Grade 11
Week 6 – Foundations 11
This week we started on scale factor and how to find them with 2 different shapes.
In this image, the dimensions of the first rectangle is 3x5cm. To find the total perimeter of the rectangle we can do 3(2) + 5(2) = 16cm. And to find the area we use base x height which will be 3×5= 15cm².
It’s pretty obvious that the rectangle has doubled in size based on the fact that the sides are multiplied by 2. We can use the steps previously to find information such as the total perimeter and area or we can see that if entire rectangle is doubled, then to find the total perimeter, all we need to do is multiply our final answer. So 16(2) = 32cm is our perimeter. When we double the perimeter, we can see that the area has been multiplied by 4, so the area would be 60cm². Or we can just use base times height to find it aswell.
Remember that the trick I used to find the area for the larger shape only works if the scale factor is 2.
And if the scale factor is less than 1, the shape will become smaller.
Ex. SF = 0.99 = smaller
Ex. SF = 1.3 = bigger
Ex. SF = 1.01 = bigger
Week 5 – Foundations 10
This week we learned everything about angles and how to find them without using a protractor.
When dealing with parallel lines connected with a transversal, there are a lot of ways be can connect angles and there also a lot of vocabulary included.
Supplementary angles: These angles always add to 180. Ex. 1 and 2 or 5 and 7.
Also: every angle around a point equals 360 degrees. For example the angles 1, 2, 3, 4 all equal 360.
Vertically opposite: angles that are vertically opposite are always equal. Ex. 1 and 4 or 6 and 7.
Corresponding angles: these are angles that correspond with each other and are equal as well. Ex. 1 and 5 or 4 and 8.
Interior angles: these are angles that are both found inside the two parallel lines and are on the same side. These angles when added always equal 180. Ex. 4 and 6 or 3 and 5.
Exterior angles: the same thing as interior angles but on the outside of the parallel lines. These angles also always when added equal 180. Ex. 1 and 7 or 2 and 8.
Alternate interior angles: These are the same as interior angles but on opposite sides of the transversal. They are always equal. Ex. 4 and 5 or 3 and 6.
Alternate Exterior angles: Same as exterior angles but on opposite sides of the transversal. They are also always equal. Ex. 1 and 8 or 2 and 7.
Knowing all these different terms, you can find every single angle on the diagram without using a protractor with only one given angle.
Week 4 – Foundations 11
This unit we learned about inductive vs. deductive reasoning and the differences between them.
People often say inductive reasoning is the weaker of the two because it’s an observation —> a rule which can’t always be correct. For example if I take 6 blue marbles from a bag of 10 marbles I can’t be certain that all 10 marbles are blue. The observation that I only got blue marbles made the rule that there are only blue marbles in the bag, which can’t be 100% accurate.
Deductive reasoning is quite the opposite. It’s a rule —> an observation. So if we know for a fact that there are all 10 blue marbles inside of the bag because it’s a rule then we can make the observation and predict that there will be all blue marbles. Another example is gravity. Gravity is a constant “rule” that if something goes up, it must come back down. If you throw an apple up a million times, every single time it will come back down. The concept of gravity would be deductive because it’s been proved that it’s a rule and not a coincidence that the apple comes back down every time.
These methods of reasoning can be used for pretty much any concept.
Week 3 – Foundations 11
This week we learned about the differents forms of equations and how to identify them. There are 3 that we became familiar with and how to differentiate them.
1. The general form: y = ax2 + bx + c. This equation is good because we can find the y-intercept, which is c. The a signifies the amount of curve the parabola has. For example if a = 1 then the spacing between points will be 1-3-5. If it’s 2 then you multiply all the numbers by 2 so it will be 2-6-10 and so on.
2. The vertex form: y = a(x + b) + c. Like the name says we can find the vertex, which is the most important point. For example if the equation is y = (x – 5) + 4 then the vertex will be on (5,4). Whatever is inside the brackets must be flipped. Is the equation is y = -(x – 5) + 4 then the whole parabola will be flipped upside-down because of the negative. And like general form, a signifies the curve of the parabola.
3. The factored form: y = a(x + b)(x – b). We can use this equation to find the x-intercepts. And like what we did before, we can find the vertex using these intercepts. If the equation is y = (x – 5)(x – 3) then we know the x-intercepts are +5 and +3. Remember to flip the numbers since they are in brackets. To find the vertex we first add both the numbers and divide by 2. So 5 + 3 = 8/2 = 4. So now we know the line of symmetry will be x = 4. Then to find the vertex we take 4 and plug it into our equation to get our y-coordinate. y = (4 – 5)(1 – 3) -> y = (-1)(-2) = 2. So the coordinates of our vertex will be (4,2).
