Lord of the Flies

Posted on by shannonf2015

Three Reasons Why I Would Want Ralph as my Friend

 

If I was stuck on an island with a group of boys (what a nightmare!), I would want Ralph as our leader. Why? Because he’s intelligent, understanding and organized. He doesn’t let the influences of the other boys affect him,  only until the end with the feast, but what can you do? No one is perfect and at least he recognised what he had done unlike the rest of the boys. He guides the group with his top priorities and treats everyone equally. What better leader could you ask for?

 

1. He has Common Sense and is Quite Mature
 Image result for thinking about survival cartoon

http://www.roguesurvivor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/survival-situation-use-your-head.png

Ralph is quite a mature kid for his age. Instead of playing around and having fun on the island like probably any  other boy would, Ralph focuses on survival. Even though he’s like thirteen, he acts like an adult. He holds meetings where he proposes the signal fire in order to get ships’ attention and is the first to realize they need a leader on the island. Who would’ve thought of making a signal fire? Any other boy would’ve probably started playing tag or cry due to loneliness. He’s like the older brother of the group, not as strong as Jack but at least he uses his head and not intimidation. He continues to tell the boys they have to keep the signal fire going which becomes a new goal for the boys and he uses the idea suggested by Piggy about building huts for shelter. Ralph also speaks up when needed to like when he approached Jack because he was only focusing on hunting and didn’t keep the fire lit. His maturity is shown through how he takes action by confronting Jack and his tribe. Overall, his intelligence and maturity makes him a very trustworthy leader who knows what’s best for the group. Way to go Jack! I’m definitely sticking with this guy.

 

2. He is Organized

Image result for checklist cartoon

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Ralph is so organized I just don’t understand. Although not everyone listens to him, Ralph makes an effort of setting rules and boundaries in hopes of keeping everything in order and at peace. He is so organized it’s unbelievable, I would definitely like to be his friend. He stays on topic and doesn’t easily get caught up with theories or questions like how Piggy does. Thank goodness! He has priorities which allows him to lead the group with success. Even when the beast was introduced, he didn’t let it affect him. That’s some incredible self-control right there! He guides the group of boys and keeps them in line by focusing on survival. He makes the rule that only the person with the conch can speak and may not be interrupted. (Again, he is so mature!) His true leadership is demonstrated by his awareness that there must be restrictions and laws in order to maintain a civilized society to avoid chaos. He also gives out specific tasks such as making sure that they are keeping the fire burning and even makes specific areas a place to go to the bathroom, to keep potable water as well as building the huts in order to keep the island organized and tidy. He treats the island like a new home while giving everyone chores including himself. Such an organized thirteen year old!

 

3. He Treats Everyone with Respect

Image result for listening to others cartoon

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What makes him such an awesome leader and friend is his leadership style. He gives everyone a chance to share their opinions and to be part of making decisions. That’s the definition of a true leader and friend. He treats everyone equally and defends those who are too weak like when Jack was bullying Piggy (Poor Piggy!). Even though Ralph didn’t like Piggy in the beginning, he starts to value his opinion and him as a friend. He is able to consider each opinion before making decisions. For instance, when Ralph was voted chief, he could tell that Jack had the desire to have control over something by the way he was blushing, so he let Jack lead his choir of hunters. It’s amazing how Ralph can be so thoughtful with such an intimidating, arrogant and mean bully like Jack. He is open minded even with the opposing political party and doesn’t make decisions until everyone contributes their opinion. I would’ve probably started ripping my head if I had to deal with a meanie like Jack, that’s why I need Ralph to help me calm down. This goes to show that Ralph is an easy going guy who is willing to listen to anyone. Wouldn’t everyone like to be treated equally like how Ralph treats his group? I know I would.

Week 18 – Precalculus 11

Posted on by shannonf2015

Top 5 things I have learned in Precalc 11

  1. Graphing: Is the number one thing that I learned. This semester, I found graphing straightforward and eyeopening.  I learned that once you find the vertex, you just have to follow the 1,3,5.. pattern and multiply the pattern if it has a stretch or compressed value (number in front of the x^2). I learned that you could find the number of solutions which is also the x-intercepts, as well as the vertex which is a key component to graphing. This made graphing absolute values easy as well as reciprocal graphs. It was really cool to see I could graph all these different types of graphs with just some information given.

2.  Substitution: Solving systems with substitution was another thing I learned in precalc instead of drawing the graphs out. I finally knew how to solve systems algebraically which made me feel more knowledgeable about solving systems and it became a useful tool if I didn’t have graph paper to graph out the systems.

 

3. Completing the squares: I never realized how important completing the squares was. We used it a lot during this course such as changing general form into standard form to get the vertex, to find the axis of symmetry, and to solve an equation. It does take awhile when it comes to solving an equation, however, it still is a useful tool when it’s an equation is unfactorable and I found myself using it a lot when I had to find the vertex.

