For our project, we had to do make a newscast about our person. In my case, the person was Francis Bacon. He lived from January 22, 1561- April 9, 1626. He was an English philosopher, statesman (lawyer), and essayist. He had many famous cases where he helped lots of people. He was very close with Queen Elizabeth but when he criticized her, she removed him from the court. He had lots and lots of fragmented pieces of writings which made it really hard for scholars to understand him. He stayed in Paris for three years but was then forced to move back to Englland because his father had just died. There’s much more to know but you’ll find that out from my podcast.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/collections/special/online-collections/portraits/BigBacon.jpg
http://img.tfd.com/authors/bacon.jpg
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/BRGPOD/7595~Sir-Francis-Bacon-1561-1626-Viscount-of-St-Albans-Posters.jpg
URL to homework:
http://ssit2.edublogs.org/2008/02/26/medieval-reflection/
1. What did I feel successful doing during the process of the project? What am I proud of?
During the process of this whole medieval journey, I felt extremely proud when I finished my game. It took me two weeks to complete it and even thinking of what to do was a puzzle. But all of this was definitely worth it because during the medieval fair, lots of people came to my stall and many people loved it! This made me feel really good because it feels like I really achieved something. I think not only my game made me feel proud, but also the written component (encyclopedia article). We got one class and no more. Once I finished the written component, I think that I put lots of information on it and I did as much as I could. Another thing that I felt extremely proud about was my research. I felt that I really got a lot and I didn’t even need all of it because I didn’t even use all of it for the writing component.
2. What new skills did I value learning?
I value the skill of time-management. I’ve definitely learned throughout this process that organizing your time is extremely important and that if you leave everything till the last minute, you’ll end up getting really stressed. Another skill is that you really need to know your audience. If you’ve written an extremely informational speech for a bunch of eight year olds, they won’t want to listen to it. But at the same time, if you have an extremely goofy speech for some UN delegates, they’ll just find it childish. The audience is everything. They’re the ones who you’re doing all of this work for and they’re the ones who are going home with an impression of you.
3. What was challenging during the process of completing the project? With what did I struggle?
I struggled with picking what game to do. I had to choose a game that would attract an audience but I couldn’t think of one! Finally, I figured out that I should do a board game but also have some action in it so the boys wouldn’t get bored. This took lots and lots of planning because I had to make sure it wouldn’t get too complicated for them. It was also kind of challenging to decide how to attract people in the Medieval Fair. I didn’t want to overpower everyone (though I think that I may have) but I also didn’t want to be so quiet that no one would hear me. But I feel that it wasn’t that bad because I got tips from other people who had already done it. They said that you should pick a table next to the door so that many people come to you.
4. How could I have improved my process so that I would have been more effective?
I feel that if I didn’t make such a complicated game, I would have been able to speed up the process a bit. Making the game took the longest time out of everything. Also, if I didn’t take so much research, I would have more free time to do my game, my oral presentation and my visual. With more research, comes more responsibility because it was really hard to decide what to use for my written component and what not to use. This took quite a while too. I feel that if I had less research, I made have actually been able to put more information on the encyclopedia article.
5. Did I effectively create an age-appropriate presentation and game for the elementary students? (please explain how you know it was appropriate or how you could have changed it to be more appropriate)
I think I created an age-appropriate presentation because it really involved the children. I asked them lots of question and mainly because, I HAD CANDY! They’re all really obsessed with candy. Everyone mainly came only because of the Fruit Plus and the Daim. I also related the peasant life to their life by saying “Imagine if you had to…..” or “Do you parents….” I feel that my game was kind of age-appropriate. What they had to do on the squares would have been really fun to them because they had to run, guess things, make things out of clay and act things out. I think that the game might have been too long though. While I was presenting, I made the finish line earlier than it was supposed to be because I thought that they’d get bored. I think I should have made my game shorter but overall, I feel that they really liked it.
URL to homework:
http://ssit2.edublogs.org/2007/11/28/jeopardy-reflection/
1. What did I feel successful doing during the process of the project? What am I proud of?
I felt extremely successful once I finished my outline because for me, that took the longest and that was the hardest. I had to group all of the research on my research records. Sometimes, I didn’t even know what categories to put the information in. Once I was finished, I felt extremely relieved and proud that I had finally accomplished that. I also felt proud when I had finished my encyclopedia article because even though it was pretty easy, since practically all I had to do was copy the information from my outline to the word document, it was very satisfying to know that I had written an encyclopedia article.
