Ellis Island Trip

Today we went to Ellis Island on a field trip. We left at 7:00 am. When we got there we took a ferry to the middle of the island. On the ferry the trip was short but there was a really loud speaker that someone was talking through.

When we got there we went in the first thing we looked at was the history of Ellis Island immigration. We then went into the Great Hall. The feeling of being in there was amazing. We did a little mental test that our tour guide led. We did things like balancing on one leg and push-ups. After that, we went to the other side of the Great Hall. There we did the legal inspection. He asked us questions and someone had to answer it. Then we went into a theater and watched a movie about immigration. It wasn’t the best movie but I learned a lot about the immigrant’s experience. We then went out side and had lunch. There was a great view of the statue of liberty there. We then went to an area where it had almost everyone’s name who immigrated. We looked around and tried to find our relatives. My mom and I found a lot of our relatives. I was surprised that so many of my ancestors immigrated through Ellis Island. Some of my friends couldn’t find there relatives because they didn’t pay to have their names on the wall. Next, we went inside and up to the third floor. Up there was the people’s outfits, and the dormitories.  Finally, we got back on the ferry and drove right past the statue of liberty and back to the dock. Overall I learned a lot from this trip.

Site Visit – Capstone Blog Post 3

One of the things we have to do for our Capstone is have a site visit. We pick a place to visit and we go there to research our topic. your site visit should really get you to picture what your topic is about. In this blog post I will explain my process of finding my site visit and my experience there.  

For my site visit it was hard at first to find somewhere to go. I looked on the internet and the first thing that came up was The Museum of the Moving image. This place looked really cool to me and it looked like it had a lot about stop motion, so that is where I decided to go. When it was time to go there I got a pencil and a piece of paper to take notes and then I got in the car and went there.  I had a really good and helpful experience there. It talked about adding sound effects and voice over into your film. There was also a station to make your own short stop motion film. There were different computers with different backgrounds, characters and props I had to create my own scene using these.  After that, I went to a section where it explained the history of television and stop motion. There were many interesting objects like the kinetoscope. There were so many other interesting things that I saw and learned about.

I am so happy I went there, and definitely recommend going to this cool museum. I learned so much while having a great experience.

 

This is a picture of Edison’s kinetoscope.

Paruvian Restaurant Field Trip

Today my whole grade went on a field trip to a peruvian restaurant, called Pollo a La Brasa Misti Restaurant. The food there was great. We got to try the Pollo Saltado, Lomo Saltado, Tallarin Saltado de Carne, Pescado al Ajo and Ensalada de Morada. My favorite one was the Tallarin Saltado de Carne, which was steak and noodles. They also served us a drink called Chicha morada, which I really liked. I also had a great experience. I sat with Sam, Kevin, Aiden, My mom and Kevin’s mom. We all talked about the food and had a great time.  

Choosing a Main Inquiry Question and Sub Questions – Capstone Blog Post 2

The second step of capstone is choosing a main inquiry question and 5 sub questions. These are what my final presentation will be about so this is a very big step.

First, I had to come up with my main inquiry question. I got a sheet to help me come up with questions from every subject. I found out much more about what I could research than I knew. I liked a lot of these questions but ended up liking two the best, what is stop motion, and What is the difference between animation movies and stop motion movies. Mrs. Edwards then looked at my inquiry question and changed it to What are the essential elements of making a successful stop motion short film? I liked this question a lot, after doing a little more research I ended up sticking with that.

Next, I had to come up with sub questions. At first, I was clueless. I couldn’t think of any questions related to my inquiry question. After a little thinking I was able to come up with one. What people are needed to make a stop motion film? I thought about what I would do if I were to make a stop motion film. I knew that you would need a camera guy, people to make the puppets, etc. Another one that I thought of quickly was what things that you would need? I thought this would be interesting because there are many things that you need and a lot to explain about why you would need those things. I also watched a video about the different types of stop motion, and that gave me the idea of doing what types of stop motion are there? I have always wondered, about how they put animation in Wallace and Gromit when all they do is take pictures. That led me to my fourth question, how is a stop motion film animated. As my last two questions I wanted to do them on me making a stop motion film. One is bringing a stop motion film to life which is mostly jest going to talk about my process, and my last one will be my final stop motion short film. I decided to do six because I might want to take one out and if I do I will still have one extra.

That was my process in choosing my main inquiry question and my sub questions.