For our science topic of Earth and space science, we had to construct tower out of spaghetti and blu tack that could resist Primary and Secondary waves (earthquake waves). The tower had to be at least 60cm tall with a maximum base of 30x30cm, and the most challenging part, the cost had to be below $60 with each spaghetto costing $1, and one gram of blu tack costing $1.

I think we could have been able to create a better tower if we created multiple strategies. By seeing through one design, we ignore the other features we could have used, such as shear walls. We could have improved the process by trying multiple different designs, and combine the best aspects of each design to make a singular design.

For this investigation I was in group of two, with myself being the project manager and speaker, with my partner being the equipment manager and reporter. I was project manager because of my ability to adapt to different scenarios, such as when our tower started falling during construction. I was speaker because I had more connections with outside experts, and I had more experience with communication. My partner was reporter because they had more experience in organising timelines and time management, so they kept us on track with deadlines. They were equipment manager because of their organisational skills.

Introduction

For the transition of the class of 2026 from our Year 8 Tutor Groups to our House Tutor Groups, we held a transition ceremony, including the presentation of the Year group’s Project X (Visual Art, Media, Dance, Drama, Music) Performances. The festival with the presentation of Project X performances was called the “Illuminate Festival”. My chosen Project X subject was Visual Art, which presented stunning piñatas.

Inspiration

Our main inspiration for this project was Roberto Benavidez’s masterful piñatas. His work was influenced by Heironymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”.

Planning

My partner and my original idea was a hippocampus, a creature from Greek Mythology that is a mix of a horse and a fish. It has the body structure (sizing) of a horse, arm limbs like a horse besides the area where the hooves would have been which is fin. The mane is webbed (in our interpretation), they have no legs, and the tail is webbed. To make it more than just a fish-horse, we decided to add horns from a reindeer. For the colour scheme, we wanted to find quite contrasting colours that work together. This would make it stand out more next to other piñatas. We started with a silvery-white body, blue and yellow fins, and golden horns. We later progressed into adding golden streaks of colour in random positions to make it more interesting. In the future I think I would have added more colours as the silvery-white body overpowered the other colours as it was the majority of the piñata.

Creating the Piñata

To construct out Piñata, we had to go multiple steps. This included connecting both laser cut sides of our piñata together, gluing paper, painting, and gluing on lights and pom-poms.

Laser Cutting, Sticky Tape and Gesso

Once we had designed and sent off out outline of our creature, we received two copies of our laser cut design. Our next step was to stick cardboard (flimsy roll of cardboard)on the outline of the laser cut design.

After sticky taping both laser cut designs to the flimsy cardboard, we had to reinforce the connection by applying gesso. The gesso had to cover all surfaces of the piñata because the gesso was used for strengthening the connection, as well as priming the cardboard for paint and glue.

Gluing on Paper & Painting

After gluing on all of the paper, we had to paint the sides of the piñata. It probably would have been better to paint the piñata before sticking on the paper, but originally we planned on doing all of the sides of the piñata with paper. We weren’t able to carry through these plans due to time restrictions. We decided to paint the sides metallic grey so it would fit well with the metallic paper, but in my opinion it blended too well, taking away variation of colour. Next time I would have probably chosen a light metallic blue to give more contrast, making the piñata more interesting.

Gluing on Pom-Poms and Lights

We started gluing on the pom-poms around the whole piñata. My partner and I weren’t sure about the pom-poms due to the massive contrast in colour between the grey, yellow and blue of the piñata, and the reds and pinks of the pom-poms. After sticking them on, we thought that it did work with the piñata. We also thought that the multicolour lights wouldn’t work (same reason the pom-poms wouldn’t work). It turned out it did work with the pom-poms.

