Passion Projects Day 6

Today in Passion Projects, I put together my display board, and painted three out of the 7 planets and stars with help from Jakita. We painted a gas giant, a terrestrial planet, and an ocean planet. On Monday I plan on finishing painting all of the planets and stars and continuing to set up my display board (figuring out what information I'm going to put on it and where I'm going to put it.)

Logbook: 29/11/18 Thursday Day 6

Aim: Start painting my planets and setting up my display board (putting all my information on it).

What I did today: Painted three of the planets, attached my display board, figured out how I’m going to display the planets I made and found a way of finding enough space on the board to display all my information.

Display Board

Gas Giant

Some of the information I printed out

Terrestrial planet and ocean planet that we started painting

Passion Projects Day 4 & 5

Over the past few weeks, I planned my project and the topic I'm doing it on, I've come up with questions I want to answer, done plenty of research and answered most of them. I found cardboard to make a board to display all the information I've gathered on. I made five planets and two stars out of paper mache (a rogue planet, a terrestrial planet, an ocean planet, a lava planet, a pulsar star and a pulsar planet, and a red dwarf star).

Today I continued my research and started looking into forms of life that don't need oxygen to survive (Facultative organisms and Aerotolerant Anaerobic organisms). I also did some research on dark matter.

On Thursday, I want to paint and put together my display board, print out all my information and start painting the planets and stars I made out of paper mache. 

Passion Projects Day 3

For the third day of Passion Projects, I started doing research on different types of planets. I also started doing research on some of the closest planets to us that could support life, and what a planet needs to support life. Here is my research: 

Passion Projects Day One and Two

For the first two days of passion projects, we completely planned out our topic, what questions we want to answer. We created a logbook where we can all individually keep track of where we're up to and what we have to do next. Here is what I did for the first two days.

Fat Freddy's Drop

Mu Torere

For the start of this term in technology, we have been making a Māori strategy game called Mu Torere. We started by creatng our design, and then proceeded to draw it onto a piece of timber. Using a 6mm drill, we then drilled nine holes in the timber and glued another piece underneath using wood glue. Then using a sand belt, we made the sides of our timber even and used sandpaper to get rid of the rough design of our game, and draw the final one. We 3D printed eight pegs, four white four grey, for our game and put them in the board. Here is what my Mu Torere game looks like so far:

The objective of this game is to move your pieces in order to stop the other player from moving. You can only move one space, and the first person to move can only use one of the pieces on the outside.

Growing Seeds

Aim: To look at the different growing conditions and how these affect the growth of seeds

Method:

We worked in groups of 3-4
We put potting mix into 4 cups
Radish seeds were planted in each cup
Cup 1 was normal
Cup 2 had red cellophane
Cup 3 was over-watered
Cup 4 was under watered or had green cellophane

The radish seeds grew in their cups for 10 days before we measured them.

Findings:

The seed that was under-watered, the normal seed grown in normal potting mix, and the seed that had green cellophane over the top of it didn't grow. This might be because we put the seed too far down in the cup. Another possibility is that the seed rotted. The seed with red cellophane over the top of it however, grew 50mm in 10 days.

Conclusion: 

From the pictures and evidence we can conclude:

The seedling height was:

1. 0mm

2. 0mm

3. 50mm

4. 0mm

The best growing conditions were:

1. The seed with the red cellophane over it

2. The other three seeds didn't grow, therefore there is no way of knowing which were the best growing conditions out of the three seeds.

Therefore the seedling with red cellophane over the top of it had the best conditions, as it grew to a height of 50mm.

Hauora Reflection

What is the 'Whare tapa wha', and how does it illustrate Hauora?

The Whare tapa wha illustrates the four dimensions of Hauora, or Health. 

. Spiritual wellbeing, physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing and social wellbeing (Taha Wairua, Taha Hinengaro, Taha Whanau and Taha Tinana). It's useful to know the four dimensions of Hauora to help keep yourself healthy

How did you cope with team challenges and how did you relate to others?

I wasn't here for some of the team challenges, but for the challenges I was here for, we worked well to prepare our presentation, and we worked well together when we were trying to find the right words to write the definitions and meanings for different things.

How did you participate with others and how did you contribute to your team?
Our team worked well together, we didn't come across too many problems/challenges. I'd say the most challenging thing was finding the right definitions. I helped my team prepare for the presentation by helping to finish the Whare, and helping wrote some of the definitions for the last few words. I think next time, I would make sure our team prepared a bit more before doing our presentation.

Problem Solving and Conflict

Problem Solving

What did you learn about?

I learnt about different conflict styles and about positive and negative thinking. I also learnt how to change a negative thought into a positive one. 

When discussing 'thought challengers' what did you notice about yourself?

