Category Archives: 5th grade

Capstone Blog Post #3 – The Final Project

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For my Capstone project, I decided that I would do a screencast. I was already familiar with using screencast and Google slides, but I wasn’t familiar with the other ways you could do your Capstone project.

The most fun part about making my project would definitely have been everything. Finding the pictures, making the slides, practicing my script, and the rest was just so much fun for me. However, I did experience a few challenges. I kept on having blurry pictures and when I was recording the final project the images wouldn’t move properly, but in the end, I got everything sorted out.

I am looking forward to seeing the final product because I put a lot of hard work into this presentation and I want to see it be a success. This entire process has been very fun for me and a new experience. Thank you for reading my blog posts on Capstone and I hope you enjoyed it.

 

Rocketry

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This rocketry unit is very fun but annoying. I learned what aerodynamics are and what each part of the rocket does. Making the inspiration board was very hard. Cooperating is a problem in our group. For example “Stop it now” “UHH we are so behind” but we managed to finish in time.

Making the first rocket was so very very difficult. Every one was bursting with ideas and putting his ideas  out on the page making it so hard to make the perfect rocket design.

I am looking forward to  designing and launching rockets because I have never made a rocket or launched on. I also look forward to when our group will not argue the whole time that we’re working on the project.

Capstone Blog Post #2- Interview

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We were working on our research and it was time to do our interview. I knew I needed to find someone who knew a lot about red blood cells. At first, I thought I should find a hematologist and asked my mom if she knew any. She had a colleague at work, MD Richard Francis. He works for Columbia University, but he isn’t a hematologist. Richard is a Clinical Pathologist who works in blood donations and research. Richard gave me answers that might be useful for me and might help me find answers to some of the sub-questions. I started out with trying to find a person to interview and when my mom knew someone I could interview, the first step was over. I had to make my questions, which frankly didn’t take too long. These were my questions:

  1. Why did you want to become a clinical pathologist?
    1. Was drawn to it
  2. How long have you been a clinical pathologist?
    1. 10 years
  3. What are the requirements for becoming a clinical pathologist?
    1. Just having the right degrees
  4. What do you focus on in your department?
    1. Blood transplants
  5. How do you professionally develop in order to keep with all of the new information about red blood cells? 
    1. Every year there are conferences where people share new information with other doctors of their department
  6. What is the best thing about being a clinical pathologist?
    1. Doing research and learning new things, basically everything. 
  7. What do you enjoy the least about being a clinical pathologist?
    1. When people don’t understand when you can’t do a certain thing but they still ask for it.
  8. How has the technology for clinical pathology changed since you first became a clinical pathologist?
    1. The technology for genetics and DNA has become more advanced.
  9. How do you find out that a person has a type of red blood cell disorder?
    1. A person finds out that they have a symptom and then
  10. Do all red blood cell disorders have the same symptoms?
  1.  Some are similar and some are not.
  1. How many red blood cell disorders don’t have treatment?
    1. Only when the amount of red blood cells is little or too much in the blood. You then would have a blood transfusion.
  2. Are the red blood cells treatments similar to one another?
    1. Depends on the disorder
  3. What future technology inventions could be a breakthrough for clinical pathology?
    1. More difficult and advanced technology for genetics and DNA.

My mom and I reached out to Richard and we asked him if we could interview him (which he was more than happy to). I then came up with a list of questions and was ready for the interview. I put on the audio recorder and I began the interview. I finished the interview and went over everything. I realized that I didn’t even know that clinical pathology used devices related to DNA and genetics. The hardest part of the interview was coming up with the questions.

Capstone Blog Post #1- Main Inquiry Question

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We have started our last major project of the year. Capstone. This is a project where you have one main inquiry question, which results in a lot of research, time, and is very interesting. Almost from the beginning, I knew that I wanted cells to be my topic. Towards the middle of figuring out my main inquiry, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do red blood cell disorders. With the help of my teacher, Mrs. Ewards, I decided that my main inquiry question is “What role do red blood cells play in our health, and what happens when they do not function properly?”.

