MOSI Live Google Handout

In class we got the opportunity to live video chat with Jamie, an expert from The Musem of Science and Industry in Manchester, England. Before we began our chat, we took time in class to prepare so we would be able to get the most of this experience. We prepared by watching an intro video of Jamie briefly explaining the cloth making process. We wrote down key terms in our evernotes to have a better understanding of how all of the machines worked and what they were called. After we found the meanings of the key terms using our Google search skills, we began drafting questions for Jamie. Even before we had the live chat the class had a solid understanding of the functions of the machines.

After having the live video chat with Jamie, I have an even better understanding of the functions of machinery. I learned the different roles that family members had in the cloth making production. Men would the weave cloth while the woman weave thread on the spinning wheel. The was a very tiring, physical job for the woman because they needed to make sure the men had enough thread to weave. The children would brush fibers into straight lines with wire brushes so that it can be turned into thread by the woman. The more cloth the family produced, the more money they would make. As the demand for cloth was increasing, so weren't mills. Less and less cloth was being produced in homes, but instead in factories since production was easier and faster. Children were replaced by carding engines since they were able to quickly make all the fibers go in one direction. Overall, mills were putting families out of business. We also Learned from the live chat that mills were an extremely dangerous place especially for children. Since there were so many orphanes because of the high population and high poverty, they were bought and forced to work in mills by their owners. They had to clean machines while they were running which lead to many fatal injuries. This was a large problem until the factory act of 1833, when things started to change for the better.

I thought that overall the live chat was a great experience. I found it interesting to get information straight from the place that we are learning about. I also learned so much more about what the machines looked like and how they functioned since we were examining them for ourselves, instead of looking at pictures of them from a textbook. The only thing I didn't like about the chat was that the audio was  missing at times. Obviously, that is out of our control but for the most part I think it went very smoothly and I would find it benefital to do it again throughout this school year on other topics.

Industrial Revolution

     The industrial revolution was a time filled with advancements and new inventions. These lead to a lot of positive changes in society. In class we learned about multiple aspects that made industrialization revolutionary. One of those aspects being the effects of the people. Farming was improved by a new invention called "dikes." These were earthen walls to reclaim back land from sea. This way their was more land to grow produce. Since their was more food being produced, starvation wasn't as much of a problem and death rates declined. Woman were also much stronger from the increase in food so they produced healthier children and populations grew.  Lastly, land owners began to fence off  their land therefore peasant farmers could no longer use it to support their families. This is known as enclosure. Peasant farmers were forced to work in cites which made the economy grow. Some people may say this is a negative aspect because they had to do work they didn't particularly want to do, but overall it was very beneficial to society as a whole.

     Another aspect that made industrialization revolutionary was advancements in technology. One being improvements in the purifying of iron. Coal was used to smelt iron, which separates the iron from its ore. This made iron higher quality and also made iron less expensive. Since iron was more accessible, railroads could be built quicker and cheaper. Coal was a huge part of everyday life during the industrial revolution. It was used to pump water out of mines, and also power trains, boats, and locomotives.

N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

What makes a Good Site?

     Knowing how to properly find information is a very important skill to have. You may think a website is supplying you with correct information for your research, but in reality, it could be completely false. The activities we did in class help further our knowledge on how to find sites that are accurate, authentic, and reliable. 

     In class we visited the website, A Google a Day. Here, we had to answer three questions only using the A Google a Day search engine. At first our group found it difficult, since we couldn't directly type in the question to the search engine. But after pulling key words from the question and searching them, we found the answers we were looking for. Overall, I thought the activity was very beneficial because we leaned how to properly search for information. 

     A good site to collect research from should have the following three qualities: accuracy, authenticity, and reliability. In order for a site to be accurate the information must be correct and precise. The site is no help if the information is false. The site must also be authentic which means it has to do what it says it does. If the site is supposed to be about a certain topic then that is what the site must be about. Lastly, the site has to be reliable. It should be written by an expert in the topic in which the site is about. During class we visited a website called Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. The site looks extremely realistic and might even fool some gullible people. It explains how the species, the pacific northwest tree octopus is endangered and the many steps there are to help the species prosper. Clearly the website is not accurate since the information it gives is completely incorrect. It is also not reliable because the author of the website is a writer and not an expert on endangered species. However the site is authentic because it does exactly what its supposed to do. You would not want to use this source in school since it is lacking two out of the three qualities that a site should have. 

Alana's First Blog Post

Hi, my name is Alana DiSspena. In the past I have had many great teachers. They not only taught me what we were required to learn, but also great life skills that I will always carry with me. To me a great teacher is someone who does more then just reading from a textbook. They try to relate to their students on more of a personal level, but still keeping an appropriate student-teacher relationship. A great teacher also plans fun and exciting  lessons for their students to learn from. This way the students are not only having fun but learning as well. Also many of my favorite teachers shared personal stories which we as students can learn from. I have realized through the years that students respect their teachers more when they can relate to their personal interests and hobbies.

Overall I completely agree with John Green about how it's our duty to use our education to achieve great things for our society. Since us as humans are evolving and advancing so should our education systems. We as the next generation need to use our knowledge to make the world a better and more efficient place. This school year, I have very high expectations for myself and hope to achieve all of the goals that I have set. I am joining winter track and hope to succeed in that and I also would like to expand our school's international club, since I am the treasurer.  Grade wise, I would like to improve in math since I struggled tremendously last year. By spending extra time at home studying, and going after school for help when needed I hope to achieve all of my goals that I have set for myself.