YEAR 2117

The last unit in my Humanities course is called Herstory. In this unit I learned about issues that are in race, gender and, class. We predicted the future and what it might look for equality. I really enjoyed taking this course, it opened my eyes about gender, race, and, equality all around the world. I hope the future has better people leading countries and, people will live in happiness and don’t have to worry about what gender they are and, what skin color they are. The purpose of this Action Project is to imagine what our society will look like in the future. I had to create a time capsule filled with a series of elements that foretell what the struggle for equality might look like 100 years from now. This Action Project was tough because it was hard and scary thinking about what the future might look like. I wish I could live to see how it would be. Overall this course way by far my favorite, I can’t wait to take my next Humanities course. Down below is me opening my time capsule.  

                               

CHICAGO TRIBUNE JULY, 16 2117

DIFFERENT AMERICA

Hispanics are the fastest growing race in America. They are the largest majority beating Whites and African Americans. Spanish is the leading language in America; immigrants aren’t looked down on anymore. The President of the United States is a Latina. Her name is Luciana Zelaya; she is creating new laws which benefits everyone no matter race, gender, or class. There are more jobs in the United States because of President Zelaya. People aren’t in poverty anymore; everyone came together, and they made a change in America. Women get equal pay. Zelaya wants to show everyone that anything is possible as long as they put their mind to it; America is thriving. President Zelaya believes that everyone is equal and should be treated fairly.

President Zelaya’s great-grandparents were immigrants and struggled living in America. They were considered aliens; they couldn’t get good paying jobs, health care, or good housing. Many immigrants struggled and some races and religions were even banned from the country. They worked hard, and now, their great-grandchild is the President of the United States. The country has come a long way and it has definitely improved.

President Zelaya wants America to keep growing and improving, she knows she wouldn’t be where she is now if it were not for the past, her family, and the people of the United States. President Zelaya loves hearing what the people has to say, she wants to provide everything she can and stay true to her word. Zelaya listened to her people and she doesn’t want anyone to struggle when it come to money and providing food for families. She has recently passed a new law. Benefiting every household in the country making sure everyone has the right needs in order to fully live the “American Dream.”
           
Down below are two interviews of citizens; one voted for President Zelaya and, the other one is against President Zelaya.

Dear Editor,
I am beyond happy that I voted for President Zelaya, I had so much faith in her. I believed in her and knew she will be a great President. I never thought I will see the day that a Latina will be a president. I am a young woman and my great-grandparents were immigrants, so many will say, “You only voted for her because she is Latina.” Well, that is not true President Zelaya qualified to be the president we all needed. Since President Zelaya passed a the new law unemployment rate is much lower. People aren’t in poverty anymore, and are doing much better and many Americans are happy. President Zayala is doing an amazing job being the first Latina President of the United States. There are people that are mad about a Hispanic being president and on top of it’s a woman. Some are even protesting holding signs that say “Women can’t run this country.” I think it’s rude and uncalled for, they need to realize that America has changed and it’s going to keep changing. America has many people with different nationalities and religions it is important to embrace that as a country. 

Dear Editor, 
I do not accept that a women is leading our country. This country was founded by men and it should stay that way. I think the reason why she won was because only women voted for her. The law she passed is great but a man should be President. Hopefully she only last one term. 

                                     First Latina President Barbie Doll of 2117

      

This is Barbie President Luciana Zelaya she is 36 years old, and was born and raised is from Chicago, IL. Barbie President Luciana Zelaya teaches girls that they can be whatever they want. They can change the World and bring acceptance to all girls. She helped people out of poverty and continues to change the United States.

The Diamond Shell.

During this Unit called lessons in my Humanities Stories, I learned about fables and how they work. For this action project, I had to create and share my own fable to teach a lesson based on my values and life goals. My fable is to teach how to be comfortable in your own body, and not to care what people think about you. I feel like a lot of people deal with this all around the world, and especially teenagers because we are going through so many changes as we are getting older. What I learned during this unit is to really understand what a story is trying to say, and what meaning the author is trying to tell the reader. What I found most challenging about this project was writing my story; I love writing stories, but writing fables is so much harder because you have to show the meaning, and use animals as humans. What I enjoyed most about this project was coming out of my shell like Ina did, to write about how I feel in real life.

 Created by JV "Ina the Turtle" 2014*

It was a cold autumn morning in Camon France, where the leaves are dark fall colors and the wind is chilly. Ina was laying in her shell looking up wondering, why she looked so different from the other turtles in her village. All the other girls, had dull colors on their shell, like gray and brown with no patterns. Ina’s skin is gray but her shell looks like colorful diamonds were placed on her back. Ina has a great personality. She is very outgoing, open-minded, and gets attached to people very fast. Even though she is amazing, she is very quiet and shy because other animals judge the way she looks. Some say she is weird looking, some say she is boring and mean because she never talks. Some don’t like her because they are too jealous.