I started out with lots of questions in my curriculum wheel. When I thought that I had a good main inquiry question, I found out that the question was too narrow. I decided that my question had to be related to red blood cell disorders. I came to the conclusion with the help of my teacher, Mrs. Edwards, my main inquiry question. When I decided that red blood cells were going to be my topic, I had millions of questions that I could use. Finding out what was going to be the topic of my main inquiry question was definitely the hardest part. The minute I decided on my topic for my main inquiry question (rbc disorders) it made everything easier. I had my main inquiry question quickly after that.

After I found out my main question I had to do research. We had to start a note-taking slide show. I started my note-taking slideshow. I filled in the main inquiry question and sub questions. I started to fill in the research part.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have A Dream

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One of the most things Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was known for was his I Have a Dream speech. He had made a lot of speeches over the time, but the ̈ I Have a Dream ̈ speech was his most important one. One reason the  ̈ I Have a Dream ̈ speech was so popular was because it pushed Congress to make the Civil Right Act sooner. The Civil Right Act is a law which outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religon, gender, or national origin.The speech took place at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. The reason he made his speech at the Lincoln Memorial was because Mr. Abraham Lincoln was a big opposer of slavery. The main idea of the speech and Dr. Martin Luther’s dream was that he did not want anyone to be judged by their skin color or race, but to be judged by their content or personality.  He gave the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Legally, Dr Martin Luther’s dream has come true. There are no segregation laws. But emotionally it has not. People still today discriminate people for their color and race, but the majority indiscriminate.

 

 

Date Event
January 15,1929 Martin Luther King was born 
1934 Martin Luther King Junior’s name was changed from Michael Jr. to Martin Luther King Jr, in honor of the religious leader Martin Luther
1944 MLK Attended college
1948 Began preaching at his father’s church
1951 Began studying at Boston University
1953 Married Correta Scott
1954 He and his wife moved to Montgomery, Alabama
1954 The U. S. supreme court declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional
1955 A woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man and was arrested
1957 Formed the SCLC
1960 People started staging protests to spread King’s and SCLC’s message Ex: a group of black students sat at white only lunch counter and refused to leave until they received service
1960 MLK was Briefly jailed for joining a group of students at an Atlanta sit-in
1963 An organized nationwide civil movement was in full swing and he was released from jail
1963 He gave his I have a dream speech
July 2, 1964 The civil rights act became law

 

1964 Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
1965 King traveled to Selema, ALabama to begin a protest of stronger voting rights law and he was arrested
March 7,1965 Hundreds of protestors gathered in Selma to begin the march, but the Alabama state police blocked their path and beat them with club

 

March 21 1965 King led thousands to Montgomery without police interference
August 1965 The protest raised awareness of voting rights violations and led to the Voting Rights Act
1966 King and his Family moved to poor black neighborhood  in Chicago
1968 King’s work brought him to Memphis, Tennessee. He planned to support a group of workers on strike
April 4, 1968 A man named James Earl Ray was hit by a bullet
April 9, 1968 His funeral was held

 

Reflecting On Rocketry Unit

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This whole process was very exciting but very hard. It was hard because we almost never got along. We were fighting over the most petty things. But towards the end of the unit we started to get along more. We are really happy that the unit is ended because all it did was really cause chaos. We are currently working on a slideshow and it is not working well. 

 

We were are really nervous. After doing this unit I discovered a lot about myself. I discovered that I only stick with what’s right even if I don’t like the person. Ialso learned that I can get really angry really fast. The last thing that I learned was that I can do a lot when I want to and that I can sometimes can explode. I was a bit disappointed that I was partnered with who was partnered with because all we did was fight, fight, and fight. We could have gotten a lot done but we just fought. It was World War II.

 

After the end of the main part of the unit I had gained information on rocketry and people. I learned all about aerodynamics, lift, thrust, and drag. I also learned that people who seem to ruin things actually make things better.

 

I also learned how to cooperate with people who sometimes can be annoying. Rocketry has helped me learn valuable information about people and rocketry.

This one photo of us cooperating

Launching Rocket #3

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Launching and graphing our rocket was very exciting. It was our last time launching and graphing our rocket. We were pretty sad. The 3rd launch was the launch our parents were watching and we were very nervous and excited.

