Formal Writing

Should cigarette smoking be banned?

A small stick of tobacco rolled up in some paper has the power to kill you if you let it. Bringing the cigarette to your lips and simply igniting it with a flame for the first time can be the start to a long, unhealthy addiction. I believe that cigarette smoking should be banned for many reasons. These reasons include the way it negatively affects your health, the health of those around you, your mental health. Although there are so many negative impacts, smoking is still a popular addiction which needs to be stopped. Also, if smoking was to be banned now, then further generations will not be encouraged as much to try it. These points all come logically come together to portray the obvious point that cigarette smoking should be banned.

If anything, the main reason for smoking cigarettes to be banned, is because of the way it can affect your own health. Every cigarette you smoke has a way of harmly almost every organ in you body and ruins your system The more cigarettes you smoke, the more likely is will be the reason for serious medical issues and possibly result in death. Statistics from the New Zealand Government, show that over 80 percent of lung cancer is caused by smoking. Also, the chemicals from tobacco can eventually get into your bloodstream and travel through your body. Each year, 5000 people - 13 people a day - in New Zealand die from either smoking or exposure to smoke. By banning the smoking of cigarettes, the death rate could definitely decline. Although smoking can be seen as some form of stress relief to benefit your mental health, it is ruining your physical health. The less people there are smoking in our country, the fewer deaths will occur. However, it is difficult to get so many people to quit, but by banning the smoking of cigarettes, you have no choice but to quit. By banning smoking, hopefully one day there will be a generation which does not know anything about cigarettes and tobacco, and they will not face the health consequences which smoking brings.

Personal health is very important. The health of those around you is also very important. Secondhand smoke comes from those who smoke and affects the people around them. Exposure to secondhand smoke can be just as deadly as doing the smoking yourself. Secondhand smoke can have subtle and serious effects. Subtle being headaches, dizziness, or coughing and serious effects including heart disease, lung cancer and strokes. Children can be majorly affected too with illnesses such as ear infections, lung or breathing illness, and sometimes even sudden unexpected death in infantry. Secondhand smoke is dangerous and has such negative long term effects on people who do not deserve it because they do not personally smoke. Smoke Free New Zealand states that before indoor smoking was banned, around 350 people a year, would die from secondhand smoking. Banning cigarette smoking can benefit the lives of those who are around smokers quite often. This point is particularly aimed toward families of those who smoke. By banning cigarette smoking, and people not smoking as much as they usually would, or not at all, then that will be benefiting the health of so many friends and families who usually have to live with the smoke surrounding them from those they love.

Mental health can sometimes be affected more than physical health. When you purchase a pack of cigarettes or some tobacco, you are basically paying just to kill your own organs. Now that is a definite waste of money. In the United States, people who generally smoke a pack of smokes a day - which is quite a lot - pay close to $15000 a year. That $15000 could go towards so much more than just feeding into an unhealthy addiction which is hurting you physically and mentally. Mental impacts can include stress from running out of cigarettes, or anger due to not having enough money to go towards cigarettes, and that anger can sometimes be further aimed toward someone else, turning serious, into some form of abuse. Sometimes, so much money goes towards purchasing cigarettes, and then there is not enough money left for necessary items like food to feed a family. Things like this can tear families apart. There is no point in just letting people use their hard earned money to go towards something which will eventually kill them. Cigarettes should be banned, they are hurting the bank accounts of so many people and their suffering families.

Smoking can be a now and then kind of thing, or it can become a vital part of life. By banning cigarettes, the addiction of them will hopefully fade, and could restore so many lives which have been spent smoking for so many years. It is quite risky as there is a chance that many people could gravitate toward drug use, but by banning smoking cigarettes, that is a start to banning other drugs, and helping more lives. If this law was to be implemented now, there is a chance that smoking could be an unknown thing for future generations and they will not have to face the many consequences which smoking can bring. It will be an end to a horrible killer.

The smoking of cigarettes should no longer be a thing. There are so many negative outcomes from smoking that it is not worth it. Your harming your own physical health, the health of those around you, and you mental health. Banning these small sticks of evil would so beneficial for our country and the rest of the world. It would save so many lives and disgusting smell of smoke in so many public areas can finally be gone. Keeping cigarettes around is just feeding into a harmful addiction and not helping those who are wanting to quit, to actually do so. Cigarettes need to be banned now, for a future so pure, and 100% smoke free.