2. What new skills did I value learning?
I found that learning how to make a jeopardy game on power point was very valuable because in the future, in case I want to make a game or even a study guide, I could make it on power point. Another skill that’s extremely valuable is using Britannica. Now that I know how to use that website, it’s extremely useful to me. Britannica Online has article for all ages and you can even save some of the articles onto your account! I will probably always use this from now on when I’m doing my research.
3. What was challenging during the process of completing the project? With what did I struggle?
I think that I found it most challenging to create the Power Point because it took an extremely long time. My partner and I were also having an issue with the software, which slowed us down even more. We each took turns in putting the questions on and that took very long since we didn’t have a strategy. It was also challenging to create the outline because sometimes there were lots of detailed points for the more vague points that I had to keep on finding out what to use (a., ii., IV., A, etc.) for the more detailed points. I also struggled with organizing my research into categories because sometimes the information wouldn’t fit into the main categories. I even had to remove some points of information that I got.
4. How could I have improved my process so that I would have been more effective?
To improve the speed of creating the power point, I think that my partner and I should have each put our questions on separate power points and just copied and pasted it onto the main project. This would have been a lot faster because then we would not have wasted our time waiting for the other person to finish. Also, when we were having the problem on the computer the first time, we should have called someone straight away instead of trying to fix it ourselves because then we would have been able to get to work straight away.
September 20th, 2007 by devyani in · No Comments
Citation:
An, Vickie. “Multiple Earthquakes Rock Indonesia.” Time For Kids. 14 Sept. 2007.
17 Sept. 2007
0,28277,1662187,00.html>.
Link to news article: http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1662187,00.html
Multiple Earthquakes Rock Indonesia
Picture of event:
http://img.timeinc.net/TFK/media/news/2007b/070914_quake_tout.jpg
Map of Location:
http://img.timeinc.net/TFK/media/news/2007b/070914_map_vert.gif
What is the Issue?
There have been six major earthquakes and many aftershocks. The shocks have killed 13 people so far. The earthquakes have also destroyed many homes and buildings on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Wednesday’s huge quake created a 10 foot tsunami which sent people run everywhere. The wave crashed lots of fishing villages and swept many homes away. “Luckily, the overall damage was ‘minimal’,” claimed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The emergency relief teams even agreed that there was no need of a major international aid operation.
Since the tremors kept occurring, residents were afraid to go back home in case of another tsunami. They still remembered the 2004 tsunami, which killed 230,000 people! Sumatra was one of the most affected areas. Ever since then, there has been a warning system, which is quicker to notify people if a tsunami is coming.
“I am very afraid of another earthquake,” said Dasima, a 50-year old rice farmer. “We will stay here until we feel it is safe.”
Indonesia’s location makes Indonesia prone to earthquakes. The island’s on what’s called, “The Ring of Fire.” “The Ring of Fire” contains volcanoes and fault lines. Fault lines are what cause the earthquakes.
Who is Affected and How?
The residents of Indonesia are affected because they have to beware of the earthquakes and the tsunami (if another one comes).
The government is affected because they’re the ones who have to do something about this problem.
The families and friends of the people who have died are affected because they would be extremely sad that the person has died.
The United Nations is affected because they’re the ones who are sending the emergency relief teams.
The emergency relief teams are affected because they’re the ones who help the survivors.
The scientists are affected because they’re trying to figure out when the next big tsunami is going to be.
What would you do if you were directly involved?
If I were directly involved, I would definitely go comfort those who have lost family members or friends. Then I would go and try to find a safe place for the people that are in danger of dying. I could probably find another spot in Indonesia for them to stay in. This way, people would be kept much safer and they would be in less danger.
June 6th, 2007 by devyani in · No Comments
This is the URL to my homework:
http://ssmeetsit.edublogs.org/2007/05/30/united-nations-world-issues-reflection/
United Nations World Issues Reflection
1. Think about the presentations and reflect on the projects your classmates presented and the information you listened to. Explain with details and specific information what you learned, what you found interesting, surprising, or shocking about the presentations you heard in class.
