Rube Goldberg Blog Post #1

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Rube Goldberg Blog Post 1

I’d created a sketch, but now I had to test it. Who knew if it would work or not? Even before I built it, though, I had to find materials and maybe revise some parts of the machine. So I wrote down a list of materials I’d need to find:

  1. Toy car
  2. Blocks
  3. Marbles
  4. Toy Seesaw
  5. Long and Short Cardboard Tube
  6. Cardboard Strips
  7. String
  8. Marker caps

We began the search around the house. I had no toy cars, so I decided to ask Cindy for one. She agreed. Blocks were slightly more difficult. However, we remembered that Legos were a good weight and could make different shapes. So that’s what we used. Then, we had to find marbles or some sort of small ball. Somehow, I’d forgotten about an old Chinese board game that had a lot of marbles. Next on the list was a toy seesaw, but to this day, we still don’t have it. I’ll probably make it out of some cardboard I had left. Speaking of cardboard, my mom had warned my dad about keeping cardboard tubes beforehand, so I used those. Then we needed cardboard strips, and we cut up some boxes. I was using string and some pulleys Mrs. Roberts gave me. Now it was time to assemble(without the seesaw). 

I decided the Rube Goldberg would be built in the dining room. It was relatively empty and not completely in the way of everyone else. A confusing part of building the contraption was that I couldn’t figure out how my sketch worked. It was designed vertically, so I’d have to use some sort of wall. Also because of that, I’d have to attach my parts to the wall, thus adding more materials to my list of to-finds. So, all-in-all, it was fun but challenging on some fronts.

Testing the machine was another story. It was annoying to have to set everything up again, to tilt the seesaw the right way and put up the Jenga blocks. And the marbles went everywhere! But it was still pretty fun, and while it was slightly exasperating, I could still find joy in it.

I haven’t needed to make revisions in anything, but I think that the Jenga blocks are a little too heavy. I may need to change it to something that can topple easier. One really frustrating thing was when something went wrong but it was hard to pinpoint what part went wrong, especially because I have a lot of materials. A challenging thing was knowing how to fix it (e.g. should it be bigger or smaller?). But in the end, I still managed to work most of the kinks out. I didn’t really have any “aha” moments. While I’ve done a lot, there are definitely some things to fix and smooth out, so I’m looking forward to when my Rube Goldberg will actually be done.

Constitution Second Amendment Reflection

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When I chose this question (How does the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment affect us today?), I had originally just been thinking of the Supreme Court and the Second Amendment. I’d only thought of the Supreme Court because, in all of the Second Amendment sites I had read, they all included some information on the Supreme Court and the Second Amendment. Out of all the cases, the two I kept seeing were Heller v. D.C. and McDonald v. City of Chicago. My original question was slightly different from the one I ended up with – it was aimed more at the Supreme Court itself, not the interpretation. But I think that my final question was more informative than the one I started with, and I’m happy with that.

When I was researching my project, something I found especially challenging was finding the right information, words, and pictures to help describe what I was talking about. As I took my notes, I realized the information was repetitive and didn’t include new info. For example, my first note-taking website (giffords.org) had mostly information on Heller v. D.C. and McDonald v. City of Chicago. Then, my second note-taking website (https://academic.eb.com) explained more about the origin of the Second Amendment and the start of the Supreme Court interpreting the Second Amendment. But then, in my last note-taking website, it was almost the same information I’d learned on “giffords.com”. So some of the information for the script was hard to get.

However, choosing the right words for the script was even harder! Sometimes I couldn’t explain some of the information I had learned, and when I had to introduce another slide, I could never think of a way to start it. It was the hardest challenge in making this project. Picking photos, although challenging, was thankfully easier. I was usually able to find photos on my 1st or 2nd search, and the photos were never too confusing. Everything other than those was a lot easier to accomplish. Through all those challenges, something that motivated me was thinking of completing this project. If I just pictured not having to do it anymore, I could do my work a little happier.

I think that I could’ve been a little more specific because I feel like my answer isn’t entirely connected to my question. My question was asking how the outcome of a Supreme Court case could affect us, but my answer only talked about how the interpretation changed throughout the years, not the effect of a case. So I was a little vague on that topic. Everything else, though, was pretty successful. I think that everything other than my answer was achieved to the best of my ability, with all my brainpower. I’m thankful that this has ended, but it was fun while it lasted(as painful as it was). I hope not to do something like this ever again, but I’ll probably still have to, so I can only hope that it will be less agonizing.

