MOSI Google Hangout

            In class, we planned out a day to have a live hangout with a man that worked at a museum from Manchester, England. Part of the museum is a replica of an old fashioned textile mill, like the ones we have been learning about in class.  To prepare for his visit, we did many things. We first went on the MOSI website to learn a few things about the mills. On cool thing that I learned was that the original creator of the water powered textile machines was named Richard Arkwright, and he was worth 28 million dollars (in today's economy) at the time of his death. We then watched a video that Jamie, our guide, put together about the museum and what we would be seeing. In the video, there were 8 vocab words that we had to look up and define, so that we would understand what he was talking about. Lastly, we came up with questions based on our knowledge at that point so that we could ask them during the Google Hangout.


            I think that the hangout was very beneficial. In class, we are able to learn about what these things were and what they looked like as a picture. Seeing all of these machines in real life was really interesting because you saw the kind of conditions that these people had to live with. We also got a more in depth account about how life was like at home before the mills came about. Jamie said that families whose spinning wheel broke ended up living in poverty for the rest of their lives because it was their only source of income.  During the time when the mills went up, families were no longer to use their spinning wheels to make fabric anymore because it was no longer efficient. This resulted in families sending their children to work at mills and a large loss of income for the families.

This machine took the threads and spooled them up into rolls, which were then made into fabric. The spools were moving at an extremely high velocity, but the children were still forced to clean out any of the cotton fibers that jammed. This resulted in hands being torn up and hair being completely torn out. When there was an accident in the mill, even one that could have been fatal, the workers were expected to carry on.


       I liked the discussion with the outside expert because he really was able to explain in detail what happened, and he was able to show us how it may have happened. I like that he was able to take time out of his day for this tour, and that he did a great job explaining things in a simple, yet meaningful way. I think that doing this again would be great because you are able to talk to someone with firsthand knowledge.

The Building Blocks of Today: The Industrial Revolution

              The world changed drastically during the industrial revolution. In class we took notes on 4 of the things that were improved as a result of the industrial revolution. There are many things that are affected (in a good way) as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Two of these are people and resources.


              Many aspects of human life improved. A man named Roy Charles Townsend urged people to grow turnips, which restored exhausted soil. Also, a device called the seed drill was invented to help farmers. Everybody needed food, so improvements in food really helped the quality and production rates of food. Rich landowners pushed ahead with enclosure, which meant taking fenced off land shared by peasants. As a result of this, peasants moved into the cities to get jobs in factories. Lastly, the death rates declined. The increase in food meant a less likely chance of famine. It also meant the women were healthier, which meant healthier babies.

 Crops


                 There were 4 resources that were affected mostly by the Industrial Revolution. First, iron was made better by Abraham Darby. He found that there were impurities in the iron from when it was smelting, so he found a way to take it out. The improved iron was used to make steam engines and railroad tracks. Coal was used as fuel, which is why it became so important. It was used to smelt the iron and power steam engines. Capital was also improved as many people made more and bigger investments in the industrial revolution, because companies were doing better. Lastly, cotton was manufactured to make clothing, which was now being done in mills. Later an item called a shuttle was introduced to make clothes faster. All 4 of these things were able to be improved because of the fast paced growth of the industrial revolution.

Iron

               

So you're Telling me Octopi Live in Trees?

               All you want is the right information. Some people have it. Others don't. The internet has true and false information, and as a student it is our jobs to help figure out which information is true or false. Our class participated in A Google a Day and researched the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website to help us understand web literacy.

     

               A Google a Day, which you can access here, is an online tool that is run by Google which helps someone with web literacy. It gives you three questions, which you have to answer using the special search engine, which won't give you blatant answers. You have to enter the keywords and really read into the articles to find the piece of information that you are looking for. This is helpful for when you don't have a lot of information and you need to find more, because it teaches you to use keywords and to find trustworthy information. I thought it was fun because we got to work together to try and solve the answers, which was not easy.



           The most important thing while on the internet is making sure that the information that you are seeing is real. Accuracy, Authenticity, and Reliability can help you with that. Accuracy checks to make sure the information is true, or seems true. Authenticity checks to see who wrote the information; is it a Joe Schmoe or a professor? Lastly, reliability checks to see if the author is from a trustful organization. The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, which at first seems to be legit from the perspective of a normal person, is not. The author  works at Kelvinic University, which seems legit. When you look into it, he is just someone who is good with computers, and the Kelvinic University is even made up. This website is a prime example of showing you that not everything on the internet is true.

Think About School... It's not so Bad!!

             As we settle in to the 21st century, the world has improved by leaps and bounds. What you could only do with rooms an rooms of technology in the past can be done in the palm of your hands. Writing on paper has switched to typing blogs like I am doing today. I am a student at Reading Memorial High School, and my goal is to put interesting information on my blog so I ca inform the world around me. The purpose of this blog is about the people in the school community striving to be the best they can be.  


               A teacher is a leader who not only teaches kids about the facts, but encourages a student to have fun and enjoy the experience. If a student is bored or upset about the work that they have to put in, then they can not learn to the best of their ability. A good teacher will try and help the student with their troubles. A great teacher will have a conversation with the student to understand what the issues are and then make a plan to try and fix them. As I reflect on some of my best teachers in the past, I think of someone who can teach an effective class while at the same time being able to have fun with the kids and make the experience as enjoying as possible for the students. These teachers are ones you remember because of the way that they taught you, motivated you, and made you a better student. When a teacher can convey and idea in more than one way or if they demonstrate how a process works, a student will understand most what the teacher is trying to explain to you.


          I agree with John Green because he has experienced more than I have. He knows who educated and uneducated people are, and he knows what it is like to work with them. Also as a student, we do not have our minds crammed with information to forget it all; they are crammed so that we can apply that information later in life. I plan on keeping a solid GPA. At the end of last year, my grades started to slip, so I want to start and finish strong this year. I hope on participating in the track and baseball programs, as well as looking into Spanish Club. As always I enjoy meeting new people, because I am a happy, social person and I like to make new acquaintances. I will reach my goals by staying on task and keeping organized, and I think that using evernote this year will be hugely helpful in doing this. I hope to have an excellent school year this year.

John Green Motivational Speech