Clase de Español

My last unit in my STEAM course in System and Models is called Organization. During this unit I learned how to identify the synergy between individuals, groups, and organizations. This unit required big picture research about I-O Psych covering its history, fundamental psychological relevance, systems dynamics, and an organization's ability to attract and serve its employees symbiotically. The purpose for the last Action Project was to come up with an idea that can be improved in my school. We each had to pick a topic, I picked my third period class which is Spanish. For this project we also had to interview two students and two staff members in the school. The purpose for is to point out the flaws in the class and see what can be improved. What I struggled with was time, how I overcame that problem was sitting down and worked on what needed to be done. I enjoyed taking this course it was interesting and I can’t wait to take my last STEAM course. 

                            “Clase de español.”dfiles.me. 2014

In September I was excited to start my first ever Spanish class at GCE. GCE is known for having outrageous classes. The Spanish class was suppose to incorporated food, Spanish culture, and connection to Spanish-language parts of Chicago. The class was introduced and everyone was pretty pumped up about it; but the teacher wasn’t the perfect fit. I interviewed two of my classmates that took the class with me and two staff members. I wanted to get some feedback from my two classmates about what they thought from taking the class. I also wanted to know what worked for them and what didn’t. A student DNR said “The first Spanish class lacked guidance and instruction with lessons, students were wild and disrespectful. Just belligerent, I think the teacher should have been more prepared mentally and physically.” A student MF said “The big thing for me that didn't work was the fact that we were told the class was going to be a culture class and we were given a class where we just had to write sentence after sentence everyday with new verbs. I just felt like it was a waste of my time. I asked my Dean some questions about what happened behind the scenes during this time. She said, “I provided ongoing and specific feedback to the instructor who was struggling. He decided that it wasn't a fit and chose to leave rather than put into place specific suggestions we had for his teaching.” It was clear that this class was a failed mission.

Since the teacher wasn’t fully prepared students would be disrespectful and wouldn’t want to learn. Some would be on their phones and computers listening to music. It was a very depressing class for me and other students. Student MF also said “The teacher in the beginning was very difficult to deal with. He wasn't used to teaching anyone but college students which I think caused the disconnect. He would always tell us that he was shocked we weren't acting like "college students" which I think caused a lot of anger.” The first Spanish teacher quit on a day he was suppose to teach his class. The weakness in the first Spanish class was the teacher, student connection, and student behavior. 

I-O psychology is characterized by the scientific study of human behavior in organizations and the workplace. That specialty focuses on deriving principles of individual, group and organizational behavior and applying this knowledge to the solution of problems at work. We needed to apply I-O psychology to the Spanish class, and by doing that we ended up getting a new teacher and some things got better. The second Spanish class made some progress student DNR response to the new Spanish class and teacher was; “I think the teacher should have controlled his class a little more, lessons were short, and in the second Spanish class, students were a little too free, but slightly less disrespectful.” My opinion on the second Spanish class was the teacher saw how the students weren’t motivated and didn’t learn anything from the first Spanish class, so he just let us do whatever we wanted. He would sit down and read. From time to time he would teach a small lesson but that was it. The strengths we had in his class was learning Spanish a little bit more, and the opportunities we had was being able to learn Spanish online. Some students would use Duo-lingo and they enjoyed it.

I-O psychology fundamental assumption is that the people in organizations and the goals of organizations are best served when there is a good it between the two. Neither the students nor the teacher were benefiting from that situation, there needed to be a change again. GCE does follow Maslow’s hierarchy which is: Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization. But there was a treat that was happening, some students decided not to take a language class at GCE, and went off to find a different way to learn the language. Some students take online classes or do dual-enrollment at community colleges. The second Spanish teacher left us and we ended up getting a new one. But this time it was different. The Spanish class was actually working. We got a teacher who cared about us, and a teacher who controlled the class. It was satisfying. The behavior in students changed and we started learning Spanish. I asked my Spanish teacher some questions about the steps she takes to run the class/lessons she said, “I try to bring in the basics of the language I want everyone to walk away knowing and work around those basic concepts to create projects and learning that is flexible and challenging for each student.”

