In math we have been looking at shapes and the surface area and volume of shapes. What better way to show this in PLP then makeing a monster with shapes and then finding the math in it. Now I say monster or villain in a different way because at the beginning I wasn’t sure about this so mine doesn’t exactly look like a villain as such.
But the thing is this villain will kill them cuteness when they least expect it (or kill them with kindness). And there is math behind this because we had to measure everything and then find the surface area and volume.
And of course for such a cute and evil creature you need a menacing name and that would be bubbles.
There is a following project where we make a hero and then have to put them in a habitat and make a video around it. But we haven’t come to that point in the project so until then, Bye for now!
Well in class we were looking at people who changed the world and more specifically people in Seattle since we were doing a field study down there. We researched what makes people different and want to do such amazing things. We then were put into groups and assigned a person from Seattle that we had to create a video about. I really loved learning about Dale Chihuly the person that we got. He is a world renowned glass blower who has gone through so much tribulations in his life. We researched everything about him from his family to his career and how it got started. But that is all said and showed in our video that we made in Seattle.
I hope you enjoyed learning about Dale Chihuly as much as I did
Last year around this time we were doing DI. This is a competition where you are assigned or choose a challenge that you then have to solve. Though you can’t have any help or use any ideas that anyone else contributed this can be tricky in finding ideas that are interesting and you can use in your presentation. The last time we did this I was in the engineering challenge where you have to create a structure under a certain weight. This year though I was in the fine arts section where we had to create a vanishing act based around a colour.
In my group was Mimi, Sofia, James and Ryan. We based our story that yellow had been stolen by blue because of Egyptian beliefs and blue wanted to be the most important primary color. In order to do this we were each a color and I was rainbow the investigator looking for him and interegating blue in the process. And as for our vanishing act we got a piece of white paper that we wrote Egyptian hieroglyphics and that we stained with coffee. We then put words saying that yellow was located near the great sphinx on the back of this then shined a light through it and the audience saw this and then it vanished.
And since this is a competion we found out that day that there were only two teams competent in this category and we were one of them. So this added an extra stress. But even though we didn’t win just because the judges didn’t think that it was a vanishing act and a few other details our group still did very good all things considered. And dont worry we get to fix all our mistakes since we are going to the provincial competion in a month!
If you have seen my previous blog posts and know what PLP is you would know that its technology and project based. But recently with Mr. Featherstone in English/humanities we went the more traditional of writing and looking at essays. And since we were looking at fantasy and what draws us to imaginary worlds why not incorporate that into it? So our final essay was about Alice in wonderland and overall what draws us to imaginary worlds. Though we didn’t just jump in we started off with reading alice in wonderland as well as look at certain types of arguments that you can use. Next we looked at the essay structure and how you need a thesis and to have valuable points while not putting in your own opinion. This was all to create the final product of an essay that made sense and had a good structure. Though we had some tries before and tested out how things do and most importantly dont make sense.
So here is my final product:
What draws us to Imaginary worlds?
Isobel DeVille
Jan 27 2017
Block 7
Imagining a new world where anything can happen is one of the most amazing things and Lewis Carroll portrays that perfectly in his book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But why do people love it so much, what draws them in? It could be there is something for everyone, a good vs evil story and to escape our world for a better one.
Though it may have been created for women so they could have a cute little story it has grown so much since then. Just as Lewis Carroll points out in Alice in wonderland “Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood”. But that quote also shows that its for all ages not just young children. Though people still seem to think its one genre of unicorns and rainbows but in reality it isn’t. There are steampunk stories, urban, comics, dark and much more. Fantasy can draw you in because it can give you exactly what you want in a way that other genres cant. It gives us the ability to picture ourselves in another persons shoes.
That last point ties into the Good vs Evil spectrum because we most likely can relate to it. Though it may be exaggerated in stories, we still see that we are similar or want to be like this hero. This quote I think shows what I mean “Get up!’ said the Queen, in a shrill, loud voice, and the three gardeners instantly jumped up, and began bowing to the King, the Queen, the royal children, and everybody else.”. Because if we are facing a bully at school or having trouble at home you can then be the hero. Since heroes struggle and go through tough times just like us therefor we can rise up above and win the battle. That the heroes show the struggle in plain daylight and that can relieve us from that stress and take it out on them. And its been like this for ever the hero comes and saves the day and repeats it forever so it gives us hope. Hope that things will get better and that we will find our way.
Finally it is to escape from this world and into another. A world where anything is possible and we have the possibilities of the everything and beyond. Which gives us immense possibilities whether it is flying or just having a friend. Also we can read or watch fantasy and it will help us from day to day. The reason for that is we can have similar but maybe not so extravagant encounters and think ” they did that so why not I do this?” And the final point is that anything can happen in somewhere you don’t know that you have the curiosity to explore. “Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field”
We can do anything if we set our mind to it and allow our selves to wonder what is beyond those so called “doors”.
Overall whether it is looking for something to do or imagining a world where everything is better it all comes back to fantasy. Where we can fly and dance with unicorns or we can live in a dark world where things just don’t seem to work until you have one key. Really fantasy is an important part of life that helps us from day to day to solve problems and help ourselves. Plus its also just fun, fun to live in a world where anything is possible. And as Alice says “So she sat on, with closed eyes, and half believed herself in Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again, and all would change to dull reality”.
