Month: January 2023

Metrophobia

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[psst, you should search up what the title means. it’s what I got from this project]

The Project Pitch

Welcome to Full Steam Ahead. The project that we had 15 school days to complete! In this project, we created cause and consequence graphic organizers, wrote a formal paragraph about (the environmental consequences of the Industrial Revolution, the consequences of urbanization, the consequences for workers, the impact on and consequences for war, the impact on children, or we selected a specific technological innovation and focused on its impact), learned about slam poetry, and created a slam poem about (see previous brackets).

 

My Learning Adventure

This project led me to understand quite of a few things. For one, I discovered more about what makes up a revolution, and just what the Industrial Revolution was all about. I learned about the inventions that made up the Industrial Revolution and the innovations that helped humanity progress farther than ever before. In this project, I also learned about what a slam poem actually is (definition), and etiquette of a formal paragraph/poem.

 

The Skills

In this project, I learned how to create a successful slam poem, as well as how to compose a formal paragraph. I would say that my researching skills improved, as well as my note-taking abilities, which were honed during the fill in the blanks and research segments of the project. I was also able to plan my poem and paragraph more efficiently than I could have possibly done before.

My Work

Driving Question and Answer

How can slam poetry help us connect to issues?

Because it presents issues in a way that is honest, personal, and empathetic, slam poetry enables us to connect with them. Slam poets frequently address societal and political issues by drawing on their own personal experiences, making them more relatable to their audience and having an impact. Additionally, slam poetry’s immediacy and energy come from its performance aspect, which can help raise awareness of pressing issues.

Skill Sprint with Rollercoasters (basically mini Destination Imagination)

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Alright, smol post time.

Media

What I learned

In this mini project, I learned the power of frie- just kidding. In this project, I learned about what kinetic, potential, and thermal energy is and how to determine where it is (with roller coaster examples). For example, the most potential energy is usually found at the top of the biggest hill, because it has the most potential. The most Kinetic energy, on the other hand, is usually found just before the roller coaster stops sloping down. So basically at the bottom of a hill.

 

What I Liked

I really liked the PHET simulator with an adjustable track, where you could launch people to the moon. (I think the rest of the class did too.)

I also enjoyed the process of creation and planning. Figuring out a design that could score us points, while still looking at the logistics of material cost and the sturdiness of the structure. It really let our imaginations run wild in our own unique ways (basically what an imagination is). I chose to make a Rick Astley coaster- nah. That would be funny is it worked though. My group settled on using the spiral to get multiple points while keeping the structural soundness, and it worked…for the most part.

I also had fun coming up with the name. “The Topsy Turvy”. That’s all I need to say.

What I would do better next time

I think that next time, I would add more support to the actual track so that it wouldn’t stop the marble from rolling, as it did in the videos. The sad thing is that, in almost all the test runs, it worked smoothly, going around all the spirals and turns perfectly, but in the videos, it didn’t work properly, and in the performance, it didn’t work the first few times and didn’t work properly the 3rd time.

That is all. Thank you for your time

Skill Sprint with Videos

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Finding Fun with Videos

 

Jumpcuts

What went well with Jumpcuts?

I think that the transitions were very clean. We put lots of effort into them in the limited time that we had to film it and edit it. I’m also very pleased with the idea for our video. We decided to have a “teleportation device” be discovered, but instead of teleporting the person who pressed it, it teleports random person there and away again.

 

What would I improve on next time with Jumpcuts?

Next time, I would hope to keep the camera angles more consistent so that the screen doesn’t jump around so much during transitions. That way, the transitions would be a bit smoother and less unstable.

 

 

AR Snow Globe

What went well with my AR Snow Globe?

Remember those rubber red dodgeballs from gym class in elementary school?

Yeah, those ones.

Well, I kinda sorta put one in a snow globe. I have nothing else to say. It’s perfect in every way. (Hey, that rhymes \(^ヮ^)/ )

What would I improve on next time with my AR Snow Globe?

This was a pretty open activity, but there’s I few things I might change next time if I had the time. I would probably choose an image a bit more relevant to school (for example: a past assignments final product). Next time, I would, if possible, get the video in a plainer area with a more simple background and less details/people.

 

Green Screen Travel Videos

What went well with the Green Screen Travel Video?

I’m very happy with how this turned out. Who knew I could visit so many places with the click of a button (Sorry about the Ohio meme, that was very dead). I’m also satisfied with the fact that I could incorporate the jump cut technique from earlier into this as well (if not stealing the idea).

What would I improve on next time with the Green Screen Travel Video?

Next time, I think I would probably make the cuts a bit cleaner. I would also remove the Ohio sign because that isn’t that funny anymore and school assignments should be completed more seriously than if it were a personal creation.