But there is still a problem. We all share the same space in the class. Every Monday and Tuesday the class is told to read a book in Spanish. Some students are more advanced in Spanish than others. Students should be able to have Autonomy, which is one of the pillars at GCE. In order to learn a new language you have to start with the basics, but some students in that class are already bilingual. Instead of pushing the student to thrive more into that language it’s pushing them back. My suggestion to fix this problem is having multiple language level classes to benefit each student. I asked my Spanish teacher and my classmate if they could create a language class how would it work? DNR said “My language class would be a rewarding class. That's the easiest way to learn, right? Through competition and reward! I would also try to relate my language to their language because familiarity helps with remembering things.” My Spanish teacher said, “I think that second language acquisition is an important part of any education, especially at a school that prides itself on fostering the growth of global citizens. I would like to see more integration of language acquisition into core classes as well as language acquisition becoming a core subject of its own. Personally would like to have fully immersive classes that are separated by ability level so that each student can get the most challenging and rewarding learning experience.” I hope one day GCE can have language classes that benefit every student level.


Citations:

“America’s 20 Fastest Growing Jobs.” Farnham, Alan. abcnews.go.com. ABC News - Business. Feb 5, 2014. Web. Feb 6, 2017.

I-O Psychology Theories. Psychology.iresearchnet.com. N.P. N.D. Web. Feb 25, 2017.

Bloom

Systems and Models is a STEAM course talking about Psychology and studies people from the outside in and from the inside out. The first unit was called Individual; I learned about personality assessments, and took a few of them to better understand myself. The purpose of this Action Project was to understand all the information I learned about myself and create that into a self portrait. I enjoyed this project very much; I learned more about myself. Creating myself portrait was my favorite part. I didn’t have any troubles; it came out nicely and went smoothly I’m proud of my artwork. I hope you enjoy.

Bloom. Created by JV, 2016.

Creating my artwork was relaxing and I felt calm. I used to paint a lot when I was younger, but since then I haven’t really had time. I used watercolor paint, watercolor paper, glitter, and construction paper. My portrait is 8 ½ in by 11 in. I’m all throughout my portrait; I show myself through the flowers, petals, branches, and every detail represents me and has a meaning behind it. For my portrait, I chose a Cherry Blossom tree because its my favorite plant. I also chose this tree because it starts blossoming in Okinawa, Japan, during January which is my birthday month. The branch starts at the left end of the painting and the flowers are dark representing my past, showing the old me. There are petals falling that shows how I avoid situations and how I like to be by myself. It also shows how I give up sometimes, but I can also pick myself back up and grow a new flower: a new me. Naturally, I am private and solitary. I like to be invisible until I’m ready to reveal myself. I see myself as intense, unexpected, original and different from others. To show that, I added different shapes of cherry blossom flowers. I prefer to play the role of detached observer and investigator. As the branches grow and new flowers start blooming, new colors appear showing how I change a lot, showing my different moods and actions. The brighter flowers show how I'm growing and becoming a woman; I added glitter on some flowers to represent the girly side of me. The small branches and small flowers that haven’t bloomed yet shows the new up coming paths in my life. The branch doesn’t have an ending because I’m still living and learning. I have so much time and so much more to experience ahead of me. I want my portrait to show how delicate I am, but also how strong I am too. I don’t give up. 

I interviewed my art teacher to know how important an artist statement is. One of my questions that I asked her was; How important is an artist statement? Her response was “I believe an artist statement is very important for a number of reasons. I think it is important to have insight into the artist’s background in order to connect with and understand their work. I think sharing the artist’s intentions allows the viewer to see something in the work that they didn’t initially see.” I agree with my teacher; I want my artwork to provoke individualism, and calmness.

I took many personality and psychological tests, but the two that explained me well was the DISC personality model and the Enneagram personality test. For the Enneagram test, I got type 5 which is; which is the Observer, Investigator, Thinker, Sage or Voyeur. One of my strong suits is attention. I like observing the world, hiding or withholding to protect myself and gathering information for the purpose of knowing and understanding. I am studious and scholarly; I develop expertise in any area that is of interest to me. I believe that knowledge is power. I believe all of that shows through my art work nicely. On the Enneagram test result I got; “You are private and introspective, although others may think of you as anti-social, secretive, remote, and eccentric.” It’s scary how a test you take on your computer can tell you so much about yourself. Growing up I was always made fun of because of how quiet I am. I like being by myself and in my own head, I like how this test explained me so well. For the DISC personality test my main four factors are dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. “Dominance: describes the way you deal with problems, assert yourself and control situations.” That is hands down the truth. I like being in control. In my portrait, I have bold colors that shows my dominance. My favorite personality test was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality inventory, one of the most popular assessments around the world. This test explained me the best, I had goose bumps when I was reading my results. My personality type is INTP; which is the Logician. “Logicians are known for their brilliant theories and unrelenting logic – in fact, they are considered the most logically precise of all the personality types. People with the Logician personality type tend to share thoughts that are not fully developed, using others as a sounding board for ideas and theories in a debate against themselves rather than as actual conversation partners.” Logicians love patterns; in my portrait the flowers are my patterns.

