Student Vs. Beast

Submarine Fumble

     My partner and I faced many problems while doing our experiment. One of the problems we faced was getting it to sink and float horizontally. We had to fix this issue in order for our submarine to sink and float. To fix it, we taped a bottle cap with a few rocks to the lid because the top of the submarine (bottle) was way to light compared to the bottom of the submarine. Another thing we did was add a few holes in the front for more water to get in to the top. We also took off some of the clay at the bottom of the bottle to make the bottle the same weight on both sides.

     I think being able to solve problems is important in life because if you ever have a problem with bills, your job, your house, etc, you might not be able to fix it because you never learned. You won't have the problem-solving skills to help you in life.

Lump In My Throat

I heard the sounds of doctors, nurses, and loud elevator creeks as they pushed me into a room. No outside views, no plants, just floppy, hallway doors with tiny, crystal clear windows. I was enclosed, trapped, I could not escape. I could not walk out on all this because of my fear, because I was petrified of what was yet to come.

The room was so small, but with so many people.  It looked like a crowd at a concert waiting for their superstar. It looked like the city of Singapore; with the tall buildings all on a small island. It looked like a fingerprint that had been magnified to see all the little details. The crowd only made me feel more squished, circled, trapped. I was surrounded by suffocating air. It made me even more terrified of what was coming.

“I don’t want to do it,” I cried to my mom. In the distance, I heard the sound of ambulance sirens. At that moment, I got a huge lump in my throat, I was so scared.

“It will be okay. You don’t have to be scared.”

As I calmed down, they lowered the mask onto my face. I breathed in and out, in and out. As my eyes got droopy, I drifted off to sleep. Before I went though I heard my mom say, “Honey, I’ll be in the recovery room for you when you wake up. I love you!”

Dazed I woke to the sound of doctors and nurses scrambling around. I layed there, daydreaming to see if I could remember the surgery.

“Where are you, Mom?”

“ I’m right here, you’re okay.” I looked around, the concert had ended, the buildings had been torn down, the microscope had zoomed out.

I squeezed Fluffy close to my heart then nuzzled her at my face. She has been there for me since I was 8, my little duckie, lovey Fluffy was all I needed at that moment. While I hugged and kissed Fluffy, I was struck with the realization that I had conquered my fear. We did it Fluffy! We made it through together! We both conquered our fear together, I thought to myself. I trust my mom, she would only do the best for my safety and health, and for your’s too, Fluffy.  I wanted to cry, but instead, I squeezed Fluffy as I tight as I could without hurting myself. I faced my fears! I actually did it! . When I was afraid to go on a high rope course, my sister walked me through it, and it helped me overcome my fear of falling. When I was afraid to stand on a horizontal piece of glass on the 50+ floor, my dad assured me it was safe, and gave me a little nudge to help me overcome my fear of extreme heights. Lastly, when I was afraid to put food in the oven, my mom talked to me about it and told me that if you wear oven mitts and be careful, you wouldn’t get hurt. I smiled softly. I had already known that I could do it. I had always known that it was true.  It’s proven. I can conquer my fears.

Q1 Math Reflection

1. One of the most important things I learned in Unit 1 was how to find the LCM or GCF of two numbers using prime factorization. I learned that to find the GCF, you look at the two prime factorizations and pull out only the numbers they have in common, and then you multiply them together to get the GCF. You find the LCM by prime factorizing the two numbers, then you write out the prime factorizations on a compare and contrast chart. You then use exactly what it says on the chart, multiply it and you have you LCM.

2. My biggest success was my scores on the unit test. I looked over my notebook even though I was fully ready. I worked hard on the test, and it payed off. I was really excited about my score, and I deserved it. I studied, I worked hard, wrote fast and even checked it twice. I know that my grades on my test were my greatest success.

3. Even though I thought I was ready for the test, and I was, my biggest challenge was the test. Even though I knew how to do the problems, the stress of getting good grades, doing well, finishing and just me being nervous made the test a real challenge. The Prime Time unit test was definitely my greatest challenge.

Fractions and Ratios

     The only time fractions and ratios are the same, it is when you are comparing a part of a whole. They would be similar to each other because the fraction would be part of a whole over a whole, while the ratio is part of the whole next to the whole. That is how fractions and ratios are similar. 

     They can also be different. A ratio usually is comparing a part to a part. For example, if I was hosting a birthday party, ad there were 12 girls and 16 boys, there would be 3 girls for every 4 boys or 3:4. Since 12 and 16 have 4 as a common factor, I would divide both 12 and 16 by 4 to get 3 and 4, so there is 3 girls for every 4 boys. Fractions on the other hand compare parts to a whole. Since there are 28 kids in total, 12/28 of the kids are girls and 16/28 of the kids are boys.

     One place you might need to use fractions is when your cooking. When a recipe says 1/4 cup of sugar or 2/3 cup of water, it means a fraction of a cup. A part of a whole. You need to be able to know your fractions to know how to cook because it'll say something like " 3 2/3 cup of flour," and you would know, but without fractions, you won't have the right measurements to cook. It is 100% necessary, you will need fractions in the future.

     You will need ratios when you are in science because when your teacher will say "You need 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen to make a water molecule, and since it is a ratio, you know that oxygen can't be by itself so it is 4 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms combined together to make 2 H2O atoms where each is 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen. You will need ratios in the future.

Body Volume Experiment

Science Body Mass

30L is my estimated body volume.

After the experiment, I found out that my volume is 39.