Weekly Report 39

Language Arts: I diagrammed sentences with compound subjects and compound verbs. I worked on a short article about reasons to visit patagonia. I reviewed parts of speech and read more of the story in my book about Vinzi who lives in the mountains.

Math: I worked through two more tests from Saxon Algebra. Reviewed problems I missed with my mom.

Science: We watched the next episode of Cosmos. It was about the women who figured out how to categorize stars based on their color spectrum and also that the color spectrum was correlated to the temperature of the star. The professor they were working under did not believe them but he eventually came to see that their calculations are correct.


History: I listened to the next episode of the history podcast. It talked about the story of Joseph and how he was not killed because he was able to figure out what the Pharoah’s dream mean.

Makerspace (Tech):  We had our Maker Showcase this week. In class we didn’t have assignments but I got to use the VR viewer and I cut out eyeball stickers for the Oculus Go headsets. Oculus Go is really fun because it is basically internet VR. You can watch movies. If you have a friend also watching one, you can connect with your friend and see them like you are watching in a theater. It’s pretty cool.

Programming (Elective): I am stuck on this one Programming Variables with the Bee exercise. I might see if my dad can help me figure out what I am missing. I tried it three different times this week and still couldn’t get past it.

My clock that I made at Makerspace

Some of my maker projects displayed for the showcase. I did the vinyl sticker on the
skateboard, not the skateboard

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 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 26 2/15/2019

Language Arts: In one of my co-op classes we learned about similes and metaphors. We came up with some of our own. I had to write my own fable for my writing assignment at home. Then I typed it up. We also did some more reading in the reader and some of my dyslexia handbook lessons as well. Math: Worked a lot on exponents and square roots and other roots this week. Worked on being able to pull out the squares and rewrite problems to be able to solve them more easily. History: We discussed the song The Day the Music Died in my co-op class. At home we listened to the next episode of Podcast History of our World about Egypt. One interesting thing was that the guy who united Upper and Lower Egypt made a new crown that was a combination of the two crowns. I thought it was cool that they fit together so well. We also celebrated Charles Darwin's birthday with our usual tradition of Darwin Day Donuts. Science: We watched some science videos this week. One interesting one was about whether fish pee. Ocean (salt water) fish hardly pee at all, but freshwater fish pee all the time. It is all about needing to maintain the right level of salts in their body. Makerspace (Tech): We cut out the shapes we are going to do for our woodcarving. I am going to do the mini cooper logo. Programming (Elective): I didn’t do any programming this week. In my Survival class we learned how to make rope out of different fibers. Other: We didn’t have a basketball game this week but we did have practice. I went skiing with my dad and sister.

Rope I made out of some raffia

Love my new Canadian Flag phone case

Old tablet that was found about King Narmer, the uniter of egypt

Narmur's combination crown

My shape cut out for Maker class

Darwin Day Donuts

Some of the exponent problems from this week's assignment. Still working on them.

Science videos we watched

Watercolor of a dandelion I did as part of a language arts assignment this week 

Week 25

Language Arts: I did some of my dyslexia workbook lessons. I did lessons in my Language Arts program and a lesson in IEW. I summarized with a key word outline the fable of the eagle who is saved from a serpent by a passing man and then repays the man’s kindness by stopping him from drinking water that was poisoned by the serpent’s venom. 

Math: I worked mostly on units from my math teacher. They covered a variety of math topics including fractions, converting fractions into decimal and vice versa, and solving equations for variables. I also did a lesson in the textbook on solving challenging ratio problems. 

Science: we did an expanding foam experiment from our MEL chemistry set. The chemical reaction that takes place releases a lot of carbon dioxide and that is what makes the foam. 

History:  We learned about Hammurabi and the laws that he made. The laws were not always the same if you were in a higher or lower class. Lower class people would get punished more severely than higher class people. And if a higher class person did something against a lower class person, the punishment wasn’t at severe. We also learned about the agricultural revolution and how people who lived in the villages were smaller and less healthy than the hunter gatherer people. This is because they were more likely to get diseases and also didn’t eat as good of a variety of foods as the hunter gatherers.

Makerspace (Tech):  This week I designed my project. We are going to be doing wood burning. I designed a logo. I am doing the Mini Cooper logo because those are my favorite kind of car. 

Programming (Elective): I took a break this week because we have been doing so much with First Lego League the past month. 

Other: I had basketball practice a couple of times and a basketball game. We also went as a family to the Utah Jazz game which was fun. 

My cat Bandit likes to hang out with me sometimes while I do schoolwork

He's not particularly helpful but I still like having him around

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 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)

Weeks 18-20

Language Arts: I did some lessons in my language arts curriculum. I finished a book on the Kindle and started another one. One book I also have been reading is What if? Serious Scientific answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. 

Math: We met with our Math tutor and reviewed how to solve linear equations with two variables. He showed us a new method that used a matrix called the Gauss method. Elimination seems like the most straightforward method, but I guess Gauss is good for more than 2 variables. We also got our first homework for Unit 3 and I completed that over Christmas break and turned it in. 


Science: We finished up learning about the center of gravity. We talked about the difference between where the center of gravity is on a symmetrical object (like a paper plate) and what happens when you add a weight (we used binder clips) to one side. We also learned how to find the center of gravity of an irregular shaped object by using a “plumbob”. This only works with flat objects, though. I’m not sure you can do anything physically to find the center of gravity of objects that aren’t flat. 


