RLA Complex Sentences

What is a complex sentence?
Complex sentences are made up of two 'clauses' that are joined. A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
           Dependent clauses- is similar to an independent clause, or a complete sentence, but it lacks one of the elements that would make it a complete sentence.

What are the different parts that make up a complex sentence?
1. Subordinating conjunction + dependent clause + comma + independent clauses
2. Independent clauses + subordinating conjunction + dependent clause (NO COMMA NEEDED)

What are the differences between complex sentences and compound sentences?
Compound:
- Contains two independent clauses joined by a FANBOY and comma
- Contains two independent clauses joined by a semi colon.
- The two halves could stand alone as individual sentences.

Complex:
- Contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
- A dependent clause does not express a complete thought and can't stand alone.
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5 sentence paragraph that uses both compound and complex sentences:

When Mary handed in her homework, she forgot to give Mrs. Johnson the last page.
Mrs. Johnson returned the homework, after she noticed the error.
When the bell rang, Mary ran to pack her backpack.
After she got on the moving bus, Mary realized that she had swim practice.
Mary has bad grades, because she studies at the noisy candy shop where she can't concentrate.
Mary likes to eat chocolate ice cream, but her friend likes Strawberry ice cream.
Mary was doing her homework when her computer crashed, so she lost all of her work.

Aquatic Tank- Guppies

Introduction
The guppy also known as million fish and rainbow fish, is one of the world's most widely distributed tropical fish, and is one of the most popular fresh water aquarium fish species. It is a member of the Poecilidae family and, like all other members of the family, is live-bearing. They are highly adaptable and thrive in many different environmental and ecological conditions. Male guppies are smaller than female guppies.

Guppy Needs
- Food: If you don't feed a guppy the right food then they could die. Guppies should be feed once a day:
Algae
Tubifex worms
Flake food
Brine shrimp
Bloodworms, micro worms, fruit flies, mosquito larvae, Daphnia and chopped up earthworms
- Light: The light should be on for 8-12 hours a day (timers are helpful).
- Temperature: Keep the tank at 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Space: Guppies need enough room to move around comfortably. They are speedy swimmers and like to dart back and forth, so plenty of space is important to their happiness and overall success. Figure on giving your fish about 2 gallons of water each. 
- Water: Guppies need dechlorinated water, changing 25% of it each week. Treat any water added to tank with water conditioner. pH and ammonia tests should be regular.

How will we meeting the guppies' needs
We will make sure that out tanks aren't too over crowded, and if they start to reproduce quickly then we will separate the guppies as sometimes the adult guppies eat the new borns. The diet of just tubifex worms does not allow full growth. Adults should be fed flake food and tubifex, and the young should be fed crushed up brine shrimp and flake food. We will also make sure that our pH and dissolved oxygen levels are regular and safe for the guppies to live in. We will also make sure that the guppies are fed once a day and have enough light (8-12) hours throughout the day. 

Guppies in its mini ecosystem
The main interaction is between the male and female guppies, they will be reproducing constantly creating a lot of fry (young guppies). The second interaction would be between the guppies and the tubifex worms-  guppies can feed off of tubifex worms. Other than this, there probably won't be much interaction with the guppies and the other factors in the tank (snails, elodea, duckweed, and gravel).  

How many guppies can I keep in my tank
When you're dealing with guppies, you should keep a proportion of three females per one male, or all one gender. I'm not sure how big our tank in school is, but the rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon. 

