What's going on in Mr. Solarz' Class?
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Oregon Trail Day 13+14 Voki By: Aidan, Regan and Russell

6/3/2016

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Oregon Trail Day 11+12 Photo Stories By: Aidan, Regan and Russell 

6/2/2016

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This is Mr. Mcoy's reaction to us taking a stand about him leading the wagon train.
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Tyler got sick and is stuck in the wagon.
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We rejected the Snake Oil Salesman.
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Mr. McCoy leaves the Hatfields' and the Murrays' behind.
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Oregon Trail Day 7 and 8 - Daily Travel Log

5/26/2016

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​The past few days on the Oregon Trail have been pretty eventful. There were five people who had popped the blisters that had been developing on their feet, and their feet got infected when they crossed the disease-ridden river. When we reached Alcove Spring, the people with infected feet had to sit out from swimming and had to do chores the entire time, because it was unwise to soak their infected feet. they eventually developed calluses, which allowed to walk with ease again. We had to pay an expensive toll of $25 to cross another river, leaving us with $875 for the rest of our journey. The food we brought with us has been getting worse and worse, and to add to it, we cannot find any wood, leaving us to have to cook with cow patties, or cow dung. Luckily, a man had caught some fish that night, and was willing to share with the wagon train. That was a nice change for the taste buds! The next day, we were delayed by a ginormous herd of bison crossing our path. This gave us the lucky opportunity to stop for a bit of time before heading back on our way. I decided to wander off and explore a bit, and I found a buffalo skull. I decided to write a note on it for future travelers. It said: 'Don't waste your food! -IK' 
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Google Slideshow - Oregon Trail 

5/26/2016

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Oregon Trail Day 6 - Fictional Travel Log 

5/24/2016

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What did we get ourselves into?! We decided to cross the craziest river on the face of the Earth! We had to take our wild oxen across, while a complete stranger took our wagons across. This made me nervous because some nitwits decided to pop their blisters on their feet. Their feet got infected, and the infections kept spreading to the point where their whole leg may have to be amputated! That would be a huge loss for us, because we would probably have to take all of our belongings out of the wagons to let them in. While we were dragging our oxen across the raging river, one of our oxen completely freaked out. It charged at Tyler Smith and trampled him, leaving him almost dead! Tyler now has to ride in the wagon for weeks to recover. Now while this madman was taking our precious wagons across, he tipped a couple of them over, and we lost a ton of our stuff! ​
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Imagery 

5/18/2016

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Imagine a place where the winter fun becomes where the feast begins. 

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The Supplies I Get to Take With Me to Mars

5/17/2016

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I was absent
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What I Think I Know About Mars

5/17/2016

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I was not in the room at this very time.
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Mars Constitution 

5/5/2016

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Order of constitution
Preamble:
We the people of the Independent Republic of Innovatio create this constitution for ourselves and future generations to ensure freedom, equality, and fraternity.  We believe strongly that our  individual human rights should be protected and justice shall be served.  In which also the citizens are provided with more political freedom, equality, and social justice.  We desire this constitution to be beneficial for all, and to promote the common good.  We have come together to create a splendid culture that honors and protects all individuals whether earthlings or not. The people of the Independent Republic of Innovatio will work hard to self-reliantly modernize industry, agriculture, science and technology.  We are guided by our desire to express the will of the people of Innovatio, and  to create a democratic law-governed and social state. The people of the Independent Republic of Innovatio do hereby approve this Constitution, promise to honor it forever, and promulgate it so that people can be informed of their rights and abilities.





                            

We the People of the Independent Republic of Innovatio create this constitution for ourselves and future generations to ensure freedom, equality, and fraternity. We believe strongly that our individual human rights should be protected and that justice should be served... (EACH
STUDENT HAS A DIFFERENT PREAMBLE BASED ON THEIR BELIEFS.)