Final Piñata and Group Shots

Introduction

The Biggest Things I Learnt while Completing this Task

That alcohol can cause a lot of different cancers such as liver, mouth, throat, voice box, oesophagus, colon, and rectum cancer. It can cause psychosis which is the conditions of being unable to distinguish real from unreal (hallucination kind of thing). Alcohol can make the gag reflex stop working, which in turn can lead to suffocation by choking on vomit. The gag reflex helps vomit to stay out of the body when it is vomited out. Being deprived of the gag reflex can be deadly. Alcohol directly affects the brain and nervous system. Alcohol can block pathways in which the brain sends signals to the rest of the body, or that the body sends to the brain. This makes it harder for the brain to control things like speech, memory or good judgement. This causes a higher risk of injuries anywhere. The effects of alcohol take place within 5-10 minutes. I thought that the effects took place within 20-30 minutes rather than a short time like 5-10 minutes. This can cause an even higher risk of injuries, as more alcohol comes into effect faster. Alcohol can cause acute problems. Being an acute problem means that effects rapidly appear and would need medical attention. Examples of these are strokes, blackouts and heart attacks. Alcohol can causes a higher risk of breast cancer in women.

The Advice I would pass down to Young Teenagers

A Pledge that I will Commit to

I pledge that if I start drinking at the legal age of 18, I will not binge drink or be pressured to drink a more than I would want to. I will only drink in moderation and will avoid drinking if possible.

I chose to commit to these things because I feel they cover most topics that I am worried about, or think are most important. Of course if I do decide to drink, it should be at the legal age of 18, and in moderation. As I have learnt from this task, binge drinking or just drinking can lead to unwanted results. Of course, the best way to go is to not drink at all. Not drinking alcohol makes me avoid all risks of alcohol. A big factor that makes people get into drinking is peer pressure. If I can’t be swayed by peer pressure, than it would make it easier for me to make the decision not to drink/to drink in moderation.

I will stick to these commitments by reminding myself of the impact alcohol can have on the body, and that even though it is only a possibility, I should not take that chance.

Introduction

Our task was to choose a problem in Australia that we are particularly passionate about and to write a formal letter to our representative regarding the problem. I choose the topic of coral bleaching in Western Australia, and wrote to my Federal representative, Ben Morton.

I choose this topic because love to visit Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia and would hate to them the bleached, as it would take away the sense of wonder. The Great Barrier Reef has already experienced coral bleaching, and Ningaloo Reef has started. It is so much better to take action while coral bleaching has started so that it can’t progress further.

The Letter

Katherine Kucharski

All Saint’ College

Ewing Avenue

Bullcreek WA 6149 

13 May 2022

Hon Ben Morton MP

PO Box 329

Willetton, WA, 6155

Dear Mr Morton,

I, a year eight student from All Saints’ College, am writing to inform you of the issue of coral bleaching in Western Australia, and respectfully requesting that you take action.

As a visitor of the astounding Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, I am concerned about preserving the good health of this and other reefs as I would hate to see them bleached like some of the coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Only around 7% of coral reef in the Great Barrier reef has avoided coral bleaching. Most of the Western Australian coral has been unaffected, but we must act now.

Coral bleaching is a result of multiple causes.

1. Warmer waters. Warmer waters stress out the algae that give it its colour. The algae can be forced to leave the coral, draining it of its colour. The algae helps the coral make cleaner waters, coral is like the trees of the sea. Coral actually produces more oxygen than trees, supplying around 50% of the world’s oxygen. Without the algae, it produces no oxygen, and is more susceptible to diseases which can destroy the coral. Coral reefs can’t easily recover from destroyed coral. It takes around 100 000 to 300 000 years to fully form again.
2. Runoff and pollutants. Even the wrong type of fertiliser can destroy reefs. Storm precipitation can dilute coral waters, and runoff can carry pollutants which can bleach the coral near the shore. Pollutants need to be reduced from going into waters or coral bleaching can rapidly increase in Western Australia.

You might be wondering, why should we worry.

It would be bad for tourism. I know that quite a lot of people go to Exmouth to visit the amazing reefs. If they no longer existed, tourism would heavily decrease for Exmouth, which would negatively impact the economy.

