Monthly Archives: June 2022

Comix for Cell

Hello! This blog post is the summary and story of my final Scimatics project, Comic Cells! In this project we learned about the parts of a cell and a specific disease we chose and then make it into a comic. The big idea for this project is “Life processes are performed at the cellular level.”

The first thing we did for this project was actually watch a movie. Not the “oh its pyjama day, lets watch a movie!” But for educational purposes, but it was an actual movie. We watched it because it was about cells and kind of showed the process of a disease entering the body and being defeated. I didn’t really like the movie (part of the reason I couldn’t hear it) and I thought it could have been taught in a more effective manor. With this introduction to the project done, we can get to the learning…

Workbooks and textbooks! Easy to understand, easy to complete good ol’ workbooks. As I have often lamented there isn’t much to talk about except for what I learned… which I kind of forgot. And its pretty dense anyway. There was three of sets of textbooks and workbooks we worked through. And now with the Building Knowle— oh wait! What is that? Tests and quizzes! Noooo, actually its not that mad. I did struggle with these because the classes they were introduced in I wasn’t there. AND I straight up didn’t know the answers to the questions. But Judah, I hear you asking, you just did three sets of workbooks and textbooks, why do you not know the answers? Because dear reader, there was more info to ingest and consume. I originally was just being lazy and thought I could just fling myself metaphorically into the tests and do fine. I couldn’t. I guessed and semi-cheated (I just memorized the answers instead of learning them) through the first one but I wanted to learn the information about cells, not just know it. I needed to try something else. 

I called in my dad. He’s really smart with science and math. Well, he is an engineer! With him and me we watched the videos and read the articles and took notes. After a few evenings of doing this I watched all the vids. I approached the tests, staring them right in their beady eyes and charged head on. Through a grindy battle I marched and out the other side I came. Victorious! I had complete them! And only got a couple wrong answers. Now that I had ACTUALLY completed Building my Knowledge I could move onto the next step. 

There was just one thing left for this project, the final countdown product. A comic about cells and diseases. Ok, this is basically the rubric. Research your chosen disease (we chose a disease earlier in the project with some one off activity) and make a comic out of it. We also had to have at least 10 vocabulary words about this field of science. The disease I chose is Kuru or the Laughing Death. You get it from eating someones brain. After that it travels to your brain and starts to degrade your neurons. There are multiple stages of losing control of your body until you have random fits of crying and laughter (hence the name). As not being able to swallow and easily choking. All around real pleasant. 

Before I was allowed to start making the actual comic I needed to make my storyboard. I thought it was supposed to just be a concept with low effort in drawing so I didn’t colour and I did stick men. But I was wrong, so I changed it. No big deal. After that I was able to get to work on my comic. Its hard to explain the process of that so I will but sho— oh crap my Apple Pencil broke… if you haven’t guessed already the comic is on the iPad. I need the Pencil. So I could only work on it at school were I could borrow a Pencil. Honestly, not the end of the world it just means I have less time to work on it. But enough delays, drum roll please, my Comic!

 

I think its fine. I don’t love how I did the vocab words. I felt like I had to cram them in there. If I had more time I would have found a way to get them in more smoothly but oh well you can’t win them all. I used most of my class time for learning and doing my work. Of course I couldn’t focus 100% of the time (thats not how humans work). I did have all my vocab words and correct diagrams. As I said I didn’t love how I put in the vocab words. My characters did interact in a scientific way.

See ya around and goodbye, Judah G!

Spring Ex-Hubbyition

Hello! This blog post is the summary and story of my (actual) final, Spring Exhibition! This is a blog post about the Spring Exhibition. And I can’t find the place where the Big Question is. 

The first thing we did when we learned of the Spring Exhibition was freak out. The second was be assigned a part of the Spring Exhibition. I was assigned the Conclusion. This time we the grade 8’s and 9’s were both doing the same part of the Exhibition. And they started it first so they did most of the explaining and telling us what to do. Normally I want to choose what I do and have more control over what I am doing but I didn’t care this time. I think this was because I was tired of school and I wanted it to be over. 