What solutions can you try when you face a challenge during the Business and Enterprise kete? Give an example
You can think of a few solutions and decided which one would work best, what needs to change for what ever is going wrong to work and what the outcome will be. For example, if you can't decide/can't agree on what product to sell, you could think of which one might be more successful or come up with a compromise.

Can you redesign the Joint Problem Solving template to work for more than two people?
You could if you came up with different ways for everyone involved to end up happy. Discuss the shared problem, have each person come up with a different solution, discuss any consequences of each solution, choose the solution that will have the best outcome and use it.

Conflict
What did you learn?
During this module, I learnt about different ways of resolving conflict, as well as how to avoid it. For example, listening to what the person has to say and showing empathy in order to see the situation from that person's point of view. I learnt about the three main types of conflict; Aggressive, Passive and Assertive.

When discussing conflicts what did you notice about yourself?
I noticed that when I have a conflict I usually try to find the most peaceful or passive approach/solution.

How can you reduce conflict during the Business & Enterprise kete? Give an example.
To avoid and solve any conflict that may come up during the Business and Enterprise kete, we could firstly come up with a few solutions for the problem. Then we could decided which one works best for everyone/which one has the best outcome, and use it. For example, if we can't agree on what product we want to make and sell at the Market Day, we could come up with a few different products, and choose which one would either be more successful, less expensive to make, or which one is the most unique.

Music

This week in music, we arranged a meeting with the manager at Dress-Smart, so we could meet up for her and get permission to film there for our advertisement that we will be submitting to the Fair Go Ad Awards. We were given permission to film there next Wednesday for about 20 minutes. Here are some photos from our meeting:  

Three Piece Puzzle

Three Piece Puzzle

For the past few weeks in tech, we've been working on creating a three piece 3D puzzle out of timber. We started off by copying a plan twice that our tech teacher printed for us. 

After drawing a plan on paper, we copied this plan onto our three pieces of timber. The lines on our timber had to be as straight as possible so that we could find the centre easily. We used both a ruler and a try square to make sure our lines were straight.

Once we had copied our plan onto all three pieces, we used some type of saw to cut out two of the pieces of timber (the one shaped like a T and the one that is sort of shaped like a cross), and used a drill to cut out the piece in the other one. We then used a chisel to get rid of any bumps in the timber that stopped the three pieces from fitting together.

We then sanded it and coated the puzzle piece in polyurethane. Here is what it looked like in the end, along with photos showing how to put it together.

Mindfulness and Resilience

Resilience
What did you learn about?
I learnt about resilience, and why it is important. I learnt that resilience is about not giving up when something is difficult, and trying to find a solution to your problems before deciding you can't fix them or solve them.

Was there anything you felt was difficult to understand? Why?
There wasn't anything I didn't understand. I already knew a fair amount about resilience. I understood what it meant and why it was important, and how it's a good quality to have.

How did you relate to the 'Who moved my cheese?' video?
I'm not sure. I guess I don't really mind change, depending on what it is.
Mindfulness
What did you learn about?

I learnt that mindfulness and being mindful, is about being in the moment. Using your five senses (sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing/sound) to take note of the small details that surround you. It also involves noticing and understanding other peoples body language/body cues, which can determine how someone is feeling. Being mindful taught me that it's important to notice whats happening around you, and being aware of body cues can help you understand how someone is feeling.

Was there anything you felt was difficult to understand? Why?

There wasn't anything I found difficult to understand, I understood/understand why being mindful is important and why paying attention to body cues is helpful. I understand how using each of your five senses can be used to be mindful and I understand how to notice/recognise body cues.

When talking to  classmate how do you know how they're feeling?

If you pay attention to a persons posture, actions, facial expressions and body cues, you can interpret and determine how they are feeling or whether they're having a good or bad day. For example, when someone is happy, they tend to have softer eyes, usually smiling but not necessarily. People who are happy also usually stand straight (they have good posture), they don't slouch their shoulders and they hold their head up high.

How can you apply your new knowledge to the Business Kete?

I can use resilience in the Business Kete to figure out any problems I and my group might have, like trying to buy everything we need and still stay within our budget to ensure we make a profit, or when trying to figure out what our product will be and how we're going to promote it/advertise.

Fair Go Ad Awards

Fair Go Ad Awards

This term for music, our class is making a thirty second advertisement promoting places around Hornby, and Hornby itself. We will be submitting this advertisement to the Fair Go Ad Awards. Our advertisement has to be submitted by the 5th of September. My job along with a few others, is to write a letter to the managers at Dress-Smart, and ask permission to film at their mall, as the class decided the Dress-Smart is a unique feature of Hornby, considering it's the only mall of it's kind in Christchurch and the rest of the Canterbury region. My job for the future is to help film the advertisement. I will ensure that we are successful by making sure we work together as a team to get everything done with in the time we're given.

Here is a clip from the 2013 fair go ad awards:

What am I learning?

