Category: Projects

English 2023

Posted on by Ryan Rakuscek

Achievements

This year in English I think have done better than I did last year with writing, I think I’ve done better at paragraphing, and using TEEL. I also think become better at answering the question how it was supposed to be answered, answering the question right.

Process

I got better at writing by having tutoring lessons, and spending more time paying attention to my editing. I had been doing the tutoring lesson for a few years and has helped me get better at writing and English in general. So I could answer the questions properly I read over the question and in some of the test I highlighted the important parts or the things I needed to focus on. I also read over the question a few times to get in my head what I needed to answer and how I was supposed to do that.

How I Felt

During tutoring it was very boring and most of the time I didn’t feel like it was helping anything and I was thinking it was a waste of time. By reading over the question a few times and highlighting I found that it would take longer and in some of the more time consuming test like the essays it could be stressful making it harder to finish the test, but for the more short or long answer test where there is more time for planning the rereading the question is useful to answer the question properly.

Where to from here

My next goal is to right more for my answers so I can get more marks for my work. I can do this by planning out what needs to be written, and then I can write more about it. Once I have written more I will need to also edit it which means I need more time do that so I will need to write quicker.

Reflection of the Spaghetti tower

Posted on by Ryan Rakuscek

Summary of Spaghetti Tower Earthquake Project

I this project we were tasked to make a tower out of spaghetti and bluetack. We had to only use limited amount which could total to $60. One piece of spaghetti is $1 a one gram of bluetack is $1.

During the project we designed what we were going to make, and an estimate of how much of the materials we needed to use.

After we had finalized a design we started to create a prototype. During our prototype we struggled to get it tall enough, with the structure being to unstable to hold the weight of the full height. So because of this we slightly modified our design to make it more structurally strong.

After we finished building the prototype we put it on the shake table. Then we videoed it being shook. It did well and did not fall or break.

For our second prototype we had to change the design so the bluetack was attached to the bottom and was by its self. Once that was done we did the shake test on that design. It did well too and didn’t break in any way.

Engineering Process

Our engineering process in this project included us making the designs and tweaking it to keep it stable. We used lots of triangles in the building structure to keep it stable. We also used beams that connected half way up the tower to the bottom to add extra support and to stop the structure from turning and spinning.  We also change designs slightly to have a square base but still having triangles going up on the wall parts.

Roles in this project

In the project the roles that were all were eh bluetack person who would attach the blutack to the spaghetti. Then there was the person that got the spaghetti ready to attach and then there was the assembler who would put the ready parts together.

This was my experience of making the spaghetti tower.  

Alcohol Health Assessment reflection

Posted on by Ryan Rakuscek

The biggest thing I learned was about alcohol law because that was the part that I was researching. I learnt about other things from other groups like the effects of drinking when you are driving through the Mario cart game with hard-to-see-through glasses. I also learnt about how Australia is the heaviest drinking country in the world through another group.

My advice would be not to drink at all or ever because of the effects it has on you and how it can cause accidents, so by not drinking alcohol, you don’t have the risk of an accident happening.

If I start drinking alcohol, I pledge not to drink too access and to only drink more than 4 stranded drinks per occasion unless it is a special event like a birthday.

I picked these things to commit to because they are reasonable things to do.

I will stick to these commitments by having good self-awareness about how much I am drinking.

Innovate ED Semester 1 Precious Plastics

Posted on by Ryan Rakuscek

In Innovate ED this semester I was doing precious plastics. In precious plastics, I used plastic to create things in moulds we made pots, bowls, coasters and clipboards. It was a fun experience I most enjoyed creating the clipboards because they were easy to make and got to use a gun-like tool to keep the clip onto the board. The main thing I did throughout the 2 terms was sorting plastics. I really enjoyed doing Innovate ED because it was a time when I could get away from classes and have fun. It was also helpful as well because it taught m how to use new tools.

Letter to MP

Posted on by Ryan Rakuscek

This task was to find an issue and inform your Electorate or MP about it.

Hon Sue Ellery BA MLC

12th Floor

Dumas House

2 Havelock Street

West Perth WA 6005

Dear Hon Sue Ellery

I am writing to raise my concerns about the homework system of  Western Australia.

I am a resident of W.A.  and a senior school student and I am concerned about the amount of stress students are under because of homework.

As you would know, it has been proven by multiple sources that homework creates unnecessary stress. The school system is currently unaware about this or is disregarding it. Homework causes stress to students that find it overwhelming or find it hard to do the homework because it is above their skill level.

According to many sites, the majority of stress students experience is from homework. These sites also say that homework can cause extreme weight loss, headaches, loss of sleep and bad eating habits.  Parents can also experience stress from trying to support the students.

Homework not only causes stress it also causes lack of attention and lack of focus. If a teacher  assigns you homework but then you are staying up all night to get it done then the next day in class, you will have lost focus during the day. Then the teachers get annoyed with you and this may have negative consequences because you aren’t paying attention in class because you had to finish too much homework.

Homework takes up lots of time. You might have homework from multiple subjects you need to do by the next day. You find out that the homework is a lot and then you end up needing more time. Homework takes away your relaxation time where you can get away from schoolwork. Studies show that people with less resting time have more sensitive emotions making them harder to socialize with. This can lead to depression, sadness and a hatred towards school. People doing a lot of homework will have less social skills and more social anxiety.

Research by John Hattie, Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne, has found that homework in primary school has an effect of around 0, as students are completing separate and unrelated projects rather than reinforcing learnt knowledge. This then becomes a problem for the students’ knowledge and understanding.

Some solutions to the problem could be reducing the amount of homework allowed to be given to students in certain age groups. You could also set the homework suited to reinforce the information rather than doing homework that is completely new. Another idea would be to make homework a choice instead of forcing students to do it.

To conclude I am concerned that students are being given to much homework causing unnecessary stress and reducing mental wellbeing of both students and parents. I would appreciate your attention to address this as Education Minister of WA to set policy around this issue.

Your sincerely

Ryan Rakuscek

Ryan Rakuscek | Year 8W| All Saints’ College

Ewing Avenue, Bull Creek WA  6149 | Tel 08 9313 9333 | Fax 08 9310 4726

Email:  Ryan.Rakuscek@allsaints.wa.edu.     

Science Sleek Geeks video reflection

Posted on by Ryan Rakuscek
  1. What is the project you have been working on?  What are the success criteria for the competition (i.e. how will your video be assessed)?  You may like to include a link to your video at this point (you can upload your video to Microsoft Stream).

We were working on the Sleek Geeks video presentation about change. Our category of change is rising ocean levels.

  • How did you organise your group? Did each person have specific roles? Did each person have the opportunity to contribute their ideas?  How would you improve your work in this aspect if you had another opportunity to repeat the project?

We all worked together to do what needed to be done not really having a scheduled or organized role. We just did what needed to be done at that time.

  • Did your group have any disagreements? What strategies did you use to resolve these conflicts? How would you improve your work in this aspect if you had another opportunity to repeat the project?

Yes, but we managed to choose the best option that all knew something about I think.

  • How did your group manage your time? Did you finish the project on time? How would you improve your work in this aspect if you had another opportunity to repeat the project?

We did finish on time but I do think that we could have used the time given more efficiently to get it done quicker.