re not doing well. I buy shirts from Nike and other big brands and I don’t even look at the smaller companies, who probably sell their shirts at an even better price. Globalization has allowed big companies to grow and small companies to shut down. It has given big companies such an advantage in the economic world that the smaller companies are basically hopeless, therefore shutting their doors and closing down.

Overall, globalization has shaped our world and has made it what it is today. Without it, the world would be a different place.

How has and will aspects of globalization impact your life? (Give specific examples.)

Globalization will definitely impact my life and it already has! Take for example medicine. The development of technologies and machines has allowed new medicines to be created. Medicine has cured me from so many diseases Without it, I don’t know anything else that could cure me. A hundred years ago, there wasn’t such medicine to cure diseases back then, so people would end up dying.

Another aspect of globalization that has impacted my life is technology. I use a MacBook for school work and communication. My computer was made from an American country and put together in probably China. If globalization didn’t bring the world together, I don’t know if I would be typing on this computer. Also, a majority of my education is on a computer, so without it. I’m disconnected from the world and wouldn’t be able to find out what’s going on in the world.

A third aspect of globalization that has impacted my life is the economy. Whenever I travel to different countries, I can always find a McDonald’s or a KFC there. There have been many times when I choose the American fast food restaurants instead of trying the local foods.

In conclusion, globalization has impacted my life in positive and negative ways. Without globalization, my life would be really different. My understanding on the globe would be very different, I probably wouldn’t have a MacBook or a phone, and I wouldn’t be able to find a McDonald’s or KFC wherever I go. I’m not saying globalization is a bad thing or good thing, but I’m sure it really impacted my life.

Photo Credits:

http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/shelle/www.globosapiens.net--japan--tokyo--tokyo--id=6554.jpg

http://www.sott.net/image/s7/144163/full/Americanization.jpg

http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/apple_facetime_ios_7_logo.png

http://www.treeline-inc.com/images/blog/big_vs_small.jpg

Statistics Homework 2: Video Facts

1. Identify a Representative Sample: To make a good prediction about the population from a sample, the sampling method has to be unbiased which will make it representative sample and a valid inference.

2. Make estimates About a Population Using Means: To get an accurate prediction of a population from a sample, the data from the sample should be proportional to the population when you make a conclusion about the population. Also, by using the mean of multiple samples, you get an even more accurate prediction of the population.

3. Use Proportions to Make Estimates About a Population: Cross multiplication is another way of solving a proportion. Using proportionality when making an inference about a population makes the inference more accurate, but not necessarily exact.