Architecture in Minecraft

by Jevon N.

I am working on an Architecture class. I am learning about how to build stuff. I am learning about different styles of architecture and how you can make the buildings sustainable.

I am using Minecraft as a CAD program (computer assisted design) to build some things. First I had to learn 10 styles of architecture. My first build was a modern house. The modern style has a box design. Modern uses metal, bricks, glass and wood.  It uses modern technology. It is simple with nothing extra. 

Build #1: Notice the elements of
Modern architectural style.

Build #1: Elements of Modern
Architectural Style

The first build is sustainable. That means that it doesn't harm the earth. Sustainable buildings have a lot of wood and stone. Sometimes old tires and plastic, recycled wood can be used. Sustainable architecture can also have wind turbines to generate electricity from the wind. It can have solar. Sustainable means building with the environment in mind. 

For my second build, I am thinking of doing a building in "ranch" design. Ranch design is usually single story and built low to the ground. The homes are in a U or L shape. The side facing the street is usually long. In this area, you can see real ranch-style homes out in the country and near the Holiday hotel. 

Build #2: Foundation for Ranch style home

In my opinion, the architecture course is going okay. I got one build done and started the second. It's hard to build because it never turns out as you want it to. It takes a long time and a lot of work. I am learning a lot of stuff in this class. I am earning an Art credit for all this work.
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Find out more about this Architecture class by visiting the Architecture Workspace tab, above, or by clicking HERE to see the webmix that is being built.

Hack the MAP Test!

by Robert L. and Tate S.

We are not really going to hack the MAP test. We're going to tell you about some tips and strategies for taking the test.

In our opinion, two of the hacks that seem most useful are:

1. Take your time.
2. Before you start reading, PEEK at the questions.

Take Your Time You will want to do your personal best, so you shouldn't just rush through it. You should take your time. Only focus on yourself, and not on anyone else. Even if everyone else is already finished, you should not feel peer pressure. You should stay calm and feel confident in doing your personal best on the MAP test. If you need it, you can ask for more time. The MAP test is not timed.

Peek! Most people just read the passage and answer the questions. However, it's best to know what you are looking for in the passage. So, before you even read, you should look at the questions and answers. Then you will know what you're looking for while reading. 

There are two more hacks we feel are important. 

3. Use the tools that are built into the MAP test on the computer.

We discovered that there are some helpful tools right in the MAP test. You can highlight as you read. You could mark possible answers to questions. There is also a "mask." It is called a "line reader tool." It allows you to focus on one line at a time on the screen. It might help you so you don't get lost while reading. 

4. It's okay to not get every question right. 

You will not know everything on this test. You can't! 

We learned that the MAP test is specifically designed so you will get about half the questions wrong! So don't panic that you're getting them wrong. You should keep trying to get them right. Try your best to make an "educated guess."

Here is a link to learn some more tips. The section on "Tools" is probably really  important to review before you take the test. It has some videos to tell you how each tool works. 

You can also take a practice test at this link. You can try out all the tools.

Mean Cards

In math, mean is not the antonym of nice. 

The mean is the average of a bunch of numbers.

You have to put your cards in order from small to big. You have to add them up. You have to divide by how many cards you got. Use a calculator.

The median is pretty easy. It is the one in the middle. If you don't have a middle (number) it starts to get harder. You have to add and divide by two to make one.

The mode means the ones that show up more than once.

The range is just the biggest number take away the smallest number.

We got to use cards to practice this. 

You have to keep track of what the picture cards mean:
Joker = 0
Ace = 1
Jack= 11
Queen = 12
King = 13

Polygon Mobiles

A mobile is a balancing piece of art. It is like what you sometimes give to a baby to look at. Polygons are 2-d flat closed shapes with straight sides.

In Geometry class we put together polygon mobiles using straws, plastic sticks, tape and yarn. We  had to sort the names and labels and build the correct polygon. We had some really cool quadrilaterals and triangles.

It was fun because we got to build in teams. Tate and Robert worked on the triangles: scalene, isosceles, equilateral, right, and acute. Maza and Itancan worked on the quadrilaterals: concave quadrilateral, trapezoid, square and rectangle.

Tate helped S. Patrice get them up on the ceiling.

By: Tate, Robert and Itancan

Measures of Central WHAT?!

"Measures of Central Tendency."

That's math-language for "numbers that show you something about the middle of a data set."

It's not that hard if you know some good strategies.

First, we had to get some data sets. So, we went to the Weight Room. We planned to do curls and the treadmill, but we found out that the treadmill was gone!

We did the curls. We each had a dumbell. It was five pounds. We had 30 seconds. We counted how many curls we could do. We wrote down the data on our notes.

It was not a contest. We just had to get data.

We did five sets. We counted our own curls and Sister Patrice used her phone like a stopwatch.

We could not do walking on a treadmill. Instead we got data about how many times we could toss and catch some large dice in 30 seconds. We had to keep going if we dropped one. We wrote down our count on our data chart. We did five sets each.

We figured out some ways to get a lot more tosses! 

We used clipboards for getting our data.



The next day we used our data. First, we had to listen to a weird song. Some of us thought it was a stupid song. It did help us remember the difference between median, mean, mode and range, though. We glued it into our Handbook for Adulthood.

After we got the song stuck in our brains, we used it to find the median  of our data. Then we used it to find the mean of our data. The mean is the same as the average.

We will do the mode and range on a different day.

Taƞyan ecaƞnuƞ to our BAM Club Winners for the Month

Winners: Lee W., Glendean D., Maza O., Robert L., Itancan C. 

BAM Club is short for "Book-a-Month" Club. It is not really a club. It is a program we use for fun and reading. We do BAM Club a few times a week. This time, there were five BAM Club winners. To win, you had to read at least one long book and one magazine article. Some winners read two books. Some finished one and started on a second one. One person even read two and started his third book!

Maza and Robert with their BAM Club Awards.
The poster behind them shows books being read
by students and staff at Tiospa Zina.

This is how BAM Club works. First, we pick a book. It can be fiction or non-fiction. We can pick a book from the class library. We can use a book from home. We can also pick a book from Learning Ally.

Then we get the book onto our Learning Ally. Learning Ally is an app. It is for people who have dyslexia or another learning disability that makes reading hard. We use it to listen to the book while we read it. We can pick any school-appropriate book. It has more than 80,000 books. We will probably use this app when we go to college, too!

We are allowed to download a free Learning Ally app on our phone or personal computer. Then we can read our books at home. Did you know if you read at least 20 minutes every night, before you go to bed, you will increase your reading level? Three of us decided to do that. We put the app on our phones and we read at home or even on the bus!