There would be shortages of fish. It’s estimated that 25% of fish live in reefs, which is also around 4000 species of fish. Without coral reefs to support the needs of the fish, the fish will exit the reef in search of another. The problem with that is that there might not be many unbleached reefs left, and some of the fish require reefs for certain parts of their lifecycle. That would reduce the amount of fish available for fishing. According to the United Nations, around one billion people globally depend on coral reefs for their food and livelihood. It wouldn’t be surprising if the fish population reduced and this would affect the livelihoods of many fishermen.  

Lastly, reefs could be the key to a medical breakthrough. By researching corals’ natural defences, it could provide more treatments for diseases like cancer. The coral reefs being bleached can put us a step back in medicine and could delay the possibility of saving lives.

There are already many reefs around the world, and Australia, that have been heavily affected by coral bleaching.

I’m requesting that you take action to save the reefs for current and future generations of Western Australians. Please could you consider the following options to prevent coral bleaching.

Global warming is the main cause of the warmer waters that result in coral bleaching. To reduce global warming, there are multiple options.

1. Promoting electric vehicles. Electric cars are much more sustainable than fossil fuel cars, as fossil fuels are non-renewable resources and won’t last forever. We will have to eventually switch to electric cars, but it’s better to start now, so we can reduce our carbon footprint. You could provide subsidies for people purchasing electric cars. Or you could increase taxes on fossil fuel cars.
2. For fossil fuel vehicles, you should bring in laws to check and reduce vehicle emissions.
3. An alternative would be more electric/magnetic powered public transport. Maglev trains exist and are sustainable. They are cleverly designed to transport many people without causing noise or air pollution.
4. Close down coal fired power stations. I think we should move away from coal power towards renewable energy. So, more needs to be done to install a) renewable energy generating schemes like wind, solar and wave energy, b) batteries, c) improve the electricity grid and d) provide subsidies for home owners to instal solar panels on their roofs.

There are more strategies, but these are the ones that impact global warming in Australia the most.

I’m really hopeful that you will take this into consideration for our generation and beyond. So I ask you to please, reduce our global warming to save the reefs of Western Australia.

Yours sincerely,

Katherine Kucharski

Introduction

In this project, we had to make a video addressing the idea of “change”. For this project, my group (Leah W, Saskia C and I) and I chose the idea of climate change. Our idea was choosing an animal affected by climate change, polar bears, and making them be in pain, people would want to know how they die, so they would be inclined to listen.

Story Board

Chain of events:

• Someone (a) sees polar bear on ice berg
• Someone (b) else comes and freaks out
• Last person (c) comes in and says that they will all eventually die
• a & b are surprised and ask how they die
• c explains climate change
• c says air cons kill polar bears
• a starts crying, b is shocked
• c says it isn’t true but goes towards killing polar bears
• b finds solution to reducing emissions
• advertises WWF
• End

Organisation

To help our group get our video done on time, we gave each-other certain roles. I was given the task of the story board and some researching. Leah was given the role of writing the script and some researching. Saskia wasn’t at school for two or so lessons, so she didn’t have to do any researching. Instead we all agreed on Saskia doing the editing of the video once we finished recording.

We all had opportunities to share ideas with each other as it felt like a safe space to do so. Everyone ended up contributing ideas to the final product. Saskia and Leah brought oodies to use (Saskia’s idea), Leah wrote the script so therefore adding her ideas, and I was the first one who proposed the idea of doing polar bears drowning.

If we were to do this project again, I think we could have decided on an idea earlier as we didn’t really know what we should do. It would have saved time and given us more time to do things like make the storyboard or write the script. Overall our organisation was pretty good.

Disagreements

We didn’t have any disagreements during this project. Choosing an idea wasn’t really a disagreement because we didn’t have many ideas that we wanted to do.

A reason that we didn’t have a disagreement could be because we had somewhat similar personalities and agreed on pretty much everything. We were allowed to choose our own groups, resulting in this.

