Turning an Empty Lot into a Community Hot Spot

For this action project we studied non-violent methods of implementing change in our own communities. We began studying non-violent methods of change by looking at Ghandi’s four pillars of peace: Sarvodaya, Swadeshi, Swaraj, and Satyagraha. These pillars give us inspiration for how we can implement peaceful actions in our neighborhood. I mainly followed Swaraj which involves demanding truth and taking action. This aligns well with my project because I demanded that the lot be replaced with a community center. The hope is that this would better our neighborhood instead of supporting empty lots. Open lots tend to attract loitering and littering. Since I live in a very residential neighborhood where people are raising families it is important that we keep our neighborhood safe, healthy and connected. It's really inspired me to replace the empty lot with the community center. This would be a great way to get people in the neighborhood to get to know each other a lot more. A community center is also a great way to keep kids safe and having fun after school. This specific lot is also in a prime location, because there is an elementary school right across the street.

Living in a relatively safe neighborhood, I don't worry about violence, but recently a building burned down, and now all that is left is an abandoned lot. When there is vacant property like this, it can attract squatters and loitering and which can lead to petty crime. According Bharat Chandar and Oliver Dean of The Developing Economist.  “Vacant and abandoned properties are a significant driver of crime in urban neighborhoods. In addition, we draw on their conclusions that government responses to these properties can result in a tangible reduction in crime.”

The two parties involved in this issue are the people in the community, my neighbors, and the alderman. The community party lies towards the middle of the ladder of tolerance under awareness. Many people in our neighborhood have seen how the empty lot has attracted some minor fights. This could begin to set a negative tone in our area which we can not afford because of how family oriented area neighborhood is.  

My community is also very family oriented so the families are very aware that this place could become a community center, Or a safe place for the children to go after school and play like a playground. The opposite party being our local government/Alderman O'Connore may fall on the ladder of tolerance under restriction. This is because there are many rules and regulations that go into adding a building into a neighborhood or remodeling one.

He may be more resistant to building with in alot because of how the old building went down. There was a fire and the old building used to be a bowling alley which was a great place for community members to spend time and bond. It made my community stronger. After  review of the local newspapers, I can safely say that nobody in my community is currently addressing the issue of the empty lot. I believe that many community members in my neighborhood would be willing to sign a petition a great form of nonviolent action in support of changing the empty lot in our neighborhood. This petition would give the other party an idea of why we want to add a new community center or playground to the empty lot. And the number of members of the community who are in support of this.

When going about wanting to build a new structure in the neighborhood you would want to start by writing a petition. The definition of a petition is a formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority, according to dictinary.com. This is also a great nonviolent way to show your local government that you want to make a change in a positive way. This shows because when a community uses a petition to protest a certain issue in their neighborhood, it is very easy for the local government to respond to the vacant lot. This is because a petition is formally written and signed by many members of the community showing that everybody is on board with the same idea. When it comes to protesting the issue that I am stating; having an outdoor protest would be way too much. This might turn the local government off on the idea and make our neighborhood seem more aggressive than it actually is. When simply signing a petition and working with our local authority may be enough to help have something put in the vacant lot. In the Abandon lot. neighborhood in order to my community. They have converted there empty lot into counmty garden.

This also aligns with Gandhi's fourth principle of nonviolence, satyagraha. This shows that by using a petition you're showing how less is more. There's no need for any yelling or rioting over the vacant lot. By simply being professional with the local government, it'll be easier to achieve what the neighborhood wants. Satyagraha forces people to look inward and see how if you want to change something you have to go in with the mindset of change and peace because violence begets violence or your discomfort begets giving someone else the same discomforts you need to find equal ground. When going into a situation violently you're showing the other person that you need to be on either the offensive or the defense, and the mind will close. Most times they will not be willing to hear what you have to say, but if you do nothing to hurt them then they're forced to listen to reason and the needs of the neighborhood.

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Science

The following essay describes four research projects that I worked on through Zooniverse (https://www.zooniverse.org). In the four projects that I studied, my scientific thinking was challenged in different ways. I was forced to make inferences, test hypothesis and draw conclusions about everything from African desert animals to space comets. This has really changed the way I think about science, because depending on the topic you are studying, there are going to be different skills that you need to use more. For example in one setting you have to make a lot more inferences and use a lot more math than you do when it comes to studying desert animals where you end up doing a lot more drawing of conclusions and you don't do very much math at all. The paragraphs that follow show the different types of scientific thinking I did with each of the projects.