Year 11 Art - 9

Although I have already formed a piece consisting of a celtic knot, I felt that other versions of the same and even different celtic patterns were needed to show that it is genuinely meant to be involved in my work. Using water colour paper, water colour paint and acrylic paint. I painted half of a celtic knot in black acrylic paint and used different water colour paints to fill in the free spaces within the pattern. Around the knot, I used purple acrylic paint and faded out the strong colour using a clear gel medium. The further away from the knot, the lighter the shade of purple. Once again, using purple to tie in with my other pieces.
Also, I have begun with sketching other ideas for my three larger pieces. Some of the ideas consist of the half celtic pattern, using the roots from the woodcut print, as well as tree branches separately. These are some ideas which I am looking at turning into stencils for spray painting. I am looking at using blue, yellow, white and silver spray paint for these stencils. I decided to go against the use of purple spray paint as I want to use purple acrylic paint instead.

Year 11 Art - 8

I have now completed my woodcut and printed it on the paper using purple ink. The use of the colour purple helps to tie this piece in with the other two pieces which I have made for my board. I found that the print looked plain the first time I tried it, so then I tried to add a bit more detail to show different textures. Parts from this woodcut which I am hoping to use in other pieces are the roots of the tree, as well as the line separating the ground from the sky in the middle of the print.
My next focus will be on finding other small subject pieces to work together with what I already have. The reason for this is because my second panel is going to consist of three horizontal pieces. The plan for these three pieces is spray paint a background with multiple colours and using  objects to help with gaining different textures. Then continuing to form and use stencils to layer on top of the background. After the stencils, then using acrylic paints, adding in whatever I need to allow the piece to work together.

Bacteria and Disinfectants

Bacteria and Disinfectants

Purpose: To see how concentration can affect the performance rate of disinfectants in killing microorganisms.

Aim: I want to investigate how different concentrations of disinfectant inhibit the growth of bacteria.

Hypothesis: I predict that the stronger the concentration of Savlon, the more bacteria is inhibited from growing. I think this because Savlon is an antiseptic disinfectant which is a bactericide, therefore, the stronger the concentration of savlon, the more bacteria is killed and stopped from growing.

Variables:

The independent variable in this investigation, is the concentration of Savlon - we will be using. 

The concentration of the Savlon will be done through a diluting it with water (9 drops of water, 1 drop of solution).

The concentrations of this solution will be 100%, 10%, 1% and 0.1%.
To keep this investigation constant, there needs to some controlled variables. Firstly, the agar plates we will be using are nutrient agar plates rather than other ones as they are used to support the growth of a wide range of non-fastidious organisms. They are eligible of growing bacteria and fungi, because of the great amount of nutrients needed for bacteria growth.
Another controlled variable is the use of filter paper. This is used to soak up the same amount of solution rather having different types of paper. Also, another variable is keeping the same size of filter paper discs to ensure that the results are more accurate.

In this investigation, the dependent variable which we will be measuring is the clear zone surrounding the discs of Savlon. The 'clear zone' is the name of the area where the bacteria on the agar plates does not grow, or kills the bacteria cells.

The measuring process of this will be carried out through using a ruler to measure the diameter of the circle - hopefully - which will be surrounding the discs. The measurements will be done in millimeters.

Equipment:

• Agar Plate
• Savlon - antispetic
• Vivid
• Yoghurt - the bacteria growing
• Beaker
• Filter Paper
• Hole Punch
• Tweezers
• Dropper
• Dimple Tray
• Ethanol
• Bunsen Burner
• Tape

Method:

1. Firstly, begin with collecting all of the equipment needed.
2. With a clear agar plate, make sure to keep the lid on it as much as possible and divide bottom of the plate into four sections using a vivid. Label each section according to concentration (1=0%, 2=10%, 3=1%, 4=0.1%).
3. Dilute some yoghurt with water until you are left if a watery consistency. Pour 10mL into agar plate to form a thin layer on top of the gel - may need to be swirled around to cover every part of the gel.
4. Drain out any excess yoghurt in the plate - do not touch the gel.
5. Take a sheet of filter paper and using the hole punch, punch out four small discs of the same size.
6. Taking the dimple tray, a clean dropper, a beaker of Savlon and a beaker of water, begin with forming different concentrations of Savlon - 10%, 1% & 0.1%.
1. Using a clean dropper, put 10 drops of Savlon into a well in the dimple tray - remember to clean out the dropper after every time you use it to collect Savlon. This can be done through collecting water from a beaker and squirting it out, doing this three times.
2. Put 9 drops of water in the second well, and one drop of savlon. Make sure to stir the solution and proceeding to rinse out the dropper once again. This is the concentration of 10% Savlon.
3. Drop 9 drops of water once again into another well, and take one drop of the 10% and mixing it into the new dimple of water, forming a new solution. This is the concentration of 1% Savlon.
4. Take 9 more drops of water into another dimple, add one drop of the 1% percent solution and mix to form the 0.1% Savlon concentration.
5. Finally, add water to another dimple. This is the 0%, or ‘control’.
7. Turn on your Bunsen Burner, making sure you have your filter paper, dimple tray, agar plate, some tweezers and ethanol - making sure to put the lid back on the container when not using it.
8. Take the tweezers and dip the end of them into the ethanol, then run it through the Bunsen flame to sterilize.
9. Soak one disc per solution and place the discs into the center of it’s designated section on the agar plate.
10. Finally, using tape, seal the lid to the plate so the agar plate doesn't open.

