Hey guyz and gurlz!

For the past week, 111 students in Grade 7 went to Chiang Mai, Thailand!!! OMG it was epically awesome! We stayed at the Maekok River Village Resort. So yes, I’m in English class right now writing a reflection because it was just THAT amazing. Our trip was 6 days 5 nights. I slept with 6 other girls in my dorm. Don’t worry, girls slept with girls and guys slept with guys. haha Throughout the trip, I think I showed 2 of the IB learner profiles quite well. 

Risk Taker: During this trip, I was a real risk taker One, because I’m really afraid of heights and I haven’t been rock climbing for 2 years now. Turns out that I just flew up that wall! It was great fun and right now I really love the fact I’m tall Two, because there was one activity called the “Confidence Course”. This is basically a rope obstacle course above water. The water was muddy greenish and fish lived in there so you would really want to try your best not to fall. The first part was walking on a chain and you have one rope you can hold on with your hands to keep balance. IT HURT QUITE BAD. First time, I fell at the rings/monkey bars, then the second time I passed it

Open-minded: I was open minded, because in the last activity day, we had school activities. This is where you had to play games with the local Thai kids. It wasn’t that easy because they only understood basic English, and we only knew really simple greetings in Thai. It worked out though, because my group had an open mind and we demonstrated the games in the simplest way possible. It was great fun

One thing that surprised me about myself is how I can actually cook (yes, you can laugh, I suck at cooking). We had Thai cooking, which was one of our activities. We got to experience going to the market and buying our own food. The dishes we were making was mixed vegetables, and green thai curry with chicken. It turned out amazingly delicious! I don’t know if it was because of the quality of the food, or the sauce we mixed, but it was DELICIOUS. Another thing I was surprised about was that I got closer to one of my friends, we weren’t exactly super super close but now I’m ecstatic that we’re close

A challenge I faced on this trip was kayaking. It’s not the fact that I’ve never been kayaking or that I’m afraid of water (just saying I’m not), it’s just the fact that I had an injured foot. One night we had “night games” where you had to get form one sala to the other. In between was a forest and 2 instructors with flashlights trying to catch you. During the game, someone shoved past me and my right side slammed against the tree and I fell., Just saying I don’t blame that person but well, I got injured. Anyways, back to kayaking, it was loads of fun. But it was challenging because I’m originally not that “strong“, and with my injured right side, it was harder to paddle forward quickly. It was great fun though

~Rachel Lai <3 

“Love always gets it’s way to you” <3

Hey guys!

For the past while Grade 7 has been creating documentaries through interesting processes! Here’s mine! Check it out!

Click here to view the embedded video.

~Rachel Lai <3

Do you agree with the jury’s verdict? Why or why not? Include at least 5 facts from evidence that was presented during the trial.

I agree with the jury’s verdict, because it was 2 votes on one side and 2 votes on the other side. I’m on the prosecution side, so I’m happy. My side’s main point is to prove that KMT doesn’t exist (which is obviously difficult, since KMT does exist through scientific proof). First point is that the defense team had many facts to prove the 8 points of KMT, whereas the prosecution side had difficulties proving those points. This gives a higher advantage for the defense team (the defense team are trying to prove that KMT is real). Second point is that the prosecution team had many comebacks to the lawyers so it was harder for the lawyers to do a comeback at them. The prosecution team has done many observations in order to try and prove to the jury that KMT does not exist. Third point was that both the defense team and the prosecution team have many visuals and information that supported their evidence. Fourth point was that both sides had strength to answer all the difficult questions that were given by the defense and prosecution lawyers. Last point is that both sides had equal evidence, and even if the defense team had a bit more, the prosecution team had tried really hard to prove that KMT isn’t true. Therefore, I agree with the jury’s verdict.

What was you job? Explain how you fulfilled your responsibilities.If you would do a different job during the court case, which would you have volunteered for and why?

My job in the court case was to be the stenographer. The stenographer’s job is to note down things the important facts that happen during the court case. There are 3 stenographers so we split up our jobs. I fulfilled my responsibility by noting down all the important points of the court case witnesses. If I could do a different job I would be a lawyer, because I would want to have the responsibility to ask the witnesses questions and try to lead them to a “dead end”.

Explain one or more things you learned about KMT during the investigations.