Finishing the project

We managed to finish our project on time. We did have a few technical difficulties in sending the edited video from Saskia’s phone to our computers, but we managed to find a way to do it. Originally, we finished the second last lesson, but we received feedback of our science being wrong, and had to use a voice over and cut out the original speech. But in the video it sounds ok.

If I were to repeat this project again, I’m not sure what I would change as it went quite well. I would probably get the speech checked before we recorded as we wouldn’t have to use voice overs for mistakes. We could probably make it simpler as well since I’m not sure if everyone would understand the science terms, as it’s meant for all audiences.

Overall I think this project was a success and my group and I worked well together.

Introduction

Brutalist style art is a style commonly overlooked and forgotten.

Some disregard it for its bold looks, or its full concrete body. In this project, we looked further into the brutalist style, by making a LEGO sculpture.

Designing/Making

In our designing process, we made a LEGO sculpture. This LEGO sculpture was supposed to be glued down to a piece of wood. We would then glue core-flute to the wooden board, making walls around the LEGO. Then we would pour water in and out to find the volume of the box. Once measured, we would pour half the amount of white, half the amount of pink pinkysil. Hastily but carefully, we would pour the pinkysil into the mould and let it set. Next lesson we would take out the pinkysil mould and take the LEGO out of it. The next few lessons we would pour concrete, creating our mould.

It sounded like it would take time, but be easy enough. Boy was I wrong.

I decided to just pour once I truly looked at the amount of glue around my structure (around 6 hot glue gun sticks). We had to be quick when mixing/pouring because it can set quite fast.

The next lesson, I “enjoyed” the hassle of taking the mould out of my glue monstrosity. This was tough as the amount of glue really sealed the walls together. I just managed to take it out using fingernails and muscles. That lesson, I poured concrete into my mould and let it set for the rest of the lesson. I somehow took it out next time without breaking it! I continued to pour concrete until getting to write this reflection.

• 

Capabilities

Problem solving:

I had to use problem solving in this project. Without problem solving, I wouldn’t have be able to solve the mystery water leaks that randomly appear, or learn that making tape is a big no-no for mould making. Without problem solving, I probably would not have been able to adjust the wall sizes as well. Problem solving played a big part in this project and I wouldn’t have been able to complete the project without it.

Collaborative:

I used collaboration skills in this project as I had to get help and help others. In this project, I did have quite a bit of trouble with the hot glue gun sealing. Without help from a friend, I wouldn’t have gotten to the stage I did. They knew and saw all the little holes the water was pouring from and played a big part in doing my mould. Some others also came for help for the exact same reason or taking out their mould, measurements for the walls, or pinysil pouring. I think that everyone used collaboration skills in this project.

Creativity:

Creative skills had to be used in this project. Creativity had to be used for making the LEGO sculpture. Without creativity, the LEGO sculpture would probably just look like a big block of concrete and who would want to look at that? Creativity made mine, and others’ sculptures interesting and unique. Without creatiivity, this project would have been boring and plain.

Conclusion

I think that this project was ok. Compared to last year this project was quite boring as I prefer drawing and painting compared to making moulds. I also prefer making clay figures or even making a more interesting and complex mould. The LEGO was a bit boring to make a sculpture of as it’s just bricks with small cylinders at the top. Last year we did paintings of cake which I find more interesting. This project might have been a bit boring, but was better then other things.

Task 1: House of Values

Value 1: Rational

Rational is being able to make logical decisions or believe that there is a reason for all things happening. I value this because people make random decisions based on nothing. I angers me that people don’t make logical decisions and do something random. I think that rational is an important value for life and any work. Even if you don’t know something, making a rational decision is better than nothing. I think rationality is an important value for myself and others.

Value 2: Reliability

Ever had an assigned piece of work in a group task which you assign to a teammate and they don’t complete it? That’s the opposite of reliability, and something I find quite annoying. I sometime count on people being reliable, of which they commonly don’t follow through. I think that if you are being relied on, you should be the reliable person and do whatever it is. Reliability is an important value to all as it helps others think of yourself as trustworthy, which I find important.