My Weekly Fitness Plan

MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
Dance class in school from 9:08-9:51am/ 43 minutes. We made warmed up to Ms. M’s tough warm up, practiced the dance she taught us, and worked on our own group dances. Play squash at my condo from 6-6:30pm/30 minutes with my Dad.	Dance class in school from 9:08-9:51am/ 43 minutes. We made warmed up to Ms. M’s tough warm up, practiced the dance she taught us, and worked on our own group dances. P.E. class starting at 11:39-1:02 pm. I will play badminton in P.E. class for about 80 minutes.	Dance class in school from 9:08-9:51am/ 43 minutes. We made warmed up to Ms. M’s tough warm up, practiced the dance she taught us, and worked on our own group dances. Play squash at my condo from 6-6:30pm/ 30 minutes with my Dad.	Dance class in school from 9:08- 9:51am/ 43 minutes. We made warmed up to Ms. M’s tough warm up, practiced the dance she taught us, and worked on our own group dances. Play squash at my condo from 6-6:30pm/ 30 minutes with my Dad.	Dance class in school from 9:08- 9:51am/ 43 minutes. We made warmed up to Ms. M’s tough warm up, practiced the dance she taught us, and worked on our own group dances. P.E. class starting at 1:37-3:00 pm. I will play badminton in P.E. class for about 80 minutes. Walked home briskly from Great World City. Walk home after being dropped off by the after school D bus. This is a 10 minute walk.	I went to Anisha's Birthday party where we went kayaking, boogie boarding, and paddle boarding  at the Mana Mana Beach Club East Coast. We did water sports from 4:00-6:30 pm/ 150 minutes.	Play squash at my condo from 2-3pm/ 60 minutes with my Dad.
Total active time: 73 minutes	Total active time: 123 minutes	Total active time: 73 minutes	Total active time: 73 minutes	Total active time: 133 minutes	Total active time: 150 minutes	Total active time: 60 minutes

1. Do you think you are getting enough exercise? Why or why not?

I think that I AM getting enough exercise each week. I try to exercise everyday for one hour. But, sometimes I'm not able to workout for one hour a day because of homework. Therefore, I make sure to a least exercise for 30 minutes a day. When I exercise I really try hard and give it my all, so it's not like I'm just sitting there while time passes. If I exercise properly for about one hour everyday properly, then I believe that I will get fitter and healthier.  What I also realized is that this week I tried exceptionally hard to get in one hour everyday of physical activity. Usually I only do physical activity after I've finished all my work. But, what I learnt is that doing physical activity everyday has its many benefits and I should always try to get at least 30 minutes a day, at least. This has really taught me a lot and has also persuaded me to change my day to day life style and making it more active. 

2. Check out the benefits of fitness document we have shared with you. What benefits of fitness do you hope to improve through your weekly fitness plan? Please list 3-5 benefits of fitness

1. Increased strength and stamina- in squash you need to have lots of strength to hit the ball hard, and stamina to keep on running from front to back to right to left, etc.

2. Makes body more agile- in squash you also need to be very light on your feet so that you can run quickly and hit the shots that are hard to hit. Whether it's drop shots or volleys you really need to run to hit the shots.

3. Enhances coordination and balance- in squash you need to have coordination when serving the ball and you ned to have balance when hitting the ball using your feet to stabilize you.

4. Improves athletic performance- since I'm going to start play squash competitively in June I will need my athletic performance to improve, so that I can start winning championships.

5. Enhances quality of sleep- I usually don't get a good amount of sleep, because I'm always up late finishing my homework. Furthermore, exercising everyday could help me finish my homework faster because after exercising your brain works better.

Mars Questions

Would you consider living on planet Mars?

No definitely not. I would hate to leave society and the modern world, to never come back, and to never see my family or friends again. I would be devastated to just leave planet Earth and never hear the new music, never hear about the current news/events, never see the newest of technology, and not finish my education. It would be a boring life, living on Mars. Truthfully, I find it hard to believe that 200,000 individuals would get onto a space ship in a heart beat taking them to Mars. These people would be stuck in Mars, never able to come back, and would be the only few living things on Mars. Adding onto that, the worst part about the one way ticket deal is that Mars could be a journey of death for them. What if the capsules aren't able to come to mars every two years and provide them with new people from Earth, and their needed resources. Then everyone would die, and I would not like to experience any of this. Also, the process of actually getting to Mars from Earth takes one whole year. I get fed up from flying in an airplane for more than 5 hours, I don't know how I would survive staying in a space shuttle for one whole YEAR!

What do you think it will take to support life there?

It will take the basic needs that people need to survive in Earth to support the people living in Mars. These basic needs are water, food, clothing, oxygen, shelter, and maybe when the community in Mars gets more developed even education. You can use water for bathing, cleaning, and cooking, agriculture, and drinking. Other things that are need to support the life of people in Mars are many plants that give oxygen to humans and take in carbon dioxide, and other human beings to help reproduce. They should also bring a couple of extra air tanks for extra air. To be more personal, people would need commitment and determination to live in Mars because it will be a hard process.

Biosphere collapsed due to too much concrete and ants. What do you predict could be the collapse of this ecosystem?

