Tag Archives: Destination Imagination

SLCs the Sixth: TPOLs

Posted on by

The end of June marks the end of another era in PLP, Grade 10. This was a remarkable year, with ups and downs, triumphs and tribulations, but we made it to the other side, mostly unscathed. So, let us reflect on what we have done, and look forward to our next great adventure.

Of your work completed this year, what are you most proud of? Why?

The project that I am probably most proud of is the WW2 podcast. I had a lot of fun with this project, which makes everything 100x better. This was one of the first podcasts we had done, so it was opening a new chapter for us. This year I’ve had a lot of fun doing podcasts, and this one was no different. The experience of going and meeting with these people was really cool, because instead of just learning about something in a textbook, we got to meet people with first hand experience. I also learned a lot when I talked to Abigail Foulds and my Grandpa, Frank Ward. I am proud of the work I have done for this project.

What piece of work done this year would you share with a class visitor? Why?

A project that I would want to show to a visitor is definitely the generator project. Not necessarily the video that went along with it, but the generator itself. In science, and especially in this project, I fell as though the product is the bigger thing, and the video secondary. This doesn’t really make sense in practical terms, since we are mostly graded on the videos, but I’m usually pro under of what we have actually created. In this project, we took a current issue, and created a project that has actual meaning in the real world. This is why I wanted to do PLP in the first place, and that’s what I would want to show visitors.

How do these projects connect to the adult world outside the classroom?

Math is kind of a constant. Sometimes it can be hard to relate math concepts to the real world. This project did a really good job of that, though. For this project, we were looking at real data that scientists and governments had collected, and we had to graph it. Taking these arbitrary numbers, and creating graphs was cool, but to actually see the impact that this could have was even cooler. Emily and I checked the levels where the water rise would start to impact us, and added this to the graphs. It really puts into perspective what is happening in our world, and brings it to us.

What problems did you encounter? How did you solves them?

Finally, we have Destination Imagination. Every year,  talk about Destination Imagination, and how I am working to be a better teammate, but his year I actually did it. Within our group, we had some pretty strong personalities, and with that, some disagreements. There was one pretty bad disagreement, and instead of getting mad or whatever, I took the time to talk to both sides of the argument, and helped them sort it out. It was sometimes frustrating, but in the end it worked out. I’m really proud of how I handled it, and am looking forward to continuing my learning!

Hepatoerythopoetic Porphyria with Dr. A Ward At Provincials!

Posted on by

Provincials. A time of excitement, anxiety, joy. The finally, of sorts. Anyone can go to regionals, or provincials. Globals is the dream for any aspiring team. Of course, PLP wins most of the stuff, and we don’t go to globals. But for the other teams, provincials is the gateway.

 

Most of provincials, for us, is the improvement aspect. From regionals, we had one big thing we wanted to work on: the Symptomatic. If you saw our regionals performance, or the video in my regionals post, you would know that it didn’t go all to smoothly. Fun times with chemicals. Anyways. That was where we focused most of our energies. That, and memorizing our lines. 

We worked really hard on improving, and I think our provincials score shows that. Our performance, although we had a couple bumps, went super well. We changed hour e order of a few things, just tons of little tweaks. I think we did fantastic!

Our Instant Challenge was another story. It was probably the worst one we’ve ever done. The teamwork was there, but communication and the actual completion of the instructions was, well, trash. If I could go back, I would yell at our team “PLAN. BE PREPARED. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. DO IT AGAIN!”.

Overall, DI this year was a huge success. Coming first in both the regionals and the provincials was amazing. I am very proud of our team, and how we worked together. Extra props to Morgan as this was her first Destination Imagination ever! It was such a fun time, and I learned so much.

Destination Imagination is always a special time, and even more so at provincials. We’ve had all this time to prepare, and then critique, updates, and bam! Another performance. As it is not plausible for PLP to go to globals, this was our last DI tournament for this year, and probably ever, which is sad, but also fantastic. I’ve learned so much over these three years of DI, including communication skills, time management, and teamwork. I am grateful to have been able to do this amazing tournament, as these skills are a huge part of the workforce I intend to enter. Thanks Destination Imagination, it’s been one heck of a ride!

Hepatoerythropoetic Porphyria with Dr. A. Ward

Posted on by

Destination Imagination, as much as we complain about it, is a huge stepping stone for us. The skills we have learned, and continue to learn, will be extremely beneficial in the long run. Group management, problem solving, and communication are just some of the skills we explore on this journey. So why not add Dora!

Our group was working on the scientific challenge, Medical Mystery. Basically, one or more person had to have a medical condition, and we had to diagnose it. We also had a bunch of other super specific criteria, which was really hard to work in. But eventually, we came up with the idea for a parody of Dora the Explorer, instead it being Flora the Physician (played by Maggie) with her trusty sidekick Socks (played by Tamara) who was suffering from Hepatoerythropoietic Porphyria (definition in presentation video). It was a long and arduous journey, which we are not yet finished. 

My roles in this were creating one of the team choice elements, and making the double vision. The double vision thing was basically that we had to show two or more different perspectives of the presentation at one time. We decided to make a map to demonstrate this. Then, with a pointer on the map (played by Morgan), Flora would be able to show where they were going. It was a bit difficult to figure this out. We had to paint the map, which went well, but then the paint started chipping and flaking. It took a lot of changing plans, and flexibility to fix this problem. Finally, on the day of the regional tournament, we decided to put clear tape over the whole thing, to make sure the paint stayed. And it worked! We used a lot of tape, but the appraisers loved it. I’m really proud of our troubleshooting abilities, and how we worked till the very last minute. 

My other role, as I mentioned before, was a team choice element. For this, we decided that we wanted ‘homemade looking’ medical badges, as Flora thinks she is a medical professional, but is not. So, seeing as I knew kind of how to hand embroider, that was up to me. They took a long time to make, hours actually, but I made three badges that I am very proud of. It really goes to show how the strange hobbies we all have can add to our solutions!

Although we went through some difficulties as a team, we came out on the other end. I worked with some people I’ve never worked with before, and it was interesting to see how each of us were so different. If I were to do this project again, I think I wouldn’t underestimate some people like I did this time. We also needed to make sure we were all on the same page, as that bit us in the end. But overall, we faired very well, and came in first place. I can’t wait for the provincial tournament!