Repeat these steps on two more agar plates to ensure you get more accurate results.

Results:

Final Result

Data Table

Concentration of Savlon resulting in Clear Zone
	Clear Zone (diameter)	Clear Zone (diameter)	Clear Zone (diameter)
Concentration	1	2	3	Average
0	0	0	0	0
10%	21mm	20mm	24mm	21.67mm
1%	14mm	26mm	15mm	14.5mm
0.10%	12mm	10mm	10mm	10.67mm

Analysis

This set of data shows three tests of this investigation and in almost every case, the highest concentrations have a greater diameter, and the lowest concentrations have the smallest diameters. However, within this investigation, there appeared to be one outlier, and this can be seen in agar plate 2's results, where the 1% concentration has a greater diameter compared to the 10% concentration, unlike the other two plates.

In the line graph, he blue line represents the size of the clear zone - area where no bacteria had grown - compared to the concentration of Savlon.

The red line in the line graph is a trend line. This line shows which direction the results seem to be going, and in this situation, the trend line seems to be showing that it is increasing. This means, that the higher the concentration of savlon, the greater the diameter of the clear zone.

Conclusion:

In this investigation, my hypothesis was correct. The stronger the concentration of Savlon - antiseptic - the more bacteria is inhibited from growing. My hypothesis was proved correct because when looking over the data I collected, a trend can be seen. In the graph, results show an increasing trend - as seen in the red trend line. This means that by increasing the concentration, the size of the clear zone is also increased. Or, in other words, the stronger the concentration, the more bacteria growth is inhibited, therefore forming a greater clear zone.

Discussion:

Bacteria

Bacteria are small, single cell microorganisms and they exist in groups of millions. There are three main bacterial shapes - sphere shaped, rod shaped and spiral. Bacteria cells can live within soil, water, plants, animals, and so on. The life process of bacteria is movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion and nutrition - or MRS GREN for short. In this investigation, we were looking more into the growth and reproduction side of bacteria. The growth and reproduction of bacteria is an asexual process, dividing one cell into two daughter cells. This process is known as Binary Fission.

Bacteria cells have a specific structure. The outermost wall is called the capsule and it simply protects the bacteria. Inside, is the cell wall - which helps to keep the structure of the cell - and the cell membrane - which controls what enters and exits the cell.

Within the cell, the long twisted thing in the middle, is DNA, and it holds the genetic code or instructions. As seen in the photograph, there are two small plasmid and they are DNA which codes for processes which are not essential. The small, circular things are ribosomes, and they are where proteins are made. Everything within these cells are held together with cytoplasm which is a gel like texture.

On the outside of the cell structure, there are short spikes which stick out and they are called Pili. Their purpose is to transfer genetic material. Also, the cell has a tail, and it is called the flagellum. The flagellum is there to help the cell to move.

Binary Fission occurs asexually, when a grown parent cell, divides into two halves producing two new daughter cells which will eventually do the same thing at some point as a way of reproducing.
The diagram above shows the growth of bacteria, growing to the right size to split into two. These two new cells are identical clones of the mother cell they originated from, due to there being no other genetic code - another parent - involved in this reproduction.

This a graph showing the growth of bacteria when there is nutrients present. During the lag phase, there is little bacteria, beginning to take in nutrients and synthesizing their DNA and proteins. From there, the exponential phase is where the bacteria begin to replicate themselves - cloning - and the amount of bacter grows. During the stationary phase, the essential nutrients needed start to run low, and the growth rate of bacteria is equal to the death rate of bacteria. As the nutrients completely run out, it means that the bacteria can no longer reproduce and the bacteria slowly decreases. This is known as the death phase - the death of bacteria.

What is Savlon?
Savlon is an antiseptic which brand. It contains two antiseptics called Cetrimide and Chlorhexidine Gluconate.
Cetrimide is an antiseptic, having a mixture of quaternary ammonium salts - including cetrimonium bromide.  Chlorhexidine is an antiseptic and disinfectant used on skin before surgery is performed on a patient and also used to sterilize surgical instruments.

