Red Line Project

The purpose of this action project was to experience organizing and realizing a nonviolent intervention in my own city, practicing Satyagraha with the real world implications. In Global Peace we learned about Satyagraha which is Gandhi's principle for nonviolence. Satya means truth, graha means insistence in favor with the truth. Satyagraha means insistence of the truth. We used Satyagraha to understand how to make a nonviolent action happen.What I learned during this action project was to not be afraid of what you believe in. If you think something should be a different way protest or use any nonviolent way to solve the problem. I used a sheet of 198 methods of nonviolence actions to help me find a action that I want to take, which was number 179- Alternative Social institutions. What was most challenging about this action project was going out in the public to complete my action. What I enjoyed most was taking action in my own city!

  My action project was to document segregation and violence. I pick this action because there is still segregation in Chicago that many people don't know about. I want to change that, I did my action project with one of my class mate RD. We both feel really strong about this topic and wanted to find away to stop it. There should not be any segregation in Chicago all people should be equal no race should be treated any lower. Segregation should have stopped a long time ago but is still going on. People should care because segregation causes violence. I think nobody should treat any one lower because of what skin color, race, or religion. Segregation causes violence by people being separated and thinking they own a certain neighborhood. People thinking one side of the neighborhood is bad because of what race lives there when its just how the public marks the neighborhood as, and people not knowing segregation causes the violence.


We planned to schedule a date to take our action which was Wednesday Dec 11, 2013 on a FE day. We came up with a plan that we got inspired by a organization that is called "The Red Line Project" their form of nonviolence is to show that there is problems and violence on the red line. "Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, and The Red Line Project helps readers better understand and connect with them. The site covers news and urban issues in neighborhoods located near Chicago's Red Line El stops". Our plan was to show that there is still segregation in our city. We went on the red line our first stop was Chicago and the train was so packed. As we started going on down less white people were getting on. By Sox-35th the train was empty. On 47th there was mostly African Americans, we documented the train ride. We wanted to show that people do not go by 47th because of the people and history, which causes segregation.

                                                                                                Created by JV 

I think our action went really smooth the success was getting to actually do our action during school rather than going after. Another success was getting all the footage that we needed I really like how our video came out. When people were looking at us on the train felt so great because we really stood out. When we got to tell them about our action felt good because a lot of people were surprised to hear what we were taking action on. The only thing that I would change would be communicating more to the public. Overall my action went really good and I will definitely do it again!

"The Red Line Project". redlineproject.org. 2013. Web. December 9, 2013.

Beautiful Art

The purpose of this action project was to document our art pieces, which was my sticker that I had to screen print and hand them out to the public. The art piece was the class installation that we made to see how people will interact with them, but also how the artworks change. We made a video that will show how our artworks changed over time and to see how our YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL installation was created and put in the public. What I learned was documenting our artwork is really important because I got to see how two of my stickers changed. We will see how our class installation will change especially since we placed it in a park. I got to see how our massive art piece went from boring to BEAUTIFUL. What was most challenging in this project was letting go of all my art pieces. I spent so much time working on them and really got attached, it was hard putting them out in the public knowing that they won’t last. What I enjoyed most about this project was making this video, it was really fun watching all my art pieces change.


                                                          Created by JV

Original don't die as a copy!

The purpose of this action project was to plan and build a series of artworks that will spark interactions within a community. I chose to do a quote which was “ You are born Original Don’t die as a copy”. The meaning behind the quote is, don’t fake who you are just to impress somebody, just be yourself. Having to change the quote to fit on the sticker was the most challenging part in the project. I really like my design and I didn't want to change it at all because it means so much to me. What I enjoyed most about this project was making my sticker came to life. I want to post my sticker up and see how people react to them. What I learned during this project was I need to be open and free to get inspired  because that is what makes the best art pieces.

