Welcome. This is my blog. My name is Lee. You will learn a lot about me and what I like to do. I hope you enjoy what you will learn about me. My blog will be about my school life and my life outside of school. As the time goes by I think you will start to understand me and my blog a little bit more. I live in Scarsdale New York and Im in fifth grade.
I have been working on my TED talk and it’s all starting to come together. The project has been very time consuming but it has been worth it.
Making my iMovie has been taking a while but I’m done with it and now I’m working on my TED talk and it’s working out really well. The iMovie is about 3 minutes and 50 seconds long and I’m very proud of my work. Now I’m trying very hard to get my script memorized and that is what I’ve been trying to do for the past three days. My iMovie has been going up and down but now all I have to do is keep practicing my TED Talk script until I get the script stuck in my head and make my sign but otherwise I think my project is moving a long very nicely and I have not faced that many challenges recently. Some of the successes that I’ve had was making my iMovie because once you learn how to use it then you are good to go and it just gets easier and easier. The main challenge that I faced was probably making the first part of my TED Talk script but now I’m doing well and I’m ready for the final game.
Answering my main inquiry question for Capstone was a challenge because at first I couldn’t really find any resources but then I started to find lots of websites and kept coming across more and more. My TED Talk explains my main inquiry question which is “what was Machu Picchu and how did it play such a big part in civilization?” The answer to my main inquiry question is Machu Picchu was a temple, shelter, and a school.
The process of getting my resources took a little while because first I need to read the article then I need to site the source and finally give a little description. In all I had up to 7-8 resources and I had to site all of them which probably took up to 30 minutes. It took up to 2-3 weeks to find the answer to my main question. It was very hard because I had to change my main idea because I couldn’t get the notes wouldn’t work but now I have answered my main inquiry question and I’m very confident about all my answers.
WhenI did my interview my dad arranged my phone in angle where Machu Picchu was in the background. We were on top of a mountain called “Wanna Picchu.” We had to hike up about 450-650 stairs to get to the top but at the end it was worth it. The good and bad part about it is that the interview got cut in half so we had to make a new video for the last questions. The good part is we need to split our interview into pieces and I already have that done. The bad news is I might not want to split it up into that certain way. The interview was about 10-13 minutes long and it had a good amount of questions. I did the interview with somebody names Ellis Maxwell and he worked at Machu Picchu as a hiking guide for 9 years and he know’s the place super well. After we finished the interview we explored around the are and we went through this super small tunnel that was made out of a rock and a wall and it was very strange and dark. I thought of it as the bat cave because it was a cave made out of rocks audit was dripping with water like the bat cave. Eventually we got down and we looked over the interview and it was very good.
My dad and I were going on a trip to Machu Picchu and a week or two before we left I thought about doing MAchu Picchu for my Capstone.
What I learned From the Machu Picchu Trip was that the Incas were incredible at everything and never backed out of a challenge. For example the Incas had to put together walls without using any mortar. Which meant they had to cut the stone perfectly in line with all the other stones. If they the slightest mistake and they would start over and go get a new rock. Another example is taking the rocks over to Machu Picchu. They had to pull rocks seven or eight miles to build the walls! They would do that all day and it would be so tiring. Eventually when they thought they were done they would have to bring more. Machu Picchu had a capacity of only 800 people which meant some people had to walk 10-15 miles to get to Machu Picchu. There were more llamas than people at Machu Picchu Which meant the llamas were helping the Incas carry around all the rocks.
Now at Machu Picchu you can come and visit the place. If you get lucky you can play with the llamas. I happened to get lucky and I got to play with one. The llamas are still at Machu Picchu because they use the llamas as lawnmowers so they don’t disturb the area.
Recently I finished creating my main research question and my sub questions. My topic is Machu Picchu. Trying to create the sub questions weren’t that hard because I thought of everything Machu Picchu had and wrote the questions from there. Machu Picchu really had a lot to offer because it is so old people have figure out more and more about it. My favorite sub question is “what made the temples in Machu Picchu so important when there were temples all over Peru?” I think what made the temples so important in Machu Picchu is it was in a such a sacred place and it made it special to go there.
The sub questions were hard and easy because I could’t come up with what I should make them about. Then it clicked. I started naming things Machu Picchu had to offer and I came up with five solid sub questions. Now I have my main question and my five subquestions that I’m trying to figure out the answers to and that’s what I’ve been trying to do for the past couple days. Hopefully soon I will have all the answers to my sub questions and will be ready to put everything together and make it look good. By the end of the project I hope to have a very big google slides put together with plenty of facts and resources.
The topic that I chose was Machu Piccu because my dad and I went there over spring break. Two weeks before we left I decided that I wanted to do Machu Piccu because I was going there. When we went to Machu Piccu I learned about Machu Piccu I started to try to come up with my main question but finally I came up with a main research question. Some of the big challenges were trying to come up with the five sub questions. It was hard because I didn’t know how to word the questions but I knew what they would evolve around. The successes that I had was coming up with a main question because I knew what I was going to base my main question on. The resources I’ve used are books. I read a few books on Machu Piccu to help me understand more about Machu Piccu. What I’m going to do next is I might try to and gather more knowledge about Machu Piccu so I will understand my main research question better. I might need help by finding more resources and putting it all together at the end because I’m not the best at doing that kind of thing. Lastly I think I’m going to need help writing out my answers for my questions.