Week 2 – Foundations 11
This Week we learned about parabolas and what they are. First we learned the proper vocabulary for important parts of the parabola and then we learned how to properly graph them. Before we start, when you see “x²” in an equation you should automatically know that it’s going to be a parabola.
Let’s start off with the vocabulary, the highest or lowest point of the parabola (the curved part) is called the vertex. I say the highest or lowest point because depending on the equation the parabola can be flipped upside-down making the vertex the lowest point.
The line of symmetry or the axis of symmetry is the line that goes down the center of the parabola. For example, if we cut the parabola in half it’s the line where both sides will look the same but mirrored. There are many ways to find the line of symmetry, we can just use our eyes and find the middle of the parabola. But sometimes it isn’t that simple so we can find the average of the two point to find the midpoint (the middle).
To graph a simple parabola, we can use the 1-3-5 rule. These numbers represent the spacing we need to use when graphing the parabola. For example the equation: y = x² + 6 we would start with 6 which is the y-intercept. Next we use the 1-3-5 rule. We start by going up 1 and then 1 out, then we go up 3 and 1 out, and finally 5 up and 1 out, making a sort of exponential curve.
Now we know the important vocabulary for parabolas and how to graph them.
Week 1 – Foundations
Inequalities
I good amount of the stuff we learned during this unit was review from previous years. In grade 9 we learned how to re-arrange the equations correctly and last year, in grade 10 we learned how to make the slope formula and how to use it on a graph.
This year, we learned about inequalities and how to graph them.
When looking at this equation: y = 5x + 4 it isn’t anything new, because it follows the y = mx + b format. We should be able to graph this equation easily starting off with the y-intercept which is 4. Then recognizing 5 is the same as the fraction 5/1 then using rise over run to make our line.
But what if I told you this equation: y > 5x + 4 means almost the same thing, the only difference is what you do after drawing the line. You would still do the same steps as the previous equation but this time the line you would draw wouldn’t be a full line, it would be a dashed-line.
It would be a dashed-line because the inequality says that it is greater than so the solution would include the line. If the symbol in the equation is ≥ (greater or equal to) we would use a full line because it shows us that the solution doesn’t include the line. Sort of like the number line when we shade in the circle to show if the number is included or not.
Now with this information we move onto the next step, locating the region in which our solution may be in. We have the dashed line and now what we can do is use any coordinates of our choice to find the side of the line the solution is. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use the coordinates (0,0), because all we need to do is plug the zeros into the equation in place of the variables. Now our equation will become: 0 > 5(0) + 4. Once we solve it we will get: 0 > 4.
If the statement is true, then the region where our solution is includes the coordinates we used (0,0). If it’s false then we use the side of the line where we didn’t use the coordinates. In this case the statement is false so we wouldn’t shade the side where (0,0) is.
When we find the region where we think the solution is in, we can pick a random coordinate in this region. For example: (-2,-2). Like we did before we will plug the numbers into our equation and if the statement is correct it is safe to say we found our region.
-2 > 5 (-2) +4
-2 > -6 is true so we know we got the correct answer.
New Media Challenge – Daniel Robidoux
Similarities in Differences
I find it very fascinating how much you can learn about someone by only having a simple conversation. I feel as if people don’t do that as often anymore because of all the stereotyping and assuming that occurs nowadays. But I think it’s very important to chat with others especially with different world perspectives and opinions. This is primarily what we talked about with Adiche’s “The Danger of a Single Story” and Michael Wesch’s “How to Stop Hating”. How people may think they have an open perspective on the world but in reality, that’s just not the case.
