Nathan's Reflection Post

Over the last year, I feel I have improved as a blogger in probably every way possible. I have become more comfortable with using the post settings, and I find it easier to find appropriate pictures and links. I think I have become better with using the scientific vocab., and explaining most of the class in full detail. I think I've improved with spelling and grammar, along with sentence structure and clarity.
The blog really helps in learning because it is there to take notes off of, to study with, to answer your questions, and to clarify details that you didn't understand. The blog also helps if you've missed a class because you can look at it and read what you missed and catch up.
A blog could be used for multiple other things. If on a trip or vacation, you can post what you've done on the trip and pictures for your family and friends to see. Blogging could be used as a way of taking notes, and sharing them with your friends. It could also be used as a public diary, where you can explain your day and how you feel for others to view.
Blogging has helped me with my writing skills in spelling, grammar, and a bit in sentence structure. It has helped my writing voice, making it easier to understand and read.
The blog has helped me comment to others because I can more easily detect spelling and grammar mistakes, and I can explain the error so they can easily fix it.
The most important thing I've learned from blogging is probably that if a post is not done and posted by its due date, it can really affect your classmates because they view it and it helps them with remembering homework, and taking notes for class. It's happened to me where someone's post was posted late, and I never saw it, even though I needed it for notes the next class.

Homework and Cells

Nathan's Scribe Post for Tuesday, May 24

The first thing we did today was discuss the homework assignments we had and when they were due. Our homework is to:

• Do a reflection post after posting your scribe post (Due May 31st)
• Our last blog comment (Due May 31st)
• Cell Project(Due May 31st)

We also have a cell quiz coming up next week, and the rat dissection is taking place on June 7th.

For the Cell Project, what we have to do is use everyday objects to create a representative model of an animal cell or a plant cell. For each organelle, we need to choose an object that symbolizes or represents the organelle’s function. Next, we create a table which lists each organelle you have represented in your model. For each organelle, state its main function. For more information about the project or the rubric, it's in grade 7 science, on moodle. It's a word document at the bottom of the page called "Cell Project".

What the Table is Supposed to Look Like

After the homework discussion, we moved into cell diagrams. First, we had to take out our highlighted "Building Blocks of Life- The Parts of a Cell" sheet (also on moodle). After going through each part of a cell, we color-coded each part with a different color for each. Then we each received two sheets with two different pictures on them. One had a picture of a plant cell, and the other with an animal cell. Our job was to label it and use the color-code we created to color that part in the picture.





The things we had to label on our diagrams:

• Plasma/Cell Membrane
• Cytoplasm
• Nucleus
• Rough ER (RER)
• Smooth ER (SER)
• Nucleolus
• Ribosomes
• Golgi complex
• Golgi apparatus
• Mitochondria
• Vesicles
• Vacuole
• Lysosomes (Mostly in animal cells)
• Cloroplast (Only in plant cells)
• Cell wall (Only in plant cells)

Here is a cool animal cell labeling game! See how well you know your animal cell parts.

Here is a cool plant cell labeling game! See how well you know your plant cell parts.

Emilija is the next scriber!

Nathan's Reflection Post 3rd Quarter

Nathan's Reflection Post

There are many things about my scribe post that I did good on, and some I need to improve on. From looking at comments, I did well in:

• Pictures (need captions)
• Spelling
• Grammar
• Coverage
• Hyperlinks
• Color
• Spacing
  

Some things I need to improve on that people suggested:

• Adding Date
• Simple Definitions
• More Detail
• Couple More Links
• Tenses
• Couple More Pictures
• Titles

The blog has really helped me when I was sick and missing school, and I think that is a major benefit of the class blog. Although very helpful, the blog has become a bit annoying to keep up with, even though we have further comment due dates. Other than that, I like the idea of a blog and I think it would help the class to keep using it.

Recording and Presentations

Thursday

On Thursday, our class tried to get as much work done as possible. We worked on getting our simple machine presentations finished, record our anti-smoking commercials; maybe even present some of the presentations.


Our simple machine presentations are visual presentations of an assigned simple machine. We were each split up in pairs and each received a simple machine to do a presentation on. We could only use a prezi, powerpoint, or poster to do this. Jakub, my partner for this assignment, and I chose to do a powerpoint, and our simple machine was the Wheel and Axle. The other available simple machines included:
1. The Lever
2.The Screw
3. The Plane
4. The Wedge
5. The Pulley
In our simple machine presentations, we were required to have the simple machine's definition (mechanical advantage), a well labeled diagram (the lever couple had to do 3), 5 examples of that simple machine (the lever couple had to do 6), and 3 pictures of it in use. Our goal of the class was to get these done and one or two presented. But sadly that goal wasn't reached, and nobody finished their presentations, let alone present.

