In Spanish class, I had to create a blog post about myself and regarding other things I learned in the lessons and units.
Month: May 2018
Poetry Unit Reflection
This is my Poetry unit reflection.
STEM Challenge
A building technique that makes the tower stronger is by using triangles to support the weight of the marshmallow and the whole tower. Another building technique is to use tapes and strings to support and strengthen the tower.
Yes, the placing of the marshmallows did affect the strength of the tower. It made the tower weaker, as the weight of the marshmallow is on the very top. It increases the pressure and pressures the tower. When the marshmallow was not placed correctly and in the middle, the weight of the marshmallow starts to topple to one side of the tower. When this happens, gravity would pull the marshmallow down and it would make the structure topple too.
I could build a stronger tower with more of the spaghettis because it would help make the supporting pills much more stronger and bigger in diameter. With more spaghettis, it can be used to support the sides of the tower to prevent it from falling. Alternative materials that could be better may be straws. Straws are larger in diameter than the spaghettis and they are much more sturdy when compared.
The size of the base do alter the strength of the tower. With a larger base, there would be more support for the tower to stand still. With a smaller base, there would be a smaller amount of support for the tower to stand still.
I think we worked well together as a group. We didn’t assume different roles. We just worked together and started to discuss ways to make the tower work. We included everyone and helped throughout the process. I felt that all groups worked like this because I heard talking and communication in the different groups. People were discussing about how the tower can be stronger and how the tower would hold the marshmallow.
Poetry: 15 Mins of Fame Summative
In this summative, I had to choose two poems to annotate and then write three TIEAS regarding the two poems. I had to write one TIEA for each of the poem and how the poem’s author used the literary devices to convey an inspiring or empowering message. The last TIEA was about how the poems are similar and different. I also had to make poems myself. I had to write an inspirational poem and hope poem. For the inspirational poem, I have to make a video slide to have it be played behind me when I perform. For the hope poem, I had to record me reciting it.
Poetry Annotation
“The Road Not Taken” TIEA
In “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost uses symbolism to tell people to think positively. The author came across two roads in the woods. He was choosing which road to take, but it was a huge dilemma for him. “And both that morning equally lay… Somewhere ages and ages hence” (11-17). Frost discussed about his dilemma. He wakes up in the morning and the two roads lay in front of him, waiting to be chosen. He found one of the roads with leaves that weren’t stepped on and he started going down that path. He started regretting his choice and wanted to go back. However, he believed that going down this path can lead him to other choices too, so he did not go back. After years of walking down the road he chose, he was still not happy. This is showing the reader how the author was thinking negatively because he kept thinking about “what ifs”. The author shows the reader that thinking negatively would make one think that he/she would never have enough and not appreciate what is given to one.
MLA Citation
1) Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Family Friend Poem. N.d. Web. 19 April 2018.
“It Couldn’t Be Done” TIEA
In “It Couldn’t Be Done”, Edgar Guest uses repetition to tell the audience to not be discouraged by other people. The author was discouraged by other people many times, but he proved them wrong every time. “He started to sing as he tackled the thing/That couldn’t be done, and he did it/He started to sing as he tackled the thing/That couldn’t be done, and he did it!” (7-8, 15-16). Guest showed how he proved the others wrong when he repeated the two lines. The lines tells the reader that the author was even more encouraged to accomplish the thing that other people thought he couldn’t do. The author ignored what the other people had said to him. With repetition, the author also emphasizes on the fact that one should accomplish the things one wants and not care about what other people say. And if one ignores the negative comments, one can succeed.
MLA Citation
1) Guest, Edgar. “It Couldn’t Be Done.” Family Friend Poem. N.d. Web. 23 April 2018.
Compare and Contrast TIEAs
In “The Road Not Taken” and “It Couldn’t Be Done”, Robert Frost and Edgar Guest both used repetition to emphasize the main topic of the poems. Robert Frost came across two roads and he started to think about which road he should choose. “Two roads diverge…/Two roads diverge…” (Frost, 1, 18). Edgar Guest was discouraged by other people, but he proved them wrong every time. “He started to sing as he tackled the thing/That couldn’t be done, and he did it!/He started to sing as he tackled the thing/That couldn’t be done, and he did it!” (Guest, 7-8, 15-16). Frost emphasized on the two choices the poem was about when he repeated the lines. The two choices were described as roads that the author was choosing to take. Towards the end of the poem, the author purposely used the start of the first line to make a connection. This connection reminds the reader on the main topic of the poem. Guest brought out the main topic of the poem when he used repetition. The main topic of the poem was about not taking criticism and do what one believes. The repetition helped showed how even when people try to discourage Guest, he didn’t take in the criticism. Instead, he used it to prove to the people that he can accomplish the task every time.