Research Project: Understanding Animal Faces

When studying the animal faces project I learned a lot about classifying animals. When classifying an animal there's a lot you have to do it understand what kind of animal it is, how many animals there are, its habitat and you can also take notes on some of the animals’ mannerisms. Before starting this project I thought that I was going to be doing a lot more reading about how animals are studied, but I actually got to see how animals are studied firsthand and I am able to make a difference in the research of animals. I noticed the animals that need a lot of classifying are even some of our local animals because we try to document how much of that animal species is living in that area or if the population of the animal has gone down or for some species could be leading to extinction.

Research Project: Camera Catalogue

When studying my camera catalog project I was able to do more sorting of animals but I had a broader range of species. In my last project I did a lot of animals that were in Africa in a desert land. In this unit I got to work on animals like deer and other forest creatures from North America. I also got the opportunity to study and read on how some of these animals have similarities and differences and what kind of things they have to do to survive in desert land versus forest. I also classified some animals that were not only land animals but water animals as well. This included animals such as beavers and fisher cats.

Research Project: Snapshots at Sea

For this project, I had to do a lot of work with animals underwater, especially whales. I had to use a different way of thinking to be able to work on this project. It forced me to make a lot of inferences and also do research. It had a lot to do with the anatomy of the whales. I also learned a lot about why it is so important to keep classifying whales. There's so many things about whales that we don't know and even more about the underwater that we don't know. This allows us to further research how whales will survive.

Research Project: Comet Hunters

For this project I was studying comets. When studying comets I learned how important it is to be able to identify where they are moving in space. For many years scientists have been trying to study where comets travel and how fast they travel in order to guess where they might collide or hit us. It has always been a concern on whether or not comets will hit earth, that's why calculating size is also important. There are some comets that can be even larger than the earth or the sun that are traveling through space at very high speeds. This has really pushed my scientific thinking in a more abstract way because there is still a lot of research to be done on comets.

In my comet unit I had to make a lot of inferences because when looking at some of the really small ones that are moving through space it’s hard to find their location or where they will be in in the next 24 hours. Part of the research was to identify distance between comets. Sometimes it would be hard to tell whether it was another star or comet i was measuring to so i had to make an inference.  When studying whales there are a lot of things that you're going to need to know how to do especially when it comes to scientific thinking there are a lot of conclusions that i was able to draw because of the information that I gathered. For example whales are a very social species that does a lot of communication in school of whales. Something that was challenging for me was identifying animals I didn't know. But Zooniverse helped me understand what these animals were and their characteristics by providing small summaries of each animal. I didn't have to end up doing any outside research on these animals which is good because I don't live in a very outdoorsy area. Another challenge that I faced was in the unit around comets, because I had never seen  comets before. When studying comets, there are a lot of fine details you need to pay attention to and there's a lot of math  involved. Especially when trying to locate a comet. For example I had to use my basic distance equation.

Conclusion
In conclusion, these projects have made me a better scientist because of the way I have pushed my thinking. I learned that there are a lot of inferences and conclusions and hypotheses that all need to be drawn and made in order to properly understand what you're researching. I also learned a lot about different topics and either somethings in scientific thinking that relate to all topics. These are definitely skills that are going to be important when it comes to working in the future.

Circus Arts

Hi, my name is Julia and I am a circus performer.  Starting tomorrow, June 4th, I will leave Chicago and join 30 Smirkus Troupers in Greensboro, Vermont to train and put a circus show together in three weeks.  After that we will travel for seven weeks, performing close to 70 shows in the Circus Smirkus 750-seat European-style one-ring big top tent. Our show and theme for this year Big Top Tour is: Up, HUP and Away: The Invention of Flight!

Training for the Troupers begins Sunday morning, June 5th.  Each day of training consists of a series of classes in different circus arts during the first two weeks. Once we get closer to the show we begin to put acts together and we start to rehearse those. This means we are both building our circus arts skills and our performance skills. This will give me the opportunity to focus this elective course on documenting my personal growth as a circus artist. Not only will I be learning how to become a better artist but I will also be learning things that have to do with rigging, rigging involves a lot of math. Circus Smirkus has a very unique rigging system that no other circus uses. Instead of using people pulling ropes to lift trapeze artists up for dynamic moves in their acts; we put on harnesses and attach ourselves to the rope. We go up and down the king poles to pull each other up and down so we need to calculate our weight ratios in order for it to work effectively. We also do a lot of work around communication something that sets Smikus apart from other circuses. At the end of each show we invite our audience into the ring to meet and greet with the performance this teaches us a lot about performance etiquette and keeping your character allowing the audience to leave the show with the feeling that they walked into a whole other world. During training we work on the skills that prepare us to do this.

