Birthday Invitation... in Chinese!

As a 'present' from our Chinese teacher, we had a random writing assessment; a birthday invitation! I wrote the (fake) invitation to my friend, Davis, who's also in my Chinese class. Use Google Translate to find out what it means...

刘浩光：

你好！十一月十二日是我的十三岁生日，我想请你到我家参加我的生日会。我的生日会会很好玩！时是上午九点。我家的在香港快乐街八十五号，我的电话是二五三oo四三三，请你在十月二十日前告诉我你来不来。我的生日会会很多食物例如生日蛋糕。我们也可以聊夫和跳舞！

我很期侍。我会安排一辆巴土。去接你们到我的家。你一定要夫。我真兴奋！

瞿文曼

二0一二年四月二十四日

我的假期计划 (My holiday plans)

In Chinese class, we learnt how to describe the weather, and activities we'll do. So now we must see if we can transfer our knowledge into our work. Here's my holiday plans (use GoogleTranslate to find out what it means)!

我的假期计划

我们学校的圣诞节假期在十二月十七日开始， 一共十六天。我的感觉是兴奋和凉快。

假期时，我会斐济在的海边游泳。我会是凉快，我游—爱游泳。我会看电影和玩电视游—。我会在家里看书，我会时连快，我爱我的的家。在平安， 我会吃圣诞节的晚餐。我会吃火鸡。我也会睡觉。

我爱圣诞节！我很里六奋！我很期圣诞节的来临。

Volleyball Criteria A Assessment

For our Volleyball Criteria A Assessment, we were to...

Look at the play from the 32 second mark to the 1 minute mark of the following video. Focus on the girl in dark blue playing in the middle of the back row (the one returning the ball using underhand passes) and answer the following questions about the technique of this player.

1) On which passes (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) did she move to the proper position to execute the pass properly? Why is her positioning important?

2a) On which passes (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) does she look balanced? Why is being balanced important?

2b) What does she need to do to improve her stability?

3) Analyse all aspects of this player's underhand pass technique and comment on why she was successful on the first pass but not on the second.

This is what I replied with...

1) The girl was in the correct position on the 1st and 3rd passes. And because she was in the correct position at those times, she was able to execute the pass properly. On the 4th pass, which wasn't passed properly, the distance between her and the ball was too great when she had gotten into position and therefore it was impossible for her to properly pass.

2a) I think that all passes were balanced except for the 4th pass - because she hadn't moved to get under the ball, when she attempted to pass the ball, she got off-balanced. I think being balanced is important because it helps to balance the power from legs, arms, etc. And therefore, you can stay energetic throughout the whole game.

2b) To improve her stability, she could use more power from her legs. She could also keep arms ready and stretched out.

3) She was successful in the 1st pass because her arms were ready and her legs were bent. Her eyes were also on the ball, so she was prepared to pass the ball. The 2nd pass wasn't successful because she started off with her legs straight. This was a bad decision because, if she had bent her knees, she would have had more power, which is especially important when there is more force on the ball and the strength of your arms can't match up.

Kindness is Better Than Victory - Free Verse Poem

The last poem we've made this unit; free verse! We watched short videos, from which we got inspiration to write our poems. The video I got my inspiration was from "The North Wind and the Sun". Here it is...

Kindness is Better than Victory

Sun, smiling and sparkling

North wind, strong as rock

And cunning to the bone

They argued, argued and argued

North wind insisted he, the better

"I'll last through day and night!"

The sun set, disappearing

"I've won!" said wind to the moon

"Yes, you've won," said the moon

"However, although sun's not here

The sun lets me shine and comfort

The humans that try to sleep

Isn't that better

Than winning a simple game?"

Hope you liked it!

Gym Project Essay

Painting The Gym Assignment

By: Emma Chickles 7F

The assignment is to find the cost if the Canadian International School of Hong Kong were to repaint the lines and varnish the entire gymnasium floor. This project links with the AOI of Community and Service because doing this service, it will prove me as a responsible citizen; a essential concept of Community and Service. This also links with Human Ingenuity because we are required to use our prior knowledge to create and investigate into the measurements of the gym. My estimation for thickness of all the lines would be the same, at 3 centimeters. My estimation for the area of all the lines in the main basketball court is 10 meters squared. My estimation for the area of all the lines in a smaller basketball court is 6 meters squared. My estimation for the area of all the lines in one volleyball court is 5 meters squared. My estimation for the area of all the lines in one badminton court is 2 meters squared. My estimation for the entire gym is 300 meters squared. My estimation for the total cost of paint would be around $1000 HKD.

I found the area of the semi-circular line by finding the radius of the it. I could have gotten a bendable measuring tape, but that could be inaccurate because the measuring tape could be bent oddly, making the result incorrect. The way I measured had a down side as well, as it is only a semi-circle, using the Trundle Wheel, we couldn’t be sure if I was measuring in a straight line, however there was less risk of the result of being inaccurate this way than measuring with the measuring tape, since measuring tapes aren’t meant to be bent.

