This is the file of my persuasive essay I wrote on why philosophy should be taught in high school.
Curricular Competency
In this assignment, I was able to develop my speaking and communication skills. I had to present this essay in front of the class, and I think I did well. I practiced the speech until I had it memorized, and I was able to deliver it. The more I practiced my speech the more confident I got. This helped me grow my communication skills.
Core Competency
During this assignment, I grew in the thinking core competency. To be more specific I improved in the critical thinking competency. When I was writing my speech, I was brainstorming ways to make philosophy appeal to my peers. Once I had finished brainstorming, I came up with the idea that students didn’t like topics that required memorization, and philosophy has 0 memorization in the course. Now that I had my point, I had to find a way to prove it. Again I had to brainstorm, and I thought of doing a poll. A poll would’ve been great, but I didn’t want to bother people in my class, so I thought of doing it online. This turned out to be a huge success, and is how I used critical thinking to solve my problems.
We chose to use Canva to make the print ad for a few reasons. The main reason I like to use Canva is because of the templates. Canva has thousands of templates to get your design started, which made it easier to create something. One thing I don’t like about Canva is the fact that many of the custom images are only available to people with Canva premium. This made finding an image for the jelly beans, and M&M’s difficult. A challenge we needed to overcome when deciding ingredients was picking ingredients that would pair well with the vanilla cupcake. M&M’s do this job great because of their chocolatey flavour. Jelly beans were added to fit that “Rainbow Deluxe” description we had in mind. We didn’t face any challenges when trying to find a solid price for the cupcakes. Our cupcakes were very cheap to make, and that gave us free reign when finding a price to sell at that would still bring in profits. I believe our print ad is effective because of the use of vibrant, popping colours, and the “sale” we added above the cupcake. With the way we used the colours, the important words stand out, and the cupcake stands out as it is in the middle of the ad. To make our ad more effective we created a fake sale that would attract more customers. We say 50% off, but we have never sold this cupcake before, so how would people know it is actually 50% off. We also keep driving the desire to buy the cupcake by saying “Only $2.49.” With the use of the word only, people believe the product is more of a deal than it actually is.
· Why is it important to remember who benefits from the advertisement when you view an advertisement? Advertisers will do anything to manipulate you in order for you to buy there product/service. If you are able to remember who is benefitting from the advertisement, you will snap out of being manipulated, because you will remember that the store or company isn’t trying to help you out, but reel you in.
· Choose one form of persuasion and explain why it is effective in persuading you/an audience: logical, ethical, emotional. Personally the logical persuasion technique works the best on me. There is nothing better than cold hard facts about why a product or service is good. Advertisers can use as much ethical or emotional persuasion, however if the product doesn’t seem like its good, I won’t buy it. I think focusing on creating a good product/service, then using mainly logical persuasion to advertise it, is the most effective way to get someone to buy your product/service. When I watch ads, I never seem to fall for the emotional persuasion, and ethical persuasion means little to me, because I understand that advertisers can pay people to make their product seem better than it is.
· Choose an advertising technique and explain why it is effective in selling a product. I believe one of the most effective advertisement techniques is the “Special Offer” technique. This is the main one I used in my advertisement. Something about getting a deal on a product or service just seems so desirable. When finding an item on sale, you almost get a sense of accomplishment. As well as that, putting a special offer on something can make people feel like they are missing out if they don’t buy it. Most of the time the “Special Offer” technique is well hidden. Customers may think they are getting a deal when in reality the original price was extremely expensive, or the store is trying to get customers into their store, to then buy more expensive items. The fact that this advertisement technique is hidden, and stirs up many emotions and urges in the most people is why I believe it to be so effective.
Core Competency Reflection:
This is how I selected images and words to create impact for my planned audience: To figure out how I wanted my advertisement to look, I first googled some examples of what other companies used to sell similar products (everyday necessities). Then I went to canva, uploaded the picture of my egg, and made my flyer’s background a lighter colour to match with the eggs, and to contrast with the dark letters of the main information. To make the sale and “Special Offer” pop out I made them darker colours, and made the letters very big. When choosing the words I wrote for the description of my product, I was thinking about what I remember seeing on egg cartons. So, I came up with the free range and organically fed to give my customers an extra push, an extra reason, to buy my eggs.