Photography JV ORIGINAL 2013*

Name: [JV]

Title: [Original Don’t die as a copy]

Size: [3 x 4 and 1 ⅓ x 4] 

Materials: [Silk Screen, Screen-printing ink, and Labels]

Date: [November 2013]

The written message in public art is for artist to express themselves. I want the public to see my artwork and be inspired by my sticker. I watched a movie called Style Wars, it is a 1980's documentary about graffiti artists in New York City. Their art work made people talk about the art piece. People talked about their graffiti even if they didn't understand the art work. Even people who hated it would still see the art and see the person’s name. The graffiti artists would tag their name and art piece on the train. The artists would graffiti trains because the trains go all over the city, so many people will see the artist name. 

I want that feeling of being seen that the New York artists had. The intended purpose for my art piece was to tell people to be themselves, and not trying to fake being something they're not. I want to provoke honesty in my message. I want the public to be inspired. I hope that my message actually mean something to at least one person. I came up with this idea because I do not need to fake my personality to be friends with somebody. I like to be completely myself with everybody. The design of my art piece is two puzzle pieces, one with a design that says Original. The other puzzle piece says Don’t die as a copy with no design.  I picked this quote and design because it speaks to me. The original quote was “You are born original don’t die as a copy”. I cut out the first part of the quote because it was too long. My message is to just be your self. The process to build my sticker was to screen print.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL ACTION PROJECT:

The purpose of this action project was to plan and build a massive art piece and put it out in the public. We built a bus stand and will document it to see how it changes over time. The most challenging part about this action project was trying to decide how I will decorate my letter. The most enjoyable part about this action project was getting ideas and decided to decorate my letter with candy. 

                                             

                                                                                                  Photography JV CANDY Letter 2013*

Name: [JV]

Title: [You are Beautiful]

Size: [12 x 15]

Materials: [Cabinet wood door, white pencil, black and pink paint, paint brush, varieties of candy, hot glue gun, acrylic gel] 

Date: [November 2013]

The idea and intended purpose for the You Are Beautiful installation was for the class to pick one idea that each classmates came up with. We all agreed on the bus stand idea because we thought it would be really fun making one big installation and see how the public will react. The You Are Beautiful project is by Matthew Hoffman who is a Chicago-based artist he created the You Are Beautiful idea. Matthew’s sticker went worldwide because people love his idea. He did multiple of public art in Chicago that brought lots of communities together. 

The aesthetic enhances the art piece because we all got a different letter and decorated it differently. All of the letters are different shapes and sizes with different colors and textures.  All of our ideas for the letters will make the bus stand look really cool. We are also making the bus stand out of doors, which will also make the bus stand look really unique. The idea come from the Chicago art museum which was originally a homeless house. Then one of my classmates recreated the idea and turned it into a bus stand. Each student was assigned to pick a letter and got to design it to put on the art piece.

I picked the letter U and there are 7 pieces to my letter. I decorated my letter with all different kinds of candy using a hot glue gun. I did this because it will make my letter look very eye catching with all the varieties of candy that I used. I cut my letter in 7 pieces going from smallest to biggest, I did this to give it a cool effect.

Lack of Business & Communication in Portage/Jefferson Park.

 The purpose of this action project is to write a constructive protest letter to a representative, bringing attention to a problem that affects the local economy and making suggestions of how to address it. In Global Peace we are learning about Swadeshi which is Gandhi principles for nonviolence. Swa means me as in myself and deshi means location. We used Swadeshi to understand what was going on in our community. What I learned during this action project was that every Neighborhood can be fixed even if it was the best Neighborhood, there will always be a problem. The most challenging part for this project was getting a picture that really explained what the problem was. What I am most proud of is sending this letter so my community so it can become a better community.

John Arena Alderman for Portage/Jefferson Park.

45th Ward Service Office.
4754 N. Milwaukee Avenue.
Chicago, IL 60630.

November 14, 2013

Photography JV 6 Corners 2013*

Dear Alderman Arena:

My name is JV I attend Global Citizenship Experience High School in the Lincoln Park area in Chicago. I am taking a course called Global Peace, we are learning about Gandhi and his principles for the Indian independence movement. One word that we are learning is Swadeshi Swa means me as in my self, and Deshi mean place as in location. In this course we had to find problems in our Neighborhood which for me was Portage Park/ Jefferson Park and I am very lucky to be a part of it.

