Activity: Swimming Laps in my Pool

Summary of CAS Experience: 

As final exams come closer each week, I find myself studying a lot more each weekend. I have been noticing that around midday Sunday I tend to burn out and lose motivation from studying. I decided to begin swimming laps in my pool as both a break from studying but also to improve my physical fitness. I wear my smart watch when I’m swimming laps, and it gives me statistics such as average heart rate, max heart rate, average speed, and total distance; however, I am not sure how accurate these statistics are. 

 

The first few times I aimed for 2 km in total distance. My average heart rate was 132, my max heart rate was 148, and my average speed was about 0.81 meters a second. It took around 48 minutes. The second time my average heart rate was 133, my max heart rate was 142, and my average speed was about 0.82 meters a second. It took around 45 minutes. The second time my average heart rate was 128, my max heart rate was 143, and my average speed was about 0.85 meters a second. It took around 43 minutes. The fourth, and most recent time my average heart rate was 127, my max heart rate was 141, and my average speed was about 0.86 meters a second. It took around 43 minutes. So I am seeing small incremental improvements over time. I plan to continue this routine each weekend, and it helps me with burnout. I am going to increase my distance by a few hundred meters each time. 

 

Learning Outcomes: 

#1 Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.

#2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

#3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

#4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

Pool

Activity: Exploring Bangkok on Foot

Summary of CAS Experience: 

For winter break my family went to Bangkok. We only had a few days in Bangkok and we had a lot to do. We wanted to visit Madam Tussauds, the Sea World, we also had to buy groceries to bring back to Colombo, buy clothes, and each person had specific things to get, all around Bangkok. We decided to complete everything that day, and except for a single metro ride, everything was done by walking. We left the hotel at 9 am, to walk to sea world and Madame Tussauds. At 1 we walked to one of our favourite restaurants, Hemingway’s. At 2 pm we walked to the first mall (I forgot the names of the malls). 3 pm was the second mall, about 5 km away. At 5 pm we went to the final mall. At 6 pm we headed home, and we were home at around 7 pm. In total my watch recorded 28,000 steps that day, not quite my personal record which is 32,000 in Vietnam, but still a lot for one day. For reference 5-10,000 steps are the recommended amount. While Bangkok is a hectic city, side streets, and the sky walk-path make walking around the city more convenient than taking a taxi or tuk. 

 

Learning Outcomes:

#3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

#4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

 

Photos:

Seahorse at Sea World
Otters at Sea World
Lunch at Hemmingway’s
Walking to mall #3
Inside mall #3
Cool cat on motorbike, seen while walking back to the hotel
View from hotel when we arrived back

Bike Ride Around Colombo for Cat Food

My primary source of activity is biking around Colombo. While Colombo is not often the most bike-friendly, I use smaller roads, and roads that I know have adequate space for biking. I usually take a path around the borders of Colombo 7 and Colombo 3, however last weekend I took a different path. This change in the path was because I was tasked with finding cat food, and cooking cream, this was because all the usual shops we normally use for these items ran out, and most of our cuisine uses cooking cream, and we also have a cat to feed.

I was unfortunately unsuccessful in finding cooking cream, however, I did find cat food, at Pet Vet close so Asiri hospital. The total length of the bike ride was only about 14km, but since I went through new routes, and I had to lock and unlock my bike at each stop, it took me significantly longer than usual.

The main learning outcome was: “Demonstraight how to initiate and plan a CAS experience” I planned out a route with the most likely places I could find either cooking cream or cat food. While I did not achieve my goal of finding cooking cream, I did however find cat food, which is a ½ success rate.

Walking with Protesters

Sri Lanka’s economic situation has led to thousands of protesters demanding change, nationwide. While my family and I cannot join in on the protest, we could still watch the protesters and photograph what was occurring.

My mother and I walked around 4 large protests near our house, one by independence square, by the prime minister’s private residence, by the Rajapaksa theatre, and by the Town Hall. The whole walk was only 6km, however, we took our time.

Map of where I walked, and where the main protest groups were located.

 

Protest at Independace Square, the street lights were turned off, to try to disperse the protesters.

 Learning Outcomes: 

(#2) Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, and develop new skills. This was the first protest I have ever attended. It was eye opening to me, and changed my perspective on the roles of Government, and the power protesters can have.

(#4) Show commitment to and persevere in CAS experiences. Walking around town while protests were occurring was a challenge, we had to make plans, and determine the safest way to walk around.

