“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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