I have observed some problems in the community which was lack of communication, no connection with one another, and lack of business. The Neighborhood is very beautiful and quiet without a lot of crime. There is also little attraction in the neighborhood, when I am on my way to school so many business and restaurants are apart of the Lincoln Park area. The restaurants are always packed and bring so much attraction to the community. I also see in my neighborhood many empty buildings in 6 Corners. Which takes up useless space, but also makes the neighborhood look poor and worthless. There is also no connection in the community which is very quiet and not a lot of safety with one another. My class also went on a Field Experience to Andersonville which I observed was very connected with one another. They had many local businesses and look like a well connected neighborhood to live in. 

If my neighborhood is still lacking businesses and connection with one another Portage/Jefferson Park will fall apart. These two sample problems that could be fixed affects the local economy because nobody is taking action and raising together. If we do not stop this now Chicago's beautiful neighborhood will diminish.

I will suggest possible solutions for the problem. The community can come together and hold meetings to open local businesses. With you coming to the meetings will show the community that you care. We can possibly open a local Polish Bakery, since there are strong European roots, this can benefit the community very well. When I went to Andersonville I went to a Swedish Bakery which is only in Andersonville. It has been open for 80 plus years and really brings attention and the community together. I think this idea will be great for my neighborhood.

If these problems can be solved the community will rise, there will be a better connection. There will also be a lot of business in 6 Corners and a lot more in Jefferson Park area as well. That will bring a lot more attraction and business to my neighborhood. I think the local bakery idea will help the community so much. Please consider my solutions.
Sincerely,

JV

1535 N. Dayton St, Chicago, IL 60642.

              Photography JV 6 Corners 2013*

We are Beautiful

The purpose of this action project was to occupy and transform a public space with an art piece. For my art piece, I had to get two photos of people who I think are beautiful. I also had to choose a letter that would spell out You Are Beautiful. I chose the letter U. My class decided to put our art work in our garden walk way so everyone can see our artwork! What was most challenging about my art piece was wheat-pasting my photo in the U shape. What I am most proud of is how my photo came out. I love both kids that I choose that are beautiful both are really important in my life.

Photography JV 2013*

NAME: [JV]
TITLE: [We are Beautiful]
MEASUREMENTS: [15 inches by 320 inches]
MEDIUM: [wheat-paste, xacto knife, corrugated plastic, and inkjet on paper]

Public art to me is an art piece that has been planned with the intention of being sited by the public, usually outside and accessible to all. The intended purpose of this You Are Beautiful project was to occupy and transform a public space with an art piece.

We were inspired by JR who is a street, photography, and graffiti artist. He did multiple street art pieces that we got ideas from which were Face 2 Face and Inside Out. The Face 2 Face project tried to show that beyond what separates them, Israelis and Palestinians are enough alike to be able to understand one another. JR placed images of Israelis and Palestinians in Israeli and Palestinian to show people that no matter what race or religion, people are alike. JR’s art work made conversations. The Inside out project transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work, black and white photographic portraits. We used JR’s art idea by taking pictures of people making them black and white and putting them in a public space. We also got inspired by Matthew Hoffman who is a Chicago-based artist he created the You Are Beautiful idea. Matthew’s sticker went worldwide people loves his idea he did multiple of public art in Chicago that brought lots of communities together.

We took our inspiration to create our art piece by taking pictures of people that we think are beautiful. The process of making our You Are Beautiful letters was first to get pictures of people who are beautiful I had two, I pick my baby cousin and little brother because both of them are really important in my life. I also had to pick a letter to paste my photos on. To spell You Are Beautiful I pick U to paste both of my photos front and back. The materials we used were wheat-paste, xacto knife, corrugated plastic, and inkjet on paper. We cut the photos into 4 sections, than we did the same with our letter. Second we sketched out our letter shape on the corrugated plastic so our pictures can stick on something. We placed the pictures both on front and back. Cutting off any access around the letter. Third we wheat-pasted it so the pictures can last long during the harsh weather. Finally we installed our Public art. The measurements 15 inches by 320 inches.