What is a disinfectant and an antiseptic?
A disinfectant is a chemical which kills bacteria, and prevents it from growing. Antiseptics do the same thing, except they are used on the skin as it does not do as much harm. An antiseptic is a solution which prevents the growth of microorganisms which can cause diseases. Antiseptics can also be known as bactericides, and these are known to inhibit the growth of bacteria, and the stronger the bactericidal is, the more bacteria is killed off. This provides us with a reason for why the higher concentrations of Savlon resulted in greater clear zones - area where bacteria has not been able to grow.
Disinfectants can work in multiple ways. Depending what disinfectant it is, it oxidises the molecules on the surface of of the bacteria cells. This disrupts the cells wall and cell membrane and the proteins on the surface begin to become damaged and forming clumps. This happens quickly and the bacteria does not work fast enough to fight against this process. Then, the cells can't handle it and splits apart, killing the bacteria.

growth What Is Bacteria? What Are Bacteria?
Nutrient Agar: Composition, Preparation and Uses Evaluation:
With this experiment, we carried it out three times to gain a more accurate result. It was a good idea considering that one of our three agar plates did not give us the result we were looking for. This one poor result gave us an outlier to work around. The outlier can be found in agar plate 2, with the 1% percent concentration. This result was over 10mm greater in diameter compared to the other two plates. Therefore, this meant leaving it out when calculating the average diameter for the final results.
For next time, I feel that we could improve on this experiment by having a bit more time to actually accurately soak the filter paper and place onto the plate correctly - rather than rushing within 5 minutes at the end of the class. Also, allowing the plate to dry once the filter paper is placed so that it doesn't move around - there was a lot of movement when it came to our paper.

Reading Log - 6

Title: All The Light We Cannot See
Text Type: Extended Written Text - Novel
Author: Anthony Doerr

'All The Light We Cannot See' is what I believe to be an emotional novel, cleverly written by Anthony Doerr. In this book, we see two stories; one from a young girl named Marie-Laure who lives her life blind, and a German boy named Werner Pfenning. We witness as their two lives cross paths.

Reading Log - 5

Title: Hills Like White Elephants
Text Type: Short Written Text - Short Story
Author: Ernest Hemingway

'Hills Like White Elephants' is a short story written by the talented author, Ernest Hemingway. In this text, we meet 'the American' and a girl who when we read further, she can be recognised as his girlfriend or 'Jig'. The two sharing a conversation of many things. Starting at how the hills look like white elephants, to a conversation of an operation for Jig to restore the couple's 'happiness'.

'The American' is a man who cares so much for this girl - Jig - who he is sitting, sipping on drinks alongside the train station, talking about the appearance of the hills in the distance, with him. This makes me realise that there is a time and place to just chill out. Except, a normal conversation turns into an intense talk about the girl being operated on - operation was never specified - and how the two would be happier if she went ahead with it. However, Jig isn't so sure; things may stay the same as they are at this point in time - dull. But, this man, he wants the best for his the girl sitting directly across from him, and he speaks the words I wish I could say to many people.
"'Then I'll do it. Because I don't care about me'
'What do you mean?'
'I don't care about me'
'Well, I care about you'" and I wish I could explain my care for other people, the way he does further into the text. He wants Jig to know that whatever she does, he will always be there for her and love her. I feel that the American is a clear representative of how men should properly take care of their woman. When reading this, it made me feel as though there are people in this world with kind hearts, they want the best for the ones they love, and they want to make sure they know that. I want to be one of those people. A person who wants the best for the people around me and for them to be happy.

Although 'the American' is trying his best to reassure the girl that whether she chooses to go ahead with a simple operation or not, he will still care for her, however, she is very questionable about the whole situation. She feels as though he needs her to have this procedure and immediately feels obliged to go ahead with it, only because he mentioned it. I feel that this text shares with it's audience how small things can trigger the instant thoughts. Jig only took one part of the conversation, which was negative, and jumped to conclusions, not letting 'the American' explain what he really was implying. '“And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?” “I love you now. You know I love you.” “I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?”' a short example of how he tried to change her mind. I feel like a lot of people jump to conclusions, including myself. I personally find that I never give people the chance to explain a situation which has effected me emotionally. It's as though I believe one thing and choose not to listen or learn to understand the full story. However, I have become more aware of this lately. I'm glad to have become more understanding of other's stories and opinions. Patience is a key thing in this part of the short story. 'The American' can be seen as a patient figure, putting up with his girlfriend's reactions, and still doing his very best to prove that he cares  about her and her thoughts.