 

Memoji Storytelling

What went well with Memoji Storytelling?

I think that the AR elements and transfer from Keynote to AR Makr went very well. I’m happy that I came up with such a funny idea, and I’m glad that the photo shots worked well.

What would I improve on next time with Memoji Storytelling?

I would like to improve my drawing skills as I was not happy with the final product of the Memoji storytelling. I want to add more details. I also want to make them look more realistic and less plain. I would like to, in the future work on my drawing skills more and refine them.

 

Viral Video Stopmotion

the link doesn’t work since copyright so just click on this

What went well with my group’s Viral Video Stopmotion?

The process of creating this was certainly a long one, one so long it stretched into the weekend. Just like in the Exciting Electricity project (blog here), I had trouble coming up with what to make originally. I decided to partner with a friend of mine (his blog here), and we came up with, you guessed it, Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. I’m very proud of how this ended up turning out. Some of the things I specifically liked were the characters, which I worked very hard on creating, as well as the frame by frame shots, which were meant to be closely related to the original music video. My friend made the backgrounds and helped me take some of the stopmotion shots.

What would I improve on next time with my group’s Viral Video Stopmotion?

Next time, I’d like to make the frames a bit more similar, and get the arm movement more precise. Other than that, I’m very happy with my final video.

Never Gonna Give You a Working Circuit: The Power of Electricity and Rick Astley (poor him)

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(The reason for former of this title is due to the fact that at first, it took a few tries to get my operation game working and I got very frustrated at it. The reason for the latter of the title is due to the fact that in the process of making the game playable, I accidentally tore apart the Rick Astley paper doll.)

The Boring Sales Pitch

Welcome to Enticing Electricity (yayyyyy, an alliteration)! A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. (Huh, wrong thing?) oh well. In this project, I created an infographic on a type of energy generation, learned about stuff, and created an “Operation” style game! Bonus points, it’s Rick Astley! (Or at least a very mangled version of him) Cameron is not responsible for damage to property or person.

[wow, three FNAF references in one paragraph. “A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life.” and “-is not responsible for damage to property or person.” is from phone guy’s first phone call. “mangle-ed” like the animatronic.]
[Tip for discovering what electricity is and how it moves: Stick a fork into and electrical outlet. Who knows, it might even give you superpowers!]

 

Looking Back/My Process

The process I took to get my operation game working consisted of looking at and studying the teacher’s finished box and circuit, and comparing mine to the example. To get my game working, I went step-by-step following both the instructions provided and the reference of the teacher’s box and eventually my game just worked somehow. I don’t really understand why my original design did not work as a complete circuit but I suspect that it could have been because I did not follow the instructions closely enough and didn’t have a lot of experience working with circuits.

 

 

The Skills/The Takeaway of the Process

Electricity is a wide subject with multiple uses, types, jobs, and functions stemming from it. In this unit I learned a lot more about electricity then I said what about then before I started. For one, I learned some of the more famous ways of generating electricity, and the pros and cons of each of them (through sharing around the class and Kurzgesagt). For example, NEI (The Nuclear Energy Institute) claims that solar photovoltaic plants need 75 times more acreage and that wind farms need 360 times more land to generate the same amount of electricity as a nuclear energy facility. I learned stuff like that just from a single keystone! I also learned about Ohm’s Law (Electrical Potential Difference/Voltage = Current x Resistance, Current = EPD/Voltage / Resistance, Resistance = EPD/Voltage / Current), protons and electrons, positive, negative, and neutral charges, and how to create a circuit diagram (what the symbols are and mean).

Next time, I would hope to make my board game look a little more tidy instead of looking like a little kid stepped on it, but I’m still satisfied with just the fact that it works and that I put effort into it. If I had infinite materials, I would most definitely make sure things were better attached, but such is life.

 

A Cameron Point-of-View

(What I, as a human being, enjoyed about it, some images, and some fun personal experiences I had during this time. Including after)


 

 

Video Link of Game in Action: Here

Alright, now that we’ve got all the necessary school stuff out of the way (except for the driving question which is last. Procrastination ?), it’s time to be Camerooooonnnn.

I really enjoyed this project because we could honestly pursue the final task in a pretty wide variety of ways. You could choose any image you wanted (or create one), and choose any items you wanted to extract. I do have to admit, I was a bit lacking in the creativity department at the start, but then I got an idea. An awful idea. I got a wonderful, awful idea ?.

[now a grinch reference too?]