I decided to talk to someone who I haven’t really talked to much before, his name is Daniel Vakili. I thought it would be a good idea to have the conversation with him because he is different than I am. He’s middle eastern, and I think that could help me find new and better perspectives. But after talking for a little while I soon realized that we aren’t as different as I previously thought. When having the conversation, I realized that we have more in common than not in common, such as both our names are Daniel and after comparing our tastes in music, we found similarities. And after talking with him for a bit longer we found that we had similar senses of humor. I think this is very important because just in Adiche’s story with her American roommate. “She assumed I did not know how to use a stove”, this shows how despite coming from a different country doesn’t mean that we are completely different, Adiche’s roommate had a default point of view on her before even meeting her, because Adiche is from Africa, she automatically assumed she grew up dirt-poor without things like stoves. Questions like “If you could share a meal with any four individuals, living or dead, who would they be and why?” is very important for getting to know someone because it shows who they look up to and aspire to be. For example, Vakili wishes he can talk to people like Lebron James, Will Smith or Leonardo DaVinci because of all the great they did for the world and he aspires to be like them one day
In the video, “How to Stop Hating” by Michael Wesch, we talked about how ignorance and refusing to learn about the other side can have negative effects on people in the long term. Vakili has been a huge basketball fan since before he could remember. In our conversation he talked about his favorite players and teams and I didn’t really understand what he was talking about since I have always been more invested in soccer my whole life. But after our talk I decided to do some research on some basketball legends and I now find it very interesting. This parallels a lot with Wesch’s video because after deciding to find a new perspective on something we haven’t always felt we had an interest in, we can find new things about the world we love, “learning to love some musical genre you once hated is not going to solve the deep divides of our world, but it is a start. Love is not just something that just happens to you; it’s something you do; it’s a practice and you can get better at it.” That is a great quote by Michael Wesch that ties in with our converstation that we had.
So, at the end of the day, I learned that no matter who you are talking to, no matter their religion or cultural background there is always something you can both enjoy. This is the important first step to overcoming the single story.
Blog Log #3 – Daniel Robidoux
Do people deserve second chances?
Calling people out for their wrong doings has always been apparent throughout history. But just in recent years with the rise of the internet and social media, it’s become more aggressive and widespread. “Cancel culture” is the name and it’s more popular among young people than ever. The social phenomenon is the act of someone being rejected or ostracized from a social circle. One could be “cancelled” through social media or real-life.
Cancel culture isn’t necessarily good or bad in my opinion. I believe that that is determined on how the situation is dealt with and if the person on the receiving end has learned their lesson or not.
A quote from “Tales From the Teenage Cancel Culture” by Sanam Yar and Engel Bromwich for the New York Times says “We’re a team, so we can’t have tension exist there” is a good way of describing what cancel culture could be. Let me explain, people use cancel culture as an excuse to get mad and ruin people’s lives. The quote is referencing a situation where there was a conflict during a group activity, the girls 
who confronted the boy who said a racial slur chose not to make the problem even worse. Even without arguing the boy stopped saying the word which proves they got their point across. Obviously, I’m not saying that racial slurs shouldn’t be called out when used is justifiable, but they did a good job teaching him a lesson.
But things aren’t always rainbows and butterflies for the person on the other end of cancel culture. In another article written by the New York Times, there is a girl named Mimi Groves who had her whole future planned out. She was a varsity cheerleader who earned a scholarship for the Tennessee University in Knoxville. But shortly after a video surfaced of her 4 years earlier saying a racial slur, those plans quickly became nothing but a dream. “And because the internet never forgets, the clip will always be available to watch.” Said Jimmy Galligan, who was the one who leaked the 3 second clip. I find it interesting that Mr. Galligan decided to hold onto the video for 4 years and post it once Ms. Groves was accepted to her dream university. She seemed genuinely sorry and she laterstated that she didn’t know the severity of the word and wasn’t as educated back then. I think what Mr. Galligan did was too harsh and unnecessary. He could have confronted her one on one and told her what she did instead of ruining her future.
Like I said previously, people use cancel culture as an excuse or “shield” to ruin someone’s life. It can also be used to straight up bullying someone and make them look bad. One who says something racist or inappropriate and hasn’t learned their lesson should face big consequences but if someone realizes that they made a mistake I think they should be forgiven.
Blog Log #2 – Daniel Robidoux
Is Swearing Justifiable?
I stumbled upon this article while browsing “The 50 Best Articles and Essays” website. I would be lying if the title wasn’t what caught my attention at first, it seemed too good to be true. The title was “The Science of Why Swearing Reduces Pain”. I find it funny because we’ve always been taught by our parents to never swear and turns out swearing may benefit us. I believe that this article was created to 
inform and somewhat entertain because it’s a generally funny topic. “For a very long time, conventional wisdom held that swearing was not a useful response to pain” is the hook and it’s good because its true and everyone can relate to it. The writer often uses the swear words almost like if you stubbed your toe and reading those words almost give you the sense that you just hurt yourself. There is a big variety of vocabulary in this article such as catastrophizing and maladaptive. I couldn’t really find much literary devices such as similes, metaphors or personifications in the article. I think there was some satirical tones in the article but that’s to be expected using that type topic. I really enjoyed reading this article because I learned something, and I felt sort of interested about reading more on this topic. Thanks for reading.
Article here