Week 37 5/3/2019

Language Arts: I finished my Brazil article this week. I also read more in the Unwind series book I am reading. I kind of set it aside for a few weeks. I also did some language arts lessons and read in the assigned book.

Math: We learned a bunch about quadratic equations and how to determine the roots and the vertex. We learned about derivatives. Practiced finding everything needed to graph the equations.

Science: We watched the next episode of Cosmos. There are differences between molecules. Solids, liquids, and gases are different because of the speeds at which their molecules can move. Solids only move a little bit, kind of just jiggle in one place.

History: I listened to the next Podcast History of our World. It was about the Israelites and how some of their history is mixed up with myths and stories of the bible, so we don’t know for sure what is factual, but this is the case with a lot of ancient people.

Makerspace (Tech):  I have pretty much finished my project so this week I got to do whatever. I made a paper flexagon.

Programming (Elective): I did more code.org lessons. I did all of “Build A Flappy Game, “ did some more Functions in Artist exercises.

Other: I had basketball practice. My friend Heber had a birthday party. I practiced guitar and am working on learning a new song.

Screenshot of my Brazil article from Google Docs

Bandit

Week 36 4/26/2019

Language Arts: I read some more of the story that is part of my L. Arts program. I also wrote some more of the body paragraphs from my notes about Brazil. 

Math: I did a chapter in the Algebra textbook and we also got some more homework from our tutor to work on. He really wants us to master the concepts we have been working on. We weren’t able to have class with him this week because he had to go to the doctor. 

Science: We watched the next episode in Cosmos. It talked about the speed of light and how telescopes allow us to see back in time because of how long it takes light to reach us from far away. At HeeHaws we learned about dairy products and about the multiple stomachs of cows. 

History: We listened to the intro of Story of the World Vol 1. It talks about how we know what happened in the past. We use both written records and also archaeology, which looks at objects that people leave behind. 

Makerspace (Tech): This week I finished my clock. I had already assembled it so I had to take it apart a little so I could paint it. Then I painted it. I couldn’t bring it home yet, though. 


Programming (Elective): On code.org I finished Functions in Artist exercises. I also did the first couple of exercises for Determine the concept. 

Other: We had our last week of co-op for this semester. We also had a field trip to HeeHaws with some members of our co-op. We also went to Avengers: Endgame on Friday. My mom had already seen it on Thursday night with my dad, but she took most of us kids on Friday. My older sister couldn’t come because she had school. I had two basketball practices but we had an off week from having a game. I got to go to Night of Gaming at my friend's school. It was a fundraiser. We had fun. They had lots of different types of games, board games and video games, you could play. 

Week 32 3/29/2019

Language Arts: I did some sentence diagramming of compound sentences. I went through the checklist on one of my paragraphs I wrote to look for the style improvements. I read an article about the Andes mountains and identified the main topic of each of the paragraphs. I started reading UnWholly again, since I haven’t read it for a couple of weeks. 

Math: With our tutor his week we learned how to find the determinant of a matrix. We also reviewed algebra rules and learned how to calculate percent increase and percent decrease. 

Science: We watched episode three of Cosmos. It talked a lot about Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley. Halley was a real advocate and friend to Newton, who didn’t really have a lot of friends. If he hadn’t taken on the task of encouraging Newton to publish Principia and then financed the printing, it might never have gotten published. Pretty interesting to learn more about their lives. 

History: We finished up the history podcast episodes on Egypt. We learned about all of the pharoahs in the Ramses line but mostly about Ramses II. 

Makerspace (Tech):  We are planning our final project. It is going to be a clock. 

Programming (Elective): I did more Harvesting with Conditionals exercises and finished up that lesson/activity. Then I did Functions with Minecraft exercises 1-11. 

Other: I had basketball practice twice and we also had a game this week. 

My cat Bandit checking the table for food

Week 31

L. Arts: I wrote a paragraph about the history of humpback whales. I did some of my Dyslexia workbook. I did some lessons and readings for my language arts program.