4. Trigonometry: The most important lessons I got out of this chapter is the Sine Law and Cosine Law. They were very useful when it came to scalene triangles and I found solving sides and angles a lot easier than I thought it would. I am now able to tell when to use Cosine Law and Sine Law (Cosine – when three sides are given or two sides and a contained angle are known; Sine – when two angles and one side are known or two sides and a non-contained angle are known).

5.  Square roots : Whenever we were solving an equation and we had to square root both sides to get the variable by itself, there was both a positive and negative sign in front. Before, I always treated a square root as having one answer but now I realized that there are both positive and negative values (only when I add in a square root but if there is already a square root, you take the positive roof of it). Even though it is a simple concept, this was a big eye opener for me.

Week 17- Trigonometry

Posted on by shannonf2015

This week we have learned the primary trig ratios (Sine, Cosine and Tangent), how to sketch angles in standard position, as well as sine law and cosine law.

Let’s look at the primary trig ratios:

Before we used SOH CAH TOA to remember the ratios for trig, now we have replaced the opposite angle with y, adjacent with x and the hypotenuse is replaced with r.

Sineθ: \frac{y}{r}

Cosθ: \frac{x}{r}

Tanθ: \frac{y}{x}

We have also learned CAST which helps with determining if the angle is positive or negative, the two triangles used to determine the trig ratios and a diagram that can be used to determine the primary trig ratio when an angle has its terminal point on the x-axis or the y-axis

 

Example when using the two triangles:

\tan{150^{\circ}}

We must first find the reference angle and determine which quadrant the angle is in. It is in quadrant 2 so we must take 180 and subtract 150 degrees which gives us 30 as the reference angle.

If we look back at the two triangles, we can see that the triangle that has 30-60-90 will be the triangle we must use. Looking at the 30 degree point of the triangle, we can start labelling the sides of the triangle to find the ratio.

 

Remember that tan’s ratio is \frac{y}{x}. y will be 1 and x will be \sqrt{3} . When we look at CAST, we can tell it’s going to be negative because 150 is in the second quadrant (only sin is positive in second quadrant). So the ratio will be \frac{-1}{\sqrt{3}}.

 

Let’s look at another example using the unit circle for quadrantal angles.

\cos{130^{\circ}}

The ratio for cosine is \frac{x}{r}. Look at where angle 180 is which has the point (-1,0), where x=-1 and y=0. r is always going to be positive for quadrantal angles. So the ratio is going to be : \frac{-1}{1} = -1.

We have also learned how to find the reference angle of each quadrant. Let’s look at an example:

If the reference angle is \cos{43^{\circ}}

Quadrant 1: It’s going to be the reference angle : \cos{43^{\circ}}

Quadrant 2: 180 – 43 = 137

Quadrant 3: 180 + 43 = 223

Quadrant 4: 360 – 43 = 317

To know when to use Sine Law, we have to be given at least one angle and side that is across from each other. For Cosine Law, we need either three sides or at least two sides and an angle.

Sine law: \frac{SinA}{a}=\frac{SinB}{b}=\frac{SinC}{c}

We have the degree on the top if we are looking for an angle and we have the side on the top if we are looking for a side.

Cosine law: a^2=b^2+c^2-2bccosA

We use the cosine law if we cannot use Sine Law but it has to have at least two sides and an angle or three angles.

To use the cosine law and sine law, you plug in the given sides and angles and isolate what you are trying to find.

 

 

 

 

Week 16 – Numeracy Assessment

Posted on by shannonf2015

Last week, we have done some practice with the numeracy test. What I have learned from doing these practice questions was that when we do the written part, we have to be convincing and detailed in our explanation and that it’s not so much about which is the correct answer. It’s more about your reasoning. Another important method I have learned while doing these questions is that you should always think or write down your reasoning behind why you chose your answer even when it’s multiple choice.

In some practice questions, I have learned how to determine which graph represents the situation the best, as well as how to read a graph. When we did some questions that involved making our own plan, I learned it’s helpful to write down ideas in a chart to lay out my ideas clearly then explain each one in detail and why I chose that specific amount and choice. I also learned that keeping units is extremely important when doing these types of questions. For example, we did one question where we had to plan our water use to a certain amount of litres per week. It was helpful to draw out a chart so that I could put in my plan for the high-efficiency appliances and fixtures and do some adjustments on my plan if needed before started to do my explanation. I also remembered to keep the units in when I was writing my explanation when I kept referring to the chart.

Lastly, I have figured out that there can be more than one answer and that we should show all our work when doing calculations as it’s not as simple as typing in a bunch of numbers in the calculator. These questions makes you think more and you’ll have to analyse the information and images carefully. When I got stuck with a question that included calculations, I drew an image which helped me see the situation more clearly. We also had to do some other questions where they would give a list of different strategies a family decides to do in order to use less water and you would have to check off the ones that are unreasonable. Analysing each choice carefully and the chart given helped me eliminate choices and I was able to come to a conclusion on which one(s) were the least reasonable. I also tried to think if what they planned to do was even possible which also helped me.