Here is my sketch of the entire gym.

Key:

Red Lines ~ Main Basketball Court

Black Lines ~ Smaller Basketball Courts

Blue Lines ~ Volleyball Courts

and

White Lines ~ Badminton Courts

*I made a mistake in the Volleyball courts, the middle volleyball court is supposed to be on its side*

I was able to find the perimeter of a court by using the formula 2 length plus 2 width. For example, I found perimeter of the badminton court by first measuring the length of the line and the width of the line. The length is 14.48 and the width is 6.16. This is the best way because the formula of 2 length plus 2 width, will always give the perimeter. Another way to find the area is to use the Trundle Wheel, and wheel it all the way around the court. This is not the best way because there is more risk of mistake since the Trundle Wheel would have to turn at the corners, therefore, it may not give a accurate result. Where as, the way I’ve done, you only have to measure 2 separate, straight lines. Therefore it is the best way.

Besides the measurements of the lines, I also need to find the area of all the lines, if I find out that, I can find out how much paint will be used and the cost. To find the area, you have to multiply the width by the length. To clearly show all the findings I have found, I put it in a pacific format, consistent within a document. For example, for the Volleyball Court, the following was what I recorded “Volleyball Courts (3) - Blue Lines:

Length: 18.03m

Width: 9.03m

Perimeter: 54.12m

(18.03 x 2) + (9.03 x 4) = 72.18

Line Width: 5cm or 0.05m

1 Court, Area of the Lines: 3.609m squared

3 Courts: 10.827m squared”.

Computer technology has also helped me in this project as the Calculator has helped me ensure my calculations are correct.

The measurements I made for the main basketball court are, for the length is 18.36m, the width 14.33m, the key 14.36m, the semi-circle in the key is 5.20m, the semi-circle outside the key is 8.57m, the three-point line is 24.10m, the line width for the three-point line is 0.054m and for the other lines, the line width is 0.041m.

The measurements I made for the smaller basketball court, the perimeter is 74.85m, the key is 11.32m, the semi-circle in the key is 4.80, the semi-circle outside the key is 5.20m, the three-point line is 15.30m, and the width of al the lines is 0.042m.

The measurements I made for the volleyball court, for the length is 18.03m, the width is 9.03m and the width of the lines is 0.05m.

And lastly, the measurements I made for the badminton court are, for the length is 14.48m, the width is 6.16m and the line width is 0.039m.

After finding the measurements, I had to find the area of the line. To do this, I multiplied the total length of all the lines and multiplied it by the line width. For example, when calculating the total area of the lines for one volleyball court I took into account that there is 4 lines that have the width measurement; 9.08m, and 2 lines that have the length measurement; 18.03m, as shown below. As I added them all together using this operation, (18.03 x 2) + (9.03 x 4), I got 72.18m. The line width is 5cm, or 0.05m, was then multiplied by the total length of the lines; 72.18, resulting as 3.609m squared. There are 3 volley ball courts so I multiplied 3.609 by 3, 10.827m squared; the total area of all the lines! After finding the area of all the lines, from all the courts, I got 53.39464m squared. Since I know that 1L of paint covers 20m squared, I divided 53.39464m squared by 20m squared, then multiplied that by 120, since 1L costs $120.00 HKD.

When preparing to measure the lines, I noticed that the Trundle Wheel I had borrowed was broken, and would be useless when attempting to measure the lines. This problem was overcome by sharing a Trundle Wheel another group who was also measuring that day. Although this problem made me contribute less, I did as much as I can and I believe I was exceptionally useful when recording the data neatly. I could have also solved this by using meter sticks or measuring tapes, but Trundle Wheels really is the most effective measuring instrument in this situation. When I was at the gym, I also realized we needed a ruler to effectively measure the width of lines. One of our group members went back up to the classrooms to get one. Because of this, I have to regret not being prepared with the needed measuring instruments. Another problem I had was when I was calculating the area of the lines. Thankfully, I realized my mistake when sketching the entire gym including all the courts, I had only added the lines for one court, meaning I only calculated the area of the lines for 1 badminton court instead of 7 courts. So I had to go back to my measurements and make more calculations on that and the total area of the lines of all the court, as well as the total cost of paint and the total cost of everything. I decided to do it this way, the longer way, because I can be sure that it is accurate, as I could lose track of what I’ve added. And lastly, when at the beginning of calculating, the process was relatively slow, as I did it with pen and paper. I fixed this by using a calculator on my computer, recommended by a friend.

