6/11

I think something that interests me is building things. I had built a graduation table for my sisters graduation party. It looked like a large grad cap. I started from two pieces of plywood then I made a plan/blueprint with the specific measurements. Then, I screwed all the pieces together and painted it black. I covered it in chalkboard paint so people could write messages on it. That’s just one of the projects I have made but the process of building and planning just helps me take my mind off things. I sometimes draw out a bunch of lans that I know I can make in a few years and save them so I can work off of them later.  This is one of the things that make me genuinely happy and I hope I will always be able to do it.

June 4th

In todays world, racism is a real problem. It is a disease that infects and affects other people. I think racism sparks mostly from ignorance and lack of education, but also the way someone grows up. I think in todays society we have begun to normalize police brutality against people of color, and I think the death of George Floyd has sparked something in society and we are starting to make a change wether it’s with riots or peaceful protests. Although the riots are destructive, people of color have been fighting for change for years, and minimal change has occurred. When you and your family have been victims of oppression for so long, there is eventually a breaking point and I think we’ve reached it. Large businesses can rebuild their buildings, but the lives of victims will never be rebuilt. Our government and citizens have to focus on what to prioritize. For years people have been peacefully protesting and they have been ignored. Now, people are calling more attention to this subject, and the government is starting to listen. I think we need to figure out ways to call the governments attention in a better way rather than putting them against us, but they need to start showing signs of change first.

5/28 Soft plastics and recycling

I think if there was a place to recycle soft plastics, I would. Although, It would most likely require me to drive somewhere further away than lets say, 10 minutes, it would be worth it as so much of my family’s trash is made up of soft plastics. These plastics can slowly make an impact on our own carbon footprint and maybe people would start to do the same as more people start to do it. It would be more practical to wait a little and let these specific plastics pile up and take them every few weeks so you wouldn’t have to constantly take them to whatever center there is.

Why Boys Participate More in Zooms than Girls

I think the reason boys participate more in zooms may just be because of the type of people in our class, and some of the girls may be more shy than some of the boys who may be more outgoing. It might also take a while for someone to think of a question and by the time they do, it’s too late. This may be specific to our class/grade, because in other classes there have been more girls than boys asking questions. It may also have to do with how comfortable someone is asking a question in front of everyone and if they would rather talk to the teacher privately.

Coronavirus Outbreak – Current Events

The Coronavirus outbreak has infected many people. 2700 people to be exact, and has killed at least 81 people. This deadly virus began in Wuhan, China and experts have said tests have confirmed where the virus started affecting people. In Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, the virus jumped from animals to humans. The market has sold many different types of wildlife and the virus was said to have been connected to the trading of wild animals. To reduce mass gatherings, China pushed back the holidays and postponed the reopening of school. Chinas health minister has said the country is entering a crucial stage where the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger.

I think that the precautions the government have taken for the outbreak and the procedures they have used may be slightly effective, there could have been ways to prevent this virus from spreading. If people had been more cautious with the wild animal trade, there could have been a different outcome. People should be more aware about what they are selling and purchasing. If people had been more aware of what they were selling and purchasing from this market, the virus may not have spread so dramatically. I also believe that modern transportation also makes this virus so easy to spread and harder to track down. 1 contaminated person could travel across the world in an airplane and infect people not he plane as well as people from the place they are traveling too. Cars and buses could also infect people with their recycled air and closed quarters. This is why China limiting the transportation could be effective on limiting the amount of people exposed to the virus. Overall, I think China has one the best they could at limiting the spread of the virus and locating the cause.

 

Decorating the Flashlight – Technology

After I built my flashlight because at that point all it looked like was a white tube (which it was). Now, I don’t have a lot of artistic skill, so I didn’t expect much of it. I decided to color it orange and red because I like those colors. At first I wanted to make it look like fire, but decided against it because I didn’t think that I could make it look good. I just colored one cap red and the other orange and colored half of the elbow red and the other half orange. Then I added a few plastic jewels on it and added a flower design. In my point of view, I still think it looks ok, but I think I will just leave it for now.

 

Building the Flashlight- Technology

In the previous post I talked about making the plans for the flashlight. This will be about building the flashlight. After I finished drawing out the plan I had to get the fittings. Once I knew they were the right fittings, I needed to get all te pieces. I had two positive wires and one negative. I soldered these in the right order and left these in the bag. Then, I had to drill holes to fit the switch (I put it at the top) and the light (which I put in the front, obviously). Then, I had to struggle to fit the light in the hole and fit the switch and closed it all up. Then, I put a switch cover on it and glued it down. The next part would be to decorate…

Making plans – Technology

In technology we have to make plans before we build things. This past week we have been making flashlights. We drew it out on a grid paper where every square was half an inch. We had to use rulers to draw out the PVC pipes and the fittings. This was especially hard because the 45 degree elbow was extremely hard to measure.  Once I measured that I had to measure all the spaces and what part of the cap would go into the fitting. After that I had to draw out where the switch, light, and battery would go. Then, I had to measure the length of the wire. Because it was drawn to scale, this was one of the easier parts. After I finished drawing the plans I had to build it. But that will be in another post.

Technology – Soldering

In technology we made solder people. To make these, we bent wire into a stick figure shape with a head, body and legs. It would have been much harder to bend arms into it so instead, we soldered arms on. We bent the solder people into the shape we wanted then, we bent the arms into the shape we wanted. After that we clipped the two pieces on to the third hands (things to help old the things you are soldering). We then heated up the object and soldered it together. I have made a stand for mine that resembles a snowboard and I think overall it tuned out pretty well.

Technology – Driverless Cars

In class we talked about driverless cars and how they work. They have  sensors on all sides that tell which way to turn or merge very fast. They stil have wheels in case something backfires and the human in the car can take over. There is one problem though. If there was a situation where you either had to get into an accident or hit the pedestrians on the side walk you would probably be able to make a decision really quick. You have feelings and selflessness. But the car, would most likely not be able to make that decision. It would fo the thing that would seem most logical at the time. This is another reason there is always going to need a function for the driver to take over. Overall driverless cars could be a great addition to the roads and could help people in many ways.