What's going on in Mr. Solarz' Class?
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Oregon Trail Lesson 13-14 Google Slide Show

6/3/2016

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Oregon Trail Lesson 11-12 

6/2/2016

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Oregon Trail Lesson 9-10 - News Cast

6/1/2016

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Oregon Trail Lesson 7-8 Act it Outs

5/26/2016

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Voki - Oregon Trail lesson 5 and 6

5/24/2016

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Oregon Trail Photo Stories Day 4

5/18/2016

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Picture
We evenly packed up all of our supplies so if we lost one wagon we would still have backup supplies!
Picture
We chose and bought our supplies!

Picture
We set off and had a few successful days in our 84 wagon trail!
Picture
A few of us got blisters from walking so much.
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Oregon Trail Day 3

5/17/2016

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Picture
We Bought our Prairie Schooner!
Picture
We chose an Ox to pull our wagon!
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We met other pioneers that are in our wagon train!
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Daily Travel Log, Day 1 and 2

5/13/2016

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In the first day if Oregon Trail we have landed on a man and we have took his gold so that we are able to survive and by the things that we will need to be able to survive. We have ended up in the news paper because many witnesses has experienced and landing and thought that it was a UFO. We asked a passerby where we are and what we should do. He said that we were in independence Missouri. He told us that lots of pilgrims in this city were moving west so that there are able to get lots cheaper farm land, get a better job, practice/teach the faith of Christianity. In day 2 we decided that we were going that we were going to take the Oregon trail because that is one of the best routes we can take and also that we were able to stop in other city's for supplies and food. We also decided that we were going to travel with a wagon to hold are supplies and the elderly, at least 2 ox's so that it is able to pull the supplies, and travel by foot because the wagon will be full. Today we also decided that we were not going to be gold panner's because it was way to risky like if we went very far for gold and there was not any we would not know what to do. Our job that we are going to be is a farmer.
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Mars Constitution

5/5/2016

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​We the citizens of the independent Republic of Innovatio create this constitution for ourselves and future generations to ensure freedom, equality, and fraternity. We believe very strongly that our individual human rights should be protected and that justice should be served. We also believe that the citizens of the Republic of Innovatio should secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and work for the maintenance of peace and security throughout Mars. We subscribe to the rights, and obligations of everyone on mars. We will provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare. We the citizens think that this constitution should be always followed and never dishonored.
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.






​

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. We spent so much time on We The People before colonizing mars because if we did colonizing mars first we would not know what the constitution meant and we would not know what rules you need to know to start a country.
2. We knew what the Constitution meant and  and we knew what each law was for and why we needed it to be able to start a country.
3. We used the internet in colonizing mars when I needed to find different problems for our jobs I had to figure out what problems pilots face.
4. More students should encouraged to researched so that we are all coming up with knew ideas for the constitution because if only one of us is researching we will only get things from one person and we will not get different points of view.
5. Some things that I learned about the government was that it is hard to set up our own country and that you can not just do it in five minutes. You have to know what each part of the government is for and how each part works.   

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Science Fair

5/5/2016

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Science Fair Presentation-First Draft

I am glad I recorded a video before the science fair because:
  • In my after video I will be able to do better because I will know what to improve in my next video.
  • I will be able to know what to say on my real presentation and know what not to say so that I am only saying important things 
  • One more thing that glad about making a before video is because I can compare both videos and say what was good about them and what is not.

​Science Fair Presentation-Improved Version

By the end of the Science Fair, my presentation was much better because:
  • ​One of the ways I have improved is how I have made sure to only say the important parts of my science fair and only say the things students are interested in.
  • Another one of the ways I have improved is how I made sure to say everything in the slide that is important and and not leave anything out.
  • The last way that it is improved is that I made sure to show people on the props how I did like showing them where the Legos went and how they went on.

Questions

Answers

Overall, I think that the Science Fair was a valuable experience because...

I definitely made some mistakes along the way, but I learned from them. Here are some examples:

If I were give the chance to do anything differently, I would...
I learned to challenge myself by making sure all of my slides were long and that my presentation was good.  I accidentally printed my slides at 100%,  Another mistake I accidentally made was that I was behind on my board and I had to stay in for homework club because I did not have everything printed. I would do a couple thing differently one of the things I would do different is I would try to be caught up at all times and stay on task at all times so that I am caught up with everyone. One more thing that I would have changed was to try to make all  of my slides even longer then they already are so I have more to say and have it be more descriptive.  
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