In this Blog I will produce a video documenting my individual progress during training. I will video my progress in specific classes throughout the three weeks of training and then offer a summary of my progress at the end of training as we shift into the performance of the show.

In this video we are rehearsing rope. I am currently the backup for the rope act. Right now I am watching others and taking notes on what tricks I need to learn and practice in order to be prepared in case of an injury.

This is a picture of me doing a favorite trick on the trapeze, which I perform in the show.

This trick may look challenging but it happens to be one of the most enjoyable moves I do in the show. 

Brown vs Board A Case Analysis

For this action project we were required to choose a Supreme Court case that we felt change the course of American history. I chose the case Brown versus Board of Education because I believe it has the greatest impact on American education today. Without this case have going through the Supreme Court schools may still be segregated and people's job opportunities and college opportunities would definitely not be the same. This case also inspired me because it helps challenge the Plessy versus Ferguson laws about separate but equal. If it's not acceptable in schools why should be acceptable anywhere else, this really opens the eyes to white people and black people in America to how wrong it was to separate each other. This case also went into depth on how separating kids by race is detrimental to their education.

Montrose Beach But Better

For this action project we were required to build a 3D model of the space we wanted to redesign. I chose to redesign the Montrose Beach area. I felt confident in my decision to redesign this space because it was a very attractive area, the beach will always attract a ton of people especially in a great city like Chicago. All summer Chicago has festivals events food fest concerts and so many other things you can do throughout the year. I want to bring those things to the Montrose Beach area this summer. Montrose Beach is a fun and convenient area easy to get to by bus or train and there's a lot of great high-rises and apartment buildings nearby and is also not too far from the downtown. And in it is off one of the major streets in Chicago Lakeshore Drive.

A Movement With in a War

For this action project were challenged to write about a war of our choosing and whether or not it was justified. I chose to focus on the civil rights movement because I see it more as a battle in an ongoing war of race. The civil rights movement also not only help African-Americans help people of other minorities sexuality and religions. I feel as if the civil rights movement open the floodgates for many other battles that people with unequal rights need to fight. Similar to work this movement had a lot of casualties even children were being killed. Making all more obvious that this was not just the movement but a battle in a greater war.


This is Civil rights movement took place in the United States it lasted from 1954 1968. During the time of the Civil War also known as the air of black power John F Kennedy was president. He was the 36th president of United States and a lot of African-American people would agree that he worked to help the African-American community during the time of this appointment. Not only was the civil rights movement a "movement" it was a war a just one. The African-American people of America were fighting so hard for their basic rights and equality. In this case it was definitely a war with fighting.

During the civil rights movement John F. Kennedy was president he was elected in 1961. When he was elected African-Americans in the south were denied voting rights they were segregated they weren't allowed equal opportunities in education and career. In the north somewhere things happened on a smaller scale, in the south African Americans were also subjected to horrible violence by the police and other civilians. Something that really makes Kennedy stand out as the president is that he worked with the Supreme Court and the civil rights movement was considered a critical issue in America and it was something he paid a ton of attention to. Presence previous had ignored the suffering and wishes of the African-American people without regard for their basic rights. A prime example of this is the case Brown versus Board of Education. This is the case that went all the way to the Supreme Court and ruled the segregation of schools unconstitutional. This was also a time of reformation and governmental control allowing such changes to happen.

The policy that had the greatest effect during the civil rights movement was, the civil rights act of 1964 which ended segregation in public places. This also kept people from not hiring you because of your sexual orientation, race and religious beliefs. This act was put into place by the Supreme Court this unfortunately did not sit well with the southern members of Congress causing setbacks in Kennedy's efforts to push the law forward. But it didn't get passed officially and signed by Lyndon B. Johnson present JF Kennedy's vice president. This also brought to light other issues like the fact that African-Americans were not allowed to vote which was something that was supposed to be allowed right after the Civil War .

The good thing about the act is that it was not very open to interpretation the expectations of what was allowed was very clear. You could not discriminate against people for the race their sexuality or their religion. Although the law did not make it so that the people wouldn't be mistreated. Some of the consequences to enforcing these laws was a further separation between the south and north and the government. The north and the overall government had a decent relationship because the president had more liberal views of the time. But the south was against it. The south wasn't even happy with the idea of a government since early on in American history let alone having them make the decision on who they couldn't couldn't discriminate against.