I genuinely feel that this short story shows different personalities for caring about one another - in particular, 'the American'. 'The American' shares his way of loving, and being so understanding towards his frustrated girlfriend. Some people need more of that trait. A trait of great care towards others. But, what goes hand in hand with kindness such as that, comes patience. Listening to others and acknowledging their opinions. The are times when I feel as though my opinions matter, however, I don't know whether I don't speak them loud enough, or they're just plain not good enough to be heard.

Reading Log - 4

Reading Log - 4

Title: The World Before Us
Text Type: Novel
Author: Aislinn Hunter

The World Before Us by Aislinn Hunter, is a story told in the past and the present day, through third person - or people. This novel sees multiple scenes; an asylum for the mentally damaged, Jane as a 34 year old woman working as an archivist in London, and young Jane, when she was only 15 years old. Reading this felt more like seeing it. Seeing myself in the same position as Jane.

Young Jane, was asked by William Elliot to join him for a walk around the gardens to mind his daughter, Lily, for a few hours while he focused on his research on the plants. The second day of doing this for William, him along with Jane and Lily had lunch together; Jane hoping that this is a way of getting to know her better. During this sitting, William and Jane, held what Jane felt was a very intellectual conversation. "'Did your father put you up to the cello?' He'd asked. 'No. Well, sort of.' 'It must be difficult - the expectations people have'" which I have to agree with William about. Expectations which people in our society have on others can be hard to come to terms with. Society nowadays makes us feel obliged to follow a particular system of how we act, look or what things we should or should not do. It feels as though that some of these standards are too high to reach. Being in Jane's position, I feel as though there would be a lot more pressure weighing down on her to be who her parents want her to be and live up to their expectations. I'm very thankful that my parents have never forced me into a hobby I wasn't interested in, however, society is a whole other thing.

Something in this novel which I feel is something I could relate to. Scared of what the past can bring into the present. In Jane's situation, when she was minding Lily - the same day as the previous paragraph. While playing a game to keep Lily entertained, Jane let Lily escape from her vision for a split second, and the 5 year old daughter of William Elliot was never to be seen again. Now, as a 34 year old woman, Jane is meeting up with William for the first time since the traumatic incident and she is ever so nervous and anxious as to how this situation goes down. I feel that I could relate to Jane's feelings in this case, except not quite to that extent. I feel as though sometimes I need to be more aware of things I do or say, because you never when these things may or may not come up at some point in the future. At times, when I know I have done something small which I regret saying or doing, it makes me cautious of what to do if that was to have any impact on my future self, even it may be a little thing,

I feel that I can relate to Jane, although, her situation definitely seems more in depth. Losing Lily would've been a horrible experience, and reading this novel made me feel the way Jane would when she was waiting to meet with William after so long. I also feel as though the whole 'expectations' thing is something I could relate to. Not in the sense that my parents force me to do something which I would prefer not to, but society nowadays makes a lot of people, including myself, feel obliged to do their absolute best to reach standards which are completely made up. Jane is seen as just a normal person, living in our normal world. 

Connections Paragraph - Shutter Island

Connections ParagraphShutter Island

Question: How does the film Shutter Island demonstrate the theme ‘causes and consequences of madness’? Use specific, detailed evidence from the text to support your answer.

The film Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorcese demonstrates the theme ‘the causes and consequences of madness’ in several ways. Madness can be caused by guilt or traumatic events. Specifically, in this visual text, we see how ‘Teddy’ and his uncontrollable mind go wild all together. The film leads us to believe that he is heading down the path of disturbed mentality, when really, he is already there. What caused him to head toward that route, was guilt. The guilt of never getting his wife the help that she needed needed. The guilt of leaving her to kill all three of their children. The guilt of killing her. The whole traumatic experience drove him insane. Consequences of madness see 'normal' people turning to mental bodied of destruction and anger. As a consequence, Teddy's wife and her madness lead him to go mad; forcing himself to erase the guilt eating him from the inside, out. His head drifted into a parallel world where he is the hero, Teddy Daniels, when in reality, he was the destroyed soul of Andrew Laeddis. Laeddis deluded in that he was at Ashecliffe with a task which needed to be completed by a US Marshal like himself, when in reality they were trying to help him go back to the man he once was and allowed him to be destructive as a way of progressing. His hallucinations of his wife also drove him crazy, becoming destructive toward everything and everyone else, as a way of never letting her go.