When Ina stopped thinking about how she looked, she popped out of her shell and started getting ready for school. When she arrived she saw her best friend Mora, who is a rabbit and is very open and flirts with everyone she loves every inch of her body and never care’s about what anybody thinks. She is very slim has beautiful rosy red cheeks and eye lashes that are as long as weeds in a field. 

Mora went up to Ina and said, “Hey what are you doing after school?”

Ina spoke very softly, “I don’t have any plans why whats up?”

More smiled, “Lets hang out with Cindy, and Jay?”

Ina Chuckled, “Um oh I’m not sure.”

Ina didn't want to join them because everybody always treated her so weirdly, because of the way she looked. She always felt very uncomfortable around other girls her age because their bodies looked so different from her’s. But deep down, Ina didn't want to care what people thought about her, as Mora was walking away, Ina shouted, “Mora I’ll go!” She wanted to show everybody who she really was, not just who she is because of her body.

After school all four of them met up by the French coffee house, as they talked they got to know in better. Cindy told Jay, “Ina is a really cool turt!” Jay replied back “I really loved getting to know her, she is amazing!” As Ina got to know more people at her school, she realized that she can be herself completely. She can be comfortable in her own colorful shell!

 Created by JV "French Cafe" 2014*

Mexican Mole Lizard.

The purpose for this first Action project for my STEAM class called "Population", which is a Global Health series that talks about why our population had changed throughout history and what this means for our future. During this unit, I learned both Mathematical and Scientific systems of classification; I also learned about Taxonomy, which is the branch of science that classifies animals, which helped me a lot with my project. I picked the Mexican Mole Lizard (Bipes biporus) because it looked so interesting to me, and how it's one of a kind because it doesn't have a relative. The MML is cold blooded, its Bipes because it is a Carnivore and Squamata because it has scales. Using Taxonomy helped me a lot because I got to see what class my animal was in as well as other information. What I found really helpful with doing this AP was really understanding what Taxonomy is. What I found challenging was doing the Mathematical language because I'm not that great at it, but I would love to improve. What I enjoyed about this project was learning about all different kinds of animals.

Here is the Taxonomy classification of the Mexican Mole Lizard.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Bipedidae
Genus: Bipes
Species: B. biporus

Created by JV, "MML" 2014*

Here are the set theory statements explaining in mathematical language what my animal is categorized in and what it's not.

Created by JV "MML" 2014*

Here is a three circled Venn Diagram, I compared my animal with my classmate RD who had a Blue Tailed Skink, and my other classmate AMK had a Fennec Fox. To see what we have in common or what we don't have in common.

Created by JV, RD, AMK 2014*

Anti GMO!

In the last unit of Food, an integrated math and science course, we studied plant genetics and genetic engineering. For our last action project, we had a debate whether to allow GM seeds in our rural community in Illinois. I am anti GMO because I believe in letting nature be itself. GMOs change nature’s habits, making food not natural or organic.The USDA approves GM seeds but have not included the after effects of GM foods on our bodies. This is scary because we have no idea what GMOs can do to us in the long run. One Field Experience that I went on during this term I visited an organic farm. That experience really opened my eyes and made me more proud of eating healthy. I will definitely shop at farmers markets this summer to support local and organic produce. What I am most proud of is my argument. I think they are really strong and will give people something to think about!

What would you rather have? A tomato that has been injected with fish DNA to last longer, which is a GM tomato or an organic tomato to put in your dinner pasta? Well I would rather have the organic one because it is so much healthier. We eat GMOs every day. It is basically in everything. Wouldn't you want to change that? Wouldn't you want to know where your food comes from, and what's in it right? I am just saying that organic is a better option. I know it can be expensive but it is so much better for your health, and you won’t be eating different organisms at once. You will be eating wholesome vegetable and getting the nutrients that you need. Trying to make food “better” when scientists are just making food worse, by adding so many chemicals and sugar. Food should be left alone with nature. Scientist are doing all theses experiments. They don’t know what could happen in the future, GMOs can cause so many problems. I am pro organic seeds. I chose this position because I think mixing foods together is wrong. Coming up with different ways for food to last longer is so wrong because that is causing people to become sick. I do accept that GMOs are in everyday foods that we eat and provides other foods, but I do think there should be another option. That option is to ban GMOs from the United States. My reasoning for that is scientist are getting out of hand with all of these experiments making food into chemicals.

