Category: Grade 9

Solution Fluency – First Aid Helper

Define :  The problem that we are looking to fix, is helping someone who can’t depend on another person to help them when they are in need.  This machine would help people who are sick, elderly or possibly just live alone.  It would take away the need to be taken care of by someone else.  The First Aid Helper would be there for assistance, and even to call 911 in case of an emergency.

Discover : Our problem has been designed to decrease the need for a stay at home nurse since it would be impossible for them to be working all the time.  We hope that in times of trouble, the First Aid Helper will be something to depend on when needed.

Dream :  Our product has been inspired by many other devices.  The first, however, was a fictional character.  We were first inspired to make a robot similar to Baymax in the Disney movie “Big Hero 6”.  Since this would be a very difficult task to achieve, we decided to think somewhat realistic.  We now like to describe our product as a Roomba with features similar to Siri.  We want our product to be capable of a lot.  For example, whenever there is a sign of danger, the device is able to contact 911.  We want to make this possible by setting various trigger words like “help”.  We are also thinking of adding a Bluetooth feature for it.  This would help for if the First Aid Helper is not close enough to read your words.  There would also be a deactivate button in case of accidental button pressing. Overall, our dream is to be a source of security of whoever may need it.

Deliver : As previously mentioned, our main inspiration for the design of our device would be the Roomba.  We are planning to take the basic design but we’d take out the cleaning equitment and replace it with the necessities of our device.  Such as the first aid kit and the ability to speak and listen.

pbworks.com
Roomba circuit diagram

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-roomba-works.html

In conclusion, we hope to take our innovation seriously as we do think that it can result in something helpful.

Static Electricity – What I Learnt

To begin our electricity unit, we explored the effects of static electricity.  Doing so, I can say that I have a better understanding of it.  To demonstrate, here are three different things that I’ve learnt.

  1. During this chapter, I learnt more about atoms and what finds itself inside of each atom. More specifically, protons, electrons and neutrons.  What I learnt about each of these is their charges and their locations.  Also, their reactions to certain things.
  2. One of the most important things, in my opinion was learning about the laws of static electricity.  Learning this has thought me why certain materials will react differently with each other.  And here is why; Like charges repel, opposite charges, as well as neutral ones, attract and each other.
  3. The difference between an insulator and a conductor. Basically the two do have quite a few differences, but being categorized as one of the two can mean one thing, how the electrons choose to move through them.  For example, an insulator is a material that does not let electrons move so freely through them.  Some insulators would be materials like fur, paper and cotton.  And as for the conductors, they’re pretty much the opposite.  They let electrons move freely through them.  Some examples for conductors would be materials like metal, aluminum and copper.

During this chapter I learnt that static electricity has been the foundation for modern electricity.  And one of my favorite experiments that helped me realize that was the Static Discovery Lab.  In my opinion, this was the perfect introduction to static electricity.  It gave us the opportunity to experiment with different materials and their static reaction.  It was really helpful in that sense.  I felt like I was starting to understand why the different materials were having their different effects.  Before hand, I hadn’t really understood the concept of static electricity.  Now I can say that I can.

Growing Up – English COL project

For English class I was told to read the novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”.  After reading I went over the different themes it explored.  One of the themes that stood out to me was “Growing Up”.  This theme stood up to me since it’s something that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.  I decided to make this video to share the message that finds itself behind the idea of growing up.

Enjoy!

Isabella

 

Information Fluency

List 3 strategies for determining how reliable a webpage’s info is:
  • To determine how reliable a sites information is, you must see if there is an author to the page.  Is there an “about us section”?
  • Is the information accurate?
  • You can tell by viewing when the article was posted.  The website may be inaccurate if it has been a while since being updated.

The URL of one publication from the library’s database:

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=fcc0f77a-01ef-43f9-ae4c-a0ff0585038c%40sessionmgr4006&hid=4207&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=117796153&db=aph

Choose Ebsco > then Publications > find a magazine you might be interested in. Hint-use simple search words: sports, health, ski, fashion
Find an article from one of the publications you might like
Today I learned a lot about how to find if a website is a hoax or not.  It was all super useful information since we are living in the technology age.

My Digital Footprint

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KAOELyWGIP0/UvjcrDAsCmI/AAAAAAAAAp4/bAjByhtFUVk/s1600/Digital-Footprint.png

 

 

Image result for social media
http://mashable.com/2013/04/12/social-media-demographic-breakdown/

 

What most people don’t realize when they hit post, is the mark that they’ll leave behind.  When you post something you don’t usually think about how your future employers will be able to see it, do you? It’s your digital footprint that will immediately give people access to your personal information simply by typing your name in the google search bar.  Here is why we need to be aware of this because it can affect a big percentage of our lives.