I used to think that advertisement was black and white, but now I know that it really isn’t. To elaborate, by black and white I mean that I thought it would always be obvious whether something was an advertisement or not. However, with learning advertisement techniques like “Special Offer” and “Glittering Generalities” I know that this is not always the case. The special offer technique is often well hidden, and leads you to believe a store is doing a basic sale. However, there are manipulative intentions behind those cheaper prices. Often, stores will try to get customers to walk into their store because of a sale on something like eggs, for customers to then get lost in the store and start buying. The glittering generalities technique is another hidden one. Advertisers will put all these different good things about their product on an ad, and they will make you forget about any down sides. Ms. Olchoway had a great example in class about burger king fries. I believe the fries said something like 80% less fat…. 80% less fat than what? During this week I have learned that advertisements are not black and white, and have hidden intention behind them.
Reflection Questions- Is violence justified during a revolution/protest?
A) How did the use of AI assist you in developing this project? I only used AI once during this project (besides the designated portion of the research where we NEEDED to use AI) and I used it to search the web and find me examples of successful, violent protests. I got the idea for using the Boston Tea Party from Perlexity AI, and I saved much time by using AI to search the web for me.
B) How did you ensure that the work you created was still your own, rather than a product of the AI? When using AI for research, or for an idea, I made sure to understand everything the AI wrote. By understanding the text, I am able to formulate my own ideas based off what I am reading. This makes it easy to grasp the general idea of what the AI said, without having to copy each word it wrote. Another thing I did was look at the sources where the AI found its information. Doing this, I acquire an even deeper understanding of what I am writing about.
C) Did you agree with the positition you had to argue? Why or why not? I completely agreed with the position I was arguing. When the project was first announced, I thought to myself, I hope I get to argue that violence is justifiable. I believe this to be true for the same reasons I stated during the podcast. Blind violence isn’t a good thing, but using violence to achieve a common goal for many people is completely justifiable. As long as the violence commited during protest, isn’t as bad as what the oppressive authority were doing, then I believe it to be fine.
Core Competency Reflection
Examples of where I communicate clearly and purposeful can be seen in the second voice file. I delivered a compelling conclusion to my second argument, to restate, and emphasize my arguement. I annunciated key words during my delivery to strike a chord in the audience’s heart.
I use evidence to make judgements or decisions as demonstraterd in my examples. I used many examples of the French revolution to back up my statements. In doing that I showed I can use evidence to make judgements about a topic.
I can understand and share information about a topic of interest in a clear, organized way. When creating my storyboard, I had to figure out a way to convey a story properly. I made a plan for how I wanted my storyboard to look, and I made sure to make my storyboard clear and organized.
I persevere with challenging tasks and take ownership of my goals, learning, and behaviour. Finding a way to creatively express my contract story was difficult. Most people did theirs on paper, but I am not confident in my artistic prowess, and I needed to find another way to express my ideas. When I thought of doing it online, I knew I had to make it neat and interesting to look at. This is how I took ownership of my learning and I persevered through a challenging task.
I can develop a body of creative work over time. I have never considered myself to be a creative person, especially in an artistic way. However, in doing this assignment, I developed creative work after a while. I used my critical thinking to stumble upon an idea, and then I executed the idea over the course of the week.
This year I am most proud of my math grade. This year I took math 10 honours, and science 9 and 10 honours. I have always been a good student, and never had to try too hard in middle school to get good grades. However, when we dove into the first lesson in math 10, it was difficult. I actually had to study for the tests, and I had homework almost every day. Although the course was harder than I’d imagined, I was determined to do my best. Test after test I kept studying hard, and I ended the course with a 97%. I was really proud of myself for working so hard during the semester, and I ended up enjoying the class a lot.
Google is the most useful website in the world, and it is a life saver when it comes to school. Whenever I have a question about my homework or I don’t understand a vocab word for a test, I can turn to Google knowing that I can find the answer. Google is also amazing for directing people to websites when you need to do research for a project, or assignment.
A Useful Educational Video
This is a video about meiosis, and how it’s different from mitosis. My science teacher in semester 1, Mr. Asano, used this video to demonstrate how meiosis works. I found the cartoons and visuals really helpful to actually visualize the different stages of meiosis. The Amoeba Sisters also get to the point quickly, clearly, and I have watched several videos of theirs.
A Useful Educational Image
This is an image of a ball launcher that I made in my science class in the first semester. I chose this image, because this saved me and my group’s project. After we launched the ball a couple of times, the elastic bands and ruler broke. We had launched the ball really far, so we wanted to keep the same design. If we didn’t have this image, we wouldn’t have been able to put it back together the same way.