Preamble
We the people of the Independent Republic of Innovatio create this constitution for ourselves and future generations to ensure freedom, equality, and fraternity.  We believe strongly that our individual human rights should be protected and justice shall be served.  In which also the citizens are provided with more political freedom, equality, and social justice.  We desire this constitution to be beneficial for all, and to promote the common good.  We have come together to create a splendid culture that honors and protects all individuals whether earthlings or not. The people of the Independent Republic of Innovatio will work hard to self-reliantly modernize industry, agriculture, science and technology.  We are guided by our desire to express the will of the people of Innovatio, and  to create a democratic law-governed and social state. The people of the Independent Republic of Innovatio do hereby approve this Constitution, promise to honor it forever, and promulgate it so that people can be informed of their rights and abilities.


Constitution:
In order for the Independent Republic of Innovatio to remain united and safe, we have made laws that will protect us and our mission. To ensure the success of our purpose, each individual must do their job and follow the work schedule. There is an exception though, we have a work pass signed by the doctor that says how many days you can not do your job, and why you don’t have to do your job. Tools used for jobs, like knives used by the chefs or stethoscopes for the doctors, are strictly prohibited to everyone else. Tampering with any homes, automobiles, or any work spaces will be declared unconstitutional.
Although the laws above ensure the success of the mission, The Independent Republic of Innovatio has laws that ensure the safety and happiness of our citizens. In order to maintain security in our nation, searching through people’s belongings without government approval is illegal. Vandalizing and stealing property is also unconstitutional and illegal. Physical abuse is also illegal to ensure the wellbeing of the people. Finally, blackmailing is unconstitutional. If having done a crime then you go to the jury and will be convicted guilty or innocent  One of the laws that we made is no slacking.(No slacking means you can’t just not go to work). You have to have special permission to Do It. We made this because some people were stealing and slacking, our consequence for this is to search the pods for fifteen minutes to see why they were not at work. Also if they are not at work for no reason they will have to work at night with no pay, this means that you don’t get paid money for that night. We also saw that people were vandalizing other people's property so we made sure you will fix the item and work an extra shift of work overnight with no pay. When people need privacy you have to give them privacy. Make sure when you want privacy you can lock the doors and tell people that they want privacy. We are not allowed to have weapons on mars. The trainer is allowed to use types of weapons to train people how to do things. Another one of our laws is not to kill or hurt people. If you do kill or harm someone in vain, you will get the same treatment that you did to that person. If you steal anything, then you will be forced to tell us where the object you stole is. If you won’t tell us, we will look around your space to make sure the object is not there. We will find more evidence and if you for sure stole it, and can’t find the object, you will be fined. We will try to be caring, considerate citizens so our country is a safe and nice place to live. But to have these laws, we have to know how to make laws.
To decide if a law should be made and considered constitutional, citizens will use four effective tactics to ease conflicts on whether a law should be made or not. The first tactic is the agreement vote. The agreement vote is where all of the citizens unite to vote to see if they want the law to be made or not. The second tactic is the fairness vote. The fairness vote is where all citizens vote to see if the law that is made is fair enough to enforce. The third tactic is the usefulness vote. This takes place when citizens come together to vote to see if the law is useful enough to enforce. The fourth tactic is the debate. The citizens must use the debate when an agreement is not settled after all of the other tactics are used, and have failed. The citizens get to share their opinions with arguments and defenses to prove themselves right. The majority vote is seventeen votes at the least.   At least twenty five citizens need to vote to make a law.
Although, If some people do not agree with the laws that we made then we can hold a meeting during lunch, breakfast, or dinner deciding if we want the law/rule gone.  During the meeting we will discuss the differences of the law. For example, if one person wants the law gone and another doesn’t, we will discuss the differences and come to an agreement.  When we are done discussing the differences of the law/rule we will vote so that it doesn’t get out of control, and so that everyone doesn’t start fighting. When we decide if we want the law and or rule gone we will take it away and we will not use it as a rule or a law anymore.
We will make and vote on laws during dinner twice a week. You are required to attend unless you are granted special permission by the doctors or other authority figure. The dates of the weekly meetings will be on Monday and Friday.  Everyone is able to propose new ideas for laws, and/or suggestions that might not be made into laws but that we might want to keep in our head.  To approve a law you must have at least twenty five people that are able to vote. At least seventeen people need to give their approval on the law.  To promulgate the law we will keep a list of the laws in many places and each individual will have their own copy. If you come up if with a law we will write it down on your list and we will discuss everyone's list’s at dinner.  
      There is no government to make the laws and no single person or group will decide laws that will affect the whole country.  The Government is the people so we will decide as a group what laws we will put into effect over the people of The Independent Republic of Innovatio. Our government in the Independent Republic of Innovatio will not overpower any of the other people in Innovatio, our government can not take away anybody’s rights. Authority can’t threaten anybody to give government more power. Before a law is officially made, if it is unconstitutional, it won’t be a law. Everybody can have a say in government. The people are required to attend to an election unless they are given special permission.
So we try our best to respectfully follow this constitution. Everyone in the Independent Republic of Innovatio will be required to invest time to fully read this constitution so our community has ensured justice.
Bill of Rights:
    The citizens of the Independent Republic Of Innovatio have several set rights. The four most important of these rights are the rights to life, equal power, religion, and speech.  You will not have your life taken away unless you have taken the life away from another human in vain. You may always have the right to a trial by the people if you are accused of a crime. If you are on a trial by the people then you will have to get a vote of three fourths to not be guilty. Every citizen will be given equal power to vote, discuss ideas freely in a meeting and suggest new laws in a meeting and also have an equal vote if they pass our voting test and are five years old or older. You will always have to go to meetings even if you don’t care about the topic because we want everybody's input on laws to make sure it is equal for everybody.  
Religion, every citizen will be able to practice and celebrate their religion of choice, but this may only be allowed if this religion does not interfere with your responsibilities, affect some other person's rights, or infringe on “the mission's success.” If the religion you choose to practice does not allow you to correctly do your job then that religion will not be able to be practiced or will have to be modified.
Speech, every person shall be given freedom of speech. However if they abuse this power or use this right to encourage unwanted violence, then that right shall be taken away by vote of the people. Anyone can suggest laws as long as they are respectful of the of the verdict of the people’s vote. You also need to respect others opinions and ideas.
You have the right to be excused from your job and meetings if you are very ill or injured and a doctor has given you a signed work pass telling how long will be out. Everyone has the right to a work pass as long as they truly need it. If they purposely got hurt then they are not eligible for a work pass. You can also choose to get both afternoons on weekends off of work, or just one full day. So every citizen of the Independent Republic Of Innovatio is given these rights to be a good, respectful, kind citizen and to ensure the justice of this direct democracy and the next generations to come.












































