My American Revolution topic was Why did the Colonists win the Revolutionary War? I picked it because I knew that the British military was the strongest in the world at the time so how did the colonists win? I am sharing my topic through a TED talk. The thing that I needed most help with was finding research on what strategies did the continental army use to defeat the British army and what other things helped them. Did they have allies? Was the land in their favor? Did they seek out huge battles and hope they win? The best part about the project was when I was almost done. After all the hard work I was almost done. The project showed me how you can’t just trust one website or think that the internet is always right – anybody could post false information on the internet. You can’t trust only one website even if it is a website like Wikipedia. I’m excited to present but also a little nervous. What if I mess up? Practicing has helped me grow more confident in myself. I need to remember to switch the slides though!
When choosing groups I was very happy with the people on it. I got my first choice and had most of my friends in the group. I chose hurricanes because I had already studied them but was very curious about how they were measured. That is why I changed with Max. Firstly, because Max was unhappy about what he was studying and I liked data gathering. I debated on tsunamis but decided on hurricanes. I kind of wished I chose tsunamis but I am still really happy with hurricanes.
When finding information on hurricanes about how they were measured I think I was pretty successful because I had no trouble on finding websites. They had many pages on dropsondes and satellites which they said were the most important in tracking hurricanes. I think I had more success on websites than books because all the books were a bit out-dated. The websites also explained every single detail better than the books.
I was able to make notes that I then used later because there were two great websites, the NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH and the HURRICANES articles which had rich information on dropsondes and satellites.
My group helped me find the NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH article and Ben found me a great book on satellites. I also supported my group members by finding one website on hurricane Sandy for Ella. I also found the path of hurricane info and the cost of rebuilding from a hurricane for Max which they both used in their script.
I struggled a bit to turn the writing into a script because I didn’t know what to get rid of. If it hadn’t been for Ben and Jacob I probably would not have been able to say the entire script in 30 seconds. Still I was happy with the script. My mom helped me because she said I had to introduce the things I was going to talk about. I ignored it but later realized she was right. I changed it 2 days after the presentation and she said it was a lot better.
When finding images I had a little trouble but I kept switching them. Finally, I settled after 13 changed photos on the second slide, a picture of satellites over a hurricane and a computer viewing a hurricane. Then after one change of photos on the first I settled with a dropsonde about to be dropped.
When memorizing my script I thought it would be hard but turned out to be easy. After a few tries I could say it perfectly. The little changes I made were easy to add and remember. But the thing was when everybody was there I was a little nervous. I’m okay with them looking at me but if they were staring I got so nervous I would forget my lines.
The best part of working with a group is that they help you. They notice mistakes and without my group my script would have been too long. Working with a group also means you have company. You can talk to them and ask them questions.
The hardest part of working with a group is that you get into arguments, especially when you’re choosing things. Also sometimes when somebody helps you and you disagree the other person has to understand that it is the other person’s choice.
The thing that I am most proud of is doing the presentation. I had to plow through and get over my nervousness to speak in front of the parents. I was very scared but I still did it.
