Grade 9
Short Story 1 – A Television Drama
Part 1
I came up to the house where the criminal came from. I had to ask someone inside the house why he was there and get information. I’m in the business and I’m one of the best, I have to stay on top hear what happened first. I got to the front door, and nocked real hard but no one came to the door. I knocked again, no one. I was positive I had seen someone, were they scared, nervous or shocked. I knew no one was going to come to the door but I still have to write an article about this event. I told myself I’ll have to take what I’ve got and make up the rest.
Part 2
That its different if you heard it on the radio or TV than in person. Pete was feeling different about it than Carolee was because they experienced different things. Carolee was questioning herself because she was so stunned and scared but Pete cared so much for his wife that he was more scared than she was.
My Environmental Interactions
1)My Interactions with the different spheres
https://www.spreadshirt.com/walk+more+drive+less+bags+backpacks-A14318
Interactions with the Atmosphere: A few negatives are that I breath and we drive our car and go on the airplane. A Positive would be I try to walk or ride my bike as much as possible.
Interactions with the Biosphere: A positive thing I do is not litter but a negative thing that I do use a lot of paper and waste trees.
https://www.zazzle.ca/recycle_symbol_with_leaf_round_sticker-217576482838365765
Interactions with the Hydrosphere: A positive thing that I do for the hydrosphere is take short showers but a negative thing we do is fertilizer our lawn every year.
Interactions with the Geosphere: A positive thing is that I green waste at my house but a negative is that we use a lot of fossil fuels.
2. My interactions with the different spheres and their positives and negative effects on the earth
Interactions with the Atmosphere: Every time I breath I have a negative effect (not that it makes to much difference and could change much about it) on the atmosphere because I take the oxygen and release carbon dioxide back into the air. Every time we drive in the car or go on an airplane whose machines release bad gases and it is very harmful to the air and atmosphere over time. A positive thing that I do for the atmosphere is walk or bike to places as much as possible so that I don’t have to ride the bus or drive because they are bad for the environment.
http://digital.vpr.net/post/vermont-has-new-universal-recycling-symbols#stream/0
Interactions with the Biosphere: A positive thing I do for the biosphere is not litter, I always put my garbage in the trash can. If I don’t my garbage makes the place look bad and dirty or the wind might pick it up and take it somewhere where it could bother humans, children, plants and animals. Something negative that I do for the biosphere is I use a lot of paper to make stuff and do work which is bad because we cut down trees and use the paper. Another thing is that in most classrooms in the school we don’t have paper recycling. I know we use devices which cuts down on our use of paper but I think we still use enough to have paper recycling.
http://www.huatian-china.com/products_list/pmcId=36.html
Interactions with the Hydrosphere: A positive thing that I do for the hydrosphere is take really short showers. My maximum shower time is 5 minutes so I save a lot of water by not having a big bath everyday or a long shower. A negative thing we do for the hydrosphere is that my family fertilizes our lawn every year. We use a spreader so it sprays fertilizer everywhere but some of the fertilizer goes onto the pavement/road when we are trying to get close to the edge. The fertilizer is bad and it runs off the pavement, into the drain and out to probably the Pitt or Fraser rivers. This is bad for the water and the fish so it effects the hydrosphere.
Interactions with the Geosphere: Something positive that I do for the geosphere is green waste at my house, it keeps all the extra scraps out of the landfill which eventually gets buried into the earth. We do use fossil fuels like oil to make plastics and gasoline and natural gas to heat our house and water tanks. Fossil fuels come from the earth and someday we will use them all up and will have to find an alternate solution.
3) Some changes I could make in my life to help the spheres:
https://shaganappicommunity.ca/wp/2016/05/23/cycling-in-shaganappi/
For the Atmosphere: I would walk more places if they were in walking distance. I could ride my bike because it would be quicker than walking so I could go to different and farther places. It would also have to depend on the weather, in the summer we are off school and would have more time to walk to different places but in the winter it could be icy so it would be dangerous to ride your bike or walk, and if there is snow walking in the snow takes a lot longer and it gets a lot more tiring much more quickly, so it would be harder to walk or bike in the winter but in the summer it would definitely work and be a good option.
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Cleaning-Trash-Recycling-Recycling-Bins/N-5yc1vZcb26
For the Biosphere: We are decreasing the amount of trees we cut down already by being a digital school and working on a device whenever we can so we save a lot of paper by not always using so much. But not too many other schools do this so they all create paper waste and use a lot of trees as well.
http://www.ebay.com/gds/What-Is-10-10-10-Fertilizer-/10000000205660849/g.html
For the Hydrosphere: Alternative options for cutting down on the amount of fertilizer that we put into the water we could hand spread it so that we could get close to the edge but be more careful and not get the pavement. We could also use a natural fertilizer that wouldn’t be as bad for the water and animals in the water. The grass wouldn’t look as good and be as healthy if we didn’t fertilize but it would completely cut it out of going into the water.
https://www.bristolstreet.co.uk/blog/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-electric-cars-part-1/
For the Geosphere: Its hard not to use fossil fuels in the world today. The main fossil fuel we use in our area is oil. Plastics are made of oil, once plastic is made it never decomposes and its one of the worst things for the environment in my opinion because it goes straight into the landfill but it is pretty unavoidable because its quick and cheap to make. Some options I could use to save some plastics are take my lunch in reusable container instead of saran wrap or a plastic bag. We also use oil which gets turned into gasoline to fill up and use our car. Instead of driving we could walk or ride our bikes more places which will also help the atmosphere because there is less poisonous gases going into the air. They have made other options like electric cars but you have to plug those in.