Image result for cyberbullying
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cyberbullying.jpg
How can your digital footprint affect your future opportunities?  There are many ways that this can happen.  For example you go to a party and you are under the influence of say, alcohol.  You take a lot of pictures, but some are posted on social media without your consent.  Even if these pictures are taken down,  there can still be different sources to find them.  Pictures like these are considered “unprofessional” and some employers will not hesitate to fire you.  Another example of your digital footprint affecting your future, is that it’s possible for you to get cyber bullied.  Cyber bullying can really affect your mental health.  It can lead to illnesses like depression.  One picture can lead to years full of torture.
Image result for caution sign
http://photosinbox.com/sign-and-symbol/warning-sign
Image result for sad
http://stylonica.com/sad-pictures-and-wallpapers/

 

How can we keep our digital footprint appropriate and safe?  The answer to this question is to be cautious.   Not only do we have to be more aware of the pictures that we post, but we also have to be aware of pictures that are taken of us.  Just because it isn’t posted on our accounts doesn’t mean that people won’t be able to find it.  Tell your friends to ask permission before  posting a picture or a video with you in it.

What’s a piece of advice that I would pass on to other students?  I’d tell them to use the internet for something positive.  We are so lucky to have an amazing platform.  The internet can open us up to amazing oppurnities.  The only way to open us up to these opportunities is by being mature and responsible on the internet.

In conclusion, I hope that the majority of people will not be strongly affected by their digital footprints.  Everyone is so full of potential.  It’s sad to see people’s reputations falling a part because of a click of a button.  I hope that this article can help with educating yourself on something so important.

 

Get to Know Me

get-to-know-me

Pt 1 II Me

There are many things that make me the person that I am.  My passions, my dreams, my inspirations.  To begin I am a self-proclaimed dreamer, writer and feminist.  While you read this, you’ll discover more about that girl with wild, curly hair that sits in the back of the class.   You will discover more about who she is, what she loves and what she dreams.  To be honest, I have yet to discover everything about myself, but for now here is what I know.

Pt 2 II Know-It-All

One of my favorite singers, Alessia Cara, has a song titled ‘Seventeen’ in which she sings the lyric, “I’m a know-it-all, I don’t know enough”. That lyric has resonated with me ever since the day I listen to it.  Frankly, I think that lyric can relate to every single teenager out there.  Each one of us like to pretend as though we know everything, but we have yet to discover so much.   That’s why I have plans to make a magazine dedicated to teenagers who want to have a platform, and who want express their creativity. Teenagers who are so-called know-it-alls.  I want people to know that teenagers are much more then the media says we are.  During my life I’ve been afraid of something that I couldn’t prevent from happening; growing up.  When I turned thirteen I had been very anxious.  I felt as though I would change into someone I wasn’t.  I felt so isolated.  I don’t want other teenagers to constantly feel like this.  I want them to know that there are people out there feeling the exact same.  What a lot of adults think about teenagers is that we are all bad-choice making machines.   We are aware, and although we are aware, we do feel alone.  I want to be one to help with that.

 

Pt 3 II Gloria Steinem

I find that in life we are supposed to have people that we can look up to.  People that can keep our eyes on our goals.  One of those people for me is Gloria Steinem.  I am currently reading her book, “My Life on the Road”.  When I read about Gloria’s accomplishments during her life, I feel as though my dreams aren’t so far fetched.  I want to one day become a journalist.  Similar to Gloria.  I find that everyone -needs to find someone who’s life they’d want be happy living.  When I decided that I wanted to be a journalist, I researched everywhere for someone that I could look up to.  A journalist that didn’t just report what many saw with their own eyes.  I didn’t only get someone who had an opinion.  I got someone who had lived my biggest dreams.  Someone who’s stood up for what they believe in, who has travel to many places, who’s brought something new to journalism.  To me, that makes me what those dreams to come true even more.

 

Pt 4 II Books

When I learnt how to read, I ditched toys and picked up a book instead.  I have always found something so magical about reading.   Being able to transport myself into a different world and forget about how mundane mine is.  Each time I pick up a new book, I’m able to gain a new perspective.   I’ve learnt something new about life from each book that I have read.  I think that books can teach us so much.   They teach us life lessons that have taken some people to learn.  I really do think that it is such a privilege to be able to read.  To breath in the smell of the old pages and know what each word means.  It makes me upset when I realize that there are people that are not able to read the words.