All of these presentations were really, really amazing because they showed what’s really out there in the world. I never really knew that this was happening until that day that we saw the presentations. Most of the presentations that I saw, were really, really sad (especially the pictures) because where we live, we don’t see much of what is going on but in other places it’s terrible! The presentation that I mainly remembered and that definitely got stuck in my head was biodiversity. In the “biodiversity” presentation done by Hanna, Lara and Sawyer, it was extremely depressing to see all of the animals being killed and there was so much blood. Biodiversity is mainly about the Earth, animals, and plants. It made me want to become vegetarian and it made me think, “Would I want that to happen to me?” The animals are exactly the same as the humans but for some reason, humans think that it’s okay to kill them but it’s not okay for them to kill us. If a crocodile eats a human, it will probably be in most of the newspapers but if a human eats a crocodile it’s like “just another crocodile” to us. I sometimes wish that every single person would take a minute and think about what they’re doing before they actually do it and how it’s affecting everyone and everything. This doesn’t only apply to biodiversity, but also to other topics such as peacekeeping and education. It really amazed me that so many people didn’t get an education but I was very, very happy that people also help others to get one. For example, I remember from watching that iMovie that Oprah Winfrey built a school for children who didn’t have an education. This iMovie on education was by Bryan, Haniff and Mikaela. They did an excellent job on their iMovie!
Not only did I learn about these topics that are currently being discussed and have already been discussed in the UN, but I also learned some basic facts about presenting and the final product in iMovie. For example, I believe that the “education group” did an excellent job on their iMovie because the music that was in the background fit really, really well with the iMovie itself. I thought that the music made the mood of the iMovie. I also learned that speaking loud and clear helps a lot because I couldn’t really hear some of the people when they were talking since it seemed kind of like they were mumbling. Besides that, HANDS OFF TO EVERYONE because everyone did an excellent, excellent job!
2. What would you change to improve your project/presentation if you were to do the assignment again?
If I were to do the assignment again, I would definitely make the text in the iMovie easier to see because when, I was presenting, nobody could read the text. This flaw really affected the appearance of my iMovie because the audience could only see the pictures. Maybe I should have added narration so that the text not showing wouldn’t have made such a difference. Also, I feel that when I was presenting, I wasn’t very confident because I was kind of “all over the place.”
Though I would change the things mentioned above, I feel that my iMovie was a real success. We chose the application iMovie, because it had many, many features. The only down side about iMovie is that it takes slightly longer than other applications. That’s the reason my group had to sometimes work during lunch. In the middle of the process of making my iMovie, there was a tragedy though because part of my group broke up so we had one less person but it wasn’t very bad because we definitely managed to cope.
This is the URL to my homework:
http://ssmeetsit.edublogs.org/2007/04/27/homework-block-d-april-27/
Comment on the statement: “The whole is only as strong as the sum of its parts” and whether this statement is true for the United Nations.
One of the most beautiful quotes ever written: “The whole is only as strong as the sum of its parts.” This means that the whole can only work if each of its parts is working. It also means that if even one of the parts were to fail the whole thing would fail. This quote definitely relates to the United Nations. Because, for example, without the Security Council or General Assembly or the UNDP or the UNICEF, the UN wouldn’t be able to perform to its fullest. If even one of those parts were to not be there, the United Nations wouldn’t work. Another example would be that if the UN didn’t have even one of its present nations involved, it wouldn’t be an organization for the unification of nations. It would still be an organization, but it wouldn’t unify all the nations. This quote doesn’t only go for the UN, but for everything, even MKIS. For example, if there were no counselor, the school would be full of problems because there would be no one to go to, to get the problem solved. By following this quote, the world could be a much better place and at a much better state because everyone would cooperate to get work done and nobody would be left behind.
This is the URL to my homework:
http://ssmeetsit.edublogs.org/2007/04/19/homework-block-d-april-19/
Famous Egyptians Reflection
1. Think about class today and reflect on the presentations you listened to. Explain with details and specific information what you learned and what you found interesting about the presentations you heard in class.
As I didn’t hear the presentations, because I was absent on the day, I presented mine on a separate day. Because of this, I am able to reflect on the process to get to the presentations but also what I heard from people about the other presentations.
All these topics seemed so interesting when we were researching! There were so many different, fascinating stories about famous Egyptians and they were all so different. For example, King Zoser was a mighty king who created pyramids while Nefertiti was considered the most beautiful woman! Also, everyone was wearing really different costumes. I found most costumes really interesting because they showed what the famous Egyptian looked like. There was a real variety of costumes. In other words, some people were wearing long dresses and people had made really creative, interesting headdresses to go with their costumes, as all Egyptians wore one. Many, many, people though were also really nervous before their presentations. And since people after them really brought the “wow” factor, they thought that they weren’t good enough. But GREAT JOB TO EVERYONE, because EVERYONE DID FANTASTICLY!!!