I know I can relate to many people in this world with the type of personality I have. One of my classmates was also a type 5 and so was my teacher. I think it’s interesting how the 3 of us got the same behavior type, but we are all very different. Albert Einstein was also a type 5; he was one of the greatest scientists of all time. He came up with the theory of relativity he was a true genius and changed the world. Albert Einstein found his passion and I hope I can find my, to one day. I enjoy pushing myself to keep changing and growing. I learned about the Marshmallow test, it teaches kids how to have self control. I have a lot of self control, I am willing to work hard, and wait for a bigger reward in the future.


Citations:

"16 Personalities."16personalities.com. Isabel Briggs Myers. 2011. Web. Jan 13, 2017.

"Personality Test." enneagram.net. Katherine Chernick Fauvre and David W. Fauvre. 1997. Web. Jan 13, 2017.

"DISC Personality Test." 123test.com. N.D. 2017. Web. Jan 13, 2017.

A Milli

For the the last Action Project for my senior STEAM course, Economics: Risking Value, I was given a scenario where I was gifted an amount of money that was growing in an saving account for 18 years. In this scenario, my guardian angel left me $49128.87. With that money, I had to invest in companies I believed in, and hopefully make a good amount of money off of them. I’ve learned a lot during this course that I will carry on with me in my lifetime. I learned about investing, compounding money, and how to save money and time more effectively. What I struggled with was finding companies to invest in. How I overcame that problem was researching, and thinking about companies I like; and use on a daily basis. I enjoyed this term and can’t wait for the other Senior STEAM courses. I hope you enjoy my project:

My guardian angel gifted me with $49128.87. With that money I’m going to invest companies I believe will benefit me within 25 years. My plan is down below:

1-year goal: I want to reach $5,000 in my savings. That money can go towards college. I want to save more than I spend. 

5-year goal: I’ll be 23 years old. Hopefully I’ll be done with college. I want to have $30,000 in savings and that will go towards paying off college debt. 

25-year goal: I’ll be 43 years old I would want $100,000 in savings hopefully a little more saved. My college debt would be paid off, I will be living happily, and I can go traveling.

I value profit-driven companies, but I also like companies that are passionate. They set goals and try their hardest to meet that goal. I also value environment-friendly companies that want to improve the world and really make an effort to do that. I want to invest in companies that have a constant flow of money coming in. If I invest in companies that are stable, there is a higher change I can make a lot of money because the same amount of money would keep coming in, and not make a huge drop. Disney and Apple have a huge amount of money, and hopefully that will keep happening. 

The first company I chose to invest in is Walt Disney Corporation. Disney is a Entertainment stock. They bring quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. I’ve been watching Disney since I was a little girl. They have some of my favorite cartoons and TV shows. It would be great to invest in a company that I love. I think Disney is going to make a great amount of money with the Star Wars series and all the other movies that they will be releasing at the end of this year and next year.

Disney Stock Price. 2016. Via Google.

The second company I picked is Apple. Apple is an innovative stock. Apple has historically been a growth stock meaning it was constantly on the rise. Apple hit its all time high at 134.54 in May of 2015. It is now a safe assumption to say Apple is a value stock. I picked Apple because their price number has been stable. They’re changing the world with brilliant ideas. I think both companies can continue to grow and come up with even better ideas and projects to give to the world.

Apple Stock Price. 2016. Via Google.

My first year, I will invest in Disney 50% and Apple 50%. The ROI for Disney is 12.5%, and Apple’s ROI is 24%. My ROI for investing in both companies for the first year is 18.25% Working towards my 1 year goal, I will invest $4, 228. 

Created by JV Pie Chart, 2016. 

For my 5 year plan, I want to invest in Disney 75% and 25% for Apple. My ROI would be 15.375% The 5 year in investing I will spend $14,676. 

Created by JV Pie Chart, 2016. 

For my 25 year goal I will invest the same proportions as I did in my five year goal. 75% for Disney, 25% for Apple. The amount I invested would be $26,753.87. If my plans play out right, all my money will get compounded. I will end up with $955,380.689 in return. That is a great amount of money! Both companies I picked are investment vehicles. They bring in huge amounts of money and, lucky for me, I think I choose the right companies. My money will be compounding over the years that’s why I will end up with a little under a million dollars. The amount seed money I was given, turned into a huge of amount of money and that shows what investing can do. 

Created by JV Pie Chart, 2016. 