If you have seen my previous post on Florida you world know I have just recently been to Disney world but more specifically magic kingdom. Now you might be wondering why this has any importance but one of the main reasons we went to Orlando was to answer the question What draws us to imaginary worlds? In order to answer this we were each assigned a attraction that we had to research and then create a video since we are also looking at cinematography. So for my attraction I chose Cinderellas castle, the main castle that is there logo and when you walk in right away it’s what you see. So here is my first draft of the video enjoy!
In PLP you go on one big trip a year and this year the grade nines went to Orlando Florida this was an amazing jam packed trip. This was from the 3 to the 12 and we went everywhere from Disney world to NASA we even surfed! So the first after after arriving we went to Disney World to the magic kingdom. I loved it there because it truly is the happiest place on earth. Also at magic kingdom is where my video on what draws us to imaginary worlds and my attraction was Cinderellas castle. Other then magic kingdom we also went to the two other parks Epcot and animal kingdom, I loved all of them but magic kingdom was my favorite just since it is a classic.
The following day we went to universal studios and had so much fun there since the rides are huge. I even faced my fear and went on rip ride roller coaster a huge roller coaster that does a loop! I loved this so much I went twice.
Then we went to Merritt island and saw some alligators and beautiful birds. We even got to go on an airboat ride to see lots of gators. Then after seeing the alligators the next day we went surfing. I had surfed previously and had amazing times and this wasn’t any difference. I got up on the board and they were great beginner waves so fairly small. That afternoon we got to go to a space training class type thing that taught us how the flights work and the training needed. When we were there we got to do a simulator of a flight and we all had specific jobs so I was a scientist on the shuttle and got to do real experiments!
After astronaut training we then went to the NASA visitor center where the real Atlantis was and we got to see. As well at the Kennedy space center was a behind the scene type tour that we could decide to go on. I signed up for that because its a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m glad I did. On the tour we got to see the assembly building (fun fact it’s the 5th largest building in the world) as well as a real issuing control flight room.
After NASA the following days until we left we’re at Disney Epcot and animal kingdom. At Epcot is the world showcase this was really fun and interesting to see since lots of the places they show I would love to travel sometime. After that we were then at animal kingdom where there are real animals such as giraffes, monkeys and lions. I liked it there but I just don’t agree with the animals being in captivity even though they do have lots of space.
Overall this was a great experience and I loved everything about the trip! So until the bye for now!
Its been awhile but here is a science post on doing an experiment. So in class we did an experiment how a single replacement created a copper metal which when put over fire turned the flame green. Though me and my partner didn’t quite get to the end step we did see other people finish it before the bell rung. But what we did was get aluminum and soak it in copper fluid that burns the aluminum foil into smaller parts for the further steps. Where we take. Aluminum chloride and you washed that out with water to get the clearest solution.
I dont have pics of the flame since we didn’t get that far but this was how far we got of it changing colours.
So even though we didn’t succeed it was still interesting learning about the process and seeing other people succeed.
Have you ever wondered about something so intensely that it just wont leave your head? Well in class we are looking at fantasy is wonder. Wondering what’s real, Wondering how we got there, Wondering what we are doing. So to show what I mean here is some school work to express what I mean.
This is a mind map of what you relate to wonder
This is a story I wrote about seeing the garden in a different perspective
Based of Rhoal Dhals writing in the BFG we created our own language
We learnt about how other people think of wonder
We also created a comic about fantasy in another class to tie in with wonder
So as we keep learning more about fantasy and wonder there will be more blog posts to come.
As always this year just before we had winter break we had blue sky and this year the grade nine theme was…. Harry Potter!
So for my project I chose to research birds because they are very smart and have interested me for a long time, so to be able to tie that in with Harry Potter was great. And that question that I came up with was if it weren’t an owl that was the bird messenger what would be the next best bird? Through my research I then found that there were multiple birds that would be great but found that there was one that would be amazing… The raven since it is both intelligent and the perfect size, for example they can use tools if need be and recognize peoples faces.
But not only is blue sky my own presentation but showing it in an interesting way. So with my group who included Mimi, Angela, Kyle, Ryan, James, and Sam. And as we were basing our projects on Harry Potter we set are area up as the forbidden forest. That meant putting on the first movie on a big projector, spooky Harry Potter music and decorating the library with plants and everything green. We also strung lights across the ceiling as we had all the lights off and people need to see our projects and not trip over things. But things dont end there we also had food and drinks that we made and those were dragons blood(sprite and green food colouring) and tree rice crispies.
Overall I really did love learning about the birds and finding out how to work as a group to create a forbidden forest. And so thats all, bye for now!
In science we have been looking at the periodic table and how elements fit in together. And so as always with PLP we have a corresponding project, where we are making superheroes based on a single element in our group (In my group is Makyla, Ryan and James) So far we have worked fairly well, there have been a few times where we have had to refocus but really it has all worked out well and we have learnt to work together. Though we do not simply choose an element and say hey there’s a superhero there is a full process. Like what do we want it to do? What are its characteristics? So as we narrowed it came down to eventually basing our superhero off of mercury. Along with finding out our actual element we also had to make a poster of the periodic table.
Poster
As well as a team sign
Really overall we have all learnt lots so far and willl eventually get to the point where we visually can show our superhero but until then