Photography JV 2013*

Freedom Song- Equal rights

In Global Peace I am learning about Sarvodaya. This world is use by Gandhi, he came to use the term for the idea of his own political philosophy. This term meaning 'universal uplift' or 'progress of all'. To rise together and become one. Not to think about gender, to be equal. The purpose of these pieces were to be someone in history. To write a poem as if you where them. Then, to be yourself and write about your struggle. The most challenging part about this action project was doing the research. Seeing how women were treated so unfair was very hard. I was am very impressed about how I came to writing my poems.

Photography JV Equal Rights 2013*

Lucy Burns Song

I am Lucy Burns,

I was important women in my time.

I am a strong leader, I fight for all race.

I believe in my rights.

I am a women’s right advocate,

19th and 20th century we suffered.

I support my sisters.

I help women fight.

Not to hide behind men's light,

but to find our place.

I want women to be their own leader,

Alice Paul and I formed the National Women’s Party,

to vote on the same term as men.

Words speak louder than action,

to be nonviolent is an important part.

Women will rise together,

We will have courage.

To be all equal.



My Freedom Song
I am JV,

I was born to speak.

I have all these ideas to be heard.

I want to find my voice.

I will not hide or be scared,

I will fight against the odds and try,

I will refuse to be invisible.

People will not step all over me,

just because I am a minor.

Adults will listen to what I have to say.

I want to be important not seen as a child,

I want to be known.

My voice will rise.

I will be equal.

My voice will be heard.

Interview-Mrs Smith

The purpose of this piece was to do an  interview with a person who is at least 20 years older than me. I interviewed my neighbor who has been through racism and took part in Sit-ins. I chose to interview Mrs Smith because I think she is a very brave women. The most difficult part of this interview was not being able to record her or take pictures for privacy.  I am most proud of my interview I think it went very well. I am glad I got a chance to talk to somebody who went though segregation. 

FARMER, James (2013) Sit-ins are making a difference.

I interviewed my neighbor Mrs Smith. She is 71 years old she has experienced segregation. I interviewed her because she took action and participated in sit-ins. She has experienced a lot of racism as she grew up. She was raised in the south Atlanta Georgia, where there was a lot of racism in the 1940-1960's. I asked her multiple questions about her past. One event she told me that really stood out was when she did sit-ins. It stood out because the movie we watched “Freedom song” they did sit-ins. To know that my neighbor did that is so inspiring and I think she is a very brave women.

What I have learned about sarvodaya in this interview is nobody at that time raised or try to help African Americans. If a white person try to help they would have gotten arrested or beaten. Segregation, and apartheid mean the same meaning. From this interview I learned that there was a lot of segregation and apartheid in the south. What I have learned about Mrs Smith is she is a very brave women. At a young age she wanted to make a difference for her family and her future. She knew what whites were doing to African Americans for so long, was wrong and she wanted to stop that. She was 19 years old when she took part in the sit-ins. Four other people joined her they were also 19 years old. One question I ask her was “How did you feel when you walked in the dinner? What happened ?” Her answer was “I was scared I walked in without saying nothing. We all sat down my friends talked but I did not. Three white men and one woman came up to us and started cursing. One called us racist names he told me I was a black ashtray and lit out his cigarette on my arm. These memories will stay with me forever.” 

I respect Mrs Smith so much. I respect anyone who has been through racism. Sarvodaya deepened for me because it means so much to our world. Sarvodaya means rise together Mrs Smith rise with many others for their future. Africans Americans got what they truly deserved nobody should never get treated that way.

Virginia Ocean - Powerpoint

The purpose of my action project was to choose a city that has already begun to feel effects of the climate change. The city that I chose to study was Virginia Beach. I chose to study Virginia Beach because, Ice caps are melting, and short waves are staying in the Earth's atmosphere causing molecules to expand and oceans. Ice caps are melting because of our actions. Global warming will turn Virginia Beach into an ocean.

One Challenge that I faced during this action project was reading about global warming and how it's going into full effect. Knowing global warming is going into effect is really hard for me to read because I really care about our Earth. If we keep polluting Earth, we will not have a healthy world to live in! I created this Powerpoint on Virginia Beach to show that pretty soon it will not be a city to vacation on. The whole city will be an entire ocean.