2. What would you change to improve your speech/presentation if you were to do the assignment again?
If I were to do the assignment again, I would try to speak slower because after the presentation, I felt that I was speaking too fast. Also, I would try to walk around less, since someone had told me that I was walking a lot. Another thing that I would do is to try not to use all the modern terms. For example, instead of using “dad,” I should have used “father.” And I shouldn’t have used the hand gesture of “quotes,” because that seemed really modern too and people didn’t use that back then. Overall though, I think that my presentation was clear and full of expression.
This is the URL to my homework:
http://ssmeetsit.edublogs.org/2007/04/19/homework-block-d-april-19/
Queen Hatshepsut
By Devyani Gupta
18th Dynasty queen pharaoh, one of the most successful female rulers, yes, I am the one and only, Queen Hatshepsut! After my son, Thutmose III took over as pharaoh, I was absolutely forgotten, completely taken out of history! With a blink of an eye, I WAS GONE! But before that horrible tragedy, I was married to King Thutmose II. During my marriage and even after, I battled many challenges, created a lot of extraordinary sights, and was known EVERYWHERE!
Im the fourth female pharaoh of Egyptian history. Though that may not seem so spectacular, because I was merely the fourth female pharaoh, it was very tough to be a woman and get into that position. Especially in 1473 B.C. which was during the 18th dynasty. I am the daughter of the great Thutmose I and his chief wife, the beautiful, Queen Ahmose. I married my half-brother, King Thutmose II since we were madly in love! My stepson, Thutmose III, inherited the throne when my dear husband, Thutmose II unexpectedly expired. Since my stepson was too young, I got to be the temporary ruler so in other words, I was the ruler.
As the queen and pharaoh, I was one of the best known female rulers. (Next to Cleopatra). Only the women in Egypt carried royal blood which is why I carried the royal blood and to become a pharaoh, a man had to marry a woman of royal blood. Usually it was the eldest daughter of the previous pharaoh. And as pharaohs constructed monuments, they show on the monuments that it was constructed by them. My symbol for monuments that I construct is me shown as a man since I had to act like a man to be accepted as a pharaoh. Also, I built a great memorial temple (for myself) known today as Deir-el-Bahri. I ruled longer than any other female ruler and I was also one of the most successful.
I, as a ruler, made a lot of difference in peoples lives back then and accomplished a lot of goals such as encouraging trade. I also sent an expedition to the land of Punt (which is in the north-east coast of Africa) for ivory. I sponsored many, many, vast building programs at home and I built a small but unfinished tomb behind the Valley of Queens. But unfortunately, it was abandoned when I got married to Thutmose II and became queen. After having the longest reign of about 20 years, I apparently disappeared from history, because when Thutmose III became pharaoh, nobody cared about me anymore. This was probably because he changed all my registers and statues that had my name on it to Thutmose I, Thutmose II, or Thutmose III!
As I thought that I was married to King Thutmose II, he wasnt actually King Thutmose II but the god, Amun. All this time the god, Amun had just taken the form of King Thutmose II. One day, Amun came into my room and I was sound asleep. He told me that he was actually the god Amun and not King Thutmose II. I woke up so suddenly hearing this breaking news. I wept for joy at his strength and beauty and he gave me his love. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. That was how I found out that my husband was no other than, God Amun. Though, that is only one of the answers to the questions lurking out there, there are still more. But those are for me to know, and you to find out.
This is a picture of Queen Hatshepsut:
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/e/egyptian/thumb/hatshepsut.jpg
Citation:
BBC Newsround. “Astronaut completes ISS marathon.” News BBC. Tuesday, April 17, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6560000/newsid_6562600/6562683.stm#top (April 29, 2007).
Author: BBC Newsround.
Title of the Article: “Astronaut completes ISS marathon.”
Date Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007.
Website Address: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6560000/newsid_6562600/6562683.stm#top
Date you Looked at the Site: (April 29, 2007).
Blog Posting: Ankita’s Blog, website to original article.
1. What New Information Has Emerged?
The new information that wasn’t on the blog was that, Sunita Williams completely the 26.2 mile marathon on Monday aboard the International Space Station in only 4 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds. After she finished, she told Mission Control: “I’m done! Woo hoo!” During the time that it took Sunita to run the race, she had already circled the earth twice!