Math: We did more practice and work with linear equations and matrices. We had another take home test. I also did a lesson in the textbook.

History: We learned about Amenhotep IV who changed his name to Akhenaten. He was married to Nefertiti and they had 6 daughters. He tried to shift Egypt to worshipping the god Aten instead of multiple gods. It wasn’t widely accepted. He was the father of Tutankhamun.

Science: We watched the next episode of Cosmos. One cool thing in this episode was how the eye evolved. The video showed what vision was like for early organisms that had light sensing cells and how it improved over lots and lots of years. Our eyes don’t actually work as well as the eyes of water creatures do because the sophisticated eye evolved in a watery world. We did some MEL Science experiements about appearing ink. One of the inks we made is based on a really old type of ink that’s been used for over 1000 years. It is an iron ink and it is really durable and water resistant.

Maker Space: I finished up my upcycling chair and brought it home. You can see a couple of pictures of it below.

Tech (Programming): I did more code.org activities. I went through all the  Until Loops in Maze exercises, the If/Else with Bee exercises and started Harvesting with Conditionals.

At basketball practice

Another basketball practice picture

Our appearing ink experiment

My upcycled chair, front view

My upcycled chair, back view

Week 29 3/8/2019

Language Arts: I wrote another paragraph about humpback whales from multiple sources. I typed it up another day. I also did some of my dyslexia workbook and started reading book 3 in the Unwind series.  

Math: Did a lot of review this week because we have a test next week. With our tutor we went over multiplying matrices. It’s kind of tricky but not that hard once you memorize the steps. Also did the next lesson in the math book. 

History: We learned about the takeover of Egypt by the Hyksos. One of the technologies that the Hyksos introduced was horse pulled chariots. They were big enough for two people, a driver and an archer. The Egyptians took the chariot design and made improvements. In my co-op class one of the things we learned about was the dance the Twist. 

Science: This week in Outdoor Survival Skills, students were given the scenario of needing to we a fire with only items that might commonly be found in a lady’s purse.  We predicted how each item would perform (lipstick, lotion, chapstick, sunscreen, etc), then watched a video that demonstrated actually lighting a cotton ball covered in each substance.  We also discussed the value of having versatile items in a survival kit. At home we did some experiments from our MEL science kits. One was to make homemade batteries and use them to power a small LED. It was cool to think you can make batteries with chemicals and to learn more about how they work. We watched some videos about batteries, electricity, and solar panels. I tried testing our batteries with our battery tester but they didn’t register. It doesn’t take much power to power a single LED light. 

Tech (Maker): This week we mostly planned stuff. We are going to do an upcycling project so we talked about that and brainstormed ideas. 

Elective (Programming): I did more activities on code.org. One of the projects was to write a program to draw a snowflake. 

Other: I had two basketball practices. For my church youth group we are in charge of the next combined activity so we planned that. We are going to do giant Twister. 

Another experiment we did had electricity flowing through this solution and it caused
the Tin ions to come out of solution and form into tin metal. 

In my survival skills class, testing the water we filtered using different techniques

Learning about what items in a woman's purse could be best used for fire fuel

Week 28 - 3/1/2019

Language Arts: I learned about how to write a report using multiple sources, and how to look for the key ideas in a paragraph (usually in the first and last sentences but not always).  I used the sources and my outline to write a paragraph about the flukes (tail fins) of humpback whales. 

Math: With the math tutor we went over different ACT problems, especially ones on linear equations. We reviewed how to figure out the equation for a line when you are given two points. I worked on the next lessons in the textbook as well. Lessons 43 through 46.

Science: We watched some science videos on Youtube. We caught a mouse and took it out to the fields near the river after observing it for a little while.

History: We listened to the next episode of the Podcast History of our World. It was about Middle Kingdom Egypt. This was a time where Egypt saw a decentralization of power and there was a civil war. One guy took over the crown who wasn’t royal at all, so that caused a problem, too. At the end of the Middle Kingdom, the ruler didn’t have a male heir so the first female pharoah was put in place. They didn’t even have a word for “queen” in their language at that time. Not very much is known about her. 

