Browsed by
Category: General

Towers: an engineering journey

Towers: an engineering journey

Comments 0 Comment

For the last project in Science this year; a spaghetti tower. A common school sight, these towers were surprisingly difficult to design. We were tasked with creating a tower at least 60 cm tall, with a base of 30cm * 30cm maximum. The top of the tower had to be 5cm * 5cm, able to fit a piece of paper. Then, they had to be earthquake resistant. For this assessment, we were given $60, with one spaghetti stick costing $1, and one gram of blu-tack costing the same.

The process of designing these towers was one filled with challenges; from how to actually stick spaghetti together with blu-tack to how to stop the tower tipping over completely. We went with a triangular design in the end, with rotating equilaterals going up to the 60cm mark. We then added more rotated triangles on the bottom layer to give it more weight, stopping it from tipping over. In the end, our tower was substantially more stable than I thought was achievable, and was practically immune to the shaking table.

As this was a group project, well, we were in groups. For me, I went with Kevin T. and Sau Yu C. We worked efficiently and were organised between us; with each of us filling out our roles. Sau was the reporter: an important role, keeping the project on track to be finished by the time needed. He also did some testing at home, speeding along our prototype. I was our project manager and speaker, organising what each person needed to do and overseeing the design, as well as asking for help when needed. Kevin was the equipment manager; making sure we didn’t go over budget and keeping our project realistic.

Overall, this was a great project, and while it may seem daunting with a $60 budget, it’s easier than it sounds.

A Year 9 Achievement

A Year 9 Achievement

Comments 0 Comment

An achievement this year? When I was starting a plan for this, I couldn’t think of anything in specific. While I’m not doing badly this year, I don’t feel like I’m standing out. Though this is about school and learning, it shouldn’t just be about academic achievement and the like. So the achievement I’ll document will be learning to really listen and trying to learn.

In the past, my grades were fine; I was doing OK. The problem in school for me was that I didn’t really listen or try to learn as much as I could. I was content to sit on where I was at, not pushing for anything better. This year, thanks to some pushing from parents and teachers alike, I’ve adapted a different mindset towards learning and school. I feel like this is an achievement; I shouldn’t just treat school like a means to an end – it’s about learning, not results.

People say good things take time, and this one certainly did. It’s taken me almost a whole year to fully adapt to learning more effectively, and it was quite on and off (especially at the start). Over the time, important people in my life have helped (if unknowingly) me progress with this achievement and without them, I don’t think I would’ve done it myself. These people would be my parents, my teachers and even some of my friends. For this accomplishment, there was no set path, no set process. It was more like writing – starting was the hardest part, and from there, you have a certain flow to what you’re doing.

I feel a lot better when trying to learn and listen. Before, it felt like school was an enemy; an obstacle standing in my way. Now it’s more of an old friend; a helping hand. And, as a bonus, my grades have been improving over the year as well. Overall, there were definitely challenges, but the outcome was worth it. From here, I’ll try to improve my attitude to study (it’s still not my favourite) and improve my collaboration skills. But for now, I’m happy with what I’ve achieved in Year 9.

Letter to a MP

Letter to a MP

Comments 0 Comment

Why I chose this issue:

I feel that this is an issue that directly relates to me and my peers, and it also has a lot of weight. Here is the letter:

The letter:

13 May 2022

Mr Josh Wilson MP

PO Box 1224

Fremantle, WA, 6160

Dear Mr Josh Wilson MP,

I am writing this letter to ask you to implement a limit to the amount of homework given to students.

I am a resident of Western Australia, and I am very concerned about the negative impact of too much homework on students.

This pressure of homework can be detrimental to students in multiple ways:

Large amounts of homework can increase stress levels. This has been proven to cause students to get worse grades than before if homework levels are consistently above 80-90 minutes per day. This defeats the whole purpose of homework.

Too much homework also can negatively affect family time, as there is just not enough time to have fun with family. Family is one of the most important things in a student’s life, as strong family bonds help to build great self-esteem, confidence and teaches vital social skills. Instead of spending their time after school with their family, students are forced to do their homework every afternoon. This is the major factor decreasing the quality of family life.

Students are staying up all night to do homework, yet nothing is being said. Even if homework is used sparingly, there are two more points I would like to cover:

First, why is homework even necessary? How is it that students are at school for seven hours a day and still not learning enough that they must do hours of homework when they get home? If enough cannot be taught in seven hours, this is an incredibly inefficient system.

Second, teachers often believe that they are the only teacher giving homework to the student in question. This can stack up, often with students ending up with ten to twenty minutes of homework per subject. Six subjects a day can lead to a total of over two hours per day. Teachers have also been proven to underestimate the amount of homework given by up to 50%. Stating the obvious, this exceeds the eighty-minute stress mark by a large amount.

Once again, I ask you to consider putting a Homework Limit Law in place, as this issue affects the whole future generation, and those yet to come.

Yours sincerely,

Jarrah Gleadell.