History: We learned about Shulgi, one of the rulers of Ur during its renaissance. That's when the Ziggurat of Ur was constructed. He established a code of laws called the Code of Ur Nammu that were somewhat progressive for the time, because it didn’t require death for minor infractions. Instead there were fines that were payable by weights of silver since there wasn’t coinage or currency at the time. 

Makerspace (Tech):  I made my mom a Mister Rogers ornament. It is made out of wood. 


Programming (Elective): We had Lego League and worked on more missions. Our qualifying tournament is January 12. The nice thing about this year is that the tournament is at the Provo Rec Center. In past years we have had to drive up to Lehi or Salt Lake City. 

Other: I turned 14. For my birthday, my dad took me and my best friend to race go carts. I told my mom that I like Canada and would like to live there when I grow up and so she made me a Canada themed gift and also my birthday cake was the Canadian flag. My grandparents gave me an electric guitar. My dad has one that I have been playing but I am glad to have my own. I had basketball practice a few times and did a training session with Coach Buddha. We also made graham cracker houses and I made the Pentagon. We rode the UVX bus to the Provo Library and looked at the photography exhibit there. It was a National Geographic exhibit of great photographs of the West. 

Photograph at the exhibit. Taken with a slow shutter speed so the stars made light
trails. 

At the go cart arena

Ready to race

Mister Rogers ornament

Graham Cracker Pentagon 

Birthday dinner -- sushi!

My Canada gift box contents

Happy birthday to me

Videos about the Center of Gravity we watched

My new guitar

Week 16

Language Arts: I did the language arts lessons in my program. I wrote the first body paragraph for the essay on how optimism affects our physical health. I am still reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. I did some TTRS typing/spelling practice. I am currently memorizing the poem Trees. 

Math: I finished the unit 2 tests. I got through chapter 20 in the textbook. With Mr. Rosa we went over a lot of different things but one of them we covered again was solving a set of equations using the substitution method or the elimination method. 

Science: I am working on a gear box made from Legos. I have made a couple of different versions so far. There is a boomerang video below of it but it doesn’t show how you can switch between gears. 

History: In my co-op history class we learned about Davy Crockett. In the We Didn’t Start the Fire song it mentions the name but doesn’t specify whether it is talking about the person or the tiny nuclear missile. We learned about the Davy Crockett show and listened to the theme song from the show. 

Makerspace (Tech):  We did machine sewing. We sewed some designs on pieces of fabric and I also made a very tiny pillow just to practice with the machine. 

Programming (Elective): This week at First Lego League I worked on making one of the tools we we already created be able to complete two missions at once. One of them is Escape Velocity and we made the run for that also complete the mission Observatory. 

Other: I am working with a basketball trainer named Coach Buddha and we met this week and worked on shooting and fine-tuning different aspects of my shots to improve them. For guitar we are working on Christmas songs some more because we have a recital coming up. I also taught myself how to play (with a video) Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. 

Gear Box (version 1)

Sewing from Maker Space

Weeks 14 & 15

Language Arts: I did some lessons in my Language Arts program. One of the assignments was to research points about how being optimistic improves our lives. I am reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. It is written from the dog’s perspective and it is an interesting book. I finished Marley & Me and I really liked it.

Math: We worked on exponents and square roots and how to convert between the two. I did two of the Unit 2 tests and some of the lessons from the textbook.

Science: We did an experiment where we observed reactions. Everyone had different reactions and some got hotter than others. We measured the temperature every minute for 5 minutes. Some people’s got cold and some got hot. We watched the Mars Insight landing at home with the family. A few years ago my dad took us to a Curiosity rover viewing party at the University of Utah and some of the stuff was similar to this one. We also went to the BYU Paleontology museum for a field trip.

History: In my co-op history class we learned about polyester and how it was introduced as a sort of magical wonder fabric that doesn’t need ironing and doesn’t get wrinkled, but it wasn’t very comfortable so now it is used more for things like boat sales and less for clothes.

Makerspace (Tech):  This week I didn’t really get to do anything because I am still trying to get my thing cut out. I mostly helped my friend with their project.

Programming (Elective): During the break we didn’t have Lego League so my brother and Dad and I went and worked on stuff by ourselves for a few hours. It was really nice because some of the kids on the team are mostly just distractions who get into stuff and cause problems. We got one mission to work really well. I also did a custom paint job on one of my nerf guns. I painted it silver and then did the dipping technique to add black.

Other: We had our first basketball game of Winter League and we won. I am doing some private training with a coach from one of the high schools who happens to be a good friend of my uncle Adam. Our co-op teen group went to an escape room for our monthly activity and we beat the room with 5 minutes to spare. Then we went to The Chocolate dessert cafe for treats. It was fun.

Short video clip from my basketball game, I get the rebound after the free throw

Sometimes my cat Bandit gets really interested in my school work

Not helpful, Bandit

At the BYU Paleontology Museum

It was CS Lewis's 120th birthday this week. My parents named me after him.

We had a little CS Lewis feast, including Turkish Delight

Utahraptor at the BYU Paleontology Museum

Watching the Mars Insight Landing

Mars Insight Landing

First photo of Mars broadcast from Insight

My cat Bandit relaxing on my bed

I did a custom paint job on my Nerf Gun