I-Beams. When you first hear it, you might think, “Oh, it’s a beam that’s shaped like an I!” Well, you are correct! I-Beams are used in many places. I-Beams are used in the structural steel construction industry. They are often used as the main support for trusses.
(Trusses means triangles.)
For our project this week, we’re supposed to make 2 beams: One of them is an I-Beam, and the other one is a beam of our own design.
On 9/23, I built my 2 I-Beams. One of them was longer, and the other one was shorter. I made both of them in the Zoom for extra help. (At the Zoom, I was eating my lunch, dumplings, but the teacher couldn’t see me. Tee-hee! But later, my longer one broke. Whoops.)
The second part of the project was to film a Flipgrid (an app) video, and you’re supposed to show you testing your beam.
My I-Beam withstood eight pounds before it collapsed. Pretty good, if I do say so myself. š
I think that this project was super fun. You know, I actually made another beam to use as my main beam because my main beam was too short.
Whoops.
The first day of actually going to Scarsdale Middle School in person was really intimidating. I was so nervous when my mom dropped me off. She said: Don’t worry! You’ll be okay. Everyone is nervous on their first day. I knew that, but still, I was scared. But who isn’t? It’s a big transition from elementary school to middle school. The building is bigger, there’s more classes, more teachers, and most importantly, more homework. (This is what I’m most afraid of.)
I walk into the doorway on the upper circle, and ask a lot of teachers for help to find my homeroom. Finally, I get to my homeroom/science room. Dr. Williams was at his desk, and some other people were already there.
“Go to a desk with an iPad case on it.” Dr. Williams said, so I sat at the front row.Ā How do I put on my iPad case?Ā I wondered while awkwardly putting some of my things on my desk. I awkwardly looked around at all the people around.Ā Wow, there are so many boys! How am I gonna survive?
Soon, class started. Dr. Williams introduced everyone, he helped me with putting on my iPad case (he said his thumbs are still sore from putting on the case), and I really enjoyed the class.
Next, we had technology. It was really interesting! Mr. Calvert talked about the Dee Bridge Incident, the 1986 Challenger Explosion, the Titanic, and how they all had the incident not because of the design, but because the choice of material.
Social Studies was a bit different. Ms. Castiello was zooming in from Zoom. It was a little bit echo-y because we also joined the Zoom from our iPads, but it was a really good class!
At the end of the day, I was so sad that I had to go home! School was already over! So sad š„. (Yes, yes. I know. I enjoy school. Don’t judge. Humph.) I saw some of my friends while waiting for my mom to pick me up. We talked a little, but then my mom called me and I left.
My grade is starting a project called Capstone. Capstone is where you find a topic, and answer a question about it. You have to make a presentation and present it to people. My topic is global warming, and my main inquiry question is āWhat is the economic effectiveness of planting trees to reduce global warming and how can it be made more effective?ā, and I want to try and find information to answer that question.
I think what was helpful while choosing my question was my teacher. She helped us by making a Zoom meeting for us, and had a Google Doc made for us so that we could find our interests and then she would guide us even more. I am very grateful for that.
I was a little stressed about what my teacher would think about my Google Doc questions, and I was a little scared that my teacher would be disappointed in how my questions were formed. But I forgot that my teacherās motto was āNo Stressā. And at the Zoom meeting, it actually took about 8-10 minutes! I thought it would take about half an hour!
Capstone seems like a very fun project, and I looked forward to it ever since I knew about it. In fourth grade, we got to see the fifth gradersā presentations. It was really interesting, and got me even more excited for Capstone. But now, I realize how much work it is to do the work. Thatās what I always realize when I start working on stuff.
I think that Capstone is really fun, and that Iām really happy that my school has this project.