Dont give up!
Wellness and Fitness, Math, and Language Arts
This year I grew the most in learning to not give up so easily (persistence), and believing that I could finish something if I tried hard enough.
I used this still mainly during the Wellness stoplight project, during Math class, and during two Language Arts projects.
In Language Arts we were doing literature circles (a book that we read with a group then discussed it, kind of like a book talk) and we were doing an independent reading project at the same time.
For just the Independent reading project alone, we had to do four parts.
Part 1: reading a novel, the book had to be at least 150 pages and be appropriate for our reading level.
Part 2: sentence collection, we had to collect at least 10 sentences as we read, that included recording the sentence, page number, and why we chose that sentence (4+ sentences).
Part 3: novel summary sheet, we were given a paper that we would fill out about our book, the setting, plot, main characters etc.
Part 4: book review, we wrote a book review that was a minimum of 3-5 organized paragraphs- types in 12pt font, it wasn’t just us describing our book, (that’s what the back of the book is for), but we were to include our own opinions/arguments/claims, and provide evidence for them. For example in my fourth quarter book review I stated that, “I strongly suggest that if you prefer not to read literature with profanity in it, you don’t read Looking for Alaska, because (then I gave an example of when strong profanity was used).
I was feeling very stressed about having to read both of the books, and do the other requirements for both of the projects. I really needed to pace myself because I was losing sleep every night trying to read and catch up from where I had stopped from exhaustion. So I made a chart that displayed how much I had to read every night until the projects had to be turned in, these helped me not feel so rushed, and more organized. The charts also showed when I had to have done each week for the discussions, like the 10 cognitive reading post-its, or the sentence collection so that I didn’t have get 10 at the end of the project. For some of the job sheets we had to find vocabulary words and find their definitions, but I kept forgetting to find their definitions, but when I made the cart it helped me remember to write down the definition as soon as I found a word that I could look up. It wasn’t very easy organize though, I had to try many times to get all of the calculations for everything just right. These projects also thought me how to better comprehend my reading material.
In Wellness class, we were creating a menu for a restaurant of our choice. The menu had three meals on it, one bad for you, one okay one, and one that was great for you (you could eat it whenever and it wouldn’t be unhealthy).
For us to be able to complete this project we had to review the 6 essential nutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and water, Nutrients are substances in food that your body needs to grow, have energy, and stay healthy). Then we had to look at food labels to find what food what is good and what food wasn’t so good (good foods are foods that have all of the six essential nutrients and they help you get energy. You also have to use My Plate, and have healthy portion sizes. Unhealthy meals, based on my gender and physical activity, were meals that exceeded 583.33 calories). To calculate your calorie limit per day, you have to choose from three options based on physical activity.
Less than 30 minutes of physical activity daily- girls=1600, boys=1800. 30-60 minutes/day-girls & boys=2000. And lastly, more than 60 minutes: girls=2200, boys=2600.
After we found out what our daily calorie limit was, we calculated our meal limit by using the formula: (total calories – 250) / 3= total calories allowed for meal.
My equation was: (2000 – 250) / 3= 583.33.
There are two types of carbohydrates (carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy), simple- sugars, and complex- long chain. Simple sugars, fruit is a healthy choice, but another simple sugar source is candy. Soda, etc. which are NOT HEALTHY. Complex carbohydrates are things like pasta, fiber and grains.
Fiber is a complex carb, but fiber cannot be digested. Reduces the risk of: cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Sources of fiber: whole grains, fruits/ vegetables, nuts, and beans.
Protein: needed to build, repair, and maintain cells. Made of amino acids. Sources: meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, beans, and nuts.
There are 3 types of fats, unsaturated: liquids (oils). Saturated: solid (butter, animal).Trans: in processed foods (BAD!!) Needed for: brain development, insulation, and transportation of vitamins.
Vitamins: Compounds that regulate the body functions. Two types: water soluble –can’t be stored (B vitamins), and fat soluble –can be stored (vitamin A & D). Sources: fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Minerals also regulate body functions. Examples: calcium- for bones and teeth, iron- helps red blood cells, magnesium- helps bone growth. Sources: fruits, vegetables, cereal, and dairy.
Water, regulates body temperature and body circulation, carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, helps remove toxins and waste, should be the beverage you drink MOST OF THE TIME! You need about 2 liters a day, as a guide.
After we looked at the good and bad food, we chose a restaurant to create the 3 meals from based on the menu’s nutrients. Then we created many drafts of meals until we got them right. Once we got them right we made the final stoplight in STEM Foundations using PowerPoint.
One thing that I struggled with was that I kept having the calories and fat under the meal limit for my healthy (green) meal, but I kept making drafts of my meals, and eventually I got a meal that was perfect for the requirements.
As you can see in my images, I have my drafts of the different meals, which is where I had to try many times until I got the perfect meal. You can also see my final stoplight. It shows my final drafts of every meal put together to make the final product.
I also have pictured from the beginning of the project that show what I had eaten for a few days, and their health significance. We were trying to see, before the project began, if we were getting the right amounts of nutrients that our body needs for energy. Which we should all have, because last year we did the healthy meal planning project.
Over the year in Math I have gotten better at using my time wisely. At the beginning of the school year I would just sit in class and do nothing and say "Oh I’ll just do this for homework". Then the homework started piling on, and on. I began losing sleep and doing poorly in school because I had to stay up late and do homework.
In Growing, Growing, Growing, Investigation 3.1 we were finding growth factors of growing rabbit populations in Australia. Based on a table of data that we were given we had to find thinks like, growth factor, creating an equation based off of the growth factor, using the equation to find the amount of rabbits after 10, 25, and 50 years, how many years it would take for the population to exceed one million.
Then we were given an equation where we had to… identify the growth factor, the initial population, how many years it would take for the initial population to double, what the population will be after 3 years, and how many years it will take for that population to double, after 10 years, and double that, lastly, we had to compare our answers with each other to see how the doubling rates are similar.
I never understood how to make the equation part, so I would just leave it blank. But if you don’t do the work, then you aren’t learning.
I didn’t really feel comfortable with raising my hand to ask questions when I was confused because I felt like everyone else knew what was going on, and I would look dumb.
My advice to everyone—DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS. I fell behind when I didn’t ask questions. Then I fell farther behind, so I became even more scared to ask to go back so far! It was like I was in an endless loop of failure and confusion.
Because I didn’t understand what was happening, I wasn’t using my time effectively, I was just sitting there doodling and not trying to pay attention.
In the artifacts above you can see some incomplete problems that we were doing, because I just didn’t have time to do them. My math grades began to decrease because the work was incomplete. When I fall behind I don’t learn as much because I am trying to catch up.
I started asking questions in class and focusing harder. Not giving up. I barely had a B in math, and I’d rather have a high B, and an A would be great.
My grades improved, I now have a high B. In the images above I have a picture of problem 3.1 from the third quarter, and you can see that I didn’t complete the problem, we were supposed to be learning about growth factor, but since I didn’t finish it, I was confused about how to do most of it throughout the investigation.
Towards the end of the quarter we started a new unit, and I decided that I was going to try really hard this time. In the above images, as well, you can see that I have a picture of problem 1.3, where we were learning how to find missing side lengths of “pools”.
Also in the images, you can see the questions that corresponded with the answers.
I admit to my flaws, and I still don’t use my time as effectively as I should, but I am still growing and trying to learn how to.
In the future, I will keep taking my time, and revising my work, so that I will have quality work instead of rushed work.