During the investigations, I’ve learned that the 8 points of KMT and how they work. Particles do move in constant motion and the more heat there is, the higher the kinetic energy which causes more space in between the particles. Also, in a solid, the particles vibrate, in a liquid, the particles rotate, and in a gas, the particles translate.  

Explain how you inproved as a scientist during the KMT investigations and the trial.

I’ve improved as a scientist during the KMT investigations, because I’ve done many observations and multiple experiments that help me gain knowledge of KMT. In the trial, I’ve improved as a scientist because I’ve listened and understood and maybe even learned more things about KMT from the witnesses.

~Rachel Lai <3

Where would you fall on the stress and learning graph? Why?  

I would fall in 2.6/5 on the stress and learning graph, because even though decimals aren’t my weakest point, I had missed some classes and haven’t been into math remedial. So that is why I got some major mistakes in my math test.

What was challenging about this unit? What was easy?  

I found the adding and subtracting quite easy, whereas  the multiplying and dividing harder. This is because in multiplication and division you have to move the decimals into the right spot and it’s just easier with the adding and subtracting. The word problems weren’t all that hard, the only problem was that you had to show the answer in different ways, which made it more challenging.

How was your effort in class and at home reflected in your assessment results?

I had put in effort on reading through the math textbook for reviewing at home. Also, in class, I focus on my tasks so I would be able to learn proper methods.

What activities did you like in this unit?

I liked the splitting into groups idea, where certain people do different things because of their decimal skill level. Also, I enjoyed just learning decimals overall.

Rachel Lai <3

Hey blog readers!

So for the past few weeks Grade 7 has been starting design cycle again. This time we were assigned to visit places in small groups and find the history behind it. This is why our design cycle is related to Humanities (yes I’m in Humanities class right now).

Our so called “project” is called Hong Kong Heritage (the title above^). We were required to come up with research questions for the place we’re visiting. In my case, I’m visiting the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. We were going to take different shots of good footage scenery for our documentary. Our theme is “dream” so we’re going to have our documentary with the effect of a person dreaming of it. We have 4 criterion, inquiring and analyzing, developing ideas, creation solution, and evaluation. Well, more soon I’ll give you guys the link to my video when it’s uploaded

~Rachel Lai <3

Hey blog luvers! <3

So recently, we just finished our math unit on “Patterns” (yeah I know we do this unit every year but it’s quite complicated actually…). So what’s so good about patterns? Well, patterns can make your life easier. In life, you could use patterns, for example, a daily routine. Studying patterns can help you memorize things easier. For example, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. This is a repetitive pattern. It’s easier to memorize than 1, 3, 4, 7, 5, 0, 1, 3, 4, 7, 5, etc.

We also did input output tables. Input = x or any other symbol you’d want. Output = y or any other symbol as well. For example, if the input was 1 and the output’s 3, if the input’s 2 and the output’s 4, then it’s not hard to find the rule. If you look at those numbers closely, you would see that the rule is y = +2. This, I didn’t find really hard, but sometimes, the rule can be really complicated and it might take quite a while before you figure it out. This is one of my favorite parts of this unit.

Even though this unit was very fun, there were some things that just didn’t work out for me For example, number sequences. Well I can’t exactly blame myself for not liking them, since I was sick when my class learned about them (so yeah that means less knowledge on it). For example, 1, 12, 23, 34, etc. And then below the number sequence, you write down the rule. This is similar to input and output tables, but you only find out the rule for a sequence, not number by number.

Some activities we did during our unit was the dinner table problem, the handshake problem, folding paper, a worksheet for “How do Squares Grow?” and a worksheet for “How do Cubes Grow?”. All these activities were quite fun, although I reasonably liked the dinner table problem best.

I don’t exactly have questions left for this unit, but all I can say is that this was one of my favorite units. <3 Here’s a picture of an input output chart with a negative and positive graph. This graph can help us because if you look closely, the dots can form a straight line, which leads to a pattern, which then makes the rule.

Blog you soon!

~Rachel Lai <3

“Everyone deserves a second chance…” 

Hey blog luvers! <3

For the past 2-3 weeks, grade 7 have been working on a bird summative. Basically, each grade 7 student have to create a bird of their own, and add in 5 structural and 3-5 behavioral adaptations. So here’s a picture of my bird:

Colorful eh?