The Circuit Challenge

For this action project we had to create a series circuit with a parallel switch and five resistors. Some of the resistors we used were motor a speaker and a lightbulb. We learned about how not to short-circuit our circuits. We also learned about the flow of electrons protons and neutrons, this helped us understand how electrons flow through circuit. We also covered Ohm's law in this unit this helped us calculate things like amps and voltage. To get some inspiration for action projects we studied alternate current and direct current to competing styles of electricity one was invented by Thomas Edison and the other by Nikola Tesla. By better understanding these two forms of electricity it allowed us to better create our circuits. We also did research on how we can make our circuit more energy efficient by doing research about eco-efficient products on energy Star.




All in all I really enjoyed creating my circuit some things I would've done differently or make the circuit board with more detail and more cut out so would be easier to see the switch and other aspects and motors. I also would've been sure to build my circuit larger with more batteries and even more resistors. I also would like to take more time to compare what exact eco-friendly appliances use similar circuits to the one that I created.

A Letter to Save City Council

Dear Mayor Rahm Emanuel

April 27th 2016

Imagine walking into your local city council meeting and while the meeting is happening and they are  discussing the death of a young man due to police brutality. Aldermen are getting up and walking around and laughing and having side conversations when others are trying to discuss an issue that has plagued our city since the start of law enforcement. But this is not the only issue not getting properly addressed by the city council.

The city council is a very important gathering. It gives us a time to get a look into every part of the city and discuss how we can better get them to work together or even the playing field for people in higher risk neighborhoods. This can help people gain access to basic things like fresh, healthy food. This is also a time when aldermen should network.  The more communication the better, but more specifically.  communicating in a way that makes every one’s ideas clear will lead to the most clarity, revealing solutions to deep rooted issues in this city.

A prime example of how a lack of effective communication has led to the failing  of  the Chicago public school  system. The CTU and CPS have not been able to come to a consensus about a contract, which is keeping students out of school, negatively impacting their education. This is shown clearly in how some CPS schools are well equipped to have students learning in a safe productive environment with teachers and students who care. Yet across the city there are schools that don’t have books, enough teachers,  proper heating, or air conditioning; they may not even have computers.

Another reason why education opportunities are unequal in this city is when it comes to applying to high schools. There are only handful of good high schools for thousands of students that need a good education in order to be successful. I am a strong believer in the idea that education is major key to success, and if our education system CTU and CPS are willing to take away valuable days of instruction over a contract that CPS is clearly unable to carry out, then we need to find away to keep students in a place where they can keep learning the same content that they have been learning.

I am writing this letter to clarify the importance of these meetings, every time someone contributes to this meeting it can help further the growth and unification process of the most diverse and segregated city in America. At the last city council meeting when we all welcomed alderman King something that really stood out to me is when another alderman told her the only way to be successful in this job is to remember it is a job of service and always put the people first.   If you guys are really serious about putting the people first, you will stop acting like you don’t care what each other has to say during important meetings that affect the communities of Chicago directly.

Sincerely, JB

Bridges

 For this action project we were encouraged to create a bridge that would be able to support 10 pounds. I created my bridge off of a model of some example pictures we looked at online. We also went on some amazing FE in the downtown Chicago to get a feel of what real bridges are made of and what makes them work. This also helped inspire us to make really strong bridges but we had a challenge. Our bridges could only be built out of at the most 50 popsicle sticks. This presented a challenge because popsicle sticks are not only weak but they do not hold together very well with the glue that we are provided with. This pushed the class to further expand our creativity and how to make the bridges work this involved using some very important equations like law of signs and lots of cosines we also had to calculate force and wait. At the end of our calculations and bridge building we tested our bridges. And unfortunately our bridge failed but we learned a lot on what makes a bridge successful.

JBs Service Blog - Circus Aerial Coach!!

I taught circus arts, primarily aerials, to kids who were between the ages of five to twelve years old.  I helped them to understand that in order to increase their skills on their apparatus, they need to work on flexibility, strength, endurance and technique.

I volunteered as a coach at MSA Circus Arts, teaching classes every Wednesday and Saturday to about 10 kids for each class.  I kept track of my hours over a ten week period of time, between September and November of this year to fulfill my service requirement.  I have continued to coach during the last 4 months and plan to continue volunteering until the end of the year.

By coaching I was able to improve my own skill. I was pointing out small details that I wouldn't notice if I was doing the skill myself.  I definitely would recommend that everyone volunteer as a coach or teacher because it helps improve teaching skills and allowed me to become more articulate. I also learned that I enjoy coaching and hope to pursue it in the future.