I believe the total area of the gymnasium is 484.459m squared, meaning the total cost of varnish would be $4844.59001 HKD. I believe the total area of all the lines is 53.39464m squared, meaning the total cost of paint $320.36784 HKD. Resulting in that the total cost of both the varnish and paint is $5164.95785 HKD. I believe my answer is accurate since around three quarters of the time I used a calculator to calculate, instead of using scrap paper, and the calculations on the scrap paper was double checked by the calculator. However, it may not be accurate since many people had different final answers as me, but after checking, and re-checking my calculations I can’t find where I got it wrong, unless the measurements were incorrect. If I could do this assignment again, I would like to measure the gym myself, only myself. I would prefer to have the measuring be slow, to make sure that it is accurate.

Definition Poem

In English class, we've started to explore poems. We started off viewing definition poems. We performed definition poems by Michael Salinger. Here's an example of his poems:

Brevity gets right to the point
doesn’t dawdle, dicker, or delay
always short and sweet whenever
there is something to do
or say
brevity comes in handy when you
are subject to a chewing out
a bout of the flu
a pain in the neck
or waiting in line for the loo
in fact, this poem has gone on so long
that its recital
would no longer qualify
as an example of its title

[brevity (noun): conciseness of expression; shortness]

After performing poems like the one above, we attempted to make a definition poem ourselves! Here's mine:

Pusillanimous will only be found

at the end of the line

don’t expect a performance from her

bravery is her opposite

she’s about as silent as a mouse

and active like a sloth

the fire of her determination has been extinguished

everything about her

soundlessly says timid

[Pusillanimous: showing a lack of courage or determination; timid]

When searching for other examples of definition poems, I came across a 5 & 6 Definition Poetry Competition. And I remembered that last year, I submitted a definition poem! After some editing of the poem I made last year, I have this:

Optimistic

Optimistic is as yellow as a rising sun

always smiling at everyone

she’s like a bumble bee in a flowery field

raising its thumbs

not pointing and cursing

instead, complementing everything!

[optimistic (adjective): hopeful and confident about the future]

The Other Side of Truth - Essay

For the past few classes, we've been working on our English essays. With evidence from the novel The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo, we were to write a persuasive essay on the following prompts; it is okay to lie if it is to protect someone you love OR you must lie no matter the price. Both points are arguable, however, I chose to write about it is okay to lie if it is to protect someone you love. Here it is...

Accepting Lying

Emma Chickles

The reality is that everyone has lied at least once. Some people are against dishonesty, nonetheless, the truth has brought conflicts to numerous people. Lying has been thought of as a sin, however, it can be used reasonably. The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo expresses the dangers of authorities of Nigeria, causing Sade and Femi to seek refuge in London. It is acceptable to lie if the purpose behind the lie was to protect. This will be illustrated by how lying can protect others, and how lying can protect one’s self.

Dishonesty can protect others in a variety of ways. Situations could occur when giving information about others is being demanded of. If this information is given away to strangers (or even the authorities in extreme cases), it would most likely put those whom the information is about in danger. If alike situations occur, lying is necessary. “What if the police in England sent the information to the police in Nigeria?” (Naidoo 82) - this was one of Sade’s thoughts as she was being interrogated. If she had given out the information about her family to the authorities, her family could have been in danger. It is arguable that lying to the authorities is unacceptable, regardless, if the truth had been stated, it could have brought an even higher price. Sade’s father was on bad terms with the authorities in Nigeria because he told the truth. Giving away private information, about others, or one’s self, can put more than those one loves in danger.

Besides protecting others, lying can protect one’s self.

“‘How do you know Doctor Solaja? Is he a friend - or a relative?’.

‘He’s our-’ Femi began.

‘Friend - a friend of the family,’ Sade interrupted” (Naidoo 60).

In the quote above, if Femi had admitted that Doctor Solaja was their uncle - their relative - Sade and Femi would have been taken to the police because it would be evident that they would have information regarding Doctor Solaja. If that had happened, the police would have found out that they had been illegally smuggled into London, on that occasion they could’ve been arrested. Sade had realized this certainty and spoke dishonestly. One has been taught to be honest, in spite of that, there is further importance to keep safe. It is evident that lying can protect yourself.

Would you lie if it was to protect those you care about, or yourself? From the novel, The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo, it is evident that lying can protect one’s family, friends and one’s self. Lying has changed the positions of numerous people today. Although, some people do believe that one must tell the truth no matter what. Even though lying shouldn’t be used frequently, lying is the best option to protect one’s self or people one loves.

Experience Week

Beijing Trip Slideshow

Approaches to Learning ("For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them" -Aristotle)

On the first day, I learned that I have to be careful on the streets of Beijing. A wallet (not my own) had been stolen on the first day, when we were shopping during the evening. I'll definitely keep this in mind if I go to Beijing again. Another concept I have learned, was that there is a great quantity of structures in Beijing that have a lot of value towards various people. For example, at the Temple of Heaven, although there are most likely new, modern temples for people to pray or worship that are an advancement of the Temple of Heaven, when we were sight-seeing at the Temple of Heaven, it was evident that there were people who still worship there. Because of this, next time I go to Beijing or elsewhere, I would like to respect these temples or churches more, and be more quiet so it is more peaceful for people to pray.

