Category: Grade 12

Tech Team – Quarter 2 Reflection

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What are some initiatives\things\volunteering you have been involved with this past term? Describe what you have done, and the time you have spent.

Some volunteering I have been involved with this past term is spending my time in the Wave. I usually get to school early to work on any homework I didn’t get done the night before. While I am working, I am also on the lookout for any students or teachers who are having technical difficulties and who will need assistance. Generally, there aren’t many people who stop by, regardless, I enjoy sitting at the Wave because at least people know that there is someone there to help. This term, I have achieved 735 minutes of volunteer work at the Wave (close to 12 and a half hours).

What are some things you have learned?

Something I have learned is how connected I am with the Tech Team. Perhaps it’s not something new I have learned involving technology or leadership, but more so with my community. For example, when I get to school early and work on homework or study for a test, I am always surrounded by people stopping by such as my friends or other fellow Tech Team members. Even if I only see some of these people during Tech Team meetings or in the Wave, I can still create a meaningful connection with them. I also have friends that come and join me at the Wave in the morning. In addition, the Riverside community can see how we aren’t just technology experts, in fact, we are a community, we are a team. This term, I have learned how much I value that.

What are some of the challenges, aha moments, small wins…you experienced?

 

An “aha moment” or a small win that I had experienced was making Christmas cards for every Stream’s Holiday Hampers. It was my first time using the Cricut machine with construction paper rather than for stickers. When we were given a demonstration, it seemed very simple. After the paper was cut, as I went to get rid of any excess paper from the card stencil, I made sure I was being careful enough to not damage the card, but the card ended up being ripped in half. So, I decided to print another card, and I was even more cautious and careful with this one. Slowly but surely, I got rid of the excess material, and I ended up having a holiday card! My lesson from that was to proceed with new experiences cautiously because you never know what the outcome can be – you could rip a card in half!

  • Core Competency
  1. Choose a Competency to focus on – Core Competencies – École Riverside Secondary School
  2. Focussing on the specific competency – Personal Awareness and Responsibility

What are your specific strengths?

  • I can manage groups of students in the maker space when they need technological assistance
  • I can keep track of the number of hours I volunteer
  • I can help those in need at the Wave, in the Maker Space, and in classrooms

What are some specific stretches, areas for growth?

  • Being better at asking for help from my fellow classmates and teachers when needed
  • Taking breaks after working on assignments
  • Expanding my expertise of helping others

What are some goal to grow in this area?

  • Learning more about 3D Printers, the Cricut, and other tools in the Maker Space so I can help other students and teachers
  • Taking short breaks after working for long periods of time
  • When facing a problem, asking someone for help or having someone teach me how to do the task first, then completing it myself

 

Anatomy and Physiology 12 – CRISPR-Cas9 – Lab Post

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Introduction: 

CRISPR-Cas9 is a biological technology in our cells that edits genes to improve our DNA. In other words, CRISPR-Cas9 changes the genomes of living organisms. In this lab, we learned how CRISPR-Cas9 works, why it modifies genes in our DNA, when it does its job, and where this is done. An example of CRISPR-Cas9 helping the human body is when it adds in a sequence of nucleotides (GAGT) to prevent the risk of heart disease. We explored the functions of CRISPR-Cas9 by learning kinesthetically with paper diagrams and learning visually with the help of an online simulation.

Here’s a picture of us with practically no knowledge about CRISPR-Cas9 (Sal is taking the picture).

What is CRISPR-Cas9 and How Does it Work:

CRISPR is an acronym for “Clustered Regularly Interspace Short Palindromic Repeats”, meaning a short sequence of DNA that is clustered, repeats itself in the sequence, and it can be read the same forwards and backwards. Cas9 is a tightly coiled protein that cuts the DNA nucleotides (like the scissors enzyme called helicase in DNA replication) at specific locations to make modifications. But, in order to know where to go, the guide RNA works as a GPS system to lead the Cas9 to the correct DNA sequence so it can edit and modify the strand. CRISPR-Cas9 targets specific genes by reading the DNA sequence from the 5′ to 3′ on the DNA backbone. Once a bad or negative nucleotide sequence is found, it notices and binds to a sequence of nucleotides called PAM, then the Cas9 will edit the sequence to improve it, and continue to read the DNA strand, repeating the process.