Value 3: Curiosity

Curiosity leads to most of my other values. Out of my 12 core values, it leads to around half of them. Curiosity is an important value. Can you imagine never asking a question? Without curiosity, you would never find out or do many of the things that you have done in the past. Without curiosity, even the simplest things like fire would have probably never been discovered. People having curiosity makes them different from others because their curiosity led to different experiences from different opportunities. Someone without curiosity would be boring and probably too scared to do anything. I think that curiosity is one of the most important value in myself and others.

Task 2: Role Models

Michelle Obama

Q1: What behaviours does this person demonstrate to show that they are healthy?

Michelle Obama constantly displays determination and ambition. An example would be her numerous campaigns to give more help (education etc.) to girls and other children. Michelle had the ambition of them getting more help for others, and was determined to make it happen. She got it done instead of waiting around and it worked in some countries. This is healthy behaviour as she is helping others who need help. 

Q2: What do they look like? Are they healthy? How do you know?

Michelle Obama does look healthy. In most photos that I’ve looked at, she Is smiling in a kind way, compared to unhealthy models, which you can tell are fake smiling. She has that twinkle in her eye and she always looks like she is enjoying herself. Relating to the last point, she looks very grateful for where she is and what she’s doing.

Q3: What message does this person promote? Why is it inspiring and healthy?

Michelle Obama promotes awareness about poverty awareness, education for people, nutrition, physical activity and healthy eating. This can be proven by the campaigns she has made for it. This is healthy behaviour as it promotes healthy behaviour in others which helps them for the better, promoting positive changes. It is inspiring as she is trying to change others’ lives for the better by raising money and is non-profitable. Michelle Obama has promoted healthy changes in others’ lives, which makes her inspiring and healthy.

Q4: Why should young people look up to this person as a role model?

Because she is changing strangers’ lives for better. She shows kindness towards others’ and is the first African-American women Lady in power in the white house. This makes her a great role model as It shows that anything can be accomplished as at the time it seemed impossible for any African-Americans to be able to get into the White House, let alone become Lady in Power. Her values also contribute as she is compassionate and charisma. She is probably more of a role model to young women as she also promotes women’s’ rights. Michelle Obama’s amazing qualities makes her a brilliant role model.

Q5: Thinking back to your House of Values activity, what values does this person demonstrate?

Michelle Obama shows many different positive qualities. Because we used 12 values in our house of values, I’ve decided to use 12 for Michelle.

1. Compassion
2. Empathy
3. Confident
4. Determination
5. Honesty
6. Faith
7. Love
8. Independence
9. Freedom
10. Health
11. Resilience
12. Self-Respect

Vladimir Putin

Q1: What behaviours does this person demonstrate to show that they are unhealthy?

Vladimir Putin is obviously an unhealthy role model. This can be proven by the biggest point, the war against Ukraine. He is greedy, wanting more land and for Russia to prosper while heartlessly ruining innocent people’s lives. He seems to think of some other countries/organisations as threats. This has been seen by his actions towards the expansion of NATO to Russia. Since Putin has entered the Russian Government, he has enforced a law against protesting which demolishes the populations’ freedom of speech. Vladimir Putin has displayed aggressive and restrictive behaviour which shows that he is an unhealthy role model.

Q2: What do they look like? Do they look unhealthy? How do you know?

At first glance, Vladimir Putin doesn’t look too bad until you see the smug smirk or angry/unhappy face. To me, he has the I-don’t-really-care-because-I’m-better-than-you look on his face. He seems like the kind of person who would ignore what you say because he strongly believes in his point and nothing can change his mind. I later found this to be true as his government is a dictatorship (one person controls everyone). His face always looks puffed up which in itself looks unhealthy, like he constantly has a cold. In some pictures he is quite pale while in others he is red in the face. After looking through pictures of Putin, he does look quite unhealthy.

Q3: What message does this celebrity promote? Why is it unhealthy?