Week Without Walls: Day 4&5

 

Summary: Day Four

Day four of WWW was easily one of the most exhausting days. After breakfast, we headed off into the forest on several hour hikes. While the hike was not necessarily long in distance, it was a lot more challenging because of the roots, rocks, and mud obscuring the path. We stopped off at a rock face, where we saw pitcher plants. Plants that are designed to trap and dissolve insects who fall into their base. We continued on our hike, we arrived at a large opening where 2 waterfalls connected into a larger creak. In some of the various rock pools, there was the same skin eating fish, we encountered the day before. After spending about an hour exploring the open area, we headed back to camp. On the hike, we saw several species of frogs and insects. We saw the “first plants” on earth. 

Sunset on day 4 of Week Without Walls.

 

Summary Day Five:

Our final day began with an option bird walk. After breakfast, we packed up our rooms and headed down in the jeeps down the steep and narrow cliffside. On the bus we slept, edited photos, wrote reflections, and snacked. We stopped at the service station for lunch, where I got a finely seasoned subway sandwich. We arrived back at school around 4:00.


Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, spotted in the afternoon, day 5.

IB Learner Outcomes: 

#4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences. The hike we did in the forest was a clear demonstration of perseverance. The hike took several hours, and we had to cover uneven and rocky terrain. 

 

 

IB Orientation Trip


Summary:
In November 2021, our grade went on a 3 day IB orientation trip to Kithulgala. We combined the typical IB orientation trip with a science component. We arrived at Kithulgala ready for action, we went straight from our bus to the river where we did some group river activities to warm up. After going through some introductions, we went whitewater rafting along Sri Lanka’s best whitewater rapids. There were 5 main rapids in total, and the final two were exhilarating, as we ducked for cover, trying not to fly out of the raft.

Once done with our rafting expedition, we hiked within the forest to the canyon for lunch. Our next adventure was the canyon. We were first briefed on safety then plunged right into the action. We slowly worked our way down, sliding, crawling, swimming and jumping. We were each given jobs to aid each other along the way, such as instructions, and grabbing people out of the water. Our adventure down the canyon made our grade even closer as we developed trust amongst ourselves.

After successfully making it down the canyon in groups of 4 we floated down the river to Borderlands camp, where we would be resting. We got to experience sleeping in nature, with nothing but a mosquito net separating us from the wilderness.

IB Learner Outcomes

During this trip, I achieved several IB learner outcomes. The main 2 beings; 1, demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. And 5. Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

IB Learner outcome #2
The IB orientation was challenging, both physically and mentally, and we were all put out of our comfort zones. An example of where a challenge was undertaken, and I developed new skills would be the jumps at the canyon. I was challenged mentally to jump from a height into a narrow area of water. However, I persevered and moved out of my comfort zone.

IB Learner Outcome #5
One main skill I developed during the trip was working collaboratively. Throughout the entire trip, every activity relied on group work, and most of the activities would not have been possible without teamwork. Within the canyon, without working collaboratively, It would have been a lot more challenging, and dangerous for us. During the trip, I worked with different people and learned skills revolving around group work.

Hike up Eagle Rock

Summary:
During my 4 day weekend from 18-21 November, my family went down south of Colombo, to Ella. During our stay, we hiked up eagle rock to admire the view of the valley. The Eagle Rock hike weaves between rocky terrain, forest, and tea fields. The path was overgrown and was only marked with a few rocks with painted arrows indicating the trail.

During the hike, we observed a wide range of animals, such as lizards, frogs, birds, and insects. However, the animal that we paid the most attention to was the leeches. The weather was the perfect climate for leeches, making our journey slightly more tedious.

The whole experience, while challenging, was also very relaxing. The clear air and silence was a refreshing change from Colombo. The only thing that could be heard was the light raindrops and the sounds of insects.

Learning Outcomes:
During this experience, I targeted learning outcomes 2 and 4. Demonstrate that challenges were undertaken, and develop new skills in the process. The hike was challenging, the path was overgrown and hard to follow. The path was also slippery, making it difficult to maintain your balance. I was also able to develop my skills in identifying animals, as after the hike we researched frogs and lizards we saw during the hike.

Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences: I was able to demonstrate perseverance by completing the long and tedious hike up Eagle rock. As I mentioned before, the hike was made more challenging by the copious amounts of rain the night before.