1984 creative writing assignment completion; Guns, Germs and Steel reading and discussion
Lesson Outline
Today Zach completed the 1984 creative writing assignment, and we read through to revise and correct grammatical errors. Next we continued to read from Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel and discussed the structure of the chapter on invention and the diffusion of technological innovation among different societies.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
08:00 - 12:30; 270 min. -
Environmental Science:
Field research -
Zach participated in a wild dolphin survey. He met the boat and completed the initial data entry on the field data form, and entered the GIS waypoint data into the handheld geographic information system computer. Zach was given a direction to monitor as we traveled along the survey route in search of dolphins. He was also in charge of keeping record of all the sea turtles we observed, (and we saw a lot). Once we found dolphins, Zach was tasked with writing my observations on the field data form, and helping us keep track of the dolphins. We followed and photographed the group for over an hour to monitor their behavior. We left that group to return to the survey route, and Zach recorded the changes in environmental data. Once we reached the second inlet, we ended the first survey, turned around and started the second. This time Zach was tasked with completing the data form and keeping the survey data from start to finish (without my direction). The second survey was similar to the first. At the end of the second survey he also helped secure the boat. Overall he did a great job.
Today, Zach continued to work on his creative writing assignment. Next, we completed watching the BBC movie version of 1984. We discussed the movie's cinematic qualities and editing choices they made when adapting the book for film.
We went to the Chip Trail and did one lap run/walking while stopping to do most of the exercises along the way. Then we went to the beach to swim.
Session Minutes
120
Minutes Student Attended
90
Lesson Comments
Zach is late everyday and shows up in jeans and sandals. So then he has to go back out to his car to get his short and tennis shoes. This is all just a stall tactic but it's costing us at least 30 min every session.
Today, we discussed Zach's podcast that he started a few weeks ago. We discussed the recent supreme court decision Matal v Tam that upheld offensive speech in trademark law. Zach added another recorded segment to his podcast discussing free speech restrictions and cases where there has been overreach and cases where there has not been enough government intervention. Lastly, we began watching a movie version of 1984.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
10:00 - 01:00; 180 min. -
Environmental Science:
Mark Recapture -
Zach joined me in the dolphin lab, and we reviewed the process for mark recapture analysis of population size. We examined the sample test cases that were part of his in-class work a few weeks ago. We then discussed how this is manifest in real world research. Zach was introduced to the data that has been collected on the local population of wild dolphins. Zach was given an opportunity to recognize the difficulties that present themselves when working with wild animals in an underwater world. Since collecting data for mark recapture analysis on wild animals is so difficult, the first set of data was collected over a three-year period. One year was given between data sets, and the re-capture set was also collected over a three-year period. Zach assisted in the analysis by facilitating the data entry into the database. Once that task was completed, he also worked on reviewing the data to assure no errors were made. I showed him how I had programmed the database to find the solution to the mark recapture analysis, so we could see how many animals from the first set were encountered again during the second time period.
1984 writing prompt, Guns, Germs, and Steel discussion
Lesson Outline
Today we began by discussing Zach's assigned reading homework: excerpts from Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. We discussed how Diamond set up his research questions, the structure of his introduction, and then a thorough exploration into the conquests of the Conquistadors over the Incas in South America. Then we went over a chapter on invention and how some inventions are not brought out of necessity but out of curiosity and out of culminating factors within the society an inventor lives in. Next, Zach continued to write his creative writing assignment, an alternative narrative of 1984.