Vladimir Putin promotes the greatness of Russia and communism. Communism is one of those things that has a good aim, but isn’t presented in the right way. Communism is about equality. Sounds good, except for a few things like equal pay. Can you imagine a neurologist (treats brain diseases), a life saving person earning the same as a cleaner if they both try? It doesn’t seem right does it. I think that communism isn’t a good system and that promoting it would be unhealthy behaviour. Putin also promotes Russia. Doesn’t sound bad because he cares about the safety of the country. Well what if he destroys and takes over other countries. It doesn’t sound good that way. As seen in Ukraine, he is willing to do that to “make Russia great  again”. Vladimir Putin is displaying unhealthy behaviour by doing this. Vladimir Putin displays unhealthy behaviour by trying to make Russia great and promoting communism.

Q4: Do you think young people should look up to this person as a role model? Why or why not?

I don’t think that young people should look up to Vladimir Putin. People before have been pretty much brainwashed by leaders of country like Adolf Hitler, which we all should know is one of the worst role models to have. His aggressive nature is not something to look up to, really it should be avoided. Some of his decisions are questionable at best. Him being a dictator doesn’t help. Being a dictator means he gets what he wants, when he wants. It’s like being a baby with attentive parents. Most dictators use cruel methods to stay in government, like how Vladimir Putin passed a law on fining and arresting protesters. Who would want a role model who took away people’s power to talk (pretty much). This behaviour could have been influenced by his years as a commander in the KGB (Russian Security Agency). In conclusion, Vladimir Putin isn’t a good role model for anyone, let alone young people.

Q5: Is everything you hear, read or see in the media true? Discuss.

Definitely not. Reporters/writers sensationalise stories, reports and news. Sensationalising something means they make it interesting and exciting, and not necessarily true. They need money so maybe they’ll make that a bit more exaggerated and if someone did something they haven’t truly done, it would make their story better which is more money, so why shouldn’t they. In countries like Russia (mainly dictatorships), news etc it controlled. So it can definitely be changed and misshaped to make the public believe something completely different. It might go from “Vladimir Putin Kills Innocent Ukrainian” to “Ukrainian Almost Kills Vladimir Putin”. Big difference by rearranging words. In conclusion, anything that you hear, read or see in the media might not be true. 

During Media in year 7 (2021), we were tasked with making an advertisement of our own product. Our group decided to base our advertisement off an imaginary energy drink called Energo (based off words energy-go).

1. Planning Process

First we chose our groups. I was with Saya, Felicity and Ella. We decided for our advertisement to go with an energy drink which we named Energo (Energy-Go). We took inspiration from Powerade and Gatorade. We all agreed on this as it can be advertised in many different ways. We started with the needs, fears and desires and then worked on the script. We came up with two characters and made a story. In the story, one character bullies the other character and has a race to stop the bullying.

2. Filming Process

Our filming process didn’t go well. One of our group members got sick. We needed them to film because they were one of the main characters. A big problem was that we had different uniforms on different days. On Tuesday we wear formal, and on Thursdays we wear house uniform. This is weird for our advertisement as they change into formal from house when they have the race. Next time, we could have tried to film it smoother. In the running scene, the filming was very shaky. An alternative would be using a camera with a tripod that had wheels on it.

3. Post Production Process

For our editing, we used Premiere Pro. We used functions like “in” and “out” on videos and on music. We softened some parts on the music to be able to hear the speech. We used voice overs and cropped music.

My team’s Premiere Pro wasn’t working because of the update at the time. Since I almost never update my adobe programs, mine was the only one that worked. Although, there was the problem of mine glitching and not being able to close down for a while. Next time I would have tried to learn how to use Premiere Pro earlier.

4. Overview

I thought that this project helped us improve our camera and editing skills. It helped us realise what makes ads good and their 3 things that make an ad. We are all very happy with our end result.

We all need to work on our editing and video skills. As I have stated, the video skills can improve as it was quite shaky. We weren’t very good at editing as we had almost never used Premiere Pro before.

In conclusion, the Media Project helped our skills grow and made us realise the effort and elements needed to make a great ad.