The Big Bang: For our first project of the year, we learned about our universe and how it started. One of the most probable theories of how the universe started, is The Big Bang. Basically, the big bang is a single explosion that happened 13.8 billion years ago and ever since that explosion, the universe has been expanding. The three strongest pieces of evidence to support this theory are redshift, the cosmic microwave background and the process of a star’s life and how they create all of our elements. We were asked to make models to show each of these and how they support the big bang. In my team, I had Liliana, McKenna, and Priscilla. The Redshift and Expansion Model: https://spark.adobe.com/video/CRYFB3DtSmwvc This is the model to show what Redshift is and how it shows that the universe is expanding. The Cosmic Microwave Background Model: https://spark.adobe.com/video/ar4r1CvCjcCJz This is the model to show the Cosmic Microwave Background and how it supports the theory of the Big Bang. The Life Cycle of Stars Model: This is our model to show the Life Cycle of Stars and how they create the elements. Low mass: Low-mass stars start in a planetary nebula where there is a low amount of matter. A low mass star starts with hydrogen and from there create all elements up to neon. From there it cools and expands due to the lack of fuel (hydrogen) and releases the elements. From there all that excess material forms a planetary nebula. From there it continues to cool to become a white dwarf. The final stage of a low mass stars life is a black dwarf which is basically nothing, it is when a white dwarf cools enough that it no longer puts off a sufficient amount of temperature. High mass: High-mass stars are created when a stellar nebula has a lot of matter. A high mass star is capable of making up to element 26 during its first stage. Unlike a red giant, a super red giant collapses in on itself layer by layer. When a red giant collapses as far in on itself as it can it releases a burst of energy, creating a giant explosion. From here it will become one of two things. If the energy is more than the mass the once high mass star will become a neutron star, but if the mass is greater than its energy, it will become a black hole.
0 Comments
Final Video Link: https://spark.adobe.com/video/CRYFB3DtSmwvc
In this video, I talk about what Redshift is and how it shows us that our universe is in fact expanding. I used video clips from other youtube videos and I recorded my voice explaining this topic. Enjoy! Youtube videos used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TheFr7Nl-zY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKgvWYp2wi4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O57DyNMRGY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljl_9pI97-s Final Video Link: https://spark.adobe.com/video/ar4r1CvCjcCJz
In this video, I talk about what the Cosmic Microwave Background is and how it is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the Big Bang. I used video clips from other youtube videos and I recorded my voice explaining this topic. Enjoy! Youtube videos used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EanYhkv5P8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDcWqidxvz4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnsKJfV5_U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaX4iGw-b_Y Here I show the lifecycle of stars and how they produce the elements we see all around us. I did draw this myself. Also, note that in the Stellar Nebula there are four Hydrogens (H) at the top, then those Hs are added together to make two Heliums, then those add together to make one Beryllium. Enjoy!
Our first project of the year in my Game Design class was to work with and learn about the saber plugin in Adobe After Effects. The saber plugin lets you adjust the glow and brightness, the sizing and so much more. Something really cool that the plugin lets you do are that you’re not limited to just making a lightsaber, you can make words flow, make a sphere, and more. For this project, we filmed a video with a partner of us sword fighting with sticks. We then put that footage into After Effects and put the lightsabers onto those sticks. In my video, I learned how to keyframe the sabers frame by frame, make multiple masks and keyframe those, and I learned how to customize my own lightsabers. I really liked working with this plugin because you have so much freedom and when you want to do something, there is most likely a way to make it happen. I feel that it was a lot of work to move the lightsaber for EVERY frame. I really wish there was a way to lock it down to something that way whenever it moved the lightsaber would move with it. I did have some obstacles with learning how to make and keyframe the masks when I needed and when I needed them to not be there, but I think it turned out okay in the end. Overall I thought this project was really fun and a great way to start off the year! Does humankind posses a tragic flaw? A tragic flaw or the Greek term, hamartia, is the flaw that sets up the tragic hero for their downfall. Many film adaptations have characters posses a tragic flaw to make them more relatable or use one as an overall theme. However, there can always be redeeming qualities to balance or outway a flaw. Humankind’s most likely tragic flaws are obsession, being the best, fear, greed, and more, while it's most redeeming qualities are kindness, love, determination, caring about something, and compassion. Pixar uses tragic flaws for their characters to make them more relatable and to influence the audience to have more of an opinion on that character. For example, in Monsters Inc, Randall was obsessed with becoming the best at scaring the children and he didn't care who he hurt to get there (this could also be seen as greed). In The Incredibles, Syndrome was stuck in the past and sought revenge. He killed all the supers and tried to abducted Mr Incredible and his family so he could become the ultimate superhero. In Finding Nemo, Nemo touched the butt because he wanted to prove to his father that he doesn’t always need him by his side. He ends up getting captured with his coming dad saving him. In Finding Dory, Hank is so fearful that the ocean is such a terrible place, he goes through all this trouble to get on the truck to Cleveland, only to end up going in the ocean and loving it. Even though lots of Pixar characters do have tragic flaws all of them have redeeming qualities to even out or overshadow the bad. An example of this is in Monsters Inc, Randall’s flaws are overshadowed by Sully’s kindness towards his friends and Boo. In The Incredibles, Mr Incredible has such strong feelings of love for his family and being a super that he saves all of them and defeats the robot simultaneously. In Finding Nemo, scared Marlin is so determined to follow the boat and save Nemo. He ends up meeting a wide variety of sea life, including three sharks, a giant whale, sea turtles and a new friend, Dory. In Finding Dory, Dory is so caring and compassionate to everyone she meets, even animals who aren’t so nice to her or don’t understand her disability. As you might be able to see already, Pixar does have tragic flaws and redeeming qualities. Because their audience is mostly focused towards children, they do have much more redeeming qualities sprinkled through their movies than tragic flaws.