Community and Service (How will my actions affect the individuals at the community center?)

Before the Beijing trip, I had raised $347 HK for the Hui Ling Community Center. I did this by singing "My Hat it Has Three Corners" to my teachers, classmates, family and friends. At the community center, I tried my best to keep enthusiastic and be risk-taking. For example, when some of the performers motioned us to come dance as well, I joined. It was a lot of fun! If I could go again to the community center, I would prepare more songs. The performers of the community center had numerous performances to share. We should put in as much effort as they have into their performances. It would also be more enjoyable, for us as well as for the people at the community center, if we be more creatives with our performances; such as adding dancing to our songs, include solos, etc.

Environments (How does one's environment shape the way in which one views the world?)

Throughout the trip, I have noticed that there has been numerous similarities between Hong Kong and Beijing. Such as the buildings; how the buildings light up and look spectacular at night, as well as small shops and big malls. There is many tourist attractions in both places as well. Such as, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and the Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha) in Hong Kong. There is also traffic and big malls in both places. Another concept that is in both places is how there is non-profit organizations. For example, in Beijing, there is the Hui Ling Community Center, and in Hong Kong, there is Mother's Choice.

I find the differences between Beijing and Hong Kong few, however. One difference is that Beijing is much larger than Hong Kong, as well as more populated. An observation I made of Beijing was that the air in Beijing was more polluted. Perhaps this is because there are more people in Beijing.

Health and Social Education (What were some difficulties or personal challenges you faced on the trip?)

The most constant difficulty I had on the trip, was sleeping at a reasonable time. At home, I usually fall asleep by 8:30, however, in Beijing, I had been sleeping much later than that because I get excited (especially on the first night) or I lose track of time playing games. Because of this, my mood was probably affected during the morning. For the future - I'll try to keep an eye on the time! Another difficulty I had was being strict with bargaining. To get cheap prices, you have to stand your ground. However, I had trouble with this, especially in the Hongqiao Pearl Market. I get nervous when talking to strangers because I don't do so often. In the future, if I'm still get nervous, I'll go with someone who is confident to help me.

Human Ingenuity (What are the consequences of what we create?)

The purpose of many structures in Beijing has changed over time. For example, the Forbidden City used to be the home for the emperors. Now it is a tourist attraction! Another example, is The Great Wall. In the past, it was used to protect Beijing; it defended the city. Now, it is a challenging hike and a place for sight-seeing. There is the Summer Palace as well. Before, in Summer, the families that were rich would go to the Summer Palace because there, it was two degrees cooler; it was a more comfortable temperature. Nowadays, it is a tourist attraction!

Rating:

★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

I'd give this trip 4 stars! This is because of the numerous enjoyable moments throughout the trip. Such as tasting unusual foods, shopping in various environments, attempting activities that local people do in Beijing, watching the acrobatics show, experiencing the challenging hike of The Great Wall, and more! However, I don't think the trip was long enough! There must be more to see in Beijing that would be great to be experience with friends and for school purposes, as well.

Science Criteria F Reflection

I think that I've been careful throughout all the labs that we have done in this semester. In the alternative cleaners lab, I made sure that my computer was not on the same table as the experiment. This was because, if something was spilled (mistakes always happen), all of my hard work on my computer would be gone. In the thermos lab part 1, a presentation, I tried to be creative and involve the audience! I asked the audience questions, and if they answered, I gave them a cupcake!

I work safely and use materials and equipment competently without teacher guidance. I'd give myself a 6/6.

Examples:

-During the thermos, I was sure not to leave our experiment - the thermoses could tip over and the hot water could burn someone.

-During the lab where we heated up boiling water and turned it into gas and into a liquid again, I made sure that my hair was tied and my lab coat sleeves were rolled up.

Examples:

-In the alternative cleaners lab, I made sure that the beakers were all cleaned and that they could be used in an experiment shortly without the data being affected.

-I made sure that all our equipment is not at the edge of the table in the thermos lab.

When working as part of a group, I always cooperate with others. I'd give myself a 4/6.

-I try to get everyone in the group to do work in the thermos lab part 1

-However, I think I sometimes can't keep a straight face about my group mates - like in the thermos lab.

Overall mark - 5/6. I think I deserve this mark, because I try to be enthusiastic in class. I try to be careful as well. I know how to be careful and I always keep in mind the worksheet about the rules for lab safety.

Thermos Lab

In this lab, we made a thermos out of materials brought from home, which will keep heat while holding 250 ml for 2o minutes.