This is a quick update on my circus coaching experience, this spring term has been awesome. I have gotten a lot of new students so that always means new challenges. This class that I now teach seems to have a really hard time stretching but they're all very strong students. I'm also finding that dancers and gymnasts who come in to start taking area class are much better than the kids who come in without any experience. This is challenging me and my fellow coaches on how to bridge the skill gap in our classes. I have also been doing a lot of experimental aerial tricks in my more advanced classes. We try to teach aerials like learning the ABCs which is learning basic technique, and then we are able to create words and understand them. This allows aerialists to invent their own vocabulary and style.

The Infinity Candle

For our final action project in our unit of time we were able to invent our own time telling device. I created something called the infinity candle, an eco-friendly reusable candle that you may be able to find in your local Urban Outfitters soon. We went on a very inspiring FE during this unit to The Chicago Lighthouse for the blind. Here we learned about how blind people can make clocks tell time and functioning in society just like we do. This also had an effect on the device I made. I added grooves in where the numbers are so a blind person would be able to feel what time it is. I made this choice because at the Lighthouse one of the instructors told us that blind people use their sense of feeling a lot when functioning in society. In this unit we also covered some important equations that went in to the creation of my candle such as volume. Below is a quick video presentation of how it all works.

   

Work Cited:

http://www.smooth-on.com/Candlemaking/c1237/index.html

Martha Stewart

Candel Making

http://www.candlesandsupplies.net/Candle-Making/Molds

Cindy Novack

Candle History 

School Reform Chicago Style

Thesis:

The Chicago public school system in Chicago is leaving a lot of its students behind, students are no longer the main priority of the school system. Students have no longer become the main focus of the Chicago Public School system. This is due to the fact that there is so much corruption in the system already. In order to make any impact on the students the Chicago Public School system believes they need to clean up their management which has made some impact in the past months. The teachers have been able to make some headway on contract decisions, but still have more to do.

Evidence:

I have a lot of personal experience with CPS but things really started going downhill after 7th grade. During 7th grade, I worked really hard to get As and Bs; I also worked to get a high score on the academic high school placement test. I met all the requirements for my top schools but I didn't get any of them. This really made me upset because there are only a select amount of schools in Chicago that really provide their students with a great education. This then forces other students to go to schools that are underfunded and not equipped to help all learners. I also know that I am not the only one with this experience and many of my fellow Senn students have said they feel their future has been compromised by the Chicago Public School system. A lot of the times the issue is not that teachers are constantly failing a student, but they are just letting them pass the class before they actually understand the content and are ready to move on to the next level.

The communication between CPS’ Central office and the teachers is so poor that they are unable to come up with a contract that teachers and Central office can’t agree on a contract that works for teachers and CPS. Within these contracts the students are not brought up at all. Students are no longer the main priority for CPS and yet there are kids in schools who are not getting adequate lunches, something that is a necessity to make sure kids can focus on their learning be healthy and stay awake in class.  

“The show of force by the union's rank and file comes three days after a 40-person bargaining team unanimously voted down a four-year contract offer from Chicago Public Schools.”

By CTU Communications

“Why Officers Propose an April 1 Day of Action”

http://www.ctunet.com/blog

MARCH 17, 2016

“May 15, 2015, was an important day in the world of Chicago’s city finances. On that day the city reached a deal with Barclays to take over a $100 million soured bet on an interest rate swap. Inked mostly in the early 2000s, these specialty financial products backfired after the 2008 financial crisis, saddling Chicago taxpayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in fees.”

Juan Perez Jr. and Matt McCallContact Reporters

Thousands Rally Downtown for Chicago Teachers Union

Chicago Tribune

February 5th, 2016

“This after the announcement Thursday from CPS that teachers must take three unpaid furlough days by the end of the school year, a move to help balance the budget.”

SANDERSONTRIBUNECOM, NANCY LOO AND DANA REBIK,

Chicago Teachers Union Consider Strike in Response To Furlough Days.

WGN News

MARCH 4, 2016

Antithesis:

CPS may argue that the reason why they are unable to settle on a contract with the Chicago Teacher's Union is because Illinois does not have a budget and this has really messed with the Chicago Public School system’s ability to balance a budget that can equally support students and teachers. On top of all of these financial contracts the former CEO of CPS, Barbara Byrd-Bennett was making deals and getting kickbacks from district contracts. She was literally stealing money needed for schools and right out of the hands of students. CPS is at such a low point because they can't even trust the leaders not to steal money from an organization responsible for the first 18 years of this city’s children's education and growth.