An Inspirational Quote
“Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.” – Marcus Aurelius
I chose this quote because I really agree with the meaning. What Marcus Aurelius means from this quote is that you can’t improve yourself without putting yourself through struggle and hard work. This applies to how I wanted to be a better student, and how I worked hard through math 10. This applies to sports, and how I trained hard to be part of the junior centennial boys soccer team. This quote resonates deeply with me, and that is why I chose it.
Works Cited
Google. https://www.google.com/?safe=active&ssui=on. Accessed 11 Mar. 2024.
Meiosis (Updated). www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzDMG7ke69g. Accessed 11 Mar. 2024.
“Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius.” Wikipedia, 24 Feb. 2024. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Equestrian_Statue_of_Marcus_Aurelius&oldid=1210058756.CloseDeleteEdit
I believe that it is fair to say that before this class I was above average at French. Every year since grade 4 I have had a French class, which I know is an advantage because a lot of schools slack on teaching French. I also have a lot of family that speak French which is very useful. However, learning moslty from your family speaking has some downfalls. For starters when we got to the unit about school items and restaurant talk I didn’t know much because I never heard people talk French in those settings. On top of that I wasn’t very good at writing in French, because I was only used to hearing people speak it. Now, after all the cahiers and assignments I can say that I can write well in French, and I have learned most of the nouns and verbs that would be used in a school and restaurant setting. When we first got to the lesson about the difference between à au aux and des I was surprised when I got confused. I thought I had already known them but, I was wrong. Something I still find challenging is remembering which words have accents and which words don’t. I am good with the accent aigu, but the accent grave and the circumflex are things I need to work on.
What I’m Most Proud of :
I am most proud of my Chapter 2-3 test. Chapters 2-3 were the school unit. I got an extending, and I am proud of it. I had to study lots before the test to make sure I had a strong understanding of the material. Then, I used my critical thinking skills to answer the bonus question on the back of that test with full sentences. I tied my knowledge from studying in with my critical thinking and got an extra mark because of it. I think my work habits before this specific test were good. I studied, I did all the cahier homework, and just made sure I was ready for test day.However, in the past I have been guilty of slacking off and not studying. The test went well regardless, but if I could retake this course I would take it more seriously and try and do my best. Next year, in French 10, I am determined to try my best in the class, and I’ll make sure this isn’t the last extending I get on a french test.
This is a photo of the “Ball Launcher” from the Ball Launcher Lab. This was our first design.Slomo video of our ball launcher in action!Bottom view of our “Ball Launcher”.This is a picture of the “Ball Launcher” from the ball launcher lab after we got rid of the top part of the cup that holds the tin foil ball.
The Reciever:
This is a back view of our ball reciever. As you can probably tell, we only used paper and tape.Top view of our ball reciever.
Scientific Method: Gold Tower Challenge
Newspaper Tower:
This is a photo from our practice build of our tower.This is another photo of the practice day. As you can see the base pillars are a bit uneven.Test day. This was the start of our tower.fast forward half an hour we have a much taller tower, but the base is in shambles. Somehow I managed to balance everything and we got an official height of 5’3. We did manage to get an unofficial height of 5’5 a few minutes later.
Curricular Response:
Doing both the Ball Launcher Lab and the Golf Tower Challenge improved my understanding of the scientific method in many ways. Before these labs I hadn’t done any sort of work on the basics of the scientific method in over a year. Doing this lab allowed me to get reminded of how the variables work together, and how different the testing and control experiment are. I got to work on my inductive learning in the ball launcher lab especially, because my group researched different designs of how to build a ball launcher. Using our observations, or inductive learning, we were able to conclude that a base using the plastic cups and pencils to support the ruler was our best option. I got to work more on my deductive learning in the Golf Tower lab, as there were many more problems that came up. For example my newspaper tower had a big problem with how it was balanced. Our hypothesis ended up being unsupported by our own experiment because of the way we designed our tower. The base was lopsided and that specifically caused the whole tower to become unstable. Now, I know how to create a good, or at least better, base and what our strategy should have been. From looking at the results of other people’s towers, I have a better understanding of how the design of a sturdy and tall tower should look like. Perhaps if my partner and I used more of our inductive learning and observed some examples of towers before the lab, we could have been more successful.