HYPOTHESIS: If we put boiling water in our thermos, then, after 20 min., it would have cooled down 5 degrees because the materials would have kept the majority of the heat from escaping.

VARIABLES:

Independent: Materials

Dependent: Temperature of water inside the can

Controlled: Amount of water, size of the can, size of material, temperature of environment, time recorded

Control: A real thermos

MATERIALS:

-2 sheets of Metallic paper

-4 sheets of Aluminum foil

-7 pieces of wood

-2 sheets of paper

-2 sheets of plastic paper

-1 Can (thermos)

-150ml of boiling water

-Glue guns (to glue on the wood)

-Tape (to stick materials on the can)

METHOD:

1. Cut the wood into 7 pieces of 3cm.

2. Surround the can with the materials tightly in the following order (the first material listed should be placed directly on the can): wood (must be glued onto can), paper, plastic paper, metallic paper, tin foil

3. Pour the boiling water into the can.

4. Fill in row in the data table reading “0:00”

1. Every 2 minutes, write the temperature down on the data table and record observations. Stop when the time has reached 20 minutes.

OBSERVATIONS (Results):

OUR THERMOS:

Time (min.)	Temperature (centigram)	Observations
0:00	73
2:00	71	The outside of the thermos is relatively warm
4:00	69	Outside of the thermos is steadily getting hotter
6:00	67.5
8:00	66
10:00	65	Outside of the thermos is noticeably hotter than before
12:00	63.5	Table which thermos is placed is hot - conduction
14:00	63
16:00	62
18:00	62
20:00	61

CONTROL:

Time (min.)	Temperature (centigram)	Observations
0:00	73	Steaming, outside is cool
2:00	72
4:00	70	Outside of the thermos is staying the same temperature
6:00	68
8:00	67
10:00	66
12:00	65.5	Table which thermos is placed is cool
14:00	64.5
16:00	64
18:00	63
20:00	63

GRAPH:

DATA ANALYSIS:

From the graph, it is evident that the control, a real thermos, works better than the thermos that we had made. Both of the thermoses started at 73〫C, however, the control was 63〫C after 20 min., while our thermos was at 61〫C. This means, our thermos was 2〫C colder than the control - although, that is not a big difference.

CONCLUSION:

Our hypothesis was incorrect. Although the majority of the heat the water contained was kept in the thermos as we had thought, our thermos had cooled down 13 degrees centigram in the space of 20 min. Before we had thought it would cool down 5 degrees centigram. Our thermos did somewhat work, however. The results were very alike to the control’s results. The reason for why the thermos worked was because the materials that were attached to the can acted as insulators. Insulators are objects that don’t let heat pass through them easily. These were needed for the thermos to work because, without these insulators, the heat of the water would escape to the outside of the can. This would happen because the heat of the water would travel to the insides of the can, and then to the outside - or in other words, conduction. However the insulators stop this from happening. Knowing that wood and paper were good insulators, we put these materials on the can first. I think one of the reasons the water lost 13 degrees was because we added tin foil to the thermos. This was because tin foil, made of metal, is known as a good conductor, which isn’t suitable for a thermos, as they let heat pass through them quickly. This happens because the free electrons cause all the other atoms to vibrate more rapidly because they often collide with each other. As they vibrate more and more they bump into their neighbors, then their neighbors vibrate more, and so on - like dominoes! However, when we were building the thermos, we decided to include the tin foil because we thought that the more layers we included, the better the thermos would be. However, I think the thermos would be more efficient if we had added styrofoam or other good insulators instead.

The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo

Here's Ta book review for The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo.

Sade and Femi's mother had been killed by the corrupt authorities of Nigeria! After receiving a threat from the authorities, their father, concerned for their safety, had Sade and Femi smuggled out of Nigeria and into London.

In this novel, I especially liked how Naidoo added Nigerian proverbs into the story. Also, I enjoyed the deeper meanings behind the names of characters. For example, "Sade" means "honor brings a crown", which definitely fits the main character, as understood as the story progresses. I personally thought that the names given to the characters were like snapshots of the character's heart.

Do you treasure the bonds between your family? Or the rights you need? If so, then this is a book for you!

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Ponyboy Curtis and his friends were greasers from the 1960's. Ponyboy had lived with his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry, ever since their parents had passed away. Throughout their lives, they had been struggling with the Socs. Ponyboy had thought that the line separating the Socs and greasers was money. Socs had always been more privileged than the greasers. However, the greasers argued that their friendship was stronger.

If you cherish friendship and desire an adventure, this is the book for you!

Design Cycle 4 - Evaluate

I've finished the last stage of the last design cycle for Grade 7! Here's my Evaluate stage...