 My classmates and I went to an organic farm, where we met a farmer, Marc, who practices organic farming. He states, "GMOs are bad, we do not approve putting chemicals in our fields. It is not right to change nature.” Marc does not believe in adding fertilizers, which kills nature’s habits. Nature gives us such beautiful and healthy foods so why change them? Marc eats healthy every day because of his organic farm. His body is clean and he saves a lot of money by not going to the grocery store as often. He is also outdoors a lot working on his garden, getting vitamin D and enjoying nature. Not only is he eating healthy and getting vitamins, he is also building physical, and mental health. Gardening burns so many calories, Marc is getting so many benefits by just having one thing. That is an organic garden.

 Eating healthier, and the highest quality of vegetables keeps your body clean. Organic vegetables have more taste and also more nutrition. It can help with body growth and can help your brain grow as well. It can save lots of money if you plant your own organic garden. It gives families a hand on supply of fresh foods.Being Outdoors, will do more for your mental and physical health. It can give your body vitamin D and can help maintain bone mass. It will also give you more activities to do rather than sitting inside with the air conditioning on or the heat, which can cause headaches and dizziness because of natural gas that controls them. Being outdoors will be better than in a lab testing foods to last longer or taste better. People sit all day trying to change good healthy foods adding chemicals and putting different types of DNA in the foods. 

Getting Exercise, each garden task can burn 200- 400 calories per hour. Over a six month growing season, a gardener can burn 35,000 calories enough to lose 10 pounds. Working the arms, legs, and abs all at once! This can help with a humans mind and making them more active! It will also provide a care for the environment for organic farmers. They start to see what natural can provide healthy and fresher foods, that GMOs cannot and take better care of it. GMOs can make lots of food, to travel from country from country without going bad. This could help developing countries, which malnutrition is a big problem adding vitamins to other foods can help save over 2 million lives, and to prevent becoming permanently blind. With that I think there should be another option, in developing countries should be a organic garden, a local place where different villages can have local and fresher foods, that doesn't have so many chemicals in it. That can save so many lives and make people healthier. People in the villages can also have jobs to support families and different organic groups can help support with seeds and money.

 My brother eats chips, lunchables, candy, foods that a regular seven year old would eat. The down side to that is he is getting hives every time he eats those types of foods. He is allergic to a chemical that is in junk foods. It is sad to see that because now we need to give him foods that cause the hives so we can see what foods he can’t eat. Since he has stopped eating junk food, he is now eating organic and healthy foods. We can see the difference. He has more energy. He is happier. And his skin looks glowy and healthy. This is a big reason why scientists should stop their experiments. To stop this from happening please vote for NO More GMOs in our community!

Vanilla Cupcake Experiment.

In food a math and science course, our second unit, Cooking, is focused on the chemical reactions behind cooking. This Action Project we had to change an original vanilla cupcake recipe to fit with Passover, which symbolizes a time when Jews had to change from eating certain foods including leavening agents. We had two different kinds of experiments, one was the control group, where we followed original recipe for a vanilla cupcake. The other group was the experimental group, where we had to take out the 1 most important ingredient. The ingredient that we had to take out was baking powder, which has both an acid, cream of tartar, and a base, baking soda. We learned about the pH scale and we tested the pH of different cooking ingredients to see how acidic or basic the ingredient is so we can substitute that in our cupcake experiment. My group picked olive oil (base) and lemon juice (acid). What I learned during this project was how you can switch out an important ingredient and find substitutes to replace it. What I am most proud of is how my experiment came out, and learning that I don’t always need a leavening agent to make cupcakes.

Photography AC Control Cupcakes 2014*

Lab Report: 

Control and Experimental Cupcakes. 

Introduction: 

For this cupcake experiment my group chose to use olive oil and lemon juice to substitute for baking powder. Our reasoning for that is olive oil is a base and on the PH scale it has a pH of 8. Lemon juice is our acid which, on the pH scale s a 2.2. When acid and a base are mixed together, they neutralize the acid and base properties making salt, water and co2. Hopefully olive oil and lemon juice will react to help our cupcakes rise, we had to measure the height of the cupcakes to determine if they mimic the control cupcakes. 

Research Question: 

Will Olive oil and lemon juice help cupcakes rise, like baking powder does? 

Hypothesis: 

If we replace the leavening agent, which is baking powder with olive oil and lemon juice, then the experimental cupcakes will rise as high as the control cupcakes. 