I decided to do… Rick Astley. Yup. What do you extract from him you might ask? Well, it’s “Never”, “Gonna”, “Give”, “You”, and “Up”. Yup. Although, to make the holes big enough for it to be playable, I had to stab him many, many times. With a pencil, with string cutting scissors, with normal school scissors, and with a glue stick. Yup.

On the last day of semester 1, it was even better. We… made s’mores with Bunsen burners (you probably saw the images already). It was fun times in the classroom. We even got to watch Octonauts near the end! Best (and only) Science class ever!

Thanks for being such a great teacher Ms. Kadi!

-your definitely model student, Cam.

P.S. click on the first P.S.

Driving Questions and Answers

How does electricity help shape our society and how can we generate it more sustainably? 

Because it powers technology and makes it possible for modern infrastructure, electricity plays a crucial role in shaping society. It facilitates communication, lighting and heating our homes, and economic expansion. There are a number of options for more environmentally friendly electricity generation:

1. Renewable resources: Utilize renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal to produce electricity without consuming any resources or emitting any emissions.

2. Energy conservation: Utilizing energy-efficient technologies and procedures in industries, transportation, and buildings can cut down on energy waste.

3. Smart grids: Install cutting-edge grid systems that are capable of effectively managing demand and integrating renewable sources.

4. Atomic power: Develop cutting-edge nuclear technologies that can produce electricity while minimizing waste and emitting no greenhouse gases.

5. Capture of carbon: To lessen their impact on the environment, fossil fuel power plants should capture and store carbon emissions.

Thank you for your time!

Halfway Through Surviving Year 2 of High School (mPols)

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“Thank you for coming to my presentation of learning. I am the expert on my own learning. I am also responsible and accountable for my own learning. You can expect me to give an honest evaluation of my progress. We will discuss my strengths and opportunities for growth. Thank you in advance for listening and for offering feedback that I can use to improve as a learner.”

We’re almost through the first semester of Grade 9, and I’ve learned and created so many things in PLP in that short time. Now that we’re getting close to that (somewhat) halfway point, it’s time for…

In this blog post, I’ll basically be doing a summative blog post of my projects so far this year, my answers to the driving questions, and which was my favourite project from each by class so far.

Starting off, we have…

Science

Handle with Care

links:

Food Web, Bioaccumulation/Biomagnification GIF, and Mock New Report

This was our first project for the year for Science, and it was a fun one for sure! For the first science project of the semester, we had a wide variety of assignments covering lots of amazing skills. For example, I learned more about coding with the food web assignment. The mock news report got me more familiar with videography techniques and software. I find these 2 skills to be important to me because in the future, two of my dream jobs are game developer and photographer/videographer. These skills have also helped me in more recent projects too! (More on that later)

I really enjoyed this project as the introduction to a new year of science with a new teacher too!

 

Life as we Know It

Links:
Puppet Show and Finish Line Video

The second project was very fun. We learned about sexual reproduction, Meiosis and Mitosis, and asexual reproduction. We had our drawing skills put to the test during the Asexual Reproduction comics, which we made 5 of! (Not a bad thing) Last year, in Scimatics, I did the whole drawing project without an Apple Pencil!

This was a very enjoyable project that let my creativity run wild. I built on quite a few skills, and I’m glad that this is one of the ways to teach us PLP kids.

 

Essential Elements

Links:

Periodic Table Version 1 and Version 2

This unit wasn’t very long because it was paused over winter break and couldn’t be completed in time. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the coding aspect (so much that I made 2 scratch periodic tables).

I’d have to say that even though this was the shortest Science project, it was my favourite one, because I demonstrated that I could go above and beyond if I was passionate about the task. I even helped a classmate make their game because they didn’t understand how.

 

Exciting Electricity

This project was an interesting one, that’s for sure. Whether it was the frustration of not knowing whether the battery, LED light, or even the wire wasn’t working, or the Kurzgesagt videos and Kahoots on the different types of energy. It was unique for sure. Other than that though, I really like the idea of creating our own “Operation” style board game. Mine turned out pretty well. I’m happy with the final product, although it could have been even better with a bit more work. Poor Rick Astley…

 

 

Maker

Vibrant Video

Links:

Clips, Shots and Angles, and Planning and Shooting

The first project to start off maker was a very fun, one which was within my areas of interest. We learned many filming techniques, including rule of thirds, shots and angles, and story boarding. I was able to learn more about photo editing, shading, and lighting just like I had stated in my learning plan as an area of growth. One thing that I would improve on next time is that I want to make the Keystone 1 video in Clips without using other software. I would need to figure out how to use Clips more since I am very confident in my skills with the app at the moment.

I really enjoyed this project because it was an area where I am knowledgeable.

