ELA Component
#1
Date: September 5, 2013
Today, I chose the PBL experiment I am going to do. It seems like it a fun and interesting experiment. I am in 10th grade and my PBL project deals with chemistry concepts. The project title is called Old Foamy, and it is similar to an experiment called Elephant Toothpaste. The experiment deals with basic chemistry concepts such as chemical reactions and catalysts. I am very excited to do this experiment this year. I have the PBL kit for this experiment, and I will use it to conduct my experiment.
#2
Date: September 12, 2013
Today, I began making my PBL website. This was a challenge for me because I am not the best with computers. Even though it was a new concept for me, I made my website with the help of the instructions that were provided to me. I only have the beginning part of my website done, and it has been shared with my chemistry, english, and social studies teachers. Learning how to make a website was fun yet challenging. I am happy that I learned how to do something new, and it will probably help me when I get older.
#3
Date: October 25, 2013
Today, I made the background research page of my website. I researched the main components of my project to put in by background research. I also looked up how the chemical reaction takes place during the experiment. I also got the main concepts that are associated with this experiment. During this coming week, I am going to be choosing my ELA and Social Studies components for my project. Also, I will be creating the pages for these two components. This will happen during the same week.
#4
Date: November 5, 2013
Today, I did the about my school page on my website. On this page, I wrote about my school. I also wrote about the programs that are being offered after school that are related to math and science. I also wrote my About My PBL project page. This page includes stuff about my PBL project. It has all of the components of my project in it. There is my question, list of materials, pictures, and other things too.
#5
Date: November 30, 2013
Today, I posted my Social Studies connection to my website. For my Social Studies connection, I compared my PBL experiment to a concept in history. I compared my project to population explosion because it can be used as a model to show what happened when the population explosion did happen in history. The ELA component I am doing is the journal entries. I will be posting it a few weeks after I complete the journal entries. In these journal entries, I am writing about all of the things that I am doing for my experiment.
#6
Date: December 15, 2013
Today, I found out I will be doing my experiment at the STEM expo at my school. It will be taking place in January, but I was informed about it today. The STEM expo is going to be during the middle school science fair that is going to be at my school. During the past weeks, I have been updating my website. My chemistry teacher has been informing me about what to change, and I have improved the pages of my website. Also, I am going to be preparing for the STEM expo. It is after the break, so I have enough time to do it.
#7
Date: January 10, 2014
During the last week, I participated in my school’s STEM expo. It was very fun, a it was also very informative. I did my experiment for many students and parents, along with some teachers. They were very impressed by how my experiment worked. I explained how the reaction occurs and the scientific principle behind it. Many students wanted to touch it, but I had to warn them not to because it could burn their skin. Also, I will be filming my experiment during the next few weeks.
#8
Date: January 29, 2014
During the past few days, I have began my PBL video. I video taped it last week after school, and now I am making it into movie. I am recording over the video with a microphone. The recording is kind of challenging because my mic stopped working, but I had to get another one. Also, I am not really familiar with using Movie Maker, so it is taking me longer than it should. The video includes all of the things about my project. It includes the ELA connection along with the Social Studies connection. Also, the video of the experiment is in it.
#9
Date: February 15, 2014
In the last two weeks, I finished my video. The video actually turned out pretty well, and it was worth the time I spent on it. The video still hasn’t been uploaded onto my website, but I will be doing it during the following week. Also, I have started doing my brochure. It is very simple and I plan on finishing it tomorrow. These past few weeks have been very hectic because I have been trying to update my website, and a lot of the due dates are coming up. Even though this is a problem, I have been able to finish everything on time.
#10
Date: February 21, 2014
All in all, these last few months in my chemistry class have been focused on PBL project. Yesterday, I finally have finished all of my PBL tasks. These tasks have challenged me in many ways, but they have also taught me a lot. My project was also very educational for me. It helped me understand the chemistry concepts in a simple way. Also, PBL has also given me more opportunities. It gave me the chance to participate in the STEM expo, giving me the chance to show everyone my experiment.