Year 11 Art - 7

So far I have finished two pieces for my first panel. These two pieces are linked together, connecting my idea of intertwined stems or vines and celtic patterns. Both are done with black pencil drawn and shaded over top of water colour paints on A3 water colour paper. There can be multiple interpretations of the two pieces. One perspective can be that the lines are a confused mess trying to make sense of themselves, eventually falling into a natural order. Sort of like when a single person is thinking too hard about what is going on in their life, and not allowing everything to just fall into place the way that they should natural fall.
Originally, I was going to stop with just having the water colour background and black pencil, however I felt that it wasn't enough. To add more detail into both pieces, I added in dark green, blue and white paint in the background to give extra depth. Also, painting over the black pencil lines with black acrylic paint to make the lines look bolder.
For my next art work, I am wanting to do a wood cut print. I want to use the same idea of 'natural' in the wood cut. I have a drawing of a tree from the roots to the branches, with a line either side showing where the level of the ground would be.

Reading Log - 3

Reading Log - 3

Title: What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You
Text Type: Short Written Text - Article
Written by Susan Krauss Whitbourne

There are a lot of things which have come together to form the people we become over time. 'What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You' is an informative text which shares with it's readers how previous experiences in our lives, help to allow us to grow mentally and to gain a stronger sense of self.

What makes us who we are? This article shared with me the fact that the memories stored clearly in our brains give us a stronger awareness of who we are as individuals and I must say, I agree. Each and every one of us hold different our own memories, good, bad and neutral, but the ones that mean the most to us gain an emotional reaction when thinking about them. The text states that 'The easiest way to find out your self-defining memories is by thinking about the events in your life that you are most likely to tell people about when they say "Tell me a little about yourself".' and I feel that this is a correct statement. I feel as though that really triggers the memories which stand out the most, even when it comes down to thinking about it personally. I know that my clearest memories are being named for softball teams. They are my proudest moments. I guess I take a lot of pride in my achievements which I have worked hard for, therefore sharing one thing about myself.

Something that caught eye in this text where Whitbourne explains an example of how age can show us how developed or under developed our sense of self really can be. When comparing older and younger adults 'older adults tended to come up with more general memories that linked several events together and that, in general, older adults tended to feel more positively about their self-defining memories, even if the memories were of events that were negative in nature' '...older adults have found ways to make sense out of their life stories. They convert memories of troubling events into stories of redemption in which they make peace with their past struggles.  For younger adults, events of a negative nature had more rough edges, causing them to experience greater distress when they recalled them.'. I found these statements interesting as I have never really considered the fact that the older we become, the more established we become. We take experiences in while it's happening, but it's the memories of the experiences which matter the most. Memories, whether they are great ones or painful ones to thinking about, they are hard to get rid of, but we can overcome them. From these studies at Connecticut College, it shows that those who are older have a more positive look on their memories, even the negative ones. They have grown past the pain or stress of those negative memories and it have helped them to gain an even stronger sense of themselves. Whereas college aged adults had a rougher experience with those negative memories, because the haven;t been able to age and grow past them yet. Before reading this article, I thought I was quite established, but as I went on through the text, it made me realise that I still think young, younger than I ever thought. I have not had the time to grow a overcome painful memories, but that will come with age. 

After reading this article, I was not really sure what to think. I have realised that I have great emotion toward me success and the memories of the people around me, and it makes me happy to think about it all, feeling more established with life and it's meaning. But I also feel as though there are memories which I wish I never had and they make me thinking of the stress I was feeling at the time, and I notice that I know who I am now, but I still have no clue of who I want to be further down the track. without negative spikes of my past getting the best of me. I guess though, that the positivity of elders comes with time and age, things I have not had enough of.

Reading Log - 2

Reading Log - 2

Title: The Complexity of Fear

Text Type: Short Written Text - Article

Written by Mary C. Lamia

'The Complexity of Fear' is a compelling article written by Mary Lamia, distinguishing the subtle and great differences between fear and anxiety. In this text, it is explained that fear and anxiety is the a response to any sort of threat, however, the two concepts approach our thought process in different ways.

From this text, I have gathered information which I surprisingly find quite relatable. The article uses the example of 'someone suddenly jumping out at you from behind a bush' to portray a feeling of fear. If you were in that position, what would you do? That is a question you would most likely asked yourself to find an impulsive response to any threatening situation, which you feel your well being and safety is at risk. Lamia states that being in a risky situation, it is quite likely that you would search your thoughts for options along the lines of 'freeze, flight, fight or fright'. Freeze, meaning to stay still and let whatever might happen to you, just happen. Flight, meaning to make a direct escape, and fight, as in staying to stand your own ground. I find myself in this position quite often. It makes me wonder how many fears I have in this world, but it would be impossible to list them all because I only really recognise them the moment they occur. For example, flying. Whenever I think of flying, I think of the times when I was younger and the excitement of getting on a plane to get to my destination. However, if I remember correctly, earlier this year, I was on a flight to Palmerston North, and the turbulence was quite bad with a slight jolt just setting off great fear. My first thought was to cry. I felt as though my life was at great risk and there was no way of escaping it, causing the tears to stream down my pale face.