I am learning about advertisements. How to make them, the jobs needed to be done to make a quality advertisement, how to hook the people who are watching your advertisement in using music and how to make a catchy jingle for an advertisement.

How does this work show my learning?

The advertisement we are making as a class shows the skills and tricks we have all learnt for making a good advertisement along with a good jingle/song. 

What am I wondering?

I'm wondering how long the Fair Go Ad Awards has been around for, and who came up with the idea for an advertisement competition.

3D Printing

3D Printing

This term in technology, we have been working on 3D printing. We started off by looking at a website called Tinkercad, where you can create 3D models of pretty much anything. I started by making a name tag. We also learnt how to import a photo from online using an online file converting website onto Tinkercad and modify it, how to export the model, group it together and send it to be printed. If the model didn't fit on the 3D printer (which it usually did), it would be scaled down, which would cause some of the detail to look less detailed.

After this we looked at another website called Thingiverse. This website allowed you to look at other 3D printed objects that people of made, and import them onto Tinkercad. From here we would then modify and personalise the models and print them. 

Using acetone, we found we could also melt some of the plastic back into place if it had been slightly messed up in the printer. I also designed and made a 3D printed piano.

Refraction Through Lenses

Refraction Through Mirrors

Aim: to investigate how different types of lenses refract light.

Equipment: Triple-slit ray slide, power supply, a concave lens and a convex lens

Method: 

1. Set up a ray box, triple-slit ray slide and power supply.
2. Place the convex lens in front of the ray box. make sure the ray box's central ray of light is hitting the lens at a 90 degree angle.
3. Carefully trace the direction of the incoming and refracted rays
4. Repeat using the concave lens.

Results:

Findings: I found that convex lenses make rays of light diverge (move apart) and concave lenses make rays of light converge (come together)

Refraction

Refraction

Aim: To investigate how light is affected by changing the substance it is travelling through

Method: Collect the equipment from your teacher (Ray box, power source, glass or perspex block, single-slit ray slide.), and set them up to produce a single beam of light.

 Results:

Findings: When travelling through glass/plastic, the speed of light slows down.

Observing Reflection in Concave and Convex Mirrors

Aim: To investigate the reflection of light rays in concave and convex mirrors.

Method:

1. Set up your ray box, triple-slit slide and power supply.
2. Place the mirrors in front of the ray box, as indicated in the picture below. Place the ray box in front of each mirror, and shine the three rays of light at the mirror.
3. Ensure that the middle ray of light is hitting the mirror at a 90 degree angle.
4. Carefully trace the direction of the three incident rays and the three reflected rays

Left= Concave Right= Convex

Results:

Convex:

Concave:

Findings: 

I found that convex mirrors cause light to reflect outwards

 and concave mirrors cause light to reflect inwards

How to Make a Catchy Advertisement Jingle

10 Ways to Make a Catchy Advertisement Jingle

 

Cadbury Ad:

7/10

Bunnings Ad:

9/10

Coke a Cola Ad:

8/10

State Insurance Ad:

7/10

What am I learning?
I am learning tips and tricks for how to write/create a jingle for an advertisement.

How does this work show my learning?
It shows the ways to make a catchy jingle that I found through websites, and also listening to music form classic kiwi adverts. It also shows video's that I rated using the checklist I created.

What am I wondering?
I'm wondering if other countries use different possibly more effective ways to advertise products other than music.

Reflection

Aim: To investigate how light behaves when it hits a plane (flat) mirror

Method:

1. Collect a ray box, power supply and single-slit ray slide from your teacher, ans set them up to produce a single beam of light.
2. Place a plane mirror on the diagram of the protractor as described below.
3. Vary the angle of incidence and record the angle of reflection in the results table.

Results:

 

Findings:

The angle of incidence is the same as the angle of reflection.

Art Reflection

Art Reflection

Since the start of the term, we have been learning about four different types of art styles; Art Nouveau,  Kowhaiwhai, Pasifika and Manga. First we did research into each of the styles and created pages that included thumbnail sketches and information.

We then did a page including thumbnails that show what two of the four styles might look like if they were used together. I chose to do Pasifika and Manga.

After we had finished all four pages, we started drawing drafts for either a painting or a print of our designs for two styles put together. If we were painting, the two styles were Pasifika and Manga, and if we were doing a print it was Kowhaiwhai and Art Nouveau. I decided to do the painting first. The hardest part of painting was painting small details without messing up. The most successful part of my painting was the ocean. I think to improve it I could've used different shades of yellow in the sand. 

After I completed the Pasifika/Manga painting, I moved on to the Kowhaiwhai/Art Nouveau lino cut. The hardest part was making sure all of the lines were straight when I was cutting it. I could've improved my print by putting less ink on my piece of lino. The most successful part of my lino cut were the thumbnails I drew before starting my final print.