This year was my first time participating in Tech Lends a Hand. The group I was in went and helped out at the Napa Library. While there, I helped assemble pamphlets, cut out and glue flower decorations, decorated jars, and participated in a community conversation. My favorite activity, without a doubt, was assembling the pamphlets! A couple of my peers and I were all tasked with making the Children’s Summer Reading pamphlets. We would clip together two pages, a book, a bookmark, and a robot sticker. Being the perfectionist I am, I found it very fun to assemble everything and make them all lineup. Each of the pages has numbers on it, so when we finished, I organized all four hundred pamphlets numerically! This brought me so much joy and make the rest of the time and tasks very enjoyable. Before I knew it, it was time to leave. I really liked volunteering at the library yesterday, I even ended up asking for a volunteer application. When I am in a stressful situation, I need to take a minute and calm myself down before it turns into anything. Throughout my first year here at New Tech, I have been very stressed! It probably doesn’t help that I am a naturally anxious person but nevertheless, I need to practice coping with my anxiety. This year I have been working on stepping back, taking deep breaths, and calming down when I start to feel stressed. So far, I have only done this successfully once or twice. Often, when you are in a stressful situation you can’t think straight, so it is quite difficult to do this.
My mom also deals with anxiety so she has taught me a couple tricks. One that she taught me that I have noticed works is using your five senses. You count five things you can see, four sounds you can hear, three things you can feel, two fragrances you can smell, and one thing you can taste. This trick helps ground you and bring your mind back from spinning. According to the ADAA, laughing lowers stress hormones and strengthens the immune system by releasing health-enhancing hormones. This means that if you are feeling stressed, once you have started to calm yourself down, you should get a friend to make you laugh or just to keep you company and make you feel better. Throughout most of my freshman year at New Tech, I have been trying to get a grasp of what agency actually is and how it can affect and benefit my education. If someone were to ask me what agency is at the beginning of the year I would tell them it had something to do with keeping yourself on track. When someone asks me what agency is today, I would say it is that and preparing yourself to be an adult, exercising your motivation, and practicing your ability to take information and being able to translate it into your work.
One way you can demonstrate agency is using effort and practice to improve skills, improve work quality, or performance. I believe I did this many times throughout the year. A more recent example of a time I did this was in our Odyssey project, I painted my final piece and I felt like there was something wrong about it. Everyone told me it looked fine and I should just move on with the project, but there was something off. I then redid the piece and I am now so happy with it and how it turned out. Another way to demonstrate agency is actively participating in the activity/discussion, team meeting, and independent time. I think that I did do this for the duration of the year. When my teachers give us the time to meet with our teams for meetings or work time, I take advantage of that and really work to get whatever project we are working on done. My team and I, for our current project of making a film about Romeo and Juliet, are being very good about using our class time. So far, there has not been one day where we haven’t got a lot done in class. We have filmed scenes, recorded voice-overs and started editing using class work time. Overall, I think I have really developed an understanding of the meaning behind “agency” and have exhibited it in my work. In my BioFitness class we have been working on making a website to inform the public about different invasive species in Napa Valley for the Watershed Information Center and Conservancy. My group studied the Tree of Heaven for our species. Link to our website: http://treeofheavennapa.weebly.com/ |
Catagories
All
Archives
March 2020
|