I think that the collapse of this ecosystem is not enough plants growing in Mars. As a result, there would not be enough soil, oxygen, or carbon dioxide on Mars. And without carbon dioxide plants can't grow, which means that people won't be able to breathe in oxygen. This will make breathing in Mars very difficult and hard to do. Furthermore, with such a harsh and inhumane living conditions in Mars, it will be very hard to survive. Therefore, the ecosystem in Mars might just collapse.

ITN Reflection and Goal Setting 2014

ITN Reflection and Goal Setting

"Anya,  Thanks for sharing about an interesting topic that I didn’t know about.  You really were an expert, and this allowed your classmates to clearly understand all of the complexities surrounding this interesting man.  I especially likes how you showed both the positive and negative aspects of Narendra Modi’s career so far.  It makes him human and provides us with a fuller picture of who he is.  A few suggestions for next time:  1)  Include maps that clearly show the parts of the world impacted, and 2)  Continue to work on controlled movement.  Very well done!" My comment written by Mr. Derksen.

A good ITN presentation includes being an expert in the topic so that you’ll be able to teach the class well and answer the question that you will be asked. You should also have every slide in your presentation showing the “show don’t tell method”, with no more than one sentence per slide. Lastly, you should have lots of evidence to back up your talking points and have reasoned perspectives that make sense.  

I really liked my presentation and think that I did well in it. One thing that I did well in was that I shared about a topic that not many people knew about, so I was able to teach them something new. I also really knew my topic well acting as an expert, which helped my classmates to clearly understand everything that I was teaching them. I had a big topic so I had a lot of teaching points and a lot to talk about. My topic also had its good and bad sides which made it more interesting and and fun to hear about. Narendra Modi, like everyone else, had a good and bad side, which made him more human and relatable to. I also presented my slides using the method “show don’t tell” with lots of pictures on each page. I also had lots of supporting evidence and details to backup my talking point and my perspectives. My perspectives were clear, understandable, and not surprising, basically, they made sense. Lastly, my class really learnt a lot from this because as were able to answer all the questions right.

But, there are also a couple of things that I would like to improve on. One thing that I made a mistake on was including detailed and real maps that clearly show the parts of the world impacted. What I did was put a picture of India with Narendra Modi’s picture in inside the country, I should’ve found a map of india that shows every place there.

Another thing I need to improve on is my controlled movement. Sometimes in my presentation I would sway or fidget my my clothes, which can sometimes be distracting to your audience.

During my next ITN I would like to improve in putting real and detailed pictures of the parts of the world impacted, not an animated or undetailed ones. This goal will be easy to achieve as all I have to do is remember to put the right pictures in my presentation and if I forget I will go over the rubric carefully making sure that I have all the criteria in my presentation.

I would also like to improve on controlling my movement. I will do this by practicing my presentation over and over again to my parents, friends, and family. They will critique me if I’m fidgeting about, by the time this is over I will be about to control my movement better when I present. Therefore, this goal is achievable as long as I practice, because practice makes perfect!

Wet Market Field Trip

Today my class and I went on a field trip to a wet market near our school. We saw many types of fruits, spices, and flowers, but by the time we reached the wet market the vegetable shop was closed.

The first thing that I learnt about was a fruit called dragon fruit. Dragon fruits come in three colors: yellow, purple, and white. The dragon fruits are called dragon fruits because they have scales that look like "dragon" scales. Dragon fruits have lots and lots of seeds. Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya fruit, is among the most nutritious and wonderful exotic fruits. It features a light sweet taste and other vital minerals with varied nutritional ingredients. Recent findings show that if an obese person eats a Pitaya fruit it naturally reduces the weight considerably. The Pitaya fruit  is the fruit of several cactus species and only blooms at night. The seed dispersal of dragon fruits happen with the relationship of animals. The dragon fruit has spiky scales that keep away certain predators, but it also is quite attractive in color which attracts animals. Animals eat from this fruit and then they move about to new place far away from the place where they first ate the dragon fruit and poo out the dragon fruit seeds.

I also learnt a lot about the spice called star anise or also known as illicium verum. This spice is the seed pod of an evergreen tree grown in northeast southwestern China. The star-shaped fruit is picked just before ripening. Star anise is about one inch high and is a dark brown rust color. Star anise has a licorice taste, smell nice, shaped like a star, and has spiky edges. Star anise can be used in cooking and medical uses. Because the edges one the star anise are spiky they have good seed dispersal. The spiky edges of the anise get stuck to the fur of animals and then the seeds are placed into a new environment where they can get lots of sunlight. This will only happen when an animal shakes of the seed or the seed just falls off.

