The Big 3

This is my first blog in FOREVER (sorry Shirley and Ashley). The past couple weeks we've been talking about position, distance, and displacement in that order. If I'm not mistaken, these are the definitions-

Position- where you are relative to the reference point (reference point= 0)

Distance- I'm a little confused about this one.
-how far you traveled
Ex. If you went 5 spots up then 3 back your distance is 8

Displacement- the change in position of the object
Ex. Your object is at 3 then moves to 9. The displacement is 6 (3+x=9)

I really think our teacher needs to step in and give us a solid definition as the class has only been making everyone more confused.

We haven't been doing many labs but we have been discussing these worksheets which deal with those three definitions. My participation in the discussions is uncommon- I don't know what to say/how to explain the topic. The class discussions have been good though. A great debate. But like all debates, no one know who is right which makes it problematic. Physics is going good and it's been a fun class.

Slope and speed lab

In class we've been working with slope speed and so on. These are pretty cool topics to me so I'm pretty excited to do these labs. Before we started the labs, we got into a debate about if slope is directly related to speed. Most say yes, few say no. I am on the yes side because if you have a big slope you are doing whatever per unit of time faster. Fairly simple debate but I think it's a good topic to debate about... We never finished it. Aside from that the labs we are doing are kind of confusing. I would've liked more of an explanation on what to do after we set up our computers and 'dora'. More on the lab next blog.

Switching Seats

We had a short week, only 2 days of physics but they were both succesful days. We did more metric conversions and conversions. Thursday we switch seats and I'm much happier with the switch. Now I have a table who will discuss the topic and help out. Amazing huh? Switching seats definatly made me happier in that class. Aside from that I'm franticly typing to make this 12 AM mark.. Short week anyways, but I am much happier in thay class and are now enthusiastic for future whiteboards and groupwork.

Whiteboard labs whiteboard labs whiteboard labs and so on

This week we only had two days of physics class so there isn't much much to say. We did more whiteboards (again) and had the same usually topics. How we got our formula and who was right. It's alright when we do the whiteboards but I don't say much. Mostly I feel it's because we figure something out and then go into IMMENSE detail about it. So that being said, once we get the topic done I just wait for them to finish. Now, don't say I'm just trying not to participate because I do try, in my head I try and think of what to say but by time I have something figured out, we are onto the next topic. Physics is actually the class I talk least in. Only 2 classes last week so there wasn't much to say being that we did the same thing.

The Direct Line Debate

It's my second blog for physics class and there isn't much new to say. One problem I'd like to address is that we spend so much time on things we don't need to. Everyone understands the topic then someone keeps on going and confuses everyone which cause a hour long debate. We haven't really done anything new yet, just graphs. My ways of identifying a direct line is, i think, the best way too but I don't think my classmates understand my method. It goes like this: If a line is direct. It will go infinitly through quadrant 1 and 3 OR 2 and 4 . My poorly drawn example: 
Notice how the line goes through quadrant 2 but not infinitly like the line does in 1 and 3.

Aside from my rant, we haven't really done anything else. Short blog but good tip

Beginning Physics

My four first weeks of school have been interesting. Physics class in particular. There has been many things that has been a piece of cake for me and those that were challenging. I would say that memorizing formulas will be the hardest thing for me to do. Because everyone in the class already took Algebra 1 last year and I didn't, some parts of the class (deciding what trend line to use, formulas, etc.) have not been easy and something I will need to focus on. In the class itself, the group I'm with aren't very communicative which frustrates me. I think the blog assignment we all are doing will be cool to look back on and see which areas we have improved on and where else we need to focus. Wanting to go into engineering, I think this class will be awesome.

                                                                                                 Kevin