After we got assigned a position (mine is the Conclusion), we chose what station we would work at. I chose to work in the Hall of Hard Work. In the Hall of Hard Work each person in conclusion will put a piece of work from the year that they are proud of and one you aren’t proud of. I chose to show my D20 Drawing to be proud of and my Final Ad for Deep Cove Music to not be proud of. I then attached a artist statement to each. Here they are: 

AD: Deep Cove Music

I an not proud of my ad that my group constructed at the start of the year. This project was about making an ad for a company we were assigned. I was assigned Deep Cove Music. I don’t really like it because it is really basic, hard to read, and bad photoshop. I also don’t really even love the idea of it in general. Another thing that I don’t like about it is the black bar at the top. 

ART: D20

I really like my dice that I drew. It was for a project all about drawing and taking pictures. I put a lot of time and effort into into it to make it how it is. This was one of my earliest uses of real shading and I really enjoyed it. I modelled it after a dice I own and the shadow does actually look like that. 

What I was to do in the Hall of Hard Work was whenever someone walked in I would explain what it was. After I finished that work I just helped the grade 9’s with there stuff. That including mostly just using art skills with painting, drawing, and designing signs. It was fun. 

Then the day came of the exhibition. I skipped that school day so that I had energy for the day. When I came to the school I really started to get nervous. So for the hour or two to set up I didn’t exactly know what to do so I just kept asking people if they needed help. I helped but up multiple signs, sort some trophies, and put up letters. Then we started to decorate the Hall of Hard Work. This involved putting up emojis on the ceiling and struggling with paper on the wall. Then we sorted all the work and artist statements. Then… the skittles came out. We were giving skittles away because they’re slogan is taste the rainbow and in PLP the Rainbow Emoji is the A-A+. It also meant I got skittles. It was done. We were ready

Supper time! We went to the cafeteria to have the pizza we ordered. We started off by getting not enough pizza. Then we may get seconds. Actually I did get enough food for once which was nice. Nothing much to say about supper actually. 

Then we went up and started performing. As the first people came to the Hall of Hard Work I said… whatever I said. I forget. Sorry. But I do know I said it many times. I took a couple breaks so that I would stay sane. There wasn’t anything super interesting happened. Sooo yeah that was the night. 

All together it wasn’t that bad of a night and I kind of enjoyed it. 

See ya around and goodbye, Judah!

Tpool

Hello! This blog post is the summary and story of my final blog post project, Tpol! In this blog I will take a look at what I did this year and do a self assessment of it. The driving question for this project is “Why do you feel you are ready to advance to the next grade level?”

Class Review 

Humanities

I generally really enjoy learning new things. I just don’t when I don’t think its necessary or if I think that its being taught it in a ineffective way. I also didn’t like the classroom with everyone being loud and how bright it was.   

Maker

I have mostly forgotten about Maker. If you want a class review on it just go look at my Mpol blog post. 

Scimatics 

I have the same opinions about learning as Humanities. I did really like the classroom for Scimatics. We were given seats that we are always at and it has less windows making it darker and more cozy. 

LAC

I really enjoyed LAC. It was just a class to finish all your homework. And after that you could work on your own projects or do other things. I also enjoy that it has two sides so if one is louder you can go to the other one. This is also an empty office I like to use. 

Gym

I actually ended up skipping this class. At the time I was really stressed and my body physically represented that. So I used that class to instead do my homework. I also don’t really like gym. I find it boring moving my body. 

Foods

I actually ended up skipping this class as well. At the time I was really stressed and I needed to take some things off my plate. So I used that class to instead do my homework. I also don’t really like foods. I feel like we should be learning something more important than this. 

Engineering

I actually really enjoyed the work we did in engineering working with my hands. My dad is an engineer and I like to listen to him talk about his job. But the class was really loud with Mr. Muter uses machinery and playing music. Also Mr. Muter’s expression was really flat and I had a hard time reading his emotions and telling if what he said was a joke or not. 

Drama

I enjoyed this class and I think I did good in it. Part of the reason I enjoyed it was that I sat beside and worked with Cameron L, Owen CM, and Caitlin. I also like being dramatic and acting if I am comfortable with who I am doing it with. I also already had some practice with this because I do D&D as well as listening people playing D&D.  