The most enjoyable part about this action project is going to inform others to take action. If we all want to live and have our family live on a healthy Earth, and not experience disasters like global warming. We need to work together and show that we can take care of our planet.

            Photography JV Cumulus clouds 2013*

       Cline, Seth ( 2012) Global Warming. U.S. News.

Poison Berry - Poem & Poster on MDG 7

The purpose of my action project was to choose a issue that covered Millennium Development Goal number 7, which is to Ensure Environmental Sustainability. I chose deforestation because I was interested in a type of plant called buckthorn. This type of plant relates to deforestation, because it kills native plant species. Buckthorn takes away nutrients, light, and moisture, not allowing other plants to grow. 

For my external investigation I talked to my uncle Dan. He was a former Archaeologist for the forest preserve district of Cook County. He explained to me that buckthorn was like a cancer to forest preserves. That inspired me to take action, by writing a poem and showing that buckthorn is a disease. 

The picture below shows my drawing of buckthorn "cancer". I drew a cancer ribbon (which is yellow and dark green) to symbolize "forest cancer". I drew buckthorn coming out of the ribbon to show that it spreads. Behind the ribbon there are trees to represent forest preserves. A challenge that I faced was drawing my picture.  I overcame it by really taking action and expressing how I feel about invasive species. What I enjoyed about this action project was doing research. I improved a lot on research.

                                                  Photography JV Forest Cancer Awareness 2013*

Looks like berries but feels like poison, grows and grows but never ends

The way it curves and grows up in to a leaf, this plant bears fruits which are black and red berry like a drupe 

The name is due to the woody spine of each twig, it grows 25 feet tall, the fruits are like dye used for silk or wool

Comes from Europe, over 150 species this invasive plant called buckthorn

Looks like berries but feels like poison, kills native plants

takes away nutrients, light, and moisture, never dies during winter

Make animals sick, threatens the future forest 

Like cancer that can’t find a cure, growing repeatedly without end

Looks like berries but feels like poison, buckthorn is like a disease to forest preserves 

will never stop growing, let's help stop planting buckthorn for privacy 

help Cook County forest preserves from its, sickness it could work

Looks like berries but feels like poison, help deer and birds stop getting stomach pains

let's not make them think it's a fruity berry, let trees grow healthy without getting replaced from buckthorn

let's follow Chicago Wilderness, people volunteering to take down buckthorn this cancer can get cured

Citations

"Corporate Council". chicagowilderness.org. 2012. Web. October 16, 2013.

Melone, Dan, personal interview with former Archaeologist from the forest preserve district of Cook County. 13 October. 2013.

"Forest Preserves of Cook County". fpdcc.com. Thornton C. Ralph. N.P. N.D. Web. October 11, 2013.

Tukea Teini Raskaus

The title for my project means Support teen pregnancy. The purpose of this MDG's action project was to choose an indicator that focuses on Millennium Development Goal. I chose target 5 which is to improve maternal health-women caring for children. The topic I chose was pregnancy care before and after a baby is born to a teenage mother. I had to pick a country who has a better example than the United States. I chose to compare Finland to the United States because their teenage pregnancy rate is 9.1%. The United States pregnancy rate is 29.4%. What I learned in this action project was that the United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate out of many other developed countries. A challenge that I faced during this action project was finding sources. How I overcame this challenge was by doing a lot of research for my statistic. What I most enjoyed about this project was learning more about another country. The one thing I am most proud of is my graph. I think I represented my data in a unique way.

                                         Photography JV Bottle percentages 2013*

The Honorable Mark Kirk

230 South Dearborn

Suite 3900

Chicago,IL 60604


Dear Senator Kirk,

I am JV and I attend Global Citizenship Experience High School in Chicago. I’m writing to you to ask for your support for pregnancy care before and after a baby is born to a teenage mother in the United States. As a high school student studying maternal health, I want to draw your attention because the United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate out of many other developed countries.

The United States current data for teenage pregnancy is 29.4%. Births for every 1,000 females 15-19 in this age group give birth to 305,420 babies each year. In 2011 the rate for teenage pregnancy was 31.3% for every 1,000 females. The rate dropped 6% which lead to 29.4%. About 82% of teenage pregnancy is unwanted with this rate for teenage pregnancy young girls get lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and poorer life outcomes. (Hamilton, 2010) Teenage mothers end up being on welfare with a low pay job or no job at all living on family support.

