"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.

Comparing the PN On Demand with our Personal Narrative

           I can definitely see the change! The first thing I noticed, was that my word choice, and description was much better in my Personal Narrative. I feel much better using inner thinking, and taking my heart, and stretching it. It was a bit hard figuring out how to start my PN and how to end it. Otherwise, I was really surprised to see my progress, and I really thought that mini lessons and partner feedback really enhanced my thinking. These techniques made me think deeper on how I can make my heart shine throughout the story. In my On Demand writing though, I noticed more dialogue than in my recent Personal Narrative, but my Personal Narrative didn't have as much, so that's something I can work on. I'm really impressed with the development of my writing, and I would love to it grow throughout the year as well!

My Archaeology Google Sites 2014

This is a link to my Archaeology Google site that I made in Grade 6 Social Studies. I hope you learn something about the history of Pompeii.


https://sites.google.com/a/sas.edu.sg/vainavi-s-archaeology-site/ 

Milestones

  Milestones

It was a beautiful sunny day. Flowers bloomed, leaves started to crisp up, and trees whispered to the wind. That month of May was filled with a variety flowers and beds of wet grass, and the colors reflected on the ground, creating an illusion of pigmented air.

We were all ready.

Everyone had waited for this day to come, partly because they wanted to put an end to me waking up, and wanting company. The anticipation really got over me, I didn’t even know if I was breathing properly or not! It was like ice flakes, tickling my spine layer by layer. Cars and trucks zoomed past my ear, leaving a gush of wind in the warm air. The boiling sun melted on my head, and then subsided with a cool breeze. Before I knew it, my footsteps slowed down, and the sun faded away, leaving distant golden rays around the rims of the windows. There were posters and signs, dragging me through the hallway behind my mom. Fingers pointed towards a room, and there we were, in a waiting room, my mom laying on a cart-ish bed, my dad sitting in a chair. I was with my mom, constantly taking selfies. The darkness, and a mild smell of peach swam around the room. After some time, trails of walking echoed in the nearby hallway, getting louder and clearer by ever step.

“We’re ready,” two nurses cheerfully chorused, holding the door to drag my mom out of the door.

“Who is going with her?”

My dad stood up, and he was gone too.

I then sat down, not knowing what to expect. I had woken up totally fresh and energized, but the more I waited, the more I started to feel nervous and weary. All the emotions I had had inside were banging simultaneously.

The telephone suddenly rang, disturbing the peace in the room. I checked the time frantically,

What, it has been an hour already?

The telephone rang again. I picked it up reluctantly. I started to ponder over so many thoughts while a vague voice was talking to me.

“Come down to the first floor, Vainavi,” my dad gently demanded.

I wanted to ask him so many questions, but I felt so hampered. There was no time to waste. I darted towards the elevator, then flew across the hallway swinging my arms, and letting the wind carry it for me.

I halted.

There I saw my dad, gently smiling at a cart- two carts sorry, and he glanced at me from a distance. That’s when I started to get the shivers from face to toe, and toe to face.

I darted some more, not caring how the wind was treating my arms. I felt shaky, I felt weird. I was confused. All of the feelings I had, melted down. I couldn’t handle it. It just exploded-

Suddenly, it all blanked out.

           I looked down in front of me, and my hands felt numb. I couldn’t believe what I saw, I wasn’t prepared for that moment. I didn’t know what to do, and all I wanted to do was slow down and stop s-s-hhh-aki-ng.

           I just kept on staring at the carts, my eyes reflecting down to fragile skin, and eyes closed. I needed someone to hide my face and emotions, so I just threw my arms around my dad- who was astonished for a second, and buried my face as deep as possible. I could see people passing by, some stopping to take a look, so I knew that I wasn’t fully covered. But no one knew that behind my arms and hair, tears were trickling down my cheeks. Only my dad could sense my movement and breathing. I was overwhelmed and excited, but a bit shocked and stiff, and I never knew getting two siblings together would be so weird! I sped across the same, familiar hallways, and restlessly waited to reach the 3rd floor in the waiting room.

             (DURING THIS TIME, I WAS JUST TRYING TO TAKE IN WHAT I SAW.)

          It did hit me though, when I got to know that they were premature, and my brother was in the ICU because he had some breathing problems, but the doctors said he was going to be perfectly fine in a few days, and that currently, my sister was in the nursery, sleeping with other babies. So I relaxed, bringing my arms back from the wind.

           The moment I saw my sister, peacefully sleeping, while others were crying I said,

“Mark my words, she is going to be the cutest, calmest, and the sharpest girl in this nursery- although, she would be a little shy!”

After a few days, when my brother arrived in the room where my mom was staying, I felt like he would be the naughtiest, and the most social. Turns out that a year later, my sister (Parisa) is a total tomboy. She is super interested in sports, books, and music. She is super talkative, and is the boss who runs the whole house. I was right though, when I said she was going to be sharp and cute! My brother (Panav), on the other hand, is naughty, yet very shy. He is his mom’s boy, and isn’t fully attached to me yet… but I’m almost there!

“OUWWWW!! LEAVE MY HAIR!”

Now, when I think about all the responsibilities that come along with having the pleasure to be a big sister, I also think that wow, I am such a lucky person that every morning when I wake up, the first thing I see are my brother and sister on my bed, laughing and waking me up! I think about every time I would feel like I needed some company. I realize that this is one of those times, that will never forget no matter how matter how many years pass by,

and no matter how many milestones are complete.