My Ecological Footprint

What are some things you could do to reduce your footprint?

          I could try to find more ways to get around other than a taxi, and I could try to limit my use of resources by thinking about the resources I already use.

Healthy Snack Reflection

Was my snack healthy? Justify why you say yes or no. Think about what we’ve talked about sugar and fats.

  Yes, because even though this recipe has fats, most of the fats are healthy fats. I also think this recipe is healthy because the only unhealthy part is the dressing which has very little contents that are unhealthy.

When you choose a snack do you think about how healthy/unhealthy it is? Why or why not.

  Usually because as a whole my family tries to eat very well, my mom cooks dinner and makes my lunch, which is very healthy. I don't usually choose a snack because my snack is whatever I didn't eat for lunch.

Do you think food is meant to be eaten with other people? What are some effects of eating and socializing at the same time?

  Yes, eating food with other people makes eating more enjoyable. A benefit to eating and socializing is that you eat slower because you are talking, so your food can properly digest, telling you when you are actually full so you don't keep eating.

Did you enjoy preparing your food? Do you think preparing your own food affects how much you enjoy eating it? Explain

  Yes, preparing my snack was really fun, and it really affects how much you enjoy eating it because as you eat it, you're like, "I did this, and it is delicious!!!"
Which recipes you tried today would you buy if they were offered at the kiosk? And why?

  N/A (I wasn't at school to try other peoples' snacks)

Uneven Distributions of Natural Resources

There are uneven distributions of natural resources because tectonic plates move around, distributing the natural resources unevenly. Natural gas is distributed unevenly because the plants and animals die. Once in awhile, the tectonic plates move and bury the dead plants and animals underneath another tectonic plate. The heat and pressure under the many layers form the natural gas. Another example of uneven distribution due to tectonic plates is geothermal energy. The most geothermal activity is on the edges of tectonic plates. When tectonic plates move, it can create volcanoes and ridges which can have great geothermal activity. Volcanoes erupt and have geothermal energy, all because tectonic plates moved. A third example of uneven distribution due to tectonic plates is copper. When tectonic plates go under another they shift towards magma creating heat and pressure. When the tectonic plates start to melt, it gets further away from the core, cooling it down. Eventually, it breaks, sending pieces into the sea. Those pieces cool down and crystallize, creating copper. One final example of tectonic plates distributing naturals resources unevenly is oil. Tectonic plates decide where oil is located. When tectonic plates move, it distributes the oil unevenly. That is why there are uneven distributions of natural resources because of tectonic plates.

Patience is Key

         You are probably wondering, "Why is she showing me a picture of a waiting room?" Well, you may see it as a waiting room, but it shows much more about my myself and my life.

         For me, life is all about waiting. It may seem ridiculous, but all my life I have had to wait. I waited to see what I got on a test. I waited to find out who my teacher was for school. I waited to find out where I was moving. I waited to see my dad when he was deployed, but it was all about patience. When I see this waiting room or any waiting room, I am reminded of the patience I had to see my scores, my teacher, my next location, and my dad. This waiting room waits for me to arrive. It patiently waits for my return, as I wait to return to it because even if the wait is 5 minutes or one whole day, I will always be there patiently waiting.

Portrait Photography

     This is my selfie I took for my photography unit. To photograph this image, I realized that I wanted to use reflection to capture myself instead of just the regular selfie. At first, I wanted to just use my laptop without the screen on, but as I continued trying out different was to photograph myself, I realized, why not just use photobooth? Once I decided to use photobooth, I had to decide the style. I was going to use just a regular black and white filter at first, but I realized that having it look like an old movie would be cooler, plus I thought it looked better and more unique. Once I took the photo with the sepia filter, I realized that it only needed a little bit of editing. I cropped the photo so that you could see a little bit of what was behind the computer, then I made minor changes to sharpen it and make it brighter or darker in certain places. Once I did that, I realized that the background was way too full, and you wouldn't focus on me (not trying to be selfish), so I used the retouch option to black out the entire background which gave the photo a really cool effect.

      1. Exposure is the amount of light per unit area in a photograph. In this photograph, I used exposure to help make this photo overexposed, or very bright.

      2. This, I believe, was my best photo because it shows frame inside a frame so definitely, and because I barely edited it to look this way once I made it black and white.

      3. Background and lighting are major for portrait photography because it can show a personality better, and make a photo so much more interesting. In this photo, I considered using a light background to show Laura's personality as being jubilant and bright.

Seed Germination

These are my steps for germinating my cucumber seed.

1. Soak the paper towel
1. Dip quickly - moist but not soggy
2. Fold the seed into the paper towel
3. Put them in a zip-lock
1. To keep the moisture inside
2. Leave outside on the ledge by the window
4. Take out the seeds
1. Take them out after a couple of days

Advice Letter

Dear Abby/Abner- My friend has a personal blog and she/he is constantly writing inappropriate comments about people at our school. Although there are no names mentioned, sometimes it’s obvious who the person is. I know it’s wrong and it makes me uncomfortable, but my friend thinks it’s funny. What should I do?

Dear Amethyst,
It is not uncommon to be friends with a cyberbully. Many people struggle to make that decision, after all, cyberbullying is related to low self-esteem which many people have nowadays. You are stuck in the middle of going with or against your friend, I know how difficult it may be, but your heart will help you decide.

At these times you may be indecisive about many things. All you may think about is hurting your friend or hurting those around you. If you are not careful you may accidentally join your friend. Avoid all gossip-related conversations to keep all of your friendships intact.
If her actions make you uncomfortable - take some independence, gain your strength, you don’t have to follow in her footsteps. Confront her to help your’s and other’s self-esteems. You can help save others and your friend who is cyberbullying. She can get to them through emails, texts, and social media sites, causing low self-esteems for many people. It may make you and others uncomfortable, but she needs to stop before more get hurt.

You have been friends with her for a while. If you talk and yell at her to stop, you are only giving her more reason to continue her posts if she finds it funny. At my old school I went to, I found myself surrounded by people who were constantly cyberbullied.
I am now annoyed with myself for doing nothing about it because I didn’t know how. I realized that even if I didn’t know who was the cyberbully was, I could have still helped all of my friends who were cyberbullied.
I felt like I had an inability to simply comfort my friends. Not because I was annoyed or anything, but just because I didn’t know how to comfort them.
The solution is to report your friend. If she finds it funny, she obviously is oblivious that she is hurting so many around her, which needs to be stopped to help whoever she is bullying. Here are some steps you can take to stop her from cyberbullying.
Step 1: Try to reason with her. She may find it funny while you don’t, but she should still understand if you just try to reason with her to stop. DO NOT start rumors yourself!
Step 2: If you have tried reasoning with her, you can go to the social media site she makes negative comments on, and report her to the social media site so they can take action and take down her account so that she can’t post anything. For example, at my school, there is a site like that, and people reported the account to the site to shut it down.
Step 3: If she still finds a way around the blocked account, report her to your principal. The comments are about students at your school, so your principal should be able to help.
Step 4: If the principal can’t help with the problem, which shouldn’t happen, you can go around to the people who were cyberbullying, and just comfort them. They are distressed, they need comfort from others who were cyberbullied. You can also ask them to report the account if it was never taken down. You can also tell them that they can block the account and change the settings, that way they will never have to see that account again.
Stand up for the people who are bullied to help their self-esteem, do the right thing!
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Abby

Resources: Cyberbullying, Report Cyberbullying, BrainPOP