For this issues I did some research and came across Finland. I choose Finland to compare with the United States because I think Finland is doing a amazing Job with controlling teenage pregnancy. Finland's rate for teenage pregnancy is 9.1% for every 1,000 female in Finland. (A Nation’s Gift) Finland's teenage pregnancy rate is really low and I think as a country they really care about teenage education. In Finland schools they demand sex education for ages 12-19. I think that is one reason why their rate is low. I think that the U.S. gives sex education too late. Finland teaches young girls and boys about sex education and what could happen. I think by teaching at a young age about pregnancy and STD’s can really influence them not to have sex. Finland also cares about teenage mothers and expecting mothers by giving out baby boxes. The boxes Finland gives out is filled with baby clothes, bottles, wipes, and all baby essentials. Finland government office offers the baby box or 140-euro, the mothers choice.

The graph above shows the percentages for teenage pregnancy In United States and Finland. Each bottle shows the percentages in milk. The left bottle shows the United States teenage pregnancy rate which is 29.4%. ( Hamilton,2010). The right hand bottle shows Finland's teenage pregnancy rate which is 9.1%. (Hamilton 2010). On each side of the bottles are labels showing various statistic: births for every 1,000 females, age groups that get pregnant, and the number of babies that are born each year from a teenage girl.

My desired outcome is to see teenage pregnancy rate drop in the United States. This high rate for teenage pregnancy in our country makes the United States look like they do not care about teenage education. As a teenage girl I would like girls my age to have the same education that I’m getting. I will also like to see the United States help teenage mothers with the example of the baby boxes. I think that would really help teenage mothers especially mothers who can not afford to buy baby essentials. I think if Finland can send out baby boxes and they are a small country the United states can too. 

Thank you,

JV

---

• "Teen births rates". thenationalcampaign.org. Martin, J.A. Hamilton, B.E. Web 2010. September 26, 2013.

• "U.S teenage birth rate at a new low,government report show". .reuterscom . Lisa Maria Garza. September 6, 2013. Web. September 30, 2013.

• "Finland’s Baby Boxes Expectant Mothers": A Nation’s Gift.

           apartmenttherapy.com. N.P. N.D. Web. September 26, 2013.

Pure Action

The purpose of this H20 action project was to build a homemade water filter. My water filter had to turn local, non-potable water into clean drinking water. What I learned in this unit was the purity and complexity of water. I learned how to test the pH level of water and how to solve logarithmic equations. My challenges in this action project was trying to figure out where I would get all my materials. Luckily for me I had all my materials at home that I did not know about. This made my project an inexpensive one all I had to buy was a plastic pop bottle which was $2.10! The most enjoyable part for this action project was making the water filter. I liked getting my hands a little dirty with the sand, and dirt. I like that I had an experience making non-potable water drinkable. I am really proud that my water filter actually worked!
                               

                                                                   Photography JV Water Filter 2013* 

We just finished the unit which was studying the purity and complexity of water in my science/math class. For our action project, our class was asked to build a water filter that would turn local, non-potable water into clean drinking water. I am really proud of my water filter working. I did not think that the filter would work because it was homemade, but it worked! The image above is a sketch of my water filter.


                           
                                                             HT. (2013); Build Day, Water Filter

To start building my water filter, I had to gather all of my materials. Luckily for me, being resourceful made the project an inexpensive one. All I had to buy was a plastic pop bottle, which was $2.10, and my teacher provided the activated carbon and coffee filters. The materials needed were: Jelly jar, sand, dirt, gravel, plastic bottle, activated carbon, coffee filters, and small a glass beaker. The steps that I took to build my water filter were: 1) Gather all materials and test the pH of the outdoor water source. 2) Poke holes in the bottom of the plastic bottle, so the water can get through. 3) Layer coffee filters on the bottom of the bottle so it will trap all contaminated particles. 4) Layer the plastic bottle with sand, dirt, and gravel, in that order from bottom to top. 5) Pour dirty water over the top of the layers. 6) Collect filtered water in a Jelly jar. 7) Add a small amount (1 gram) of activated carbon to the newly filtered water and swirl to mix the water and carbon. 8) Filter the water a second time through coffee filters to remove the carbon. 9) Test the pH of the water.