Here is a picture of our CRISPR-Cas9 and the guide RNA working together.

Targeting:

CRISPR-Cas9 starts the process by targeting a specific gene. The guide RNA will contain a sequence of about 20 nucleotides that matches to the particular target gene on the DNA strand. When both the guide RNA and the Cas9 come together to do their job, they will be guided to the target sequence, which is located near the PAM motif (the PAM motif is found everywhere throughout the cell’s complete set of DNA). Next, the Cas9 will unwind and pull apart the double helix of DNA in front of the PAM motif, closer to the 5′ end of the DNA strand.

         

Here are pictures of the CRISPR-Cas9 reading the strand of DNA from 5′ to 3′.

Binding:

The Cas9 binds and reads the strand of DNA in the 5′ to 3′ direction of the sugar and phosphate backbone. If the sequence of the unpaired DNA strand is not and exact match to the 20 nucleotide sequence with the guide RNA, then the Cas9 will disengage from the DNA and zip up the double helix to its original form. On the other hand, if the 20 nucleotide sequence is an exact match with the guide RNA, then it will form complimentary base pairs with the DNA sequence, leaving a helix of DNA and RNA.

Here is a picture of the CRISPR-Cas9 model reading the DNA.

Cleaving:

When the guide RNA and target DNA strand bind together due to the matching base pairs, the Cas9 gets activated to cut the DNA. Then, it starts to cleave both strands of the DNA and RNA helix, meaning the Cas9 makes specific cuts to the DNA strand (once again, in front of the PAM site). Two active sites of the Cas9 bind to each of the DNA strands, and they are what generate the cuts and cleaves to the open double helix of DNA, resulting in a double-stranded DNA break.

         

Here is an example of the Cas9 cleaving – or cutting – the strands of DNA, resulting in a DNA break.

DNA Repair: 

The DNA breaks can be repaired two different ways: with a nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), or a homology-directed repair (HDR).

NHEJ: This version of DNA repair is more common, most used, and it is a faster repair mechanism. This is because the cell is not using a template to join the broken ends of DNA back together. However, NHEJ is a process that contains errors, which can cause mutations in the target DNA sequence. When the break is repaired correctly, the Cas9 will once again recognize the error that was created in the target sequence and cleave it. The problem is that this repeated cycle of cleavage and repair can eventually result in a mutation in the gene by adding or deleting base pairs. The type of mutation can be random – meaning it can be positive, negative or neutral – but it will be happening within the target sequence and it could inactivate the gene if it is in the gene’s coding region for a protein.

identical copies of a chromosome that are joined at the centromere

HDR: The HDR process is prone to making less errors and uses a homologous DNA template to accurately repair the DNA break. An example of a DNA repair template can be an identical copy of a chromosome called the sister chromatin. Scientists experiment with this repair system by introducing the cell to more DNA repair templates, Cas9s and guide RNAs than what are needed in the cell. This method tricks the cell’s repair machinery into using the repair template to fix the DNA break with the HDR process, rather than using the NHEJ process which can cause errors or mutations. In addition, scientists can change the target DNA sequence and the DNA repair templates can correct existing mutations by replacing them with a new, non-mutated sequence of DNA.

In the end, the difference between both DNA repair systems is that one repairs the DNA break naturally and faster, but it can cause mutations (NHEJ), or the DNA repair can be done slower and not naturally, but it will be correcting and preventing mutations (HDR).

This is a picture of our repaired DNA break.

Analysis:

With the help of learning kinesthetically with paper diagrams and visually with an online simulation, a good and solid understanding of CRISPR-Cas9 was developed. For example, when working with the paper model, my group and I had got introduction into seeing how Cas9 works to target, bind, cleave, and repair the DNA, and we noticed how repetitive the process is for the protein – or how tiring it can be to slide pieces of paper through a system to be “read”. However, the paper model didn’t clearly differentiate between each step of the process, plus, we couldn’t exactly replicate the steps done by the CRISPR-Cas9 in a paper model. Then, the simulation visually represented all the steps to CRISPR-Cas9 clearly with bold colours and text that elaborated on any details that were needed. The simulation would sometimes overlap the steps, leading to some confusion in comprehension, and once again, we couldn’t physically recreate the steps ourselves. To improve each model, I would make sure the online simulation had clear step by step directives to avoid confusion, then add some colour to the paper simulation to show the different molecules involved with CRISPR-Cas9 process.

