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 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 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 22

Language Arts: I came up with some ideas for a narrative story. I started outlining one of them but then decided not to do that story. Then I wrote another very short story.

Math: Worked on our assignment of solving linear equations. Also did a couple more sections in the textbook.

Science: I watched the introductory videos on the Physics lessons in Khan academy. I am thinking about doing the physics course so I wanted to check it out.

History: No history this week.

Makerspace (Tech):  We worked more with the 3D printing software. We still didn’t print anything yet.

Programming (Elective): Since we made it to state, we will have more Lego league practices. This week one of the things we worked on is a way to release one of the balls for one of the missions. We are also trying to combine some missions to shave off some time required to complete them.

Other: I had a basketball game, two basketball practices, and a basketball training session with my trainer. Lots of basketball this week. 

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 17

I was sick for about half the week so I didn’t get as much done as I usually do. 


Language Arts: I finished my essay on how optimism benefits health. I finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. I reviewed coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. 

Math: Our math tutor couldn’t make it this week because he had food poisoning. I kept working on lessons from the math book.

Science: We got our MEL Chemistry starter kit. It has a 360 degree viewer so we played around with that a bit. 


History: I didn’t do history this week.  


Makerspace (Tech):  We did some more sewing. We are making blocks for a quilt. 

Programming (Elective): At Lego League we worked on finishing up some missions. We also decided on our mascot for this year. It’s a unicorn platypus. 

Other: I had a basketball game. I also had a guitar recital that was a Christmas singalong. It was kind of crazy with so many guitars but it was fun. 

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