 

When we were launching our rocket we were sorta nervous because our parents were watching. Gavin placed our rocket on the pvc pipe. Jasleen pumped the bicycle pump. Eva started counting down. “10, 9, 8, 7,6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Release”

 

Us getting ready to launch.

 

 

We were very excited to see how high our rocket will go. Our rocket went very high.  It went 9 feet higher than the 2and launch. We were very happy because we couldn’t have had a better result. We each had a certain job and we played it well. We also had to be clinometer readers and my clinometer did not work well. But I got an answer in the general vicinity. After the launch we had to take notes which was pretty fun. We joked about the launch and expressed our opinions about the overall launch. When we started graphing it was pretty easy since we had done it before. When we realized that we had 124 feet we were over joyed.It was our best launcher ever. We were not sad that the rocket designing, building, launching, and graphing was over because we were hated each other well not everyone hated everyone but we were definitely not the ideal group.

Building Rocket #3

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We are building!!! We were so excited. Although me and Elisha did the most since Gavin and Eva were not here, we still had a fun time.

 

When we were designing it was pretty easy because we were using the same rocket design as before but we were just changing the body to look thick. We really did not need to give it much thought. It was pretty simple.

 

When we were building me and Elisha were doing most of the work because of certain circumstances. Me and Elisha went all out on making the nose cone, making sure that the nose cone is not lopsided on the rocket and making sure that the fins were about the same height and width. Eva and Gavin did not do much work because they were not there. Elisha, Eva,and Gavin made the body while Jasleen was making the nose cone. We all glued on the fins except for me because I felt that I would mess it up.

 

In the end it was a pretty simple thing that our group could of done but argued which slowed the process. We all argued over the same things every time even when we knew it was no use to start an argument because we had decided on the final (well almost everybody). It was challenging but we managed to get it done.

This is us building rocket #3

Launch #2

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It was finally the launch. We were so excited. We had no idea how our rocket will launch because we had literally just finished gluing the fins on. We carefully handled the rocket and waited patiently for our turn.

Elisha placed our rocket on the PVC pipe. Eva and Jasleen pumped the bicycle pump. Gavin started counting down. “10, 9, 8, 7,6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Release”

 

Us launching rocket #2

 

 

We were very excited to see how high our rocket will go. But our rocket did not go very high. Just a few feet higher than our first rocket launch height.  We got 115 feet.We were not very happy because we could of had a better result. We each had a certain job and we played it well. We also had to be clinometer readers and my clinometer did not work well. But I got an answer in the general vicinity. After the launch we had to take notes which was pretty fun. We joked about the launch and expressed our opinions about the overall launch. 

 

When we started graphing it was pretty easy since we had done it before. We were very excited to start making rocket #3.

Launching and Graphing Rocket Number 1

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Launching our team’s rocket was the most exciting part about the rocket unit. We all had fun launching the rocket and overall just the whole process. It was the first time we all launched a rocket together and it gave us experience so we would know what to do during the second launch. We cooperated better than we ever have before.

 

What stands out about our team’s rocket launch compared to the other teams launch was that the rocket didn’t go as high. I could see that our rocket just wasn’t as high as the other team’s rockets. My team job in the group was to place and launch the rocket. For me placing the rocket wasn’t a big deal but launching the rocket was. At the beginning I thought I might do something wrong and ruin the launch. But, luckily everything went smoothly. When I was a clinometer reader I felt that I would mess up like I thought at the launching. But apparently everything went fine. My answer was in the area of everybody else’s answer.

 

Our rocket went 112 feet in the air lower, than most of the teams, but we were proud of ourselves since it was the first launch. Our team decided that we should change the number and size of the fins because everything else was okay for us except the fins. After the launch one of our fins came off because it wasn’t secured/glued properly on to the rocket. But since it didn’t come off during our launch we were fine because the launch has already happened. But we thought that we need to be a bit more careful so one of our fins does not fall off during the launch. When our team started graphing we were a bit confused because we thought we had to do a certain step which we later found was not correct.

 

Surprisingly, our team managed to cooperate well during the launch, probably because we were not deciding or making anything. Our team was very good when it came to collaborating for the graphing part. Our team helped each other when we didn’t know what to do. It was good teamship which was what our team did not have a lot of.

launch 1 pictures