In “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost used symbolism to add a deeper meaning to the poem, while in “It Couldn’t Be Done”, Edgar Guest used more dialogue to help show the personality of the character. Frost talks about the two choices he has to pick as roads. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… To where it bent in the undergrowth” (Frost, 1-5). Frost represented the two choices by writing about them as roads. The author said that he can’t choose both at the same time. He stood in front of the roads and looked down one path. This shows that he is thinking about the consequences. By using symbolism, it helps create a deeper meaning to the poem. It allows the reader understand what he is trying to say in an artistic way. Guest was discouraged by others and was told that he couldn’t accomplish things, but Guest didn’t listen to the discouragement. “Somebody said that it couldn’t be done… That maybe he didn’t, but he would be one.” (Guest, 1-3). Guest portrayed how he didn’t listen to the discouragements towards him. The response that he gave the person, who tried to discourage him, showed the reader a lot of things. It showed how he was determined and strong-minded. This also shows that the he was unwilling to be affected by the negativity of others. After what the others said to him, it made him even more encouraged to conquer the task.
MLA Citation
1) Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Family Friend Poem. N.d. Web. 24 April 2018.
2) Guest, Edgar. “It Couldn’t Be Done.” Family Friend Poem. N.d. Web. 24 April 2018.
Inspirational Poem
Am I too skinny?
Am I too bony?
Am I not like that?
Am I really fat?
I should stop eating sweets.
Candy? Please, not for me.
Adieu to pizza, french fries
and chocolates.
Why can’t I be as slender as stick?
But what is the purpose of starving,
When I can be myself.
What is the purpose of losing tons,
When I can gain to much in life.
As long as,
I’m strong and sculpted in my mind and
I’m pleasant and potent in my heart,
That is all I’ll ever need in life.
Inspirational Poem Slide Video
Hope Poem Flipgrid
Hope Poem
My dream feels like watching movies with friends at night,
My dream tastes like fresh baked banana bread on a Sunday,
My dream looks like an open meadow full of gorgeous flowers,
My dream smells like hot chocolate with marshmallows on top,
My dream sounds like birds chirping on the first day of Spring,
My dream is to live life happily with no regrets.
Unit 5 Waves Reflection
The hardest part of this project was to make the actual instrument, which in my case is the mbira or thumb piano. I found it hard because it took way longer than I thought it would. It took me more than three days to make the instrument, mostly, because I had to paint each sound box and had to change the position of the metal strips. The different sizes of sound boxes were my independent variable. The position of the metal strips would affect the notes it was going to play and I had to make 5 distinct notes. The easiest part of this project was researching about the instrument and how it makes sounds. I actually found the researching quite fun and interesting.
Something that really helped me to build the instrument was watching videos of other people building it. I learned a lot of things from those videos. I learned the general ideas, the procedures of making the instrument and how to make notes. In the videos, they tell you kind of the background information of the instrument and also how it makes sounds. I didn’t really write down my plan to build the instrument, but I did know what to do and I had a list of things in mind. I felt that I took a bit long at building my instrument because I took three days to do that. I used recycled materials that I could find at home. I think the hardest part of building the instrument was the metal strips. The metal strips was made from bobby pins. When I tried to bend the bobby pins, it often broke in half and I had to restart with another one. Also, I had to experiment with the length and position of the bobby pins to make different notes and sounds.
I felt that my instrument turned out better than I expected it to be. My instrument did play 5 different distinct sounds and it did play a song. I tried to make the instrument as pretty as I could by painting it. I think the painting turned out okay. I think my instrument can withstand a long while of playing, since it didn’t fall apart from the time I made it, experimented on it and presented it to the class. However, I’m not sure if the amplitude of the instrument was loud enough. I did ask some of my friends if they had heard it when I presented, they said yes.
The mbira is a percussion instrument, but I don’t play any percussion instrument, except playing xylophones at school. I built the mbira (thumb piano) because I found the instrument very interesting. I first saw this instrument when I went to a museum in Taipei and they were selling mbiras. I found it satisfying and really cool to play. When I was given this assignment, I was going to build a xylophone with my friend, but later we decided to make our own instrument. I was thinking about which instrument to make and I thought of the materials I had at home. I knew I had a lot of bobby pins and other materials that are needed to build the instrument. Therefore, I decided that this instrument was suitable for because I already had the materials. When I started building my instrument, I thought it was going to be really hard with the metal strips because I need to experiment with the position for a long time. It turned out to be true because it really did take a long time and had a level of difficulty.