Book Review on “File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents” by Lemony Snicket

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The book I’m recommending is called File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents, by Lemony Snicket. It’s a funny book about some experiences the author is pretending to have had when he was a child. There are short mystery stories that you could solve along with the main character, who is Lemony himself. However, the mysteries are rather easy to solve and do not require much thinking. They do have quite interesting and logical reasons for the solutions, though. It isn’t a problem/solution story, more a collection of short stories about his stay in the rather problematic Stain’d-by-the-Sea. He was sent there with his mentor to solve a big mystery that a secret organization that he was part of was trying to solve but ended up studying some smaller mysteries.

I think that in these stories, the author is trying to tell me that there are people everywhere that you can help, you just have to look for them. The stories have deep meanings to them but also include humor.

My favorite story was when the minor miner told Lemony about how her paintings were falling too neatly whenever she was down in the mines. I liked that story because I felt like it was the funniest story. If you want to know the stories’ ending, you’ll have to read it yourself. 

I strongly recommend reading “File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents” by Lemony Snicket. It was one of my favorite books and will probably become yours, too. Thank you for reading my blog post!

The Hamster Story Book 1: Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: Hillary Part 2

They sailed down to Africa. “Are we there yet?” David asked. “I hope so because my tummy is getting mad,” He set his encyclopedia down. Then he searched through the backpack and found his notebook. “Mommy, I’m done reading. Can I draw?” Martha nodded. David made a “yes” pose and opened his notebook. He drew a bunch of green circles and made red arms and legs. Then he said, “Uncle Luke! Look, I made people! And they’re getting eaten by a…” He quickly made two red squares. “…a DRAGON!” Luke didn’t listen, because he was too sleepy to do anything.

“Alright, Luke, wake up, ’cause we’re here! And David, please pack your bag, it’s a mess back there! David’s smile quickly faded away. He hated cleaning up. Martha steered the car to the parking lot. “Oh, it’s scalding hot! Everybody, go to that bathroom and switch your clothes!” She pointed at a nearby restroom.

Luke sighed, “I was just dreaming about flying a motorcycle. And I was leaping across this shark tank…” He grabbed his bag and continued muttering about his dream while making his way to the restroom. “Huh?” he said when he went inside. He had just seen a stick engraved message saying, Help! Come to Motor Island! “I sure hope Motor stands for motorcycle,” he said. As soon as Luke was done changing, David ran past him into the restroom. Luke told Martha about the letter.

Martha replied, “That’s great! Motor Island is that little island over there. And besides, the next ferry is at six. We’ve got 2 whole hours!” Martha immediately took out her iPad and bought a ticket. “Alright, everyone! Remember, our ferry is called the Mayhamster ferry. Oh, and Luke, you’re in for a surprise! Motor Island is known for its famous motorcycle competitions!”

Luke brightened up. “Really? Will I get an autograph? Could I enter one of those races? Am I going to get a first-class seat for a show? Are we going to even watch a show? I heard there was a fire ring obstacle one! Could we go to that one? Are we going to get snacks? Who is the most popular driver? Are the shows real, or do they have some trick or secret? Oh Martha, answer me! I’ve written down 1,010 more!”

Martha shook her head and walked over to a nearby person. “Um, hello, do you know anywhere my family could get food? You know, one of those kid-friendly places.”

The commoner jumped in surprise. “Oh, hi, didn’t see ya’ there. Uh, I do think there is a McHamster’s downtown.” Then he whispered something to his jacket. Martha was puzzled. But she didn’t want to disrespect anyone, so she forced a smile on her face.

“Thanks. I’m sorry to have bothered you.” And with that, Martha headed to the bus stop. “Come on, boys, or we won’t have a good seat. Everyone goes there these days…” They sat on an open bus seat. “David, you’re too young to sit by yourself. Sit on mommy’s lap.” A few older hamsters laughed and giggled at David. David blushed. But just then, it was their stop. David muttered under his breath. Just then, Martha said, “Oh gosh, look at the time! 5:30! Come on, the McHamster’s right there,”

“We’re getting a kiddie meal, right?” David asked sweetly. Martha laughed and nodded. “Yay! I wonder what toy I’ll get. Ooo! I hope it’s a Carrot Man! But it might be outdated. Well, then my second choice is Black Lettuce! I sure hope so. What do you think I’ll get, Mommy?”

Martha smiled and whispered, “I think you’ll get whatever you want, dear,” But in her mind, she thought, Carrot Man and Black Lettuce are both outdated. They were in last year’s issue. Martha sped to the McHamster’s door as she watched the time tick by. After she had gotten a kiddie meal and some extra nuggets for Luke and herself, she bounded out the glass doors and handed the meal to Luke.

Luke replied, “It’s almost time. The ferry allows food, so we could bring these.” David snatched the kiddie meal and peeked inside.

Welcome to 5th Grade!