Anxiety is something confuses me, yet it also makes complete sense to me. Lamia states that '... anxiety is a general state of distress that is longer lasting than fear' which I understand. However, when continuing that sentence, '...and usually is triggered by something that is not specific, even though it produces physiological arousal, such as nervousness and apprehension', it makes me wonder, how can you be concerned over something without even knowing what it is? But, I also feel as though I understand how being in an anxious situation would feel. This text makes anxiety seem a lot more complicated than it really is, but at the same time, isn't that the whole meaning behind anxiety? It's some complicated experience which you don't wish to go through, but you just can't help it and you feel as if there is no way of avoiding it. Also what makes it so much more worse, is if you have indicated a situation which you know makes you feel nervous and worried, you remember that thought for future occurrences. Going back to my personal experience of flying to Palmerston North, and going through what I felt was a near traumatic experience - although I obviosly know I was completely safe the entire flight - it still makes me nervous to get on planes. Taking a couple of trips to Wellington and back since then have been quite hard for me. There was barely any turbulence during those flights, but the thought of the plane falling out of the sky and me never seeing the faces of the ones I love ever again, really scares me. Flying is just one of those things that make me anxious I guess.

Although fear is a judgement of a risky situation, it isn't always a great excuse for some impromptu decisions you decide to make. There are times when your actions are acceptable, such as self defense, in fearful times, however I feel as though it is frowned upon sometimes when taken quite out of hand and not seriously. Anxiety is something which I feel is an annoying issue, and from what I believe, going through very minor phases of it, it made me realise how mentally painful it would be for those with anxiety disorders. I personally still don't quite understand the difference between fear and anxiety, even after reading this article, but I guess that's the whole reason behind Mary Lamia writing and discussing it. The Complexity of Fear. Fear is a complicated concept to grasp great knowledge on, but one thing is for sure, you really know what fear is when you feel it in your heart. 

Reading Log - 1

Reading Log - 1

Title: Hacksaw Ridge

Text Type: Visual Text - Film

Directed by Mel Gibson 

Written by Robert Schenkkan, Robert Wallace & Andrew Knight

Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson, tells the courageous, yet very true story of Desmond T. Doss. This screenplay shares with it's audience about how Doss came to be the first conscientious objector to gain the Congressional Medal of Honor. He stood for what he believed and never gave up on what he wanted. The man was a hero, even with people like his own father trying to stand in the way of that. Hacksaw Ridge is a way of recognising Desmond's stubborn opinion on anti-violence and his great bravery during World War Two.

Just by listening to the things which Desmond said throughout the film, you could tell that he stood for what he believed in, and it inspired me. His words encourage me to want to share my opinion, and not let anyone change it, if I feel so strongly about it. The simplest example of Desmond sharing his self empowering thoughts, is when he quotes "I don't know how I'm going to live with myself if I don't stay true to what I believe in". When he says 'what I believe in', he means anti-violence. Anti-violence was an opinion he gained after concussing his brother and almost killing him by hitting him in the head with a brick. The man never wanted to touch a gun, but wanted to be apart of the war, as a medic. Many tried to get him to do basic weapons training, but that went against what he felt was right. He never fired a shot. But what he did do, was save 75 injured men at the Hacksaw post, and that's what he really wanted. I feel that by using that simple quote, it allows for questions to be raised in our our heads, considering the reason for our existence and individuality. I can't say that I completely relate to Desmond as a character, however, I wish I could. I want my life to be influenced more by my own opinions rather than whatever else other people are trying to 'feed' to me. After thinking about how difficult it would to live a life not letting anyone have much of a say in it, it made me realise that Desmond was a hard worker, and his stubborn trait helped him to gain the results he was looking for.

By believing in himself more and more everyday, it gave him great determination. Desmond was determined to not only help out in the war without actually battling, but he also did everything he could do to get the girl of his dreams, Dorothy. The nurse who fell in love with immediately and inspired him to become a medic. She was that extra bit of goodness which ran through his blood. By seeing the way he absolutely adored her and did what he felt was the best for the two of them, he wanted that for the rest of the world. This makes me realise that people have a real impact on our lives. There are the people who make you a better person, the person you want to be. Whether you know them or not, they just encourage you to be the person you want to be. For me, that person is my best friend. They encourage to be the best version I myself, and it makes me so much happier. This convinces me to want to be that happier person all the time. I want to encourage others to be the person they believe they can be and smile the way I know they can, just like Desmond.