I believe models referring to the importance of CRISPR-Cas9 are extremely valuable to communicate, demonstrate, and educate to the public. If we are wanting to change the knowledge of CRISPR-Cas9 in our society from nothing into something valuable, then the best way for that to be done it by teaching our society about this process. We won’t grow our knowledge of science or DNA if we don’t start our learning about the process.

References: 

CRISPR-Cas9 Mechanism and Applications Simulation – CRISPR-Cas9,CRISPR-Cas9 Mechanism & Applications

Ms. Yorke’s OneNote – https://sd43bcca.sharepoint.com/sites/AP12Spring2025P1523/_layouts/OneNote.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FAP12Spring2025P1523%2FSiteAssets%2FA%26P12%20Spring%202025%20P1%20Notebook&wd=target%28_Content%20Library%2FCell%20Processes%2FDNA%20ProteinSynthesis.one%7C1ED46EAE-8A65-4F2B-B754-5FCEDA1FD3F6%2FCRISPR%20Edublog%7C65A857F9-F153-4853-9845-6E00B454DC40%2F%29

English Studies 12 – The Machine Stops – Propaganda Poster and Podcast Project

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Here is my propaganda poster supporting Kuno’s perspective against The Machine from E.M. Forster’s story The Machine Stops. For this, I used a template from Canva, then I used other elements to create the final product.

Jump! It is worth it. 

With today’s society, it is difficult to make changes for oneself, especially under the influence of media or news sources. This leads to techniques such as propaganda being used to persuade people to follow suite. Some elements found in propaganda are fear, attacks, symbolism, calls to action, bold texts, vibrant colours, and pathos. For instance, when creating my propaganda poster for Kuno’s perspective, I used these aspects as a persuasion technique as well. The fist in the center of the poster represents the rebellion against The Machine, and the statement on the bottom relates to a call to action that society needs to take. If The Machine is willing to kill, then why let it? Why not fight to resist instead of letting it happen? This contributes to the use of pathos, where emotions such as happiness, fear, anger and sadness are used to influence an audience. In addition, I used the elements of fear and attack in forms of text that were motioned in the story. For “Man is the measure”, Kuno was describing to his mom how men have changed over the years, from being controllers to being controlled, “Man is the measure… Man’s feet are the measure for distance, his hands are the measure for ownership, his body is the measure for all is lovable and desirable and strong” (Forster 13). He continues to mention that “If (The Machine) could work without us, it would let us die”, meaning The Machine will continue to grow if nothing is stopping it (Forster 17). After, The Machine had grown more powerful and God-like, and Kuno’s ideas against The Machine were becoming true. However, society would rather follow others down the wrong path than listen to the truth being told by one person. Fear struck civilians like Vashti as the realization of The Machine living without them became true. Finally, I used critical and creative thinking to develop my ideas for my propaganda poster with my planning skills and my reflective thoughts. Initially, I was planning on having wires being held in Kuno’s fist, then I noticed the image and the text had no connection. I changed part of the image and added some lighting bolts to emphasize the power that man can measure without the use of The Machine. Instead of being controlled by The Machine, men and women can break free, our beliefs shouldn’t consume us, we can control our own ideas.

Here is my podcast that Maya Dermott and I did together: 

Physics 12 – Equilibrium Project – Sonoma, Heliya and Aya

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Here is a picture of our final project and my calculations for the top level:

Here are some pictures of how our thinking process started:

Self Reflection:

I believe this project went really well. I had a chance to develop my knowledge on equilibrium and to clarify my calculations with the help of my peers. I learned about some factors that I wasn’t too sure about, such as, if certain variables would change our data significantly. At first, I was unsure if we needed the weight of the popsicle sticks that we had on each level that we were measuring. I was thinking that the mass was needed because each mass for the popsicle sticks were different, then that would contribute to our data. In reality, because the mass of the popsicle sticks were so light, there isn’t a huge difference to note in the calculations.