Midterm Videos
Unit 1: Rational Numbers
Unit 2: Exponents
Unit 3: Polynomial
Engineering Brightness Artifacts of Learning
2) I liked doing Engineering Brightness because it was interesting, I liked connecting with other people across the world and our class and myself are making a difference somewhere else in the world. I liked the skype chats because it was interesting to learn about different things that are going on somewhere else. We had three skype chats, one with Mr. Fogarty and his class in New Brunswick and the other two were with Eladio, Dennis and their class and we talked about stuff going on there like how it is a developing nation. The school that they went to was a nice school for there but it looks just like one of our public schools, and lots of kids don’t even go to school where they live in the Dominican Republic. My group and I made this video above about what our class has done with Engineering Brightness. I think it is kind of like a summary of what everyone has done and how we have and are making a difference. Not all the groups wanted to be interviewed but we did our best by asking everyone in our class if they wanted to and if they were alright with us taking a video like this.
3) My group said we wanted to do fundraising in the beginning but we couldn’t come up with any ideas that would work, then we tried working with another school but most didn’t get back to us. We then tried to come up with an alternate plan and we came up with making a video that showcases and demonstrates how everyone in our class has been working on this project and been doing different things to help this cause, I think I have grown and have gained skills by being able to change the plan when it doesn’t workout.
I think I have met my learning goals because I learned more about myself and about other things going on in the world.
4) I also think I have improved by working in groups. We have all worked together to come up with the idea and brainstorm. Sarah and Ella did most of the video, I filmed the videos and interviewing. We all evenly talked on the skype chats.
I think if we had more time we could have made our video a bit better with background music or some other stuff. We were a little rushed at the end so that the video could be done and we would be able to put the video on our blogs and hand it in on time.
I liked doing the connections based learning because I thought it was another way to learn. I liked doing the Engineering Brightness because we got to communicate with other people in the world to try and support a local cause for them. I don’t think I have ever done something like this and tried to make a difference somewhere else in the world
How do Cells Multiply
Asexual Reproduction:
When there is one parent and the offspring is a genetic clone, if the parent happens to have a mutation it gets passed on to the offspring. Some examples are fish and sea urchins.
There are 5 types of Asexual Reproductions:
Binary Fission is when a single cell splits into two identical copies.
Budding is when multicellular organisms go through repeated mitosis to form an identical organism.
Fragmentation is when a part breaks off and it grows a back into a clone of the parent.
Vegetative Reproduction are special cells that form new plants that are identical to the parent.
Spore Formation is when single cells can grow into a whole new organism.
Some Advantages to Asexual Reproduction are that it doesn’t take a lot of energy to find a mate, a large amount of offsprings can form quickly.
Disadvantage to Asexual Reproductions are that some conditions such as extreme temperatures can take out entire colonies, offsprings are genetic clones and if the parent has a negative mutation that will be passed down to all the offsprings.
Sexual Reproduction:
When a male gamete fertilizes a female gamete and the offspring is a mix of the two. 23 chromosomes get passed down from its mother and 23 from its father.
There are two types of Sexual Reproduction:
Internal Fertilization is when a female gamete meets a male gamete inside the body, some advantages to this are offsprings are genetically different from there parents and if their parent happens to have a mutation the offspring could survive or not get it. But some disadvantages are that it is generally more effort to find a mate and fewer offsprings ate produced.
External Fertilization mainly happens in water when a sperm is released and an egg is released and they find each other. Some advantages to this are very little energy is required to find a mate and offsprings are genetically different from there parents and if their parent happens to have a mutation the offspring can survive. But some disadvantages are that embryos, gametes and offspring are unprotected and are often preyed upon.
Mitosis
Mitosis separates one cell into two. It goes through four stages which I call PMAT (Prophase, Metaphase, 
Anaphase and Telophase) and it only does one round of it.
Interphase: This is the longest stage and its when everything pretty much doubles.
Prophase: The nucleus disappears and the centrioles and spindle fibers form and attach to the chromosomes.
Metaphase: Spindle fibers pull the chromosomes and they line up in the middle of the cell.
Anaphase: The centromeres break apart the daughter chromatids and pull them outward to opposite ends of the cell.
Telophase: 2 nuclear membranes form, 2 nucleolus form and spindle fibers disappear.
Cytokinesis: The cell separates and is now two and restarts back in interphase.