                                         
                                                                      Photography JV Water Filter 2013*

The kind of water I used was River/pond water. Before I filtered my river water, I tested it on litmus paper and it came out to be a pH of 4, which is acidic. After filtering the water, I tested it again, and it came out to be a pH of 7.2, which is slightly basic, but still drinkable, because it falls in the “safe” range of our bodies. I calculated the pH difference, which was 2.8 (7.2-4). I also know that the equation for pH is -log[H+]. If you convert to a power form and plug in pH, you get 10^2.8 = 631. This number means that my water was 631 times more basic than before filtering. In other words, the number of hydroxyl ions increased. I would expect the water to taste refreshing. 

My filter worked because I used natural resources. Each layer contributed to cleaning the water. For example, the coffee filter seemed to be the most important part of the filtration system, because it caught the dirt particles. My filter is similar to groundwater because groundwater gets filtered naturally. The water filtered through my system goes through the exact same layers (sand, dirt, and gravel). I packed my coffee filters at bottom of my bottle. I placed the sand as the middle layer and the gravel was the top layer.The most compact layer was the bottom because the coffee filters were the base. The rest of the layers were weighing the coffee filters down. When the water goes through these layers it gets cleaned. I chose this design, because it looked like the simplest way to filter water. I also chose this design, because I like how the lighter materials went on the bottom and the heavier went on the top. I like this design because the heavier materials pack down the lighter ones. This made the filter work faster because the water was pushed down and cleaned faster. The similarity of my design to groundwater filtration is what I believe made my filter work.

Citations

• "Practical Primitive". practicalprimitive.com. Starnater, Eddie. Martin,Julie. LLC. 2012. Web. 27 September 2013.

My Water Usage vs the UK's Profile by -JV

The purpose of this H20 action project was to find my daily water usage which I learned was 74 gallons .Then I compared my daily water usage to another country's. I picked the UK whose daily water usage is 39 gallons. Then I had to find the closest water source to collect my 74 gallons and see how long it would take to carry my water usage back to my house. I learned that in a lot of countries, people do not have access to water and if they do, it is not clean enough to drink. They also have to walk and carry it miles away from their home. I like finding out my daily water usage.

Photography JV Mi Consumo De Agua 2013.*

The purpose of this H20 action project was to find my daily water usage, which I learned was 74 gallons. Then I compared my daily water usage to that of an average individual in the UK. I found that the average person in the UK uses 39 gallons of water a day- significantly less that what I use! After doing these calculations, I had to find a water source near my school, in order to collect my daily water usage of 74 gallons and see how long it would take me to carry that amount back to school. I learned that in a lot of countries, people do not have access to water, and if they do, it is not clean enough to drink. They also have to walk and carry it x # of miles away from their home. My experience of carrying water taught me that it is heavy and tiring, and I cannot imagine other countries having to carry water like I did. I liked finding out my daily water usage, because it taught me a lot about the need for water conservation. 

After my field experience of carrying my daily water use, I wanted to see how water usage varies globally, so I created a poster comparing my use that of the UK. The first thing that you see on my poster is the title, which says, "My Water Usage" in Spanish. On my poster, you will see two drawings, which visualize my water usage compared to UK's. I used cups to represent the amount of water, where percentages of water I use in different categories "fill" the cups. The cups are divided into hygiene, consumption, cleaning, and other. Category percents are listed, as well as the approach I took to arrive at these percentages. For example, in order to find percent daily use of the total, I took each category and divided by the total use (either 74 gallons for me or 39 gallons for the UK), and multiplied by 100. On the bottom of my chart, you see the difference between my usage of water and the UK's (35 gallons total) . Lastly, you see how long it would take me to carry my daily water usage from the nearest water source (148 hours total).