Core Competency Self Assesment and Creative Thinking:
The scientific method lab I’m most proud of is the ball launcher lab. I think my group did a great job researching design ideas before hand, talking about changes we can make to improve the design, and then we worked together really well to build it. Perhaps it is because we are all friends, but no one in the group was ever doing nothing, and we all worked hard to build the launcher and receiver. We had an unofficial distance of 11.9m and an official distance of 7.6m, barely lower than the first place in our class (7.7m). Overall we did well on each part of this lab, and the teamwork and communication was exceptional.
One strategy we used to overcome a challenge we had was trying to redesign different parts of our receiver. One of our problems with our receiver is that the ball kept bouncing or rolling out during the test launches the day before the official experiment took place. To overcome this obstacle our group devised a plan to buy more paper from Mr. Asano to then fold it at the front of our receiver, making it so the ball can no longer roll out. If I were to do the lab again, I’d make this front wall a little bigger, because then we would have gotten an official distance of 10m.
In both labs, I practiced all five steps of the scientific method (Identify a problem, create a hypothesis, design an experiment, conduct experiment and collect data, and draw a conclusion). I am going to use the ball launcher lab as an example because I think it best reflects how my group practiced all steps of the scientific method. First we identified a problem, the problem was that we needed to launch a ball the farthest it could possibly go, but it needed to be caught with a receiver. So, we created a hypothesis, and started to design an experiment to see if our ball launcher and receiver would be able to solve this problem. We spent one day brainstorming ideas, one day building/test launching our favourite idea, and one day for official testing. We encountered some problems along the way like our ruler snapping, and our ball hitting the top of the launcher, but that’s all part of the scientific method. We even had a lot of problems with our golf tower challenge. Our base was unstable, the tower was lopsided, but my group persevered through and we found a way to balance everything. We went from what would’ve been last place to fifth place, because we problem solved. My understanding of the scientific method got better after my experience doing the labs. The scientific method isn’t just about following the 5 steps, but about running into problems, critically thinking, and then adapting to solve your problem. The 5 steps are important, however if you aren’t able to critically think, and persevere through your problems, you aren’t getting the full scientific method experience. Anyways, we came to the conclusion that our hypothesis was supported, and that we could better prove our hypothesis if our materials weren’t limited.
I demonstrated that I can create new things when I am backed against a corner. I think the best example of this is when Leo and I did the Golf Tower challenge. We had a theoretically correct tower, but the execution was quite poor. Our tower was lopsided, and looked like it wasn’t going to get fixed. But, somehow I created some insane idea to tear apart the base for tape, and remake a tripod base structure. I was able to create a super long roll to support one side of the tower that was lacking, (shown in last photo of golf tower lab) and then I balanced everything perfectly to make sure the tower was stable. When I was backed against a wall, I was able to focus and create something new.
I demonstrated that I can build on the ideas of others when I communicate with other group members. I’ll use the ball launcher lab as an example because we were a group of 4. Because Mr. Asano is such a nice teacher, he let us pick our groups, and I picked to be with 3 of my friends. Because all of us are friends, no one was shy and didn’t share ideas. So, we all had ideas about the launcher, and we agreed on one design combining different aspects of all of our designs collectively. For example, one of us wanted to build a catapult, like Davin did, but the rest of wanted more of a slingshot design. So, we used the catapult frame, but built it backwards almost, so we could then use an elastic band to slingshot the ball out of the cup. We did the same thing for the receiver. Leo and Beckett wanted to make a large paper area with tape so the ball wouldn’t bounce out. I suggested we do the same but add walls to stop high balls. Tomio then suggested instead of tape at the bottom we fold paper walls up to stop the ball from bouncing out. Since we were all friends and not afraid to share our opinions, we built off each others ideas quite well.
When trying new things, I expect setbacks and failure and use them to develop my ideas. An example of this from the Scientific Method labs would be the golf tower lab. As I have stated previously, the initial build of our tower was a dud. However, this allowed me to, “try new things. “I tried a tripod base that I saw another group do, and it somehow worked after I balanced everything. If our tower wasn’t lopsided and we just had our four pillar base on the tower, we would’ve missed out on another foot of height. Another example is when our ruler snapped in the ball launcher lab. After that happened we adjusted the way we pulled the elastic back so we wouldn’t break another ruler, and it actually went further than before. Moral of the story, make mistakes, and learn from them. That’s the essence of the scientific method!