Meiosis
Meiosis separates one cell into four. Meiosis has two rounds of PMAT (Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase and Telophase)
Prophase I: Homologous chromosomes pair up and non-sister chromatids exchange genetic material. This is called crossover.
Metaphase I: Homologous chromosomes pair up at the equator.
Anaphase I: Homologous chromosomes separate and are pulled to opposite poles by the spindle fibers.
Telophase I: One chromosome from each homologous pair is at each pole of the cell.
Prophase II: There is one chromosome of the homologous pair in each cell.
Metaphase II: The X-shape chromosomes form a single line across the middle of the cell.
Anaphase II: Sister chromatids move to opposite poles of the cell. Once separated each sister chromatid is considered to be a chromosome.
Telophase II: Spindle fibers begin to disappear and a nuclear membrane forms around each set of chromosomes.
The growth of organisms using information from our gallery walk including terms we have used:
Internal Fertilization is when the sperm cells go into the female’s body and meet an egg cell. The sperm penetrates the egg and the fetus starts to develop.
External Fertilization: Is when a sperm is released (generally in water) and an egg is released. They meet and the sperm surrounds the egg so that no other sperms can get to the egg.
Mating and methods of fertilization: They mate at the right time of season because then they can have a baby and it will develop at a good time when it is not too cold so that it can survive
Fetal Development: The stage that occurs before the fetus begins to develop comes right after internal fertilization
Pollination: The transfer of pollen to a plant for fertilization. It is transferred through humans, bees, moths, flies, hummingbirds, wind, ect.
Embryotic Development: Its when the embryo is formed and develops. In humans, embryonic development happens in the first two months after fertilization. After fertilization the zygote begins the process of mitosis. Embryotic Development has four stages: Cleavage, patterning, differentiation, and growth.
Principals Of Learning
Learning involves patience and time – For Engineering Brightness it took my 
group a long time to come up with an idea and plan of how we would raise money. In the end we changed from raising money to making a video of how our class has made lights and raised money. That took a lot of time and patience to come with an idea that we could do.
Learning embedded in memory, history and story – When we skyped The Dominican Republic I kind of took mental notes and remembered things that they told us and it helped me come up with different ideas of how to do something like make lights with the limitations they have.
Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared wit permission and/or certain situations – As we were interviewing different groups for our video for Engineering Brightness we had to ask and make sure that everyone was ok with us possibly putting it on during RAP.
Mutation Story
Part 1:
Hi, I am living inside this amazing and wonderful girl Genevah, she is an 
average 12 year old girl, with a special mutation. She has Differentially expressed in chondrocytes protine 2 or for short, DEC2 mutation. I am the problem, but I am not a bad problem. Genevah is kind of lucky for the most part because she has me. She doesn’t need to sleep for as long as the average person.
Every night Genevah lays in her bed and tosses thoughts around in her head because she has nothing else to do. If she goes to bed early she will wake up way to early. But if she goes to bed really late she can wake up at a good time. Here is an example of when I was not very helpful to Genevah, one evening she went to her friends house for a sleepover. They were having a great time but by 11pm all
of her friends were exhausted and ready to go to sleep but Genevah wasn’t. She knew she could still be up and wide awake for a good 2 hours. She was worried because she doesn’t stay overnight other places too often. She kept telling herself I’m used to it, I will fall a sleep soon. These are some of the stress problems I make for Genevah. But here is an example of when I was very useful in Genevah’s life. Last month Genevah and her family went on vacation to the Bahamas. Their flight left at 8am so the whole family woke up around 4:30am so they could get to the airport on time. Genevah’s whole family was exhausted from getting up “early” and they all slept on the plane. Genevah pretty well woke up at regular time and was ready for the day with lots of energy.
Part 2:
My questions included: What is DEC2 mutation and what does it stand for? What effects does DEC2 mutation have on someone? What has to happen to the DNA to make DEC2? How rare is DEC2?
I used google and Wikipedia for starting information and to find links to other
sites but a few new websites for research I used included: http://omim.org/entry/606200 http://www.highlighthealth.com/sleep-disorders/need-for-less-sleep-associated-with-gene-mutation/
I had to start out by finding information about the mutation and what happens, what it does and where is comes from. Then how it affects people.
I think I could have researched harder and before I started I should have made sure I understood all the DNA and the way they worked and when something goes wrong what happens, because I think it made this project a lot harder to do. I liked the mutation I chose because it was different because I was generally a good and helpful mutation unlike most of the other ones we heard.
Math Slam Poetry
What is the chance of snow for a few days in a row in a percentage?
I don’t know, you tell me, please start with something easy
Could you tell me what is the chance of snow for the next few days in a row in a fraction?
I think so
What about in a decimal?
Maybe so
If you can tell me the chance of getting snow for the next few days in a row in a fraction and a decimal, you can tell me in a percentage,
Did you know things in math are related?
How so?
Here is my example- Percentages are out of 100, decimals can be out of 100 and fractions can be out of 100.
These all happen to be out of 100 which makes them all related. If you know one, you know them all
This time, do you think you could tell me the chance of getting snow for the next few days in a row in a percentage?