Where I’ve Grown

Perfection

Throughout the year I have less worried about things being perfect. An example is with different projects when I needed to draw. I did kind of stubby, cartoon people instead realistic. 

Group Work

I have gotten much better at communication. Proof of this is literally all the projects I did. I still want to get better at communication though.  

Emotion Control

I have learned a lot about emotions and controlling them. My mom and counsellor have been teaching me those kinds of things. Of examples are deep breaths, positive self talk, breaks and using fidgets. 

Where to Grow

Emotion Control

I want to learn even more techniques to make school and every day easier. Also I need to work on remembering to do them. 

Homework Control / Sorting

One of the reasons school was hard this year because I didn’t have a great way to catalog what was happening. Also I had some difficulty forgetting homework until Sunday afternoon.   

Self Care

I want to get better at self care like taking showers, brushing teeth and creaming. My mom said that she had a plan we can use in the summer. 

Things I am Proud of 

D20 (Constructing Creative Communication: Carr)

This is what I used for the Spring Exhibition. I really enjoyed making it and I think that all the hours were worth it. I like how I did the shading and the shadow. One thing that I would redo is the outline of the icosahedron. It isn’t perfect. 

The MAX 20 Bottle (The Ultimate Design Challenge)

I chose this because it had to go through many drafts. And when I say drafts I mean restarting completely. It took a lot of time, effort, and tears to finish this but I believe it came out really good in the end. 

Loon Lake (Loon Lake)

I am really proud of doing this. I went to a far off place with basically all strangers for multiple nights. I also stood up for myself by not doing every activity and taking breaks. Also me and my best friend, Caden, got moved to my room. 

Things I Would Change

Final Ad DCM (Medium is the Message)

I don’t really like how we made this. Looking back I don’t like any of my designs either. I feel like it is too bland. Also the photoshopping is sloppy. I do like the slogan, it has some nostalgia,  comfort, and good intentions all involved.  

Winter Exhibition (The Outsiders)

First off all I would have been more prepared to take breaks and having fidgets. But this was my first Exhibition so I couldn’t really have known. The second thing is that I would have gotten a teacher involved with my partners. They were tapping and rubbing my back all night. That was one of the main things that made me crack multiple times. Or I would have gotten a different role.

See ya around and goodbye, Judah G!

The Final Project: New Beginnings

Hello! This blog post is the summary and story of my final Humanities project, New Beginnings! In this project we learned about the history of New France (modern day Quebec) and then we made two visuals for one of the parts of New France. The big idea for this project is “What did the establishment of New France mean for all the people involved?”

The first thing for this project that we did was revisit ads and photography. We worked on ads in the Medium is the Message and we worked on photography in Constructing Creative Communication: Herzog. We did a small activity about making an ad for Seycove but thats not really important.

The next class we started watching a video about the history of New France. We were supposed to answer these questions from the video but I thought wasn’t extensive enough. So I decided to just take normal notes. I forgot that the teachers won’t stop the video and explain things… Sooo… I couldn’t function because stress and anxiety and other shtuff. So I didn’t get any notes. So I basically wasted two classes.

I don’t quite remember the specifics but we ended up deciding our people that we are going to research. We could also choose other stuff like the Beaver Trade. I don’t remember what they all were but the one I chose was the Seigneur. They were nobles that got land from the crown. Then they lend it out to people to farm it. Then we got to do research. Yay. I didn’t do all of it. *shrug* Weeelllll its to late nooooow. This is my research:
As you begin your research,  you should gather information from at least three different sources. Split screen with the web and your research document. Always start by copying and pasting the URL for the website first –> Then write the title of this source –> Add 5 – 10 bullet points underneath the source. See below for an example!