Evaluation of Feedback

Include factual information (Informs audience)	✓	High resolution images / videos		Effective royalty-free background	✓
Visually attractive (engages audience)	✓	Pictures and videos are relevant	✓	Expression is used in speech (engages audience)	✓
Variety of media; pictures, video, music, etc. (engages audience)	✓	3-5 Minutes	✓	Exceptional sound quality	✓

Although the resolution of the images wasn’t satisfactory, the rest of the design specifications were met. In fact, all of the questions that were asked in the survey resulted in mostly positive perspective, especially in how the media was effective. However, even through redoing, and redoing voiceovers throughout the Create stage, slightly over one quarter of the survey participants still thought that the documentary had poor sound quality.

Our job was to make a documentary that informs the community of Christ the King Chapel, and will make people want to take action to preserve the chapel. We have met part of this need, because the majority of the survey participants were able to list 3 facts about Christ the King Chapel after watching our documentary. However, preserving Christ the King Chapel has not crossed the mind of our audience, as the importance of this was only briefly touched on in the beginning of the documentary.

If I could do this project again, I would want, at the end of the film, to express the great importance that preserving Christ the King Chapel has, as well as how to do this. In fact, as a side project (most likely after the Summer), I would like to learn on how to preserve Christ the King Chapel.

Overall Reflection

Throughout all the stages, I believe that researching a pacific topic was easiest. Like when I researched about using green screen, I used the advanced google search. The biggest difficulty through this whole process was managing my time. Such as leaving things to the last day or doing forgotten tasks in a rush. If I could do this design cycle again, I would redo the plan. I didn’t give a lot of thought to it, and it was sort of rushed as well. Maybe if I had given more care I would have had an even more successful product.

Impact

The documentary has informed the community. It’s been seen by my classmates and visitors to my blog. I think the biggest impact, though, was on myself. After learning the great importance the chapel has, I want to try to help preserve Christ the King Chapel, although it could take awhile.

Design Cycle 4 - Create

I've finally finished my documentary!
Click HERE to watch...

Along with my documentary, I've made a process journal...

Emma’s Process Journal

Humanities Design Cycle ~ CHRIST THE KING CHAPEL

Saturday, April 21 – Changes to Design AND Plan

Throughout the Create stage, my group has made numerous changes to our shot list. Due to not finding the music “Hallelujah”, another music replaced it “Deo Gratias-Ismeretlen szerző Mint szarvas a hűs forr” (used in shot 1 and 2). We also couldn’t find a picture of the construction of the chapel (was to be used in shot 8). On the day of our field trip, it was raining, so we had to change the places we were to film, which was in shot 6 and 13. At the chapel, Sister Joseffina was present, and would be a tragedy to miss such a reliable primary source. Because of this, Sister Joseffina was our interviewee instead of a visitor to the chapel. And lastly, the total duration of the documentary was around 1 min. longer than estimated. This is because there was a few extra seconds left in each shot, in the documentary. I did this because, when I cut off those few seconds, the documentary sounds too rushed.
Changes to the plan wasn’t, oddly enough, because of the changes of the shot list. It was more because of time management. Zehra and I had to do 2 extra days of recording voice overs. Also, we had to use the green screen the room on the 18th of April. Cropping the film was needed, as well. However, the estimated durations of each task, was moderately accurate.

Saturday, April 14 ~ Tuesday, April 17 – Gathering Media

Recording Voice Overs

Finding Pictures
Zehra and I worked together to find the media that will be in our documentary. We had to record voiceovers, find pictures and music (Zehra found the music). When recording voiceovers we had to use a microphone brought from home, because we weren’t provided with one, as we thought we would be. It was much better quality than the built-in microphone, however, it could’ve been improved with a higher quality microphone. When recording, we used Garageband, as you can see in the picture on the left. When searching for pictures, I had to keep in mind the Design Specifications. The pictures have to be relevant, attractive and high resolution. These guidelines helped me when I had to choose which picture to include, because, as you can see in the picture on the right, there was countless photos.

Sunday, March 4 – Film Quality (Technical Director Role)

Lighting
Besides collecting the music, pictures and voiceovers, we needed film as well. Skills that I had learned in the Investigate stage about the Technical Director, was not only applied on the days of visiting the chapel (skills such as placing the interviewee in a place with good lighting, and quiet areas, and using a microphone to get the best out of the sound). For example, I suggested that we use voiceovers so people can clearly understand what is being said. When we were filming, we tried to position ourselves to be in the light. As you can see, on the right, the light was exceptionally well done, however, it was studio light (we were in the green screen room), and this kind of wasn’t available at the chapel.

Sunday, March 4 – Putting it all together (Editor Role)

Adding Music

Adding Transitions

Adding Pictures
The most challenging part was adding the voiceovers, aligning the visual and audio took a bunch of my time, just as I expected in my plan (I estimated for 1 hour). However, we did have to redo voiceovers numerous times. Adding transitions, pictures and music was simple and quick, however. If I could do all these tasks again (as these set of tasks did take up a lot of time), I would focus on one section at a time, not scattered all over the place, with adding this music and cropping that shot... I think I could’ve been finished 30 min. earlier than what I expected to do in my plan if I had kept focused. One of the tools we used in iMovie was the Green Screen option. In order to use this tool, I had to enable advanced options. This tool was very useful.

