Bittersweet Bass Love Poem

Posted on by Curtis

 

I created this found poem to identify the main internal conflict of “The bass, The river, and Sheila Mant” by W. D. Wetherell. In the story, the main character has to decide between a large bass or Sheila Mant, a girl he has a crush on. I included phrases such as “torn apart between longings” (pg.4) and “nauseous feeling in my stomach” (pg.4) to further emphasize the struggle, how the main character found it difficult to choose. By showing the conclusion of the story, I could give the reader a sort of resolution to the conflict, making them satisfied. I believe the bass in the story was meant to represent personal goals and interests, posing the question, would you give up things that are important to you just for a chance at love?

Additional Information:

Author’s Page

The Bass the River and Sheila Mant

Circuit Playground Express Sewing Project

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My plan involved 8 LEDs and the usage of all available pins (A0-A7). When I was drawing the circuit playground express, I didn’t realize the orientation would be different in the back, so the circuits in my plan are inaccurate.

I changed the orientation of the circuit playground when creating the project to make it more convenient when connecting the conductive fabric. The orientation would have been different either way as I was sewing on the back of the felt, in contrast to the circuit playground being on the front in my plan. In the end, I only used six LEDs; this change happened because I noticed there were only 3 GNDs on the circuit playground express and worried 2 circuits connected to one GND would result in a short circuit. Another reason was that there was a shortage of space around the heart.

Throughout this project, I learned how to make “pathways” to avoid short circuits. Pathways are made by putting fabric on top of previously sewn conductive thread and sewing over that fabric to ensure the conductive threads don’t cross, resulting in more freedom as to where you can sew. I also learned how to operate a circuit express board and what different words on one mean; for example, GND, which stands for ground, is negative for the pins. In the future, I would like to try doing 3D projects such as the monster plushie we had a choice of making at the start. I could also work on more difficult code, incorporating it into my design to allow more user interactions.

 

Sewable LED Pin

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For Circuits, we were assigned to make a pin or a bookmark with an LED/battery. We could give it to a person we appreciated or keep it for ourselves. I chose to make a character from the popular game “Among Us” with cat ears and holding a heart; I chose this design because I like cats (I have 6 of my own), and I enjoy playing Among Us. I chose this design because the others were poorly made, either too simple or not thought through as profoundly as this one. I am most proud of my ability to cut out the heart as I am terrible with the scissors, and the difficulties of cutting felt I never would have thought to succeed in cutting the heart shape.

The whole process of sewing and the different techniques involved is new to me; tying on, tying off, loop stitch, cinch stitch, running stitch, and backstitch are all new things I have learned during this project. One challenging part of this project was trying to get the LED legs through to the other side of the felt. I had to repeatedly poke a hole by using a needle and try to stick the leg through afterward; this process lasted for over an hour before finally getting both legs through. The advice I would give following semester students is to make sure you go through every part of the plan before making it. For example, I didn’t plan how I would get the LED through the felt or how I would make a circle in the heart, which took a lot of time to figure out. I would like to learn more types of stitches to incorporate more stitching words and pictures in my projects in the future.

 

 

Argumentative Essay Reflection

Posted on by Curtis

I think I wrote my introduction paragraph pretty well and introduced the reader to the topic. I also had some good evidence but I have to improve on my reasoning about how this relates back to my claim. I should try to be more creative, and aim to make my essay less repetitive.

Impacts On Percy’s Decisions

Posted on by Curtis

Young people often struggle with managing emotions and making the right decisions, just like Percy in the first three chapters of The Lightning Thief. He usually gets into trouble because of bad decision making caused by his ADHD and emotions. Percy could make better choices despite having ADHD by doing activities that interest him more. He could also learn to manage his emotions by not giving in to negative thinking, which would stop him from being impulsive. 

 

ADHD impacts Percy’s choices because it causes him to fidget and have outbursts. He could further improve his behavior by doing activities that interest him more. In the book, Percy “had this accident with a revolutionary cannon.” (pg.2) The accident was caused by his fidgeting, which set the cannon off. From the Newsela article, it says that fidgeting is a symptom of ADHD, and it got Percy expelled. In another part of the book, Percy said “will you shut up?” (pg.5) To Nancy Bobfit and it came out louder than he intended. As a result, Mr. Brunner asked Percy to explain the story of Kronos. The Newsela article presents blurting out answers and having outbursts is another symptom of ADHD, which got Percy into trouble. The article also states that “they might be very focused when something interests them.” By doing activities that interest Percy, he could learn more which would significantly improve his grades. Percy’s fidgeting and outbursts are caused by ADHD; however, they could be solved by doing more engaging activities. 

