Final Gr 6 Drama Performance

I am happy with my overall performance. The rest of the members did great too! I think I could talk a bit slower and articulate a bit more so that it sounds more dramatic. Before, I had given myself a 7-8, now I'd probably give myself an 8- 8 3/4. I do feel more confident and dramatic, and the voice unit really helped elevate my projection and clarity! 

Math Reflection, Fractions and Decimals

Part 1: In some cases, it would be more useful to use fractions. That is when for example we have a question:
color in 4/9 of the square. How much of the square isn't shaded?
If we solve this problem with fractions it would be visually easier to tell the difference and comprehend. Since 9 is an odd number, and not a multiple of 10, it would be MUCH harder to solve.
In other cases, it would be more appropriate to use decimals for example money. The reason we use decimals for money is so that we can tell between dollars and cents. Let's take 8/10 as an example. Reading 8/10 as 0.80 would be much easier and less confusing when it comes to money.

Part 2: When we compare whole numbers, the one with more digits is greater. This doesn't apply for decimals though. In decimals, the deeper into the place value we go, the number or portion becomes smaller and smaller. That is because in decimal place value we work with "th"s. For example, which is greater, 0.04 or 0.004? 0.04 would be greater because 4/100 is shaded more than 4/1000, which would be really small in quantity.

The Wheel

So here is my Google presentation on a very useful accomplishment... the wheel! I had a lot of fun with the time I had to show my learning and thinking. Just think about it this way, without wheels, you'd be carrying all your belongings with you, imagine that!

"Sportsmanship- on the sporting field and in everyday life"

Sportsmanship is how YOU choose to act. It's all linked to attitude like for example, we are always given the choice to either win, or help an opposing team. If we end up helping the team, it turns out that you gain more respect and achievement while not physically winning. If we play fair, you end up feeling more pride and satisfaction that you have ACTUALLY won something honestly, and that is your 100% hard work and determination. For example, I always congratulate people who have achieved something or done really well on something because my mom has always told me that a positive attitude and sincere determination is a HUGE element for success. 3 ways we can demonstrate good sportsmanship could be
                                                                   - congratulating others' success
                                                                   - helping a rival team
                                                                   - playing fair and not cheating

Sportsmanship doesn't always have to be shown on a field, it can be done at home, or somewhere else too. To be honest, I can recall quite a few times when I've not demonstrated good sportsmanship. But here are a few ways we can demonstrate good sportsmanship other than on the filed (I need this!).
                                                                     - congratulating others' success
                                                                     - genuinely praising people and not demeaning them
                                                                     - *here's a new one* encouraging people to achieve their                                                                            goals

Sportsmanship Poster

Submarine Model-Building

1.    Draw a colored sketch of your submarine model in the floating, sinking or neutrally buoyant position. Take a photo of your sketch and insert the photo below the title of your blog entry. You could also do your drawing use a digital drawing tool if you like. 

2.   Part of the design process, is to think of design ideas to try and then test to see how those design ideas actually work. 

• Describe any design ideas that you had which did not work as expected.  
• Describe any design ideas that you had which did work as expected. 

Quite a few ideas didn't work. We thought putting a lot of weights might do the trick, but then it was impossible to get the submarine to float. We put weights in different places, but that restricted the bottle to stay still and balance. We also thought of adding balloons, hopefully helping the bottle to float, but that didn't make any difference. At most, the problem was to get the bottle to float after it had sunk.

Some ideas did work too, getting us a step further from reaching our goal. Putting weights on one side of the bottle helped the bottle sink horizontally. Blowing air in the tube we attached to a hole (made by the Bunsen Burner) helped the bottle float. It was important to keep weight and air balanced so that we could succeed. 

3. 

Describe at least two ways that your model works like a real submarine.

Describe at least two ways your model works differently than a real submarine

Both the bottle, and a normal submarine include weight and air as controls.

They both have a sinking and floating as elements, and have ways to be controlled.

While in order to float we used a pipe, and shoved in a hole. Then we blew in the pipe, causing the submarine to float. For a real submarine though, people won't just make a hole, and blow in a pipe. Blowing in the pipe was just for the bottle submarine to float.
The bottle submarine needed weight in order to sink. A real submarine wouldn't need any weights since it's quite heavy itself.

4.    Did you ever feel like you were not going to be able to successfully modify the plastic bottle to make it dive and float like a submarine?  If you did not give up, what strategies helped you persevere and keep going? 

At one point it was a bit frustrating. None of the methods or strategies were working, and it had become confusing as to what the real problem was. We started again and again, thinking of new placement styles for the components. We tried going through steps and weight comparisons step by step. We figured adding weight (metal rings) on the outside would prevent movement, resulting in an equal balance between air and weight.

Fraction Comparison Reflection

"You know how to compare fractions using cross products, LCD, and logical reasoning. When is it better to use one method over another?"

It depends, if the fraction is something complicated like 56/79 and 34/38, it would be more efficient to use cross products.

If a fraction is easy, something like 3/4 and 2/5, logical reasoning works best. Remember that all these methods work, it's just important to know which method works quickly, accurately, and efficiently.