The relationship between Desmond and his father, Tom Doss, makes me curious. What makes me so curious is when Tom goes against everything he says, just to help out Desmond to do what he believes in by helping him at his 'no weapons' military court trial. Tom does not want either of his two sons to join the army, and appears very angry towards Desmond's brother after enlisting himself, and doing what he felt was right. He wanted to fight for his country. However, Tom did not want that because he once had the same idea as his son, but lost all of his friends, as well as his own soul, in the battle of World War 1. After the war, he became an alcoholic with great anger issues. In the film, he stated "Artie got hit in the back. It blew most of his guts and intestines out his front, offal everywhere. Wrecked his uniform entirely. It was lucky he was dead, so he never knew how awful his uniform looked". This quote gives a bit of the explicit scenes which still were going through Tom's head years after the war. He did not want his boys to go through that like he did. So, when Desmond enlisted as a medic, he thought his father would be more understanding, but he still was not convinced it was a good idea and was quite disgusted in his decision. I'm curious about the father-son relationship, because it shows me that love conquers all. Even though Tom didn't want to let his son go to battle, he could not help but aid to his sons military service with Desmond's requirement of not holding a gun. By Tom coming to help, it shows that his love for his son, is stronger than his love for his past life. It makes me happy to know that unlike Desmond, I feel as though I have support from my parents for most of the things I wish to do. Softball is a big part of my life, and I now realise that all of the hours I have put into working toward my goals, my parents have put in those hours too, supporting me all the way. It would not surprise me if one day the had enough of it, so I am very thankful that they have been by my side from the start.

I guess you could say that Hacksaw Ridge is a film which I will always remember. Well, not so much the screenplay itself, but the story of Desmond T. Doss, and the way his brain works. The more you think about his war story, the more you appreciate his effort to be the good person he was. I do however, wonder how he gained the great determination of being a good person, with a father his acted as though he hated him, wanting to stop him in his steps. Maybe it was his mother, or maybe it was Dorothy, his love. Whoever or whatever it was that inspired him, they helped him to inspire me and his way on looking at life.

Rates of Reaction

Rates of Reaction

Experiment 1

Aim:

I want to investigate how temperature effects the rate of reaction

Equipment:

• Conical Flask
• Beaker
• Measuring Cylinder
• Stopwatch
• Black cross on paper
• Water Bath
• Thermometer
• 0.1 moL-1 Sodium Thiosulfate
• 1.0 moL-1 Hydrochloric Acid (HCl)

Method:

• Put the 'X' paper on the bench mat and out the conical flask on top of the paper.
• Measure 50 mL of sodium thiosulfate solution and put it into the beaker.
• Record the temperature of the sodium thiosulfate.
• Measure 5 mL of HCl and pour it into the conical flask.
• Pour the thiosulfate into the conical flask, start the stopwatch and swirl the flask. Time how long it takes for the cross to dissappear when viewed from above (i.e. look down the mouth of the concical flask.
• Wash out the flask thoroughly.
• Repeat the experiment, using a water bath to heat the sodium thiosulfate to 30 degrees then 40 degrees and finally 50 degrees. Keep the volume of acid the same each time.

Results:

Temperature (degrees celcius)	Time (seconds)
20	27
30	8
40	7
50	5

Conclusion:

In this investigation, I found that heat has an effect on the rate at which two reactants, react. By increasing the temperature of the reacting chemicals, it causes the particles to move faster, therefore forming a faster reaction speed.

Experiment 2

Aim:

I want to investigate how concentration has an effect on reaction time.

Equipment

• Conical Flask

• Beaker

• Measuring Cylinder

• Stopwatch

• Waterbath

• Paper with a black cross "X"

• Thermometer

• 0.1mol/L Sodium Thiosulfate

• 2.0mol/L Hydrochloric Acid

Method:

1.  Put the piece of paper with the 'X' on the bench.
2.  Measure 10mL of Sodium Thiosulfate and put it into the conical flask.
3.  Measure 40 mL of Water and put it into the conical flask. Swirl to mix.
4.  Measure 5mL of HCl.
5. Pour the HCl into the conical flask, start timer and swirl the flask.
6. Stop timing when you can no longer see the 'X' on the paper underneath the conical flask.
7. Wash out flask thoroughly.
8. Repeat experiment:

20mL of Sodium Thiosulfate and 30mL of Water

30mL of Sodium Thiosulfate and 20mL of Water

40mL of Sodium Thiosulfate and 10mL of Water

50mL of Sodium Thiosulfate and no Water

Results:

10mL Thiosulfate/40mL Water - 239 seconds for the