Synthesis:
Both CPS and the CTU need to be making more of a compromise and balancing the power in CPS better. CPS teachers are some of the highest paid teachers in the country. A lot of them get paid more than most private school teachers throughout the city. And at the end of the day the ones who are suffering the most are the students. It's not the job of students to fix the problems, it is up to adults to come together and resolve the issues facing the city's school system. We need to recenter our thinking around the students and not how much money people are making over each other.

For more on my topic: http://prezi.com/cbo7fursyhpv/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Food and Drinks at GCE

For this action project we got to pick an amendment in the gce code of conduct that we wanted to revise in the interest of making our school more comfortable for its students. This project allowed us to become involved in the development of our school. I chose to work to reform the food and drink policy because it is something that I am very passionate about. I am a true believer in breakfast being one of the most important meals of the day. When I come to school in the morning I love being able to eat my muffin and do are check in in class it allows me to feel at home and comfortable in the classroom. Also when you don’t eat a good breakfast it can really mess up your morning this happens to cause a lot of students to end up falling asleep in class. Which is disrespectful to the class and can be even more distracting than students that are noisy, because when one student is sleeping it starts to set a tone in the classroom that can course the level of engagement to go down in the class room.  

In GCE classrooms eating is not allowed, the code of conduct states. “Food & Drink: Food & drink consumption during class is allowed only during breaks or specified by teacher. During class, students are allowed to have their water bottle/closed container with them”. This rule should be changed because being able to have a snack and eat somthing is a basic human need. It also is unnecessary for teachers to stop the whole class just address the fact that a student is having a snack. Also some students have to travel far to get to school and may not have time to eat breakfast at home so they bring it to class, this also happens to be the most important meal of the day. When people are hungry they are more likely to be distracting others by not participating and asking others for food or trying to sneak it in during class.

P1: The code of conduct states eating in class is not allowed.

P2: The student is caught eating in class.

Conclusion: The student gets punished for eating in class.

Creative Commons 

Having nutrients is crucial for us to function fully during the day. It's like being a gymnast on bars and they don’t let you use chalk because it might make a mess on the floor. It doesn't matter; it is a necessity. This is because the pros of using chalk definitely outweigh the cons of not having chalk at all. This revision to this policy will be really helpful On the days when I don't have time to eat at home I can just know my school is a place where I can take care of myself and do what I need to to be prepared for my day. This will allow other people to feel more comfortable because they had time to make sure there awake and ready for the day.

Students should be able to eat in class if they don’t make a mess or clean up after themselves. Also if you have to come from far away you should be able to eat your breakfast in class. But if teachers still don’t want eating a good compromise would be that once it’s 11:00 students have to wait till lunch or there next break to eat. If I have to wake up at 6:00am to get to school in the morning and I also have to do homework in the morning because I have practice at night. I don’t have time to get ready and make myself breakfast. so on my way to school I can pick some up and eat it in class till 11:00. This makes it so I can focus on what I am doing in class and not when's the next time I can get food.

P1: students may not have time to eat before class due to long commutes.

P2:If you're tired and hungry you’re going to be more distracted then you are when you eat.

P3: Students should be comfortable throughout the day so they can focus.

Conclusion: Students should be able to eat in class.

In conclusion it is a basic right for students to be able to eat. And it is one of the things that allows students to perform well in school. It’s also is a lot easier to teach a class full of students that is eating breakfast and awake and engaged. Rather than teaching a class of students half asleep and wondering when the bell will ring so they can go get some food.

Diddley Bow Buildin'

In our second unit we studied the way sound traveled and related to our everyday lives. So much of our communication depends on sound. When you are watching the news you are receiving sound waves that are traveling through the air around you. This project is about making our own one string guitars to represent the elements of sound we have been studying like, sound waves, wavelength, pitch, frequency and amplitude. In this unit I also learned about how speaker and microphones work we also got to study how sound waves can affect water and sound and other elements. In order to gain some more expert knowledge on our study of sound we went on an FE to a sound lab, where one of their team leaders talked to us about the kind of work they do and the importance of acoustics when architects are creating new buildings.

My guitar produces sound when the string vibrates against the body of the guitar, and the tin can amplifies the sound. When using a slide you change the frequency by shorting the vibrations of the string. The Doppler effect happens when a sound is coming towards you as it seems to be higher pitched and when it is traveling away it sounds lower pitched. My guitar could show this when used in a marching band, because you are changing formations and moving closer and farther from the listener. In order to successfully make this guitar we had to make and understand a lot of measurements of the elements of sound like pitch and amplitude. Sound waves are the waves created by sound traveling through air. Wavelength is the measurement of waves peak to peak. Pitch is the quality of sound based on the frequency of the sound waves. Frequency is the rate of the waves. Amplitude is the maximum level of sound waves. This is important because it affects how loud you want it to be.