A week and a half ago my dad and I went on a hike in Peru and the trail was made over 600 years ago. I was so amazed that the Incas created the trail so many years ago. An Inca is an old Native American tribe that conquered a lot of Peru. I learned about how the Incas lived and farmed. They carved into mountains and built walls and then they planted crops on top. The Incas created little steps on the walls so they can get up. My dad and I played hide and seek in a place we saw while we were on the hike. Later we saw water flowing so we followed it up to the top. The Incas were so smart they were able to get flowing water! Shortly after we hiked for another hour and we got to the top and we were at a place called the Sun Gate and we a had a great view of Machu Piccu finally we hiked down and there it was a super old Inca civilization that was burried in jungle but then found again in 1911.
Rube Goldberg= A machine that has many chain reactions which causes one thing to hit another and so on.
Our Rube Goldberg has been going really well. We have done seven steps and now all we need to do is get it to work. Brian and I were trying to get it to work for about an 1 hour and 30 minutes. Still we can’t get it to work and it’s very annoying. We have come so close two or three times. The worst part is setting it back up. Whenever I set it up I knock down all the dominoes and we have to start all over. One time it was right before the final step where it lost control and it didn’t work. That was the most annoying part.
Our Rube Goldberg was a great experience. I learned what a Rube Goldberg machine was. A Rube Goldberg machine is a chain of events and it has a final goal. Our Rube Goldberg machine has 12 steps. I never thought I would do a Rube Goldberg machine. I am so happy our teacher assigned us this project. I think you should try to make your own. It was the most fun project I ever had. It taught me how to make things work, and also told me how to work with others for the same goal. Just like being on a team.
Basically how it works is Brian drops a ball and it goes through a tube which pops out onto a trail where it hits dominoes which hits a ball which more dominoes which hits a ball which hits a ping-pong ball. Then the Ping-pong ball hits about 30 dominoes which then hits a ping-pong ball and it rolls into the net and scores.
https://drive.google.com/a/scarsdaleschools.org/file/d/0B9OMG9cSyIWrbU9qbWdySGdkekk/view
Extreme Sports
By: Lee K.
Our class had to write an essay. We had a few options and I decided to write about extreme sports.
I have a few friends that love skateboarding. I have no clue how to skateboard but I think kids should try crazy stunts if they have been doing the extreme sport for a long time. I believe kids should be able to play extreme sports because of three reasons. One reason is people get the thrill. Another reason is extreme sports are growing a lot in popularity. Finally very few people get injured. Extreme sports should be allowed because it offers an opportunity to express yourself and there is not much organization.
I think people should be able to play extreme sports because most people get the thrill of extreme sports and they shouldn’t have to get rid of that feeling. For example a thrill is the single most attractive factor in people’s interest for extreme sports says Alvin Smith. Another example for why extreme sports should be aloud is because of the adrenaline rush. The adrenaline rush is what makes extreme sports different from any other sport. My final example for why extreme sports should be allowed is because of the catch. You have to maintain composure while having to apply lots of skills.
Another reason why extreme sports should be allowed is because these sports are starting to grow in popularity and you shouldn’t get rid of extreme sports if it’s so popular. For example about 7.2 million people snowboard in the U.S. Another example is an estimated 8 million mountain bikers. Finally there are 14 million skateboarders are in the country.
My last reason is not many people get injured. For example there are less than 4 injuries every 1000 snowboarding hours. Another example is rock climbing injuries are about 3 every 1000 hours. Another example is is a British Journal of Sports Medicine reported that only 139 injuries requiring medical condition over the course of 4 years.
In conclusion I think that extreme sports should be allowed. Also extreme sports give kids an opportunity to get or stay fit and if they were banned then lots of kids will have to find a different way to exercise and be true to their self.
Chocolate Milk Should Be Allowed In Schools
My friend gets to have the choice of chocolate milk or regular milk. I don’t like chocolate milk but I still think kids should get a choice. I believe that chocolate milk should be allowed in schools because of three reasons. One reason is chocolate milk has nutritional value. Another reason is if milk is flavored then more kids will drink it. Finally some kids just don’t drink regular milk.
One reason chocolate milk should be allowed in schools is because it has nutritional value. For example chocolate milk has nine essential nutrients such as: calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A,D, and B12, riboflavin, and niacin. Another example is chocolate milk is the number 1 food source of the three of the four nutrients the Dietary Guidelines for American’s say. One final example is the nation’s leading health and nutrition organizations recognize the valuable role that flavored milk can play in meeting nutrient goals.
Another reason why chocolate milk should be allowed in schools is if milk is flavored then more kids will drink it. One reason is children that drink chocolate milk meet more of their nutrient needs. Another example is flavored milk meets two needs. It meets kids taste preferences and provides nutrition that kids don’t get elsewhere. Finally my last example is seventy-one percent of milk served nationwide is is chocolate milk. This tells me that people will choose chocolate milk over flavored milk.
My final reason is that some kids just don’t drink regular milk. My first example is certified nutritionist Mona Martinez-Brosh started a program offering only white milk in two elementary schools. The amount of milk drinkers dropped thirty-one percent in one school and forty-eight percent in the other school. Secondly the Washington Post reported that Fairfax County, VA would reintroduce chocolate milk to their schools. Finally some sport nutritionists feel that chocolate milk help put the minerals and calories back into your body after you play a sport.
In conclusion I think nutritionists are taking this chocolate milk thing way too far and they should give kids an opportunity to have a choice between chocolate milk or white milk. That’s why I think chocolate milk should be allowed in all schools across America.
By: Lee K.