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Over the last 18 months, there have been a lot of crazy things going on. I feel like there were more Zoom meetings than actual, face-to-face encounters. Things have gone so fast that I really can’t believe that I’m already in 5th grade. It seems like I was just in Kindergarten, so excited to start elementary school.

Something I’m looking forward to would be the rocketry science unit. I think it would be really fun to do, and I hope we get to make a rocket model and test it out. I’d like to do it because I’ve always been interested in engineering, but I’ve never really gotten to find out how the inside mechanisms of a machine worked. It’ll be exciting, whether we get to build a model or not.

A few other things I’m interested in are cats, reading, writing, Minecraft, and rollercoasters. I love cats because they’re really cute and my friend Cindy got one in January. To determine her name, we made a long list of names and let her choose from 2 of our favorites – Coral and Venice. She ultimately decided on Coral, after a long and thoughtful wait.

I started loving writing because I loved making up stories and reading them too. It’s fun to create different types of characters and give them funny names, personalities, and their family and friends. I also like describing things because I can always picture the scene in my head.

I like Minecraft because I like LEGOs and building, but if I go in creative there are endless materials I can use to create different types of structures and buildings. I don’t know why but I just like building, crafting, and destroying blocks.

I’ve never really liked scary rollercoasters, but I’ve recently gotten over my fear of scary rollercoasters after visiting 4 amusement parks this year. I love the thrill and excitement of the ride, I love how the loop-d-loops give your head a slight airy feeling and how the wind whooshes by really fast, but I don’t like how some rollercoasters always bump your head against the seat.

I hope you’ve learned something new about me and thank you for reading my blog post.

Buddies Reflection

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Today, we went to buddies. This time was extra fun, because we were teaching them how to use Chrome Music Lab! First, we brought our ipads and headphones. We went down to the kindergarten wing. Then, we found our partners and they went to get their ipads and headphones. Ms. Boyer said if we wore our headphones all the time, then we could sit in the hallway! Me and my buddy both wanted to, so we sat next to the doorway. It was very quiet, so we could hear the music better.

I first introduced her to the song maker. We liked it the most, and we decided to stay on it longer. Then, I showed her everything else. She said she couldn’t hear the music, so Ms. Furgatch asked someone else to help. After we figured it all out (it turned out she didn’t plug her headphones in!), we did a few more of the music “things”. She mostly stayed on song maker, but on my ipad, I showed her the music things she hadn’t played with yet. After a while, we had to go. I said good bye, and we left. I thought this was really fun, and I hope next time will be as fun as this time!

What I Learned Over Break

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We just had our Winter Break. I learned a lot of things over break. First, I learned how to ride on an electric scooter without handles. Second, I learned that my brother’s lessons and classes are hard. He’s also trying to find a class for doctors, but he only found a nurse’s class (he’s still looking for another class). And finally, on the last day, I learned that I’m a good storyteller. I’ll explain one of them.

I was having a playdate at Sophia’s house with Jane, Natalie, Isabella, Cindy and Brooke. I had to be late because before it, I had piano lessons. When I arrived there, they were just in the middle of decorating cakes with frosting, sprinkles, and M&M’s.We each had our own, individual cake slices. After we ate the cakes slices, we went downstairs to watch something. We didn’t know what to watch. But then, someone suggested to watch Aladdin, because previously at Heathcote, there was a play based on Aladdin. Suddenly, Brooke came in with the “electric scooter”. Me and a few other people wanted to ride it, too. I first tried it, but it was hard at first. I had to jump off every 2 seconds! After everyone tried it, I rode it more. After a long time, I finally was able to ride on it. I could go around obstacles! Then, after a while, it was time to go home. It was really fun, and I’m glad I learned something new!

Character Traits Letter Reflection

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Dear Mrs. Boyer,

At home and in school, I’m reading about a fiction character. His name is Nate, and he is supposed to be based on the author. He and his school are both very creative, especially in the 4th book, Big Nate Goes for Broke. He’s also very good at working in teams. He is a good leader. Nate is usually also really funny. He can self-control himself and not do every crazy thing that crosses his mind. Nate’s also enthusiastic, honest, and brave. He has lots of social intelligence.

In each of his books, their is a different plot. As a six-grader at P.S. 38, he has dozens of rivalries, like different schools, a mean bully, seventh-grade champions, and lots more! Even his social studies teacher is his enemy. He personally likes cheez doodles, cartooning, and playing hockey. What he doesn’t like is on this list: Figure-skating, drawing girl’s hair, and homework. This is all I can tell you without giving spoilers.

Sincerely,

Jacinta

 

Image result for big nate pics

Big Nate Goes for Broke, the book