My data for each weight was relatively similar with 0.0260946Nm for the 0.20kg mass, and 0.0288395Nm for the 0.50kg mass that was hanging on the other side of the popsicle stick. The difference between each of these were 0.0028449Nm, but that was resolved once I rounded the data to the correct amount of significant figures (0.03Nm each). Some possible errors that could have caused this difference in data were the friction between the table and our objects in equilibrium, or how the surface we were using for our project wasn’t exactly straight, causing our project to be at a different angle and having our project not be in total equilibrium. My only suggestions for next time would be to create it on the ground away from others to step on because the surface would be flatter, and to add some more colour or more visually appealing aspects.

Core Competency Reflection:

The Core Competency that I feel works best with this project is Critical and Creative Thinking. During this project, Critical and Creative Thinking really kicked in when designing, creating, calculating and presenting our project. For example, when starting to think of ideas, we tried to think of something that was eye-catching, but that mainly followed all of the criteria for the project: to maintain equilibrium.

After looking at a few ideas for inspiration, we decided to start building for fun to see what we could come up with. I started by adding a few beads into two different spheres to change their weights, then we were creating additional levels using other objects. While we liked our ideas and the way we were thinking towards building, we still had some things to adjust. We decided we liked some components that we created, however the next step was to develop our ideas. While we still used objects such as popsicle sticks and paper cups, we had to scrap some other aspects that weren’t needed, like the spheres. From there, we changed our idea from a few simple levels to a few levels with more weights, string tensions, and fulcrums involved.

For the next step, we were more focused on the set-up for the presentation, and our correct calculations. To make sure our set-up was correct, we made markers on the popsicle sticks to make sure that all objects were in equilibrium. Whenever we had one object leaning or starting to fall, we knew we had to adjust our placement of the objects on each level. With that process, we were left with a lot of questions, such as if we measured and placed everything correctly? If not, how could we fix that before presenting?

While critiquing our work, we realized that everything would be in equilibrium as long as our paper cups (fulcrums) weren’t too far apart from the center. Even though each level had different centers of gravity, we used that to our advantage in order to help keep our project in equilibrium, and to help make the visual aspect look less messy. For our calculations, we took each level apart one at a time, and we measured each competent that was needed to determine the total torque on both sides of the popsicle sticks. We had to assess what parts were needed for the calculation and what parts weren’t necessary – such as the mass of the popsicle stick itself.

Finally, we presented our project and explained how our it was in equilibrium, as well as how particular our set up was. We reflected on our past ideas and how they helped us work towards our final product. In the end, I learned more about how equilibrium works, especially with more weights, more center of gravities, and more dimensions involved.

Français Langue – Core Competencies Reflection – Debate Project

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What was the most challenging element of the debate project for you personally? Did you overcome that challenge and if so, how did you do so?

The most challenging element from the debate project for me was finding a topic that had two unbiased sides, and that was written in French. To start, we had to find a good argument, write a introduction, then present it to our partner in order to decide on our topic. While finding a topic wasn’t too difficult, writing a good draft of an introduction was tricky because I didn’t really know which topics would be best to dive into to create a well written argument to present to the class. After, neither my partner nor my ideas were good enough for a topic, so we went back to searching. While Le Monde or Radio Canada are great sources, sadly my partner and I couldn’t find anything on either sites to help us with our argument. After lots of research, we finally found a good article to use, even though it was a bit too long for our liking. Another challenging aspect was creating a convincing argument for our audience and writing it formally. Once we had our official topic, it was to find good evidence and to write it formally. Our last step was to fine-tune our original argument with all of our evidence, but there was a lot of rewriting that needed to be done. For instance, when we were mentioning one topic, a different piece of evidence was used, yet it had no relevance to the subject. After doing our final edits, I believe we didn’t have any other conflicts with the project.

How did this project (as presenter or listener) change your perspectives?

This project changed my perspectives in many ways as both a listener and a presenter. For instance as a listener, I was convinced by the presenters and their arguments, as appose to the opposite argument that the audience was supporting. While the audience knew very little on the subject (other than the article that was read at the start of the debate), the opposing side always seemed more convincing as they did the research to understand their subject best. However as a presenter, my partner and I understood both sides to the argument and wrote down key facts for both of them. This was done to help build our original argument. For example, we turned those key point about the apposing side and turned them into questions to help build our argument even more. If someone in the audience asked a question, we had the answer to it, which demonstrated where we stood with our argument.

What were you most proud of in your project?