The last fruit I learnt about is called jackfruit. Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit reaching as much as 80 pounds in weight, 36 inches in length, and 30 inches in diameter. You can also see hexagon based thorns on the skin of a jackfruit, and the thorns become smoother when the fruits ripen. Jackfruits can be made into canned fruits and cooked as vegetable when unripe. There are two types of jackfruit- the yellowish/golden one and the green one. The yellowish/golden jackfruit tastes sweet, tender, and refreshing. This type of jackfruit is liked the most. Because jackfruits are very spiky it protects its self from unwanted predators. The jackfruit is too big and heavy to stick onto an animals fur. Once an animal eats the jackfruit it goes somewhere else and disposes of the seeds by pooping them out. The animal poops out these jackfruit seeds in a totally different place from before.


There are many reasons why there are so many different types of fruits, vegetables, and spices on Earth. I think that one of the reasons is that all animals, like people, have different tastes buds and likes and dislikes. Therefore, if there was only one fruit or vegetable on earth some animals might not like this fruit or vegetable and the seed dispersal won't work that well, and soon the fruit or vegetable might become extinct. Another way that the fruit or vegetable would become distinct is if the animal that helps reproduce this type of fruit or vegetable became extinct. This would mean that there would be no third wheel helping the plant reproduce. Furthermore, it is good that mother nature has made a variety of fruits, vegetables, and spices.

Researched Based Persuasive Essay Reflection

In class we had to write a researched based persuasive essay on whatever we feel passionate about. I chose to write about child beauty pageants. My claim was that these child pageants are bad and should be banned for young kids below the age of 18 years. 

I got a pretty good grade in my research based persuasive essay, but there are a couple components of my essay that stood out to me. Firstly, I did well in writing detailed and paragraphs containing with lots of evidence. These facts made my essay more persuasive and believable. But, I still kept a balance between the ethos, pathos, and logos, because without emotion my essay would just be boring. Not to mention, I also did a good job in constructing my paragraphs in different ways, not just the normal quote sandwich every time, like a robot. Usually you would right a paragraph containing a quote in the format- who, quote, warrant, interpretation. The ethos and logos would come in the "who and quote" and the pathos would come in the "interpretation". What I discovered is that you could start of with a warrant if you wanted or an interpretation, you just need to be creative and step outside of the box. Lastly, I also wrote a strong counterargument. My counterargument had an equal amount of evidence for both the pros and cons of child pageantry. After stating the pros of child pageantry I did a good job rejecting my counterargument using lots of evidence. 

During the period of time that I got to write my essay I learnt tons of new things in class. Moreover, I learnt what a warrant is. A warrant is basically a general rule. Warrants can be used before interpreting a quote or an place in the "quote sandwich". A warrant states a general rule that applies to the quote, this rule can put emphasis on the quote or have your audience to persuaded towards a certain direction. Secondly, I also learnt how to use effective and proper transitional words throughout my researched based persuasive essay. Before learning this I knew the normal transitional words like: firstly, secondly, thirdly, adding on to that, furthermore, moreover, etc. But I learnt new and more complex transitional words that make you sound smarter and more persuasive. Correspondingly, I learnt how to structure my writing differently and not to use the same format over and over again like a robot. Before learning this the majority of paragraphs in my essay followed this format: who said it, quote, warrant, and then interpretation. Every paragraph went like this and after a while it just got boring. That's when I learnt to sometimes put the warrant or interpretation first, or to end with the quote. Furthermore, I learnt that having evidence is very good but having too much evidence is bad. I tend to write A LOT usually and this time I had lots and lots of evidence and barely any pathos (emotion). So, I went back into my work and found the most important evidence that needed to be in my essay and deleted the evidence that was just taking up space. This made my piece more interesting and less boring.

I might've turned out with a wonderful essay that I'm very proud of, but there were bumps in the road. The main thing that I really messed up on with this essay was my timing. Towards the end of semester 1 I had lots of tests and projects due and I was up everyday of the last week till like midnight or later to try to finish everything. The night before my essay was due I science rock project was also due. I worked on my rock project for more than six hours straight. After working on my rock project I started to work on my editing my essay. By the time I finished everything it must've been 3 o'clock in the morning.