Jeremy’s Tiny House Blog Post

For our project we researched tiny houses and how they can be more sustainable than normal houses. Tiny houses are houses that are much smaller than regular houses; they are both cost efficient and environmentally friendly. They have been getting more popular in the last several years. Tiny houses are becoming more popular because they are more affordable and they can help reduce people’s carbon footprint. In addition another positive thing about tiny homes are that you can put your home in way more places, and do not need a large piece of land. However, a downside is they cannot accommodate big families, and you do not have a lot of space to keep and store many things.  

Despite these negatives tiny homes are very sustainable. Tiny houses contribute less greenhouse gasses to the environment. Tiny houses help lower our carbon footprint because they are smaller which means that they take less resources to build, they use less electricity to run, and they do not have to be hooked up to the grid. They could, for example, work completely off solar power. 

This is important because greenhouse gasses are gasses that are very bad for the planet. They warm up the earth and do not let the hot air out. They are what create a carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the way that people measure the amount of greenhouse gasses you emit. To calculate a carbon footprint you have to add up all the emissions that you have contributed through your daily lifestyle. For example add up your electrical, gas, and oil bills and add in the mileage on cars and planes. For a good calculator use this link https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

In this project we got to design our own tiny house. In my design I used sustainable materials. My tiny house used slate for the roofing and wood for the flooring. My resources promote sustainable living by being very durable while also being very beautiful. While slate does need to be mined, it rarely has to be replaced. I chose wood for my flooring because it does not emit chemicals and it is less wasteful then carpets. The reason for this is that when carpets break they are thrown away. The flooring can be reused as reclaimed wood. My goal for all other furniture was to use reclaimed or recycled materials whenever possible.

During this project I was surprised many times after I researched about sustainable vs non sustainable resources. Some questionable things were that the prices for renting vs owning a house are not that different. All of this work really led me to ask how I could be more environmentally friendly and reduce my own carbon footprint. I also wondered how it would be possible for large families who could not live in a tiny house, what can they do? 

Now when I think about the project I am most proud that I learned so much about sustainability in homes and feel that I can make more environmentally friendly decisions. This makes me feel more confident that I can help save the one and only earth that we live on. Some changes I would like to make if I was the one who assigned this project is that I would make the reading sections a little more accessible. I would also have liked to build one of these homes, even if virtually, as they would have helped bring it all together for me. I did encounter a few struggles during this assignment (like doing a 1 point perspective) but I tried to ask questions and get more help. All in all this project was a great opportunity for me to learn more about our environment and how to protect it.

Here are the pictures of the math section from this project.

innovation day project reflection

This year during innovation day we had to make a virtual reality world about an animal that was facing a problem and design a structure that would help them. When we finished we had to present a “pitch” to three different judges which would then determine who gets first, second, and third. My partner was Ariel and we designed a nesting ground and a nest protector for the midland painted turtle. They face loss of nesting habitat and predation of the eggs. We think we have helped address this problem.

Here is a picture of Ariel and my project on Innovation day.

After innovation day Mr. Ray made us write this, a reflection. In this reflection I will explain what I thought I did well in this project. Before I started this project I was very nervous about it. I did not know what to do and how to do it. Looking back, I wished I read through all the explanations and did the research more effectively. Even though I started off on the wrong foot I think that we did the rest of our project very well. I am proud of how it came out in the end. Moving forward from this project I will be sure to work hard from the start and not stop till I am done. I think that some things that made my project glow was the nest protector that I built for my project and the sign that I carved. During this project I learned some valuable skills, some of them are; not saving everything for the last minute and research always comes first. All in all I think that this project has helped me learn how important it is to work hard and not get distracted.

Here is a picture of me building the nest protector.

Innovation day is my favorite project of the whole year at OJCS. I learned alot and perhaps best of all we got second place!

 

 

S.M.A.R.T. goal setting

The importance of setting goals.

It is very important to set goals. Goals will help you achieve things in your life because they allow you to get organized and make sense of what you want to do.  Setting goals can boost your internal motivation, and propel you forward. In sum, goals make us organized, motivated, and fuel our achievements.  Here are my goals for the year:

My S.M.A.R.T. goal is… Two practical steps I can take to achieve this goal are…
Learn 100 new words in class by December 31.
  • Do ten minutes of Duolingo 5 days a week.
  • Speak French to anyone.
Use my computer responsibly during class time by January 1.
  • I will stay on the screen that the work is on.
  • Do not open any other random tabs.
Improve my reading comprehension on the amplify by the end of the year.
  • I will practice reading comprehension in books at home with my mom.
  • I will read more advanced books by asking the librarian for recommendations.
 Keep my desk organized by 2023
  • organize my binders every week.
  • Make sure my desk is clean at the end of every week.
Learn how to order a meal in Spanish for my trip there in December.
  • Practice Spanish Duolingo every night for five minutes.
  • Speak to anyone in Spanish

haida

In our project we had to make a tri-fold poster board about an indigenous community, my group did Haida. We were asked to answer questions in detailed paragraphs. I believe it is important to learn about indigenous communities so we don’t recreate the residential schools. It is important to learn about them so we can have more connections so we can have a better understanding of their lifestyle.

Haida are widely known for their art (totem poles). They were also very skilled in woodworking. The Haida children enjoyed hunting with their fathers. Potlatches were very important. A potlatch is where you trade your things for other things. Haida has two dialects: xaat xil and xaayda xil. Haida may have been among the first regions colonized by humans on the Northwest Coast. Haida has exceptional habitat and species diversity. The Haida are inextricably woven into the ecological tapestry of Haida. Infectious diseases reduced pre-contact populations of Haida by more than 95%.

 

This is our project. 

Social studies project by Noa, Jeremy and Tehila

For our innovation day project we made nearpod a reality. We were inspired by a nearpod game that involved climbing a mountain. We used this as inspiration and changed it so it was way better. Our game was called hamster house.

When I first heard about Innovation Day I was excited because I love science. Then I heard that I needed five paragraphs of work, a full-on working game and a bristol board full of research! I got stressed. I was so stressed that it was hard for me to sleep. The way I ultimately got rid of my stress was by getting more work done, finishing up my stuff after school and doing a lot of research. After I made progress, I felt way better. One thing I need to work on in the future is not freaking out when I get stressed. 

 

Another thing I realized after I finished was that I spent so much time on the research that I did not have the time to make our bristol board visually appealing. If I had managed my time and stress better, I may have had time to focus on the design of our bristol board.  This is a picture of hamster house


All in all it was an amazing experience. We got second place, so in the end I was proud of our results. I learned a lot in the process and had a lot of fun. I can’t wait till the next innovation day.