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/seigneurial-system
Seigneurial System
Started 1627, stoped 1854
The Seigneur gave a piece of land to a family (tenant or habitant), the family worked it. The family then regularly paid the Seigneur money for the land.
Its purpose was to promote settlement.
The Seigneur had onerous and honorary rights, including the power to make a court of law, operate a mill and grant hunting, fishing and woodcutting licenses.
Seiagneuries (Seiagneuries were also the plots of land that the Seigneur owned) were given to nobles, civil administrators, religious institutions (in return for education and hospital services) and military officers.

https://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1663/1663-07-seignurial.html
Seigneurial System
The tenant farmer was obliged to pay a nominal rent for the land and give one-fourteenth of his grain harvest to the seigneur.
The seigneur was obliged to build and maintain a mill for grinding the grain. He was also responsible for settling disputes and acting as local magistrate upholding French civil law.
The tenant farmer or habitant was not tied to the land. He could move to a different piece of land by selling one lease and buying another.
The seigneurs, who had money, tended to spend it outside the colony on goods from France rather than put it into the economy of the colony.
The seigneurial system worked against economic development in the colony

 

First People Trade
first ppl in america used trade networks for thousands of years. many first ppl chose to trade with europeans. started trading 1500s or 1600s. Think first trade when some europeon fishers off the coast newfoundland in exchange for fish for furs. trade sometimes helpful, sometimes not. most valuable were the fire or thunder stick, aka gun. also useful steel axe and kettles. first ppl trade was apart if ceremonies, feasting and gift giving. first ppl who got things from trade shared what they got. white men who did these ceremonies who successful. also white men that married first ppl got access to a network of trade. the North West Company did lots of gift giving, and its part of their official costs

during 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, many first ppl did specialized jobs for the fur trade. they got food, translation and helped lead white men. first ppl fur traders were middle men for the trading posts.
So thats what I learned.

The next class was super fun. We watched some videos about nature photography and I really learned a lot. Then we went into the forest and took some great photos. Then we came back and edited them. There isn’t really anything else with that but I just really enjoyed. Oh right, looking back on it I think that was when I was supposed to take my photo for the final product…

The final thing we did before the final product was fun. It was a roleplaying simulation of the fur trade and the different parties. It was stupid though. There was no freedom or creativity. And when I said we should do something else that wasn’t in the rules (which were give something, get something, oh and no one would go above or below the starting price), like try to be efficient and just kill the other parties because we were the only one with guns. It got out of hand. It ended with us breeding beavers and hunting beavers ourselves. With isn’t in the rules of course. Oh and the rules were like one page or something. And it was a group activity. With 4 parties 7 ppl per. Hey it was better than normal Humanities.

Ok I have foreshadowed the final product a bit. (It actually changed mid project from something I forget to this) The final product is two photos with 3 images from the internet with a bit of text. Thats the final product… ok I’m not complaining, I like photography. I actually didn’t take use the photo from the forest. I went to my home and took a photo of a grass field. I then made it look and vibrant like it was the summer. Finally I got images and added them. My first symbol in my first visual in the seigneur himself. I couldn’t find a picture that was a perfect seigneur so I used a noblemen picture instead. I got one that didn’t look too rich, but rich enough to be a seigneur. The second symbol is his crown that he is wearing. It shows not only that he is a wealthy seigneur, but also that he got the land from the king. The third symbol for the first visual is the sign and text on it. It was originally going to say owned but I think sold looks and feels better even if its a little less factual. What I was trying to do with this was like when a house is sold and there is a sign that says sold. The first symbol of the second visual is the country homestead. I got one that looked man made or more man made then usual in this day in age. It also has the animal pen on the side that shows that the people here work for their food. The second symbol is a photo of soil. The third is the wheat. Both of these show how they had to work the land and make food for themselves. This connects to how the habitants (the people the seigneurs rented the land to) had to be strong, tough, and able to take care of themsleves. The sign and text have the label wheat. This was supposed to be the small wooden signs that are in gardens to show what vegetables are where. I would have made it much smaller like in real life but if I did that you couldn’t be able to see it. I preferred my first draft with smaller images but the teacher didn’t. Eh, doesn’t really matter.

The answer to the driving question! (“What did the establishment of New France mean for all the people involved?”) The answer is *drum roll* it meant that they had a people to trade furs, which meant people had jobs, which made places to live, which create cultures, which create a country, Canada, heaven on earth and beautiful and… capitalism, death, trauma, drugs, and other stuff that is not school appropriate and just country stuff. On that note…

See ya around and goodbye,

Judah G!