Sunday, March 4 – Last touches (Editor Role)

Evaluating against Against the Design Specs

The picture above, it what my screen looked like when I was evaluating Zehra and I’s documentary against my design specifications that we made in the Investigation. After completing it, all the design specifications, were checked as “yes, the documentary has this”. All, that is, except for 2. This design specification was “visually attractive”, I couldn’t check this, as it is really an opinion, and was not a good design spec to begin with. The other design specification was “high resolution pictures / videos”. After watching it, full screen on my computer, it was a tad pixelated. However when I saw it on the internet, around half of my screen, it looked fine! I can recall, unfortunately, there wasn’t any better quality of photos on the internet, that fit my shot list.

Finished Evaluation against the Design Specs

Tuesday, April 24 – Reflection on Learning and Progress

Through the create stage, I’ve learned how to use the green screen option. In iMovie, you have to go to Preferences, under the iMovie tab at the top of the screen. And then click the box saying Show Advanced Tools. Then, when you drag the green screen footage onto a picture or video, you will appear in the photo / video. From the peer review, one of the comments was that my entries were detailed. Also, the people who peer reviewed me said that they would probably give me 5!
I think I did well with being creative. Such as, at the beginning of the documentary, there is a shot where the globe zooms into Christ the King Chapel. However, I don’t think I did so well, with managing my time, as I said before, we needed 3 EXTRA DAYS of voiceovers. Which meant that for those three days, I had double the work, and because of that, I worked for unfortunately longer than what was planned.
If I could do this again I would like to be more focused. So then, I wouldn’t have to rush through my homework from my other subjects, because I’ve been too busy working on design cycle.

Tuesday, April 24 – Citations (This is the citation that taught me to use the green screen)

"iMovie Greenscreen Tutorial."

5min - Life Videopedia. AoI TV, 2011. Web. 21
Apr. 2012. <http://www.5min.com/Video/iMovie-Greenscreen-Tutorial-196894097>.

Tuesday, April 24 – Citations (These are the citations that we had mentioned in the documentary)

"The past and present of Christ the King Chapel."

Heritage Detective. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/
index.php/reports/view/39>.
Different angles of Christ the King Chapel. Heritage Detectives. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/index.php/reports/view/39>.
Foundation Stone. Heritage Detectives. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/index.php/reports/view/39>.
An activity inside the church. Heritage Detectives. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/index.php/reports/view/39>.

Sister Joseffina. Personal interview. 17 Apr. 2012.

Tuesday, April 24 – Citations (And these are all the citations that had to do with my roles)

Moura, Gabriel. "Shot Sizes Basics of Cinematography."

Elements of Cinema. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.elementsofcinema.com/cinematography/
shot-sizes.html>.
Dawkins, Steve, and Ian Wynd. "Palgrave Macmillan - Video Production." Video
Production. Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Web. 23 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.palgrave.com/culturalmedia/dawkins/roles/documentary.html>.
"Documentary l Define Documentary at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com.
2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/
documentary>
"Film Editor Job Responsibilities." Job Responsibilites. 2010. Web. 23
Mar. 2012. <http://www.jobresponsibilities.org/film-editor.html>.
"How to Light a Documentary Interview." Lights Online Film School Blog. wyzoom,
2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <http://www.lightsfilmschool.com/blog/
light-documentary-interview/134/>.
"The past and present of Christ the King Chapel." Heritage Detective. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/
index.php/reports/view/39>.
"Churches in Hong Kong." Weekday Masses. N.p., 28 Aug. 2005. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

<http://weekdaymasses.org.uk/en/area/hong-kong/churches>.

Design Cycle 4 - Create Survey

After completing my documentary, I have to evaluate the efficiency of my product.

Could you please, please complete THIS SURVEY and watch the video?

Beverley Naidoo's - The Other Side of Truth - Novel Response 5

Connections and Contrasts between The Other Side of Truth and God Grew Tired of Us

The novel The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo and the documentary God Grew Tired of Us was presented to us, including stories that had happened in the past, and possibly even now. In The Other Side of Truth, Sade and Femi’s mother was killed by the authorities in Nigeria due to the continuing articles their father has written regarding how authorities were corrupt. To escape any other deaths, Sade and Femi were secretly sent to London, where they would meet up with their Uncle Dele. However, their escort went missing and Sade and Femi stayed at a stranger’s house who decided to take them in, and help them feel at home. In the documentary God Grew Tired of Us, the people of Sudan fled to a refugee camp. In the travel, their numbers decreased dramatically, more than half of the starting number had disappeared. After staying at the camp for years, a few of the older boys were given the opportunity to live in America. Taking this chance, the “lost boys” begun a new life in America, with a dream of helping their family and friends back at the refugee camp.. The similarities and differences of these two media will be discussed in the following.