During this process, there were some strengths and weaknesses on creating the bird. Some strengths were to actually draw the bird, because you already have your structural and behavioral adaptations, it wouldn’t be so hard to draw your bird out. Some weaknesses though were to actually come up with structural and behavioral adaptations that match the habitat/environment. My work outside of class was quite sufficient, because my routine was like this: During school, writing down and brainstorming the adaptations, at home, I work on drawing the bird part. During class, I used at least 9/10 of the time efficiently, the other 1/10 is for resting. Overall, I believe I did use my time well, even if I missed one class due to sickness. If I were to start over, I would be more specific with my adaptations and maybe make it more realistic. If I were to grade myself on Criterion C out of 6, I would give myself a 3-4.

Looking at other people’s birds, I found that one of them were really striking. The bird was literally made out of white and green feathers, and I believe it was made by paper maché. It stands out because it’s quite big, and the colors are bright. Another bird that caught my eye was a very colorful one, full of green, red, orange etc. colors. I believe it was called “forest flame”, and you can tell by that it’s made to be in the forest.

Blog u later!

~Rachel Lai <3

“Everyone deserves a second chance…”

Hey blog readers!

For the past month my humanities class have been learning about the first Chinese emperor, Shi HuangDi. Shi HuangDi was born 259 BC, and died 210 BC. He conquered all the states and unified China. Did you know he was the one who started the creation of the Great Wall? The Great Wall is 6,700 km long, and the construction started thousands of years ago! Shi HuangDi even started the Chinese characters! There are still many interesting facts about him, but I’ll carry on.

I think the AOI (Area of Interaction) that fits this unit the most is Human Ingenuity. Human Ingenuity means something that’s man-made, or an invention. Shi HuangDi has created many things, like the Great Wall. That’s man-made. Most things that Shi HuangDi created/made relates to Human Ingenuity.

Throughout this unit, there were many skills I’ve learned. Including, how to write essays and using sentence fluency. Sentence fluency is a skill where you make a paragraph more interesting, by making some sentences short, some long, and asking a few questions. Our summative was to write an essay, and sentence fluency has definitely helped with making my essay better. Here’s a picture of my first paragraph, and below the first paragraph is an edited version that includes some sentence fluency:

~Rachel Lai <3

“Everyone deserves a second chance…”

In Math study of Patterning, I am looking at Human Ingenuity, because patterns are man-made. Also, patterns show up in everyday life, everywhere. And all those objects in life are man-made. Therefore I believe that patterns are related to Human Ingenuity.

~Rachel Lai <3

“Everyone deserves a second chance…”

Hey readers! Hope u had a great fall/autumn! Sorry haven’t posted for while, wow…I’m getting lazy. It’s a month and a half until Christmas! Can’t wait! PREZZIESSSSS

Over the past week, we’ve been investigating more to our AOI’s (Area of Interaction). This week, the 2 we’ve been mainly focusing on is “Human Ingenuity” and “Environments”. Human Ingenuity means man-made, inventions, geniuses, new ideas etc. And environments means nature, plants, trees…you know what I mean. Anyways, on Wednesday this week, we watched “Lorax: The Original Movie” (no, not the newly made one with Taylor Swift and Zac Efron, it’s the Doctor Seuss).

In the Lorax, there’s this character called the “Once-Lers” (represents human ingenuity). He went to the Truffula forest. There he found many different sizes and colors of the Truffula Trees. The trees were so soft, so gentle, so cotton candy like, and the “Once-Ler” was ecstatic to finally find the truffula trees. Then, he got an idea! He would start a company where they make “Thneeds”. Thneeds are basically everything a human needs, it can be used as clothes, food, carpets, furniture, anything basically. The Once-Ler started cutting down the beautiful innocent truffula trees and started making thneeds out of them. This is where the Lorax comes in.

The Lorax (representing environment) was not happy with what the Once-Ler was doing. He tried to stop the Once-Ler, once, twice, three times…but he couldn’t persuade him. Over time, the “Once-Lers” company grew bigger and bigger. And over time, more animals started to leave from their habitats because the trees were being cut down, and the pollution from “Once-Lers” factory. The one day, the last truffula tree was cut down and the factories stopped. People stopped working for them and drove away. This is when the great Once-Ler realizes that he destroyed the environment, and all the truffula trees are gone. He made a big mistake, that caused a beautiful place to turn into a dark creepy polluted forest. This movie represents the conflicts between human ingenuity and environments. Where new inventions are made, and the environment is being polluted and wasted.

The Lorax

~Rachel Lai <3

“Everyone deserves a second chance…”