In my project, I was most proud of the research that was accomplished as well as the presentation done towards the class. My partner and I both did lots of research to build our argument with facts, research experiments, statistics, graphs, etc. We both found a fair amount of evidence, but it was important to use the pieces that were concise for our argument to help make our point clear. It was a lot of hard work and research that was done during and outside of school as well. In the end, our presentation to the class went well: we provided answers to key words and tried our best to explain the ones we didn’t have written down, we spoke clearly to the class when presenting our discussion, and we tried to answer the questions as best as we could. Overall, the project went well, it could have been better but I am confident that our argument was strong regardless.

Tech Team – Quarter One Reflection

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What are some initiatives\things\volunteering you have been involved with this past term? Describe what you have done, and the time you have spent.

Some volunteering aspects that I have been involved with this past term was supporting people in the Maker Space with the Cricut machine, keeping the Maker Space clean, helping at the Wave, and assisting the new Grade 9’s during the Boot Camp. With the Cricut machine, I would stop by after school to help anyone who was having difficulty using, understanding, or even connecting to it. Anytime I am in the Maker Space, I am always making sure that it is clean before leaving and that everyone is doing their part to keep it clean for the next user. Whenever I can get to school early, I make my way to the Wave to work on homework or study for a test while I wait to help others. Finally, with the Grade 9 Boot Camp, I came on time and assisted in anyway that I could by setting up before, helping with any technical problems that students had, and I made sure I helped clean up afterwards as well.

 

What are some things you have learned? What are some of your strengths?

Some things I have learned this past term were how to better use the Cricut machine as well as how to use it confidently to help others. Now, whenever someone asks me about a problem they are having with the Cricut machine, I can help them with confidence in what I am doing without asking others. If I can’t seem to find a solution to their problem, then I can ask an adult for additional assistance to help solve it.

 

What are some of the challenges, aha moments, small wins…you experienced? What are some areas where you can grow? What are some stretches?

Some challenges of mine this term were using the Cricut machine for the first time and instructing others on how to use it. For instance, when using the Cricut machine for the first time, some hiccups I had were how the application wouldn’t load for me to start my design, saving my sticker online or on my desktop, and setting up the printer itself. When assisting others on how to use the printer, I didn’t understand what the initial problem was until I stopped and really noticed what was not working for them. However, a small win for me was when the issue was finally resolved, and the print came out amazing! Now, I can continue to grow in that area by working with the Cricut machine, helping others and working on my own personal projects.

 

Looking ahead…What are some things you would like to improve and/or accomplish? Is there something I want to learn or try?  Focus on technology, leadership and school culture. Provide a specific goal.

Some things I would like to accomplish in the future are to use the Cricut machine more for personal projects or in group settings with clubs, classes, teams, etc. Something I would like to try would be to use the 3D printer and being more comfortable with using it. Perhaps for the next term, I can incorporate both my use of the 3D printer and the Cricut machine in a personal project of my own.

 

Here are some pictures of what I have done this term:

Tech Team – Sticker Made with the Cricut Maker

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Here are some pictures of how I designed, created, sized, and gifted my first sticker made with the Cricut Maker:

     

Some thing that was challenging for me to accomplish was signing into the Cricut App because the app had consistent loading problems. Finally, when the app worked, I looked at a few design ideas before coming up with the the one I wanted. After, I printed it, cut around the design, and I got rid of any excess vinyl. Another challenging aspect for me was determining the size of the sticker, just to make sure it wouldn’t be too big or small. A good way to verify this for me was by looking at the design while connecting to the Cricut machine that I was using.

Some things that worked well for me during this process was choosing a simple design to print, picking a colour to use, and peeling any extra material away. To choose a design for printing, I decided to create a flower as a surprise for one of my close friends, so I looked up some simple ideas and found the perfect one to use. In order to pick a colour, I looked in the vinyl drawer for the one that I wanted to use as a sticker (premium removable vinyl), and from there I picked a colour that I knew my friend would like. Finally, when it was time to clean up the excess vinyl, I made sure that I didn’t scrap the design and made it look clean to gift.

What I learned during this assignment was how to use the Cricut machine on my own, as well as how to help others by sharing my knowledge and tips on how to use the machine. I can apply this by assisting others who want to use the Cricut Maker, showing them how to set up the machine, how to design, which vinyl to use, etc. After, I can assure they know how to use it on their own so they can help others too. In the future, I can also use the Cricut on my own for personal projects, club designs, gifts to others, and more!