This week we’ve started our research for our inquiry projects! So far, I’ve researched for my first two sub questions: “
How and why was paper invented?” and “How did the creation of paper affect other inventions?”. I did miss Wednesday’s class because I had to do the Gauss math contest, but on Monday I did already start my research, so I wasn’t too far behind. This week I’ve learned about how paper was made and it’s materials. It was a a cheaper alternative to silk, and was made during the Han Dynasty. I also found out some things about the invention of printing, books, kites and paper money.
I had trouble with identifying key information so that I didn’t use up too much room on my research paper, however this was a minor 
struggle.
I was surprised to find out that paper was made with things such as rags and fishnets, but it makes sense because those were some cheap materials that were available. The part about metal coins on strings being exchanged for a written deposit on paper also intrigued me because I thought that the coins were directly replaced by paper money, but they were actually these deposit papers first before becoming a national currency.
Next week, we will continue to investigate the other questions.