Materials: 

1/12 cup of sugar 

1/24 cup of butter 

⅙ eggs 

⅙ tsp of vanilla extract 

1/48 cup of all purpose flour 

⅓ tsp of baking powder (for control group) 

1/24 cup of whole milk 

olive oil and lemon juice (for experimental group) 

For Control Group: 

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2.In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. 

3.Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla. 

4.Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. 

5.Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. 

6.Grease or line a muffin pan. 

7.Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. 

8.Bake for 20 minutes. 

For Experimental Group: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. 

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla. 

Combine flour and add to the creamed mixture and mix well. 

Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. 

Grease or line a muffin pan. 

Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. 

Mix olive oil and lemon juice into cupcakes one at a time. 

Bake for 20 minutes. 

Data:

The graph shows the height for both the control, and experimental cupcake trials. 

Recipe in Metric: 

Conclusion: 

From this experiment, I learned that it is possible to replace a leavening agent because in all six of my cupcake trials, my cupcakes rose. In conclusion my hypothesis was wrong because our experimental group cupcakes did rise as much with our replacement ingredients. The cupcake was 0.25 cm shorter than the control group cupcakes. All of our cupcakes were around the same height, except the 6th cupcake, which was 1.05 cm shorter than the control group cupcake. The reasoning for that is the batter is more basic than acidic. It had more, olive oil than lemon juice. I believe that the 5th cupcake was my favorite and the best out of all six cupcakes because it had more lemon juice in it, which made it taste really delicious. The cupcakes were a perfect golden brown on top and a dark brown around the edges. The outside was hard, while the inside was nice and moist. Overall I think the experimental cupcakes came out better than the control cupcakes did.

Photography JV Experimental Cupcakes 2014*

Learning a new language!

During Experiential term, I took a class to learn ASL and to understand deaf culture. I learned basic ASL and heavy information about DHH. I learned about cochlear implants and how they are not a cure for deafness, as many people believe. I learned how to make a micromentary and work with a group and see different opinions. What I am most proud of from this term is learning and practicing ASL. I am also proud of opening up more, I think ASL helped me with that because I learned communicating with everyone is important. Being shy won’t get me any where and I know when I open up people like to see how I act.

Photography JV Starbucks ASL Meet up 2014*

I went to a sign language coffee chat in Evanston at Starbucks Evanston (519 Main St, Evanston, IL 60620). I went with my classmate RD and her aunts. Most of my other classmates went as well. It was nice because we were all together and when we didn't understand a sign that someone did we will communicate with each other to figure out what they were saying. It was nice meeting older DHH members, to communicate with them using ASL. I like how all the members were so open and nice to us. They taught us new signs. They said that it was great that we were taking a term to learn sign language and we should practice more so we can become fluent. I also saw people with hearing aids and with cochlear implants. Overall, I think the meet-up went well. If there is other meet-up I will definitely go again!

This term changed my view because I did not know that ASL was a language. It also changed my attitude towards the DHH community because I did not know anything about the culture. I have never really seen members of the DHH community until now. My ASL teacher was the first deaf person I ever meet. I learned so much from this term and I appreciate the DHH community. During our visit to Mt. Sinai Hospital, we met a team of Deaf  Therapists. This most inspiring to me because I got to learn more about deaf culture. I learned what it is like to be deaf, and to hear stories about deaf people. I really liked hearing one of the therapists telling her story on how she became deaf. It is really interesting to hear that so many people become deaf at such a young age from being sick.

Thank you, Deaf therapists at Mt. Siani for teaching me more about deaf culture. Thank you for answering all our questions, I learned so much. I learned more about cochlear implants and how it doesn't’ work for everybody. I learned that some deaf people aren't born deaf but can become deaf from sickness. I want to thank Vivian for sharing your story on how you became deaf.

My two roles on the micromentary team were to take pictures and to edit the video. I was successful in my roles by paying attention, getting my work done, and being on top of everything. As the editor, I made our micromomentary come together. I am most proud of learning how to use iMovie. I like how my team worked together to get pictures and videos to make the micromentary come together. The main lesson I learned from from making the micromentary is captioning it. I think that is really important for the DHH community so they can understand what our video is about. I think that is important for every program on television so deaf people can be apart of the hearing world too. Working in a team was interesting, I learned that working together can be hard because people go at their own pace. We all had different ideas, and different ways of viewing things. We will have to experience what that person goes through on a daily bases. We will have to feel how they feel and see what they see. We did that this term we experience what being deaf is. We felt how not understanding a different language is hard, just like DHH members don’t understand English. We had to step in their shoes to feel how being uncomfortable is when not understanding a language and having to go through that for one month but for DHH members it can be their whole life.

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.