Although the anti-smoking commercials is actually a wellness project, we worked on it during science class. This anti-smoking commercial was a solo project, but we did have the choice of having someone else in it. What we had to do was create a script of a commercial that is against smoking, and aim it toward a certain age group. After the script was complete we revised it and checked to see if it was one minute and thirty seconds long, the required amount of time it had to be. But we did all of this before Thursday's class. The goal on Thursday was to finish up the commercial and make any last minute changes we wanted or needed to do. Only three or four people got to recording their commercials, and I was one of them.

Friday

On Friday, we tried finished up our anti-smoking commercials and our simple machine visual presentations. We also aimed at presenting a couple of the simple machine presentations, but only got around to presenting one, the lever. Everyone got their anti-smoking commercials done, and also the simple machine presentations. There were only three groups that could possibly present the simple machine presentations because a couple kids were absent that day which left only one of the two partners to present.


In one or two weeks, our class is going to have a quiz on simple machines. We needed to rely on the other groups presentations for information about that simple machine. Therefore, we took notes to remember it. For the lever, Karin and Ghazaleh made a poster. It was eye catching, and here are some notes I took:

Definition= A rigid bar that is free to pivot or rotate around a fixed point.

Types:-First Class Lever = Changes direction of input force
-Second Class Lever = Increases output force
-Third Class Lever = Increases distance

Mechanical Advantage = Input force to fulcrum/Output force to fulcrum

You need less force and time to do the same amount of work


At the very beginning of Friday's class, we talked about the email Ms.D sent to all three grades in middles school and to the parents. The email is about the moon being 14% larger on Saturday night at 7:10 P.M. (19:10). It will appear HUGE at this time, and here is a video talking about why. Sadly, if you look outside, you can see that we probably aren't going to see it tonight with it as cloudy as this. Hopefully the sky will clear up!!!

Here is a link to moodle.

The next scribe is Ben!!!

Nathan's Reflection Post

I was one of the earlier ones to do my scribe post, and I received many good suggestions of what to improve on for my next scribe post. Here are some things that people talked about in their comments about what I did good on, and what I should do better on next time.

Things I did good:

• Good use of color
• Understandable
• Using an example of one of the sample calculations
• Listing the DV and IV
• Nice layout
• Grammar/Spelling
• Font

Things I need to improve on:

• More details
• More pictures
• Clarity
• Longer post
  
• More use of links/hyperlinks
• Shorter sentences
• More scientific vocabulary

Next quarter I will try to improve my scribe post by adding more hyperlinks, pictures, and maybe a video. I will also try to use suggestions from the comments that people have given me, and fix my post using them. I will try to use more detail to make it clear and use more scientific vocabulary.
Although the blog has been difficult, it has been fun to do sometimes. Commenting on other people posts and comparing their good and bad suggestions has been interesting and fun to do. But I didn't really like doing the scribe post on the blog because I did sometimes hit a wall and would wonder what I should say. Plus, you really want it to be good so you can get a good grade, and that can put pressure on you and make you nervous. But the blog can be very beneficial in many ways. It will help when you miss a day of class, and you wonder what your classmates did. Also, if you forget your homework, you can use this along with Moodle to understand how to do it and when it is due.
Overall, the blog has been very useful at times, and I hope that will be the same for next quarter.

Acceleration and Deceleration Testing

The first thing we did when class started on Tuesday is we received our graded, bean bag lab rubric. Then we did two math practice problems on page 25 of our textbook, because a couple kids had problems on a few of their calculations for the lab. After that, we went through our "Acceleration Calculations" math practice sheet that we had to do for homework. Most of us had errors with one or two of the questions and they are now homework for Tuesday to complete. Finally, the last thing that we did for the rest of the class period was a class lab, called Acceleration/Deceleration Testing.

The purpose to the lab was:
What does a graph look like when an object is accelerating?

Under that we had to have the IV and DV, which were:
DV: Graph
IV: Object accelerating

Then we went outside to practice with the timers, and then test. Our data was recorded down on three different tables: one for the ping pong ball, one for the tennis ball, and one for the soccer ball. Everyone in the class had a different position at one, two, three, etc. meters, all the way to 12 or 13. I was at one meter (that's why I'm not sure how many positions there were), which was really hard because I had to have little mistakes and be almost exactly on the right times of when the ball started and then reached my point. For each ball, we did three tests just in case of a mistake with the timer, which was surely going to happen. Then under the three trial spots, we had to calculate the average, but we did that when we were done testing and back in class.

Then under the data tables, we answered the purpose question individually, and then discussed it as a class. We concluded that the graph would have a positive correlation because as the time increases, the objects speed also increases.

Then we did a sample calculation, and here is an example of one.
S=d/t
S=1m/1.2s
S=0.83 repeated

And at the end, we had to glue in the small, bottom of the lab page, homework sheet, that we're probably going to talk about next class after we finish the class wide table. It's not homework yet, so don't worry about it now.

That is what we did during Tuesdays class, and the next scribe is Jakub!

Here is a link to moodle: http://zagreb.ceesa.net/