October 20, 2007 - My Experiences in Math and Science
From an early age on, I have always been intrigued by the many wonders of science and math. I have always been interested in chemistry and biology, making many potions when I was little. A great concern for our global environment has also fueled some of my scientific endeavors. I have also been tremendously fascinated by math. I sped through advanced math concepts in elementary school so I could be in Algebra 1 in the 6th grade. Having participated in extra-curricular math and science based activities such as Science Olympiad, MathCounts, Geometry Team, and numerous experiences at Shodor, I fully appreciate the value and significance of math and science in our everyday lives.
October 20, 2007
Today I got reacquainted with Shodor after a short separation, and it felt great. I learned the procedures and expectations of Shodor Apprentices, and I learned the three rules at Shodor:
- Those who work get to keep their job.
- Raises become effective when you do.
- It's always better for you to tell us than for us to find out.
December 8, 2007
Today I learned about CSS. I already knew some from prior experience, but this class filled in all of my gaps in knowledge and helped me a lot. Ismael taught us a lot, and e assigned us a CSS Challenge Assignment. Here's a link to my CSS Challenge. It's not quite complete yet, but it's getting there....Hehe... :D... Here's a link to my CSS Challenge if you wanna checkitoutt... In the afternoon, Bethany came to talk to us about the AMC (the Apprenticeship Mathematics Component). We are required to take 5 quizzes to asses our mathematical capability and then do an Interactivate activity based on our level. I hope I do well, because I hear those quizzes are HARDD. eeekk!!
December 22nd, 2007
Today we continued to learn CSS. Jonathan helped us with our various questions about CSS, and we worked more with divs and ids and classes. We learned about creating linkbars, and we did lotsa cool stuff. Haha I validated my page using the w3 validator. Here's a banner to show that I'm valid!!
January 19, 2008
Yay! We've finally reached AgentSheets. Today, we learned about AgentSheets and various functions of it, and we made basic, preliminary SI(without the R, but I added it anyway...) models using sick people and healthy people. When the sick people came in contact with the healthy people, they turned the healthy people sick. All of this was good and happy, but it felt kind of boring, so I added some more agents. I added a stationary doctor, a moving doctor, a terrorist (hehehe to spice things up...), some gangsters, the police, and George Bush. Now that is HILARIOUS!! lol no not really... So we got a new AgentSheets assignment to work on for the Predator-Prey model...ooh and our group project website is up, too. Well its a little bit crappy but it's okay for now you know...I mean - look at how cute those stick figures are!! Aww yea I made them. :D
February 2, 2008
Today we worked some more with AgentSheets. Dang those wolves eat too much! Poor bunnies :'(...why can't we make the prey something we all hate like hyenas or cockroaches (shudders) or something like that? Why is it necessary to kill the poor rabbits!! Sniffles. I'm sorry, but this predator-prey model is really sad. The wolves eat the rabbits; the rabbits eat the grass; the grass grows on the ground. It doesn't sound like it could bring you to tears, but little do you know...AWW I FEEL SAD. Anyways, things are going great at Shodor. We're all up and running aroung gayly like good children with the Module 2 high. ahh. Things are going on in a timely manner, and I feel confident about this rabbits and wolves project...
February 16, 2008
Today we're learning about NetLogo. First, we made a really cool color switching model. In the model, agents move around and if they come in contact with another agent they change to their color. So in the end there is one dominant color that all the agents have switched too. Writing the code wasn't hard at all, and it was very neat and cool. I think I like NetLogo better than AgentSheets, because first of all NetLogo doesn't randomly crash on you and make you do your assignments over and over again and also because we get to write actual code in NetLogo. I'm looking forward to working on the reproduction model that we have for homework this week. It sounds really interesting.
March 1, 2008
Today we continued NetLogo with much pomp and splendour. We worked on this new SIR model with a QUARANTTINE!!! woohoo. The quarantine is like amazing. It's uber-cool. I love it. The sick people stay in there, and they move around and have a ball while the other normal people and the recovered people move around. They can go into the quarantine, too, though. But still it's really nice to be learning more code and cool new stuff to apply it to. Ooh and we got assigned a new group project. It's very hard-looking: we have to make a model of the Avian Influenza with NetLogo. eekk!! But we'll probably get it done anyways...I hope soo...
March 15, 2008
Yay! Today was a much-needed workday. We worked on lots of stuff - argh so much to do! Right now, I need to finish the AMC part 2, update my website, do the group project, and whatever else I'm forgetting (believe me, it's a lot). The group project has made no progress. at all. Last week we came in to work on it, but unfortunately the power went out for a second and I lost all my precious work. NOOO how am I ever going to finish? I've still got pretty much the entire NetLogo model to do, and I still need to do the powerpoint! We've managed to get an extension on the group project, though, so it's a little better. I guess I should focus on getting the easy stuff done first, then. Wish me luck...hehehe...