 

Percy’s emotions impact his choices because it causes him to be impulsive and make emotional decisions. He could improve his behavior by not giving in to negative thinking. In the book, Percy said “I’m going to kill her” (pg.3) when Nancy was bullying his friend Grover. In the Newsela article, it says that “emotions are not consciously controlled,” this is an example of Percy being terrible at managing his emotions. In another part of the book, when Nancy bullied Grover for the second time, “I was so mad my mind went blank.” (pg.9) He then pushed Nancy, making what the article describes as an emotional decision, “emotional decisions are sometimes seen as made in the ‘heat of the moment’.” This shows Percy is bad at managing his emotions, especially anger which causes him to act on impulse and make bad choices. From the Newsela article, it states that “if you find yourself having negative thoughts, then challenge them by looking for evidence against them.” By thinking of the evidence against the choices he’s making, Percy could make better decisions and avoid getting into trouble. Percy’s impulsiveness and decision making are affected by his emotions, but they could be improved by not giving in to negative thinking. 

 

If Percy starts trying to control his emotions by not giving in to negative thinking and improve his ADHD by doing activities that interest him more, he could stop himself from getting into trouble as often which would benefit him greatly. Since emotional decisions usually have negative outcomes, we should all learn to manage our emotions and improve the positivity of our community. 

Cooking Recipe Revamp

Posted on by Curtis

Original Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

2 Eggs

3 tbs of Cheese

1 slice of Ham

1 Mushrooms

1 Onion

Method:

1. Dice the ingredients into 1/2cm cubes.

2. Crack and whisk the eggs.

3. Add the ingredients to the eggs and mix.

4. Pour mixture into a non-stick pan and even it out.

5. Flip the mixture over when the bottom and sides change color.

6. Cook the other side until it also turns color.

Revamped

INGREDIENTS:         

2 Eggs

3 tbs of Cheese

1 slice of Ham

1 medium Green Onion

Method:

1. Dice the ingredients into 1/2cm cubes.

2. Crack and whisk the eggs.

3. Add the ingredients to the eggs and mix.

4. Pour mixture into a non-stick pan and even it out.

5. Flip the mixture over when the bottom and sides change color.

6. Cook the other side until it also turns color.

My design challenge was to make my recipe fructose free. I changed the onions into green onions since it has almost the same nutrients without fructose. I didn’t use mushrooms when I made the first recipe so I removed it from the revamped one. I would use freezer bags to first store the omelette then it would be easy to reheat.

End of Year Reflection

Posted on by Curtis

When I started middle school I was most excited about the food, a lot of people have said that MS/HS food is a lot better compared to ES food.

When I began sixth grade I was most worried about being tardy to class and losing my schoolwork, since we had little time to get between classes. I overcame these worries when I realized it didn’t take that long to walk to different classes.

One highlight of the year was playing netball in pe class, I had a lot of fun playing with my friends during that unit. Another highlight of the year was the overnight trip at camp greenwoods, it was an interesting trip and I enjoyed the activities.

One challenge I faced was organizing my worksheets for different classes. I confronted this challenge by getting a folder.

Before elearning, I usually had a hard time speaking in front of a camera. I’ve attended so many zoom calls I feel more confident speaking in front of the camera now.

I am most proud of how much I’ve improved in a lot of different subjects this year.

If I could do grade 6 over again I wouldn’t change a thing.

Habitat Mini Project

Posted on by Curtis

My biggest take away from six grade science is learning about energy. The energy unit taught me how thermal energy transferred from one object to another. Learning about energy was fascinating and I had a lot of fun doing the experiments.

If I were to comment on my own report card I would write how I should double-check my answers to make sure they’re correct. I’m pretty confident in making models, analyzing data, and constructing scientific explanations.

I would like to learn about cells and DNA next year.

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1322781787415379970