Frankenstuffy

In school we recently fisnished an interesting and engaging unit of study.  In this unit we worked on Math, Science, and PLP. Our question of inquiry was, Who is in control, Humans or the environment? In math we learned how to calculate the volume and surface area of shapes. Once we learned that we had to make a monster, then calculate the surface area and volume of each of it’s body parts. You can read more about this in a Blog Post I wrote in March. Once everyone’s math monsters were finished we started our unit in Sciencs. We learned about ecology, which is the study of the interactions between organisms and the environment. We learned about the different roles an organism can have in its environment and how it affects the environment. We learned about abiotic and biotic factors and the difference between a habitat and a niche. We also learned about the main things that are killing our planet and how they are killing it. 

In PLP we began this unit by reading The Martian. It is a book about a man who gets stuck on Mars and has to find a way to survive. We divided the book into 4 sections and completed a discussion sheet after each section. We then analyzed that section with our groups and discussed who was in control, Humans or the Enviroment. We also did some Common Lit readings about the environment and humans and we had to talk about who was in control. I found that most of the time the environment was in control but the humans were occasionally in control. 

Also in PLP we learned about the different geographical regions of Canada. We also learnened about different types of precipitation and climates in different parts of Canada. Once we had learned everything it was time to start the final project. The final project was to write an epistolary story then turn it into a video. An epistolary story is a story written in the format of a journal or diary or something similar to that. The story had to be about an animal that lives in Canada. There had to be some kind of disturbance that the animal had to adapt to. It also had to include the math Monster. Before I got started on the story I was assigned the northwest of the interior plains to be my setting. The next thing I had to do was pick the exact area for the setting and then pick the animal I wanted to write my story on. I did a little research and decided that my story would be placed at Great Bear Lake. I then had to pick the animal and I decided on a grizzly bear. Now I had to start writing the story.

To start the story I first came up with the plot. I decided the disturbance was going to be that it was way too cold and all the animals were hiding. The bear would have to go on a journey to find food and would have to adapt along the way to survive. He will also have to fight the monster because he is eating all of the food. My story had 8 chapters and it changes perspective a couple of times. You can read my story Here.

Once the story was finished it was time for the fun part. I got to make my animal with its adaptions. My animal was a grizzly bear and it’s adaptions were that it grew wings and a long spiky tail to help it survive. My job was to spew my Frankenstuffy. I had to find stuffies that had the parts of my frankenstuffy. I went to about 5 stores before I found the stuffies I needed. I bought a grizzly bear and a stegasourus. I cut the tail off of the stegasourus and attached it to the bear then I needed wings. The story originally asked for big white wings but I was unable to find some so I had to change the story a bit. I added in how the bear’s wings start off small and green and grow big and white when he needs them. I used the big scales off of the stegasourus’s back for the wings. Making my stuffy was really fun and it turned out really well. 

Once my stuffy was done I took a bunch of pictures of it for my video. My video was going to be done with animation so I took pictures of my stuffy from all angles. Before I could actually start my video I had to make a video storyboard. My story was already written so this was pretty easy. I just had to decide how to show each part of the story. Once that was done I was ready to start my first draft of my video. It took me a long time to do all of the animations and put it together. I did the animation in Explain Everything . I also used Comic Life to edit some of the pictures. When my first draft was done I handed it in and waited for feedback. 

Draft 1
The first round of feedback was from my peers. It was very specific and I knew what I had to change for my second draft. I added some music and changed a few scenes than I handed it in.

Draft 2
 For the second draft the feedback was from my teacher. It was specific and very helpful. For the third draft I changed the music, edited some of the script, and added some sound effects. I also edited a couple of the animations. I’m really proud of my final draft.