The similarities between the media are exceptionally numerous. In both cases of Sade and Femi, from The Other Side of Truth, and the lost boys, from God Grew Tired of Us, they fled their dangerous home countries to find safety. Although, the lost boys, Sade and Femi escaped from their home countries, they were depressed leaving it all behind – where they had been for so long. Once they reached the country which they fled to, they were unaccustomed to the behavior of the community. Many students at the school Sade applied for bullied others, including herself. The lost boys were surprised with how the people around them cared only of themselves, and ignoring others.

The differences between the media is also many. To begin with, Sade and Femi came from Nigeria, where as the lost boys came from Sudan. Sade and Femi were privileged with food, shelter, etc. while on the other hand the lost boys lacked of human essentials. However, Sade and Femi lacked enthusiasm. An example of this was on the plane, they didn’t touch any of their food. But the lost boys shoed curiosity towards the plane food, as well as other objects in the US. And lastly, Sade and Femi depended on other people, such as the temporary homes, foster homes and the London police, to take care of them. Although, the lost boys took the responsibility of making a living, after the two months of support. They also attempted to make the lives of their family and friends better as well. By making health care and education accessible.

These are the similarities and the differences between The Other Side of Truth and God Grew Tired of Us. However, it is evident that, even though there is numerous connections between the media, there is slightly more differences.

Design Cycle 4 - Plan

After finishing Design and Plan, there is Create! Surprises are still to come... but here is my Plan of the Create stage!

List of Tasks A list of the tasks that you need to complete (as part of your role) in the order they will be carried out together with the estimated duration and completion date

*Note: I have 1 and a half jobs. I’m in a group of two.*

Task	Estimated Duration	Estimated Completion Date
Find high-quality pictures that are described in the shot list, except for row 7, it cannot be found on the internet	1 hour	April 14
Find a person who is willing to be interviewed (We will be going to Christ the King Chapel on April 16)	10 - 30 min. (We don’t know how many people visit the chapel nowadays)	April 15
Find a place that has suitable lighting	5 min.	April 15
Rehearse lines	30 min.	April 15
Record my voice-overs	1 hour	April 16
Make a check list of what has to be done on the field trip.	10 min.	April 16
Complete the checklist and make sure that the filming is in places with suitable lighting	All morning	April 17
Collect all shots and voice overs => insert into iMovie in correct order	30 min.	April 18
Insert transitions and music	20 min.	April 18
Insert pictures and voice overs	30 min.	April 19
Adjust the film according to how long it is so it meets the Design specs	45 min.	April 20
Change film according to Review feedback	45 min.	April 24
DOUBLE CHECK and share with teammate	30 min.	April 25
Hand in Create	5 min.	April 25

An estimate of 6 hours and 15 min., besides the field trip, will be spent.

Timeline You need to create a timeline of your tasks, which simply means presenting your tasks using a calendar, e.g iCal

Peer Review Peer review your plan with other students who have the same role as you. Do you need to make any changes to your plan? What changes do you need to make and why?

After looking viewing a task list with the role of the editor, I didn’t think I had anything to change because all tasks relating to the role I had before hand. However, when I looked at a task list with the role of the technical director, there was a few things I left out. Such as the task of handing in Create (which is essential to get a mark) and editing the documentary after the review date. I also had changed something else, although I didn’t make the change due to the peer review. After a day or two after my peer review, I realized it would be best to make a check list of what has to be done on the day of the field trip.

Question Reflection A strong attempt at answering the following questions: Was the plan detailed enough and why? Could the plan be followed by someone else and why?

After having experience with the previous design cycles, therefore, after looking at  all the feedback I’ve gotten from past Plan stages, I think my task list is detailed and logical. And I’ve asked a few people whether they personally thought the plan could be followed, and they have all responded yes.

Evaluation Detailed reflection on learning and progress. What did you learn? What did you do well / not so well? What improvements would you make next time?

Because we were planning to interview a visitor of the chapel, we had to know when people will be visiting. With our prior knowledge of people visit churches on Sundays, we researched to find out what times will they visit on Sunday. Our results were: 8:30, 9:30 and 11:30. I think I did well in spreading out my jobs, this way I’ll be able to easily follow my plan. To improve for next year, I would like to find people who care more about my task list. The people I found, as mentioned in the Question Reflection, they read the task list for around 5 - 10 sec. and then said “yes”.

Work Cited

"Churches in Hong Kong." Weekday Masses. N.p., 28 Aug. 2005. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

<http://weekdaymasses.org.uk/en/area/hong-kong/churches>.