 I know my plan sounds a little risky, but according to the Rutgers University’s Risk Tolerance Quiz, I have average/moderate tolerance risk. I’m willing to take these chances. 

Created by JV, 2016. 

Overall I enjoyed doing this project, and seeing how much money I would make in investments. I think my plan worked out really well!

Citations:

"Walt Disney." csimarket.com. N.P. N.D. Web. 27 Oct, 2016.

"Apple."csimarket.com.N.P. N.D. Web. 27 Oct, 2016.

"Investment Risk Tolerance Quiz."njaes.rutgers.edu. Grable, J. E., & Lytton, R. H. 1999. Web. 14 Oct, 2016. 

The New Damen Silos

The third unit in Urban Planning was called Flow, the title of this unit is really about everything we learned throughout this term. We learned about different cities, their history, and where they came from. We also dived deeper into urban planning and learned about how we can change a city to make it better. The last Action Project asked us to pick a city and use everything we have learned about urban planning to improve a space that we have chosen. What I struggled with was building my 3D model. It was a challenge but I pushed myself to get it done. What I’m proud of is how my project came together. I think my idea is cool, I really liked working on this project, even though it was really stressful at times. I enjoyed taking this course, I learned a lot about my city, and about Urban Planning.

3D Model of Redesigned Damen Silos Created by JV, 2016*

Chinatown is an area in Chicago that shows the culture of Chinese people. The area has many shops and restaurants that are Chinese. This area is very touristy, has venues that host many concerts, has pretty good transportation, many buses in this area, two redline stops, the highway, and the river is nearby. I would say this area in Chicago makes a good amount of money, but where is it all going? The strengths this area are the culture, and the architectural design is very nice. The shops and restaurants in Chinatown are another big strength, whereas some weaknesses are segregation, and it has lots of abandoned buildings that could be used for something useful. Lots of factories are around that area, not many parks are nearby, and the area has a lot of pollution. The space needs more parks, it also needs something new and exciting that really stands out but also incorporates Chinese culture.

2D model Before Created JV, 2016*

The High Line Park in New York City inspired me, because they transformed an area that contained industrial and toxic waste, infrastructure no longer in use, into an elevated park that has lots of greenery. Gas Works Park in Seattle Washington is another project that inspired me and was built on the location of a former coal gasification plant in 1965. The abandoned plant was converted into a picnic shelter complete with tables and fire grills, while a former exhauster-compressor building was turned into an open-air play barn that houses a maze. This inspired me to change the Damen Silos into an indoor park. The changes that I will make to the Damen silos will really improve the Chinatown area. I will leave the original structure of the building, but I will repaint it, adding more colors, like red, gold, and bronze, to bring life to the building. There is so much graffiti all over the Damen Silos but I will leave some of it to represent Chicago street art. There are underground tunnels in the building, and these will become an underground slide park. I will add some Chinese art designs into the building so that way the indoor park mixes into the culture of Chinatown. I will also add a huge stage almost like a theater on the first floor so that way concerts can be held there, bringing in money for the area and city.

2D model After Created by JV, 2016.

I calculated the area of two rectangular prisms put together, and a cylinder. The height of a silo which is the cylinder is 87 ft. The base of the triangle the main building is 693 ft and the height is 722 ft. The equation for the area of the whole space was ½ x 693 x 722= 250,173 ft^2. The equation for the volume of a cylinder is 𝝿 x radius2 x height which was 3.14 X 10^2 x 87= 27,331.85 cubic ft. Since its diameter is 20, its radius would be 10. To find the volume of an irregularly shaped building, I multiplied the length, width and height of the rectangular prisms which was 28 x 28 x 25=19,600 and 75 x 50 x 25= 93, 750. Then I added both measurements and got 113,350 cubic ft. Over all I did enjoy working on this project, it was really stressful and I feel like the timing was a bit rushed. What I would do differently is really take my time with the prep work, so that way towards the end of the project everything would go much smoother.

                                             3D Model of Redesigned Damen Silos Created by JV, 2016*

 

The White Lighting

In the second unit of Design and Engineering we learned about wheels, and we investigated the bicycle to better understand the evolution of transportation. For the last Action Project we were paired up with a teammate and had a scenario to build a scale model of our own innovative bike. Our client’s name is Peter, he lives in Hyde Park and is traveling on the Lakefront trail. Peter wants a bike that goes fast, but can help support his heavy backpack which tires out his legs. We made a bike that fits Peter's needs, called the White Lighting. What I enjoyed about this Action Project is creating the bike and making the model. What I struggled with was finding a name for our bike. Overall I enjoyed the Design and Engineering