 

 

 

Pt 5 II Trees

Usually when people say they want to see the world, they don’t mean the alley behind their house, nor do they mean the bridge down the street. We dream of different, but what we don’t realized is that “different” is everywhere that we turn.  Different is in every crinkled smile on every face, on every leaf of ever tree.  Different is in every word spoken in every voice. Where I live is absolutely beautiful and although I’ve lived here my whole life there is still so much to see. Eventually as I grow, I will see more of the world. For now, each time I look out of my window and see those trees, I’ll pretend as though it’s my first time looking at them.  When I walk into the forest I’ll breath in the fresh air that not every place has.  I’ll take a bite out of my mom’s homemade suppers as the flavors all burst onto my taste buds.  The flavours aren’t the only thing that I taste.  I also taste her love and her dedication.  I’ve learnt that I have to see the beauty of the world that I am in, instead of wishing I were in another.  I have to discover each and every part of it, before heading to a different one.

Pt 6 II My Brother and Sister

The world is magic. I can thank two little beings for letting me know, for I don’t think that I would see this world as magic anymore if it weren’t for them.  My brother, Amani and my sister, Felicia are two of my favorite people.  It’s funny how such young people can teach you so much.    I heard that as we get older, we lose hope.  I find that with optimism we will strive.  When I see my sibling’s hopeful eyes looking into my worried ones, I remember a time when I thought that the world I lived was amazing.  Then I feel myself gaining more hope.  Although there are so many problems within this world we have to remember the good.  There’s still lots of it (although it’s hard to find).  The good is in those who fight using peace, not war.  The good is in those helping the less fortunate.  There is good in books and in movies. It’s in trees and rivers.  I find where most of the good is hidden, is in children, for they have yet to be taught to hate.

Pt 7 II Record

In my opinion, there is no better remedy to a bad day then some good tunes.  Music has always been such a huge part of my life. I love songs that vary from different genres and different decades.  I lay on my bed with my earphones in my ears.  I press shuffle on my favorite Spotify playlists, “In My Life”.  This playlist has music that I’ve loved at some point in my life.  They are not only songs that I’ve loved.  They are songs that remind me of those I love.  When I listen to these songs, I feel nostalgic.  So much variety, but in the end, they’re all a part of me.

A Few Favorites on “In My Life”

Hotel California – Eagles

Dedicated to the One Love – The Mamas & the Papas

He Can Only Hold Her – Amy Winehouse

Killing Me Softly with His Song – Fugees

Little Me – Little Mix

 

Pt 8 II Fist

I write this as Beyonce’s ‘Flawless’ plays into my ears.  I am at the part of the song when Chimanda Ngosi Adichie recites her speech, “We Should All Be Feminists”.  “We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller” she speaks.  I was twelve years old when, not only did I discover feminism, but it was how old I was when I became a feminist. I found myself learning about the inequalities around the world. I learnt that even in first world countries, there is still a lot to be fixed. I remember typing ‘feminism’ in the Google search bar and staying up to educate myself on my privileges and the oppression of different cultures. It was only last summer when I attended my first protest.  It was a peaceful one in response to the horrid acts happening to black people in the United States of America.   I am half black.  Seeing this happening to people of my culture is terrifying. Seeing this or anything like this happening to anyone of any culture is terrifying.   It needs to stop.  I decided to go, even if my voice is quiet.   When I marched in a crowd of people with my fist facing the sky, I felt power. I found it absolutely empowering how minorities were demanding their rights. Around me were people demanding justice. “Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter!” they chanted, I chanted.   This moment opened my eyes up to activism.  I don’t want to grow up and watch the world as it falls a part.  I want to be a part of the movement.  I’m tired of turning on the news to hear about refugees fleeing their own countries, or hearing about the 60 million girls that don’t have access to education.  I’m sick of starvation and poverty, of wars and injustice.  It needs to stop.  We have the power to turn this anger and this frustration, into action.

 

Pt 9 II Journals

I discovered my love for writing nearly two years ago.  I fell in love with the idea of documenting my life.  When I start a new journal I flip through the pages.  In the pages before me lies my future.  My highs and my lows.   I’ve sworn to always keep my journals, for when I’m old and forgetful, I’ll always be able to take a journal and see life through the eyes of 12-13-14 year old Isabella.

I open my journal and stare at the pages that only my two eyes have seen.  I grab the pen I almost always write with, decorated with roses and a picture of Belle from Beauty and the Beast.  I touch my pen to the flat surface that is paper.  I feel free.  For when I write, there is no filter.  Words travel from the top of my head down to the tip of my pen.  Behind me I grab my first journal.  I wrap both my hands around the book.  I can feel the cover falling a part between my two hands. My thoughts, my dreams, my memories all bound between two cardboard covers.  It’s irreplaceable.  That’s why I will continue to write.