Motivated by the numbers I'd seen, I decided to do some specific research on how the UK uses it's daily water of 39 gallons. I found that the UK uses 25 gallons for hygiene, 4 gallons for consumption, 8 gallons for cleaning, and 2 gallons for other. You can see how different my water usage plays out compared to the UK. I also research the UK's water prices, which I found totals $549 a year. That number is higher than the US , which is $523 a year. Perhaps the increased water expense does not allow someone in the UK to purchase and use water as readily as someone in the U.S. Finally, I learned that the UK's water has a funny taste which is caused by high mineral content found in many areas in the UK. Perhaps this is another reason as to why people typically consume less in the UK than where I live.

From this experience, I learned how important it is to save water. One way to help the water shortage is more efficient use of water, by limiting and paying attention to how much water we use in each day. For example, we need to not let the water run for unnecessary reasons. My advice gained from this investigation is to save as much water as you can, and do not take long showers; Reuse water, do not waste water in any way. By cutting back on our water usage, the water supply can really add up.

*All Photography JV (2013) Mi Consumo De Aqua.

Olive's Neighborhood Garden Profile by JV

The purpose of this MDG's action project was to choose an organization that focuses on Millennium Development Goal target 1 which is to Eradicate World Hunger.The topic I chose was to help lower the number of people who suffer from hunger. The organization that helped with this problem was, Olive's Neighborhood Garden who donates their garden-grown food to local food pantries. Olive's Neighborhood Garden works with the Jefferson Park area which is really close to my neighborhood. They have a large staff and are really friendly to their customers. Olive's neighborhood garden has flexible hours so I can volunteer.

BRECKLIN, Andy (2013) Untitled. Olive's Neighborhood Garden.

The topic I picked was Target one the proportion of people who suffer from hunger which is target 1 which is to Eradicate World Hunger.The organization that I chose was Olive’s Neighborhood Garden (Garden for the Hungry).The Garden distributes food grown by neighborhood gardeners to local food pantries. The reason I chose this target was because I think Olive’s Neighborhood Garden knows what they are doing they will help decrease the amount of people in hunger.This Garden addresses to my target by distributing their garden-grown food to people who do not have access to it.To me access  is food which every human being needs in order to survive. The Jefferson Park community also works with the garden. They can donate foods,and clothes to local food pantries too. Olive’s Neighborhood Garden takes care of trying to end hunger. Which would go under the Maslows physiological needs. How many people work at they Olive’s Neighborhood Garden is a staff more than a dozen, plus the community and Facebook helpers. Olive’s Neighborhood Garden opened in May 2008 it is also an award-winning Garden in Jefferson Park. The purpose of the organization is to help people in need for food.

The Garden does grow.Over time they expand more they donate over 215 vegetables and fruits to the local food pantry. I talked to Andy Brecklin who is the leader of Olive's Neighborhood Garden. I asked him a few questions about the organization to get a better idea of it. I ask him why he wanted to work in this kind of environment? Andy said “I grew up in the country so I like growing planting". Another question I asked was,"do you like the community that you work in"? Andy said, “I like this community because they have great delivery. The community really helps us out!” Another question I asked Andy was,"how many staff members do you have"? Andy’s response was “Haha that's funny,we have over a dozen plus the community people who volunteer it’s a whole lot!” Olive’s Neighborhood Garden is really inspiring because they help people in need. They spend their own time helping one another. Olive’s Neighborhood Garden is related to Growing Home because they both donate their garden grown foods to nearby pantries.They both have very small and welcoming staff members.The two organizations are very small but well known.

I learned a lot from this project,I learned that even in the Chicago area there are people without jobs,without food,which is really sad because there are many more in the same situation around the world. I just have to realize all people are not like my family and me. They do not have the basic human needs to survive which is so hard to think about. I think if we all work together as a whole we can help and really make a difference.

BRECKLIN, Andy (2013); Untitled, Olive's Neighborhood Garden

BRECKLIN, Andy (2013); Untitled, Olive's Neighborhood Garden

REFERENCES:

Olive's Neighborhood Garden. (2013) Pictures on Facebook Page. Internet: Facebook.

Pictures used with the permission of Andy Brecklin, garden leader.

Brecklin, Andy. Personal Interview. 16 Sept. 2013.