2. What did you find interesting about this topic?
What I found interesting was that this topic was very unique from other topics. I had never heard of anyone running an “On-earth” marathon in space. In fact, I had never heard of anyone running any type of marathon in space! Also, it wasn’t like the usual topics about bombings or shootings and other such violence. It was a topic that was positive because it was promoting exercising to everyone.
3. What did you like about the initial blog posting?
I like that in the initial blog posting, Ankita put the URLs of the pictures she found since she couldn’t get the picture itself on her blog. I think that that was very creative of her and she was thinking “out of the box.” Also, even though there was SOOO much information on the sight that Ankita got the information from, she didn’t take all of it. She only took the really important parts and left the rest.
Citation:
“Anger over US shooting warnings.” BBC News. Tuesday, April 17, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6562259.stm (Tuesday, April 17, 2007).
Link to website article: Anger over US shooting warnings
Extra information from: Virginia mourns massacre victims
The pictures:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42825000/gif/_42825225_nbc203bodycho.gif
The gunman: a South Korean named Cho Seung-hui.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808857_shooting.4_ap.jpg
Someone who has gotten really badly injured.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808561_virginianew16.jpg
Another person who has gotten really badly injured.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808831_shooting.2_ap.jpg
Two policemen still looking for the culprit.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808571_virginiashooting13.jpg
US Police arrive at Virginia Tech at around 7:15.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808583_virginiashooting14.jpg
Two hours later, the second call came reporting the shooting at Norris Hall.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808833_shooting.3_ap.jpg
There were two bomb threats the week before the shooting but they still weren’t sure how the two incidents are connected.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808829_shooting.1_ap.jpg
All the police and ambulance cars are parked.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42808000/jpg/_42808587_virginiashooting15.jpg
Virginia Tech President Charles W Steger said that the shootings were “incomprehensible and heinous” and the university had met with, “a tragedy of monumental proportions.”
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42809000/jpg/_42809343_candle_getty.jpg
As the night was coming, all of the surprised and disturbed students held a candle-light vigil still holding all of their unanswered questions.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42809000/jpg/_42809345_prayers_afp.jpg
People praying for those who died.
The map (location):
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42809000/gif/_42809907_shooting4_map416.gif
Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia USA
The Issue:
Cho Seung-hui killed 32 people at the Virginia Tech University and then committed suicide. There were two incidents, two hours apart. The first attack was held at the dormitory where the students sleep and live called West Ambler Johnston Hall. There, two people were killed. The other attack was held were the classrooms are and where the students study called Norris Hall, which was about half a mile (800 meters) away from the dormitory. There, 30 people were killed! So altogether, 33 died. Not only that, but during the shooting rampage, 15 people were severely hurt.
The police have definitely recovered two handguns at each of the two places and it was the same gunman who attacked in each place. They have an ID of the dead gunman which was a South Korean man named Cho Seung-hui. He had moved to the U.S. in 1992 but was mentally ill. One of the surviving witnesses had told the police vaguely what the culprit looked like.
A lot of the students were complaining because they didn’t receive any warning about the earlier incident in the dormitory. Some students claimed that there was no excuse for not giving a warning during the two hours of the two attacks and that the school wasn’t shut down after the first incident. They complained that they only received an e-mail after the second incident which read, “A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows.” Two more e-mails came after the second shooting was over. But Virginia Tech President Charles W Steger said, “We had no reason to suspect that another incident was going to occur.”
President George W Bush said that he was “shocked and saddened” by the attack to the university which was home to 26,000 students!
“With 32 people dead, as well as the gunman, the campus shooting is the worst in US history.”
Who is Involved?:
- The gunman, because he’s the one who killed all those people
- Everyone that was on campus, because they all had to experience this horrible tragedy
- The Virginia Tech President, Charles W Steger, because he has to explain to all of the family member what had happened
- All of the policemen, because they have to investigate what happened
Who is Affected and How?:
- The world, because they now know what can happen and this event was all over the news
- All of the friends and family member of those who died because they would be extremely sad
- All of the people who work at the university including the Virginia Tech President, Charles W Steger because they will have to help pay to get the university repaired
- The students because they would probably have to remember this horrible, bloody incident
What would you do if you were directly involved?:
If I were directly involved, I would definitely comfort those who have lost friends and family members, but I would also question what went wrong when trying to inform the students about the first incident. Also, I would try to help repair the parts of the school that are damaged.
Some extra information from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6560000/newsid_6562300/6562325.stm