Makerspace (Tech):  I cut out my MINI Cooper logo and did the burning. We also got to use the 3D printer and I printed a little blobby guy who now lives in my mom’s car ashtray. 

Programming (Elective): I did some more learning/coding activities on code.org. One of them was a more elaborate drawing program where the pen had to move to different locations and change patterns/colors. 

Other: I had another playoff game with the Bantam League. I also had tryouts for the Vinaka League for basketball. I have been working with a trainer who is a coach in that league so I am switching over to that one. We had our first Vinaka practice. 

My 3D printed guy

My Bantam team -- The Orem Fighters

My program 

Week 27 - 2/22/2019

Language Arts: Watched Romeo and Juliet with my parents and brother and sister. I did a lesson in my language arts program. We went to The Untold Story of the Tortoise and the Hare play at the Scera theater.

Math: Worked more on exponents and radicals. Went over how to rationalize expressions which means to get any roots out of the denominator. Did 3 chapters in the textbook as well.

Science: We watched some science videos on YouTube.  One cool one was slow motion of a wave pool. It made the water shoot up really far and it kind of looked like a sword made out of water. We also played Professor Noggin Human Body.

History: We listened to the podcast episode about Ancient Egypt, specifically the Old Kingdom. That was the time that the pyramids were built. Current evidence suggests that they weren’t built by slaves like it has been thought in the past. There are records talking about how they got paid and how working on the pyramids exempted workers from paying taxes and even benefits received. It was a prosperous time for Egypt which explains why there were people and resources to spare for pyramid building. We also watched a Crash Course video about Ancient Egypt. 

Makerspace (Tech):  No class this week because of presidents’ day.

Programming (Elective): I did some activities on code.org. One was a block programming language that you would program a little artist guy to draw a shape. See picture.

Other: Went skiing at Snowbird with my dad. It was my first time skiing somewhere besides Sundance. He had a client in town who wanted to go skiing while she was here, so I got to go with my dad and his business partner and the client. They have a pretty fast tram that you get to ride which was cool. For my guitar class I am learning how to play “Hey, Jude.”

At the SCERA play

My cat, Bandit 

Science videos we watched

Riding the tram at Snowbird

Skiing at Snowbird

Screenshot of the code.org program I made to draw the 3D cube

Week 24

Language Arts: I did some reading in Unwholly, the second book in the Unwind series. I did a lesson in my dyslexia workbook. I wrote in my journal about our visit for scouts to a mechanic shop.

Math: We had a lot of review assignments this week to make sure we understand a lot of algebra fundamentals. I did the assignments and took the online tests.

Science: I learned about Newton’s first law of motion in the Physics class on Khan Academy. I watched the first video and the "more about" video.

History: I missed my co-op history class this week because I was sick.

Makerspace (Tech):  I missed Makerspace because I was sick that day.

Programming (Elective): We had FLL practice two days and then the state tournament on Saturday up at Weber State. It was fun but we didn’t place. Lego League was good this year and I’m glad we did well at the local tournament but I am also glad it is over for the season.

Other: I had basketball practice and a basketball game. For scouts we went to an auto mechanic shop and also learned about some of the jobs you can do with training instead of a college degree. In my co-op Survival Skills class we learned about different kinds of emergency shelters you can make and we also made one in the classroom out of a tarp and some other items.

I'm the one hunched over--I had the ball and the white guy came after me to get it but ended
up falling down so I got a foul called on me. 

My cat Bandit hanging out on my bed with my math 

We had to leave at 6 am to go to the FLL tournament. My mom took this picture before we left. 

Week 23

Language Arts: I am reading the second book in the Unwind series, called Unwholly. I did a couple lessons in my language arts program and did some writing. I am in a class at co-op that is learning about figurative language as well and we had the first class this week.

Math: We practiced solving linear equation pairs by graphing. Worked on solving long problems with lots of signs and parentheses as well.