                   ​
​Reflection/Synthesis Questions:
  1. Why do you think we spent so much time learning the "We the People" curriculum before colonizing Mars?
  2. What were you & your peers able to use from our "We the People" lessons when creating our Mars Constitution?
  3. Describe some examples of when you (or those around you) used the internet to research things that we used (or didn't end up using) for our Mars Constitution.
  4. Why should more students be encouraged to research things while CREATING (like we did when we created our Constitution)?
  5. What are some things you learned about government from this experience?
Answers:
1. I think we learned the "We the People" unit before colonizing Mars was to use past knowledge from the constitution to apply it to making the government in the Constitution at Mars. So you will know a bit more to live in Mars and the Constitution.
2. When my peers and I were working on the Mars Constitution of the Independent Republic Of Innovatio, we created some laws that others have died form the past because by limiting us to not killing each other with weapons or other killing stuff.
3. One time we were all looking up different things about how and what to fix problems that could possibly happen while colonizing Mars, like if we run out of water or about creating houses and making clothes.
4. I think students are more encouraged to research the Constitution and other history facts, because you have the simulation of going to Mars and creating your own name, passport, Constitution, national anthem, and more. And you're still learning about what you would learn in a textbook taught by the teacher, and then doing some worksheet instead of simulation with creativity.
5. Some of the things I learned about the Constitution is that it's very hard to create a country and Constitution with your classmates. Also I learned that the Constitution is a very important part of a creating a country where you will eventually agree on something.              
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Science Fair 

5/5/2016

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By the end of the Science Fair, my presentation was much better because:

 

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