 

Your First Film

Link:

AR Video

I am very proud of the end product of this project, and I feel like I took a lot from this experience. I learned how to conduct an interview properly and had the first experience of an online interview as the interviewer. I also learned what B-roll is, and how to add it efficiently to complement your interview video. I would like to improve my skill of paraphrasing and using my own words in a timely manner to make my presentation seem more like me.

I really enjoyed working on this project because I’m very passionate about technology and so I felt like this was really a way for me to express my skills in video editing, as well as my knowledge in that area of augmented reality. A connection to my personal life is that I enjoy playing. Pokémon go what uses an AR element to enhance the experience all I know this was a really great project to do and I’m very glad that I got to do this project in school.

 

Finding Fun with Videos

Links:

Jump Cut, AR Snow Globe, Green Screen Travel Spot, and Memoji Storytelling

I’m not really sure if this counts as a project, but I still learned quite a few skills during its duration. Just as I said in my learning plan, I discovered photo editing skills, which transferred over into video editing skills. I learned things such as green screening on iMovie and timing videos correctly so that I could make jump cuts. I was able to complete these tasks efficiently and promptly because, as stated in my strengths on my learning plan, learning new technology skills comes quickly to me. I would like to improve my drawing skills as I was not happy with the final product of the Memoji storytelling. I want to add more details. I also want to make them look more realistic and less plain. I would like to, in the future work on my drawing skills more and refine them.

This was a fun collection of assignments that gave me new opportunities to learn, and I’m glad that I got the chance to.

Viral Video Stop Motion

Link:

Final Stopmotion

I really enjoyed this project because it allowed us to choose a topic as our liking and partner up with people of our choice as well. You were able to choose your own viral video to create a reproduction stop motion of it. I chose Rick Astley‘s “Never Gonna Give You Up” because I thought it would be funny and I also have a love for music. I am very happy with how it turned out. I learned patience through struggling with moving around such small pieces without messing it up. What I take away from this experience is that stop motion looks easy, but there’s a lot of effort put in behind it. If I were to do this project again, I would focus on, trying not to show the severed limbs of the characters as these were needed for posing, I would also hope to make the characters look more natural in their poses, and make them look more like they are doing the actions. (The characters were paper.)

I liked this project a lot because it let our creativity run free and let us create a video of our choosing.

 

Humanities

The Power of Geography


Links:

Welcome to Alberta

This project was the introduction to Humanities 9, and it was a “wild ride”, no pun intended. This was my first field study as I was not able to attend last year’s trip to Loon Lake. I feel like being able to experience it in person was more effective than sitting in a desk learning things from a textbook. During this project, I learned about the five themes of geography and what the term geography really means. I learned that there was a lot more to the history of Canada’s railways than I thought; for example, railways were an ingenuity to spread ideas, people and goods across Canada.

If I could go back and redo my E-book, I don’t think I’d change a thing because I’m happy about how my book turned out. I was proud of the photos I took and the written materials I developed for this book.

I’m grateful for the experiences I had and the memories I made on this trip. There’s a time and place for everything, and going on an epic PLP learning advance is, in my mind, one of the best ways to learn effectively.

 

Storm the Barricades


Link:

Revolutions on Trial Video

In “Storm the Barricades” I learned about the things that make up a revolution. Before I began this project, I didn’t have any idea what a revolution was. After going through all the lessons and learning experiences, I can confidently say that revolutions are an important part of creating the societies we live in today. For example, the American Revolution led them to independence from Britain, creating the America we know today. Without the American Revolution, America would most likely still be a part of Britain and perhaps slavery would not yet have been abolished, but that is maybe a big assumption to make.

One area I regret that I would like to improve on next time is the Revolutions on Trial video. I wish that I had incorporated more of my video skills into this project, skills that I acquired earlier on in the year in other projects. I would have incorporated shots, angles and lighting to my advantage to make our video more interesting and appealing to watch, but since this was a team project, these ideas of mine were not used. I can continue to work on my skills and role within a group.

Full Steam Ahead

Link:

Environmental Consequences Final Draft

This project was a great experience, and I really enjoyed the chance to understand the Industrial Revolution, the story behind it, and all of its inventions. One of the most shocking learnings from this revolution was the poor working conditions for people, especially working class children. I feel lucky to be in Canada in this century with better working conditions and unions to improve workplaces.

I learned a lot more about how much this revolution also affected today’s society, both environmentally and mechanically. Environmentally, the consequences were crazy, such ans habitat destruction, deforestation, air pollution, and chemical contamination, which can still be observed today and are contributing to climate change. However, the Industrial Revolution also led to a lot of innovations that have advanced our society in many ways. Some examples of this include the lightbulb, the car, and the steam engine, which are all used in some form today.