Science: This week we watched some Brain Pop videos about the ocean, plate tectonics, and volcanoes. We started our next semester of co-op and made soda can stoves in my survival class.

History: In my co-op history class we learned about Disneyland and when it was built. It didn’t do well when it first opened. Too many people came and they weren’t actually ready but said they were.

Makerspace (Tech):  No Makerspace this week because of MLK Jr holiday.

Programming (Elective): We had another practice for the FLL strategic tournament. It is next week on February 2nd. We also brought one of the tables home so we could work on our missions more.

Other: I went skiing with my grandma, my dad, and my sister. I had a basketball game and got a lot of rebounds and some good blocks.

Basketball game

Windswept art installation at the BYU MOA

Week 21

Language Arts: I finished reading Unwind. I did lessons in my language arts programs, including a review of homophones and comma rules. I wrote a journal entry about my birthday.

Math: I completed lessons 28-31 in the textbook. In our session with the tutor we went over how to use Google classroom, reviewed linear equations, and did a test of sampling of problems from the textbook to check our understanding on different concepts.

Science: we did a couple of the chemistry experiments from our MEL science kit. We did the carbon snake and tin hedgehog. The carbon snake forms as the carbon dioxide and overheated water vapor move through the carbon that comes out of the calcium gluconate’s decomposition. We added baking soda to the fuel so the flame would be more visible and therefore less dangerous to work with. The tin hedgehog formed because of a substitution reaction. Some of the zinc pellet dissolved into the solution while tin precipitated (came out of solution) on the surface of the pellet and made the spines. We weren’t able to get great pictures but it was cool to see.

History: We didn’t get to have a history lesson this week.

Makerspace (Tech): we are working on 3D printing. This week we just worked with the software, though, and didn’t do any printing yet.

Programming (Elective): Super busy week for LEGO League because we had our Qualifier tournament on Saturday. We ended up winning the Robot Design award and we got second in the robot performance competition with 139 points. We will go on to the State Tournament on February 2nd. The event was at the Provo Rec Center which was really nice because in years past we have had to travel up to Lehi or even all the way up to Kearns. Plus the Rec Center did a really good job organizing the event and they had fun decorations.

MEL carbon snake

Tin Hedgehog

Tin Hedgehog - out of solution

Tournament day - at the practice table 

Satellite on the mission table

Working on programming the robot with my dad (he's our FLL coach)

Week 12

Language Arts: I reviewed commas in a series. I finished reading Wednesday Wars. I wrote a paragraph about why I like homeschooling. I learned about personification and had to write some examples of personification about a nature scene. I also wrote a paragraph about how I would not want to spend a summer with any of the characters from books I have read lately.

Math: I worked on chapters from the textbook. In our class we went over exponents and how to rewrite negative exponents as positive exponents. 

Science: In my chemistry class we made slime. We talked about different polymers and non-newtonian fluids. At home for science we finished up our discussion on flight and learned about birds and how they fly, and how it wouldn’t be possible for humans to fly with self-powered flight. We weight too much and don’t have the right kinds of muscles (big enough) in the right places. Birds have other adaptations for flight as well, including a keel (breastbone) to attach big muscles to, a fused backbone area, hollow bones, and no teeth.

History: We listened to the next podcast. It was about Sargon and how he created the first empire that we know of. He wrote an autobiography that said how great he was. The story goes that he was put into a basket as a baby, a lot like the Moses story.

Makerspace (Tech):  This week I designed some things that I am going to laser cut. They will be keychains or little trinket things. They will be made out of a thin wood, I can’t remember the name of it right now.

Programming (Elective): I am trying to drill a hole in metal but am not having any luck. I looked up info online but none of the different techniques have worked. I am not sure if I just don’t have the right drill bit or if I am doing something else wrong. I also had First Lego League this week. We are working on rebuilding a mission that some kid broke. My friend Heber and I worked on another mission finalizing the attachment parts to accomplish the task.

Getting Started with Scratch