JB GCE sketch 

Can: body
Battery: nut
Back: bridge
Wood: neck

The measurements on my specific guitar were:
Vibrating string: 9in
Note: F#
String thickness:
0.057in

JB Harmonics 2016

Harmonics:
Pitch: (first harmonic)
185.52Hz
Frequency of 2nd Harmonic:
371.04Hz
Frequency of 3rd Harmonic:
556.56Hz
Frequency of 4th Harmonic:
742.08Hz
Wavelength:
186.49cm
Wavelength 2:
93.2cm
Wavelength 3:
62.1cm
Wavelength 4:
46.6cm
Volume of can:
56.54in^3
I got this by using pi x r^2 x height

JB AP2 Diddley Bow 2016

If I were to do this project over again I would make sure to get a thicker peace of wood so the screws won't poke out of the bottom. I would also make the guitar on a larger scale so it could be louder and have more notes and strings. In conclusion the concepts we learned in making the guitars can help us when we will need to manipulate and calculate sound in other experience and projects in the future.

Physical and Physical activity

For this action project we are pursuing a declaration of our own independent study that we believe should be a part of the GCE curriculum. I chose service because it is something I participate in after school, and thoroughly enjoy and have now chosen as a career path. In this action project we also studied how important it is to stay in argument when creating a declaration of our independent study. We learn the different parts of an argument which are premise and the conclusion. We also learned about how argument has developed as a literary form since 1776 when our declaration of independence was created. We are using some of the themes and important aspects from the Declaration of Independence to contribute to the course takers understanding of how the course can help express their rights affect their life.

The course I would like to propose to GCE is a course based on circus. This is an excellent independent study because it connects to math your physical health and your mental and emotional health. This will give students to have a chance that they most likely wouldn't have in their life to go and experience what it's like to do trapeze silks learn how to juggle and even walk on the globe. My independent study will open up the window for kids to find a new activity that they really like and also for them to better their math skills and their physical health.

The purpose of school and learning is to gather as many tools and information as possible and use it to go onto the world and better. School also opens the window for opportunity, school allows you to have a place that's safe you can learn discover and even create things that nobody has ever seen before. School is a place for innovators to be who they want to be so that they can teach the next generation. Schools also place where you can learn how to exercise your rights. The course I'm proposing definitely allows you to exercise your right of freedom of speech and expression. This is something that a lot of students don't fully understand because some people will say obscene things and say oh it's a free country I have freedom of speech. But there are some important guidelines that go into that and really think about what you're saying and its importance.

 The words I would use to describe this course are engaging challenging innovative and exciting even eye-opening. I use the word challenging because I assume most people have never tried this art form, or form of physical activity. But I know for a fact that it is definitely really good for your health and can make huge improvements in you physically mentally and emotionally. The question that I would ask the students at the beginning of this course is, how does physics fit in physical activity relate? Some important things needed to make this course possible are good coaches, a gym to practice that, a teacher sponsor, a willing group of students, a little time outside of class and a willingness to try.

Capture the Light

Capture the Light 

For this action project we studied light and it relationship between waves, particles and energy. We proved the theory's we  studied in class through and activity were we created pinhole cameras. We took an FE to the Latin School to test are pinhole cameras and develop are photos in there dark room. We also got to experiment with the process of  developing a photo-gram. This then lead to the study of  triangles and that is how photos are taken and flipped upside-down when the light hits them. In the dark room there were different chemical stations that you would wash your film for various amounts of time. When it came to rinsing the photo-grams once they were done being washed we put the pictures through a special photo dryer. Something we did not have to do with the other film photos that were taken with my pinhole camera. we also got a chance to use real cameras to take pictures of candy with different color backgrounds. This help us figure out what things we should add and change to are pin holes to make them efficient.

How a Pin-hole Camera Works

A pinhole camera uses a tin or box that is all the way light proof meaning the inside is coated with black paper, paint and or paper and this allows the device to be like proof. There's a tiny pinhole poke on the side of the device with a reflective surface this allows the camera to capture light. But you must make sure that you have a cover otherwise like and get in and will ruin your film before you're ready to shoot your photo. My pinhole device shows how you do not want reflection that is why the inside is solid black so that no light is bouncing around when it should just be focusing on the field.

