To get the perfect flight you need many components to reduce drag, add more thrust and add lift to the plane so gravity doesn’t pull it down.  To get these forces to become perfect you need to change the plane. If the fuselage is too big then shrink it to find the perfect size. If the plane flys strange then change the wing from one to the other the options are, straight, swept-back, and delta. The plane that I made that flys the best has swept back wings and it flys better when launched upside down and I never would have figured that out if I didn’t test it over and over again. That is the way to find the perfect plane… testing.

I don’t know why but I don’t like fantasy. The books I chose are:

1. Amulet by, Kazu Kibuishi I chose this book because it is a great fantasy book and a great graphic novel.
2. The Unwanteds by, Lisa McMann I chose this book because it is one of my all time favorite books and for sure one of my favorite fantasy books.
3. Keeper of The Lost Citys by, Shannon Messenger I chose this book because I needed a new book and this book looked interesting.
4. Fable Haven by, Brandon Mull I chose this book because it is also one of my all time favorite books and for sure one of my favorite fantasy books.

My Passion project is about the steps of archeology and I decided that it would be a lot more fun if I did a stop motion video on it instead of a slideshow. If you don’t know what a stop motion video is, it is a video made up of a bunch of pictures lined up one after another. I don’t have any pictures of me working on this video because I made it last second so I’m sorry.

I have overcome some obstacles on the path to completing my project. When I had to do my project I would start something else like math or science. I do get distracted easily but somehow I did finish my project just in time. The way I overcome this obstacle was I focused very hard on finishing all of the scenes. When I did it was too late to film the video so we had to do it right before the zoom. In the morning we rushed down breakfast and set up the tripod in the living room and for 2 hours we worked until it was finished.

As I have been doing this project I have learned that as a learner I sometimes have to push myself harder than I usually have to, to get things done. As a reader I have learned that I like to have one long book and have multiple shorter books. I have both types at the same time because I can’t read a long book sitting after sitting. So I take the shorter books and I read them in the middle of one of the “sittings”. As a writer I have learned that I don’t like writing drafts because usually the words just kinda flow out of my pen/pencil. As a time manager I try to make plans of my day in 20 minute segments for each period.

So far I have been reading my books and taking notes about the most important parts. I am really thankful to Mrs. Hensel for her book because I think it is the most helpful resource out of all of mine. The strategy I am using for note-taking is I read a page then analyze the most important sentences in that page. So far I have only read the resources so I can make the prediction that I will have work that has very nice quality. I hope I can come through with this prediction and I am excited to research more and then create an animation.

I went about identifying resources by searching up books on amazon, searching websites on google, and by emailing Mrs. Hensel. Mrs. Hensel gave me a book title: The Usborne Introduction to Archaeology Paperback – 2005

by Struan Wheatley, Abibail;Reid (Author). On amazon I found two books: Archaeology for kids by Richard Panchyk and Everything Ancient Egypt by Crispin Boyer. I know that the book Mrs. Hensel gave me is credible because she has taught this topic before and knows this book can help. I know that Everything ancient Egypt is credible because it has an Egyptologist to help write the book. Finally, I know that Archeology for Kids is credible because people lent their names to it as reviews. The one that I think is going to be the most helpful resource is Mrs. Hensels book because she knows the best resources for this project.

My topic is the process of archeology and there was a process to pick this topic. At the beginning I wanted to do ancient Egyptian archeology but as I was writing my proposal letter I realized that I should do the process of archeology because it would be better for my final project. The only annoying part of this story is that I had to redo my entire proposal letter but I managed and I am very happy with my new topic.

Here’s my letter:

Dear Mr. DeBerry,

For my Passion Project, I would like to learn about the process of archaeology.  I want to learn about archaeology because of Mrs. Hensel’s social studies class. I became really interested in the topic when we learned about Egypt and the relics the archaeologists found when digging.  At first, the topic interested me because of the excitement of digging up something from a long time ago that no one has seen or heard of in a very long time. Once I started thinking about it more, I became interested in how archaeologists find a place to dig and how they go about excavating the chosen area.

Main inquiry question:  How do archaeologists find out where to dig?

Sub questions:

1.       What tools do they use?
2.       What shapes in the land do they look for (sand dune)?
3.       What technology do they use to scout out an area to dig?
4.       What was it like to be at the first dig in Egypt versus what it’s like now at a dig?

I will research this topic using various documentaries including some on Netflix and Nat Geo, as well as books and websites.  I have asked Mrs. Hensel for ideas for books, websites and documentaries also. So far, I have found the following sources to use:

Books:

1.       “Archaeology for Kids: Uncovering the Mysteries of Our Past, 25 Activities” by Richard Panchyk
2.       “National Geographic Kids Everything Ancient Egypt” by Crispin Boyer
3.       “Written in Bone” by Sally Walker
4.       “Archaeology” Magazine

Websites (I found a lot):

1.     https://www.world-archaeology.com/
2.     https://popular-archaeology.com/
3.     https://naturalhistory.si.edu/education/teaching-resources/social-studies/unlocking-hidden-worlds-through-archaeology-and

Documentaries:

1.       “Lost Caves of Giza” on Amazon Prime Video
2.       PBS Nova: Scanning the Pyramids

I’m hoping that Mrs. Hensel will have someone I can interview about archaeology. 

I will document my progress on this video on my blog and I will also create a slideshow on the research I found.  I will show my research using photos of digs, artifacts that have been discovered and tools used to dig. For my final product I think I will do a stop motion video about the steps of archeology.  It’s hard for me to explain what I’m going to do in the video, but I have some ideas in mind.

Thanks,

Sam Weston

For my capstone I did Wormholes. In my capstone presentation was so fun and once I finished the first presentation it felt so relieving. I thought that it wasn’t that hard to do, so… the next few presentations were easy. When I presented to a live audience I learned that if you present to littler kids it’s much harder to keep their attention. And sometimes the older kids got distracted because science isn’t something many kids would choose to listen to. One challenge I had to overcome was entertaining kids enough that they stayed for the whole presentation. It was really hard because the little kids would always want to go to a presentation with a lot or cool artifacts.

This is my presentation

Did you know that video games started in 1970?! Have you thought of playing video games as a class in school? I would like that. All schools should have video game classes. Schools should have video game classes because you can be creative and make your own video games on the computer. Also, video games are really fun. Everyone would agree that a video game class would be much better than recess.

         Schools should have video game classes because you can create video games on computer games. For example, Scratch is a computer game that allows you to code. I know what you’re thinking that does not sound like making video games. But you can actually do it! Once I was in a Scratch club for two weeks. It was really fun and I made video games on it!

     Have you ever played a videogame that was boring? There is no such thing! Schools should also have video game classes because video games are really fun! When I go to my cousin’s house we always play video games. We have a great time.

        Lastly, schools should have video game classes because a video game class is better than recess. I think that a video game class is better than recess because you get to kick back, relax, and play video games all in one! Once my friend had a video game birthday party! At the birthday party, there were recliners and tons of video game consoles. I started playing and everyone was having a good time. There should be more video game parties in the world.

       In conclusion, schools should have video game classes because you can create video games on computer games, video games are really fun, and a video game class is much better than recess. It would be really really fun!