GCE 2016 pin-hole camera 

GCE 2016 pin-hole camera 

Math Portion 

 The reason why the inside of the camera cannot be white paper inside is because of some basic principles relating to light energy as a particle and a wave. When the light waves hit the pinhole the transfer into particles that are left behind on the film. When it comes to proportions of your pinhole camera you have to be very precise. Because you don't want to have your photo paper be too close to far from the pinhole, my measurement from lens to photo paper was 9 cm the height of the pinhole was a .5 cm the head of the object was 10 cm. this creates the shape of the similar triangle. In the image below you can learn how to calculate similar triangles.

GCE 2016 Solving similar triangles  

 Conclusion 

I would have made my pin-hole camera out of a box instead of a tin so I could have a place to put my film. I also would have taken my pictures for a shorter amount of time. I also would have liked to bring in a more simple so that even when the photos did not come out the way or as clearly as we wanted i could better see what basic shapes the camera could capture. Something else so keep in mind while creating these cameras is when making them light proof triple check because even though I thought I thought I made it light proof still a little light was able to seep in some how and that ruined my second photo. But I have to say that over all this was a very fun way to study light and make art.    

GCE Bathroom Sines

For this action project we were each in charge of creating a necessities for the school. Since were going to be in a new space its going to be curtail that we are able to get around and know were going.  When creating these projects we were suggested to use recycled materials. This is a great way to create a school that is earth conches. In order to make are projects look more professional we used used tools like screwdriver, handsaws, hammers and renches. In order to incorporate some math into are building we learned how torque and leverage can rely be helpful in the process of building. we proceed to learn the equations of  torque and leverage. This was very helpful because it allowed us to calculate the amount of force that would need to be applied to complete what you were building in most efficient way possible. We then sketched and produced are products for the new space.

After

Before

          Materials 

• Hot glue gun
• Box cutter
• Ruller
• Marker/ Pencil
• Matt for hot glue gun and cutting
• Card board
• Tea lights (found at Pier1 imports)
• Your favorite olor paint
• paint brush

Safety Tips
To keep safe for creating this project make sure you put down a mat when cutting with the box cutter and when using the hot glue gun so if anything drips or a knife slips it won't cut anything or burn anything important. Also I would make sure that you are in a well lit area so that you're not going to cut yourself. Other than that this project is relatively safe and suggested for the ages 7 to 18.

How to Make Your Own Bathroom Sign 

Step1: Cut 2 peaces of card board into 3in by 5in and 2 other peaces that are 2.5 in by 5in then cut out a 3in by 2.5in top leaving the bottom open. (prep hot glue gun)

Step2: Next create a design that you would like to be cut out 

on the front of your box. Make sure to Used the box ctter knife 

for best cut.

Step3: Hot glue all 5 peaces together.

Step4: Paint the box a color of your choice, and wait for it to dry.

Step5:  At this point the hot glue gun should be ready to use. Now 

your going to hot glue your little tea lights in to the inside sides of 

the box turn them on and you should see the light glow thru the 

design you cut out in your box.

Step6: Now feel free to add your own creative drawing or writing on the out side of the box lamp.

Field Experience 

On one of our field experiences we went to a building repurpose sing exchange but they took all the wood pieces of buildings and turn them into new functioning parts that could be sold. One of the important quotes that our guide said was when in a space this busy for me you need to stay safe. This was super important to our unit because we had to make a ton of things out of tools and if we didn't go about it properly people could've gotten hurt.

Inspired By

http://www.andnextcomesl.com/2013/11/diy-color-blocks.html

This life hack really inspired my project because I love things that can go with decorum. So this homemade light project cannot only be used as a GCE bathroom sign,  I can create others like it and use them in my room.

Reflection

Creating this project was an awesome experience and a lot of me to use a lot of my own creative ideas along with a well structured rubric to come up with something that can be used in our new space. I really enjoyed the project as well because it's relevant to our moving into a new school, I knew school is not gonna have so many custom-made things I wanted the earliest generations of the school. Some challenges I faced when creating this project where the timeline because you were given a short amount of time. I also struggled with using the hot glue gun trying to get the two pieces of cardboard to line up exactly was very difficult. I also had our time finding what materials I wanted to use to create the lighting effect but eventually came down the idea of the tea lights. I'm also really happy I was able to create this project because it is inspired me to create more things like it that can go in my room and make it more exciting.

Video

My time lapse video shows me painting the box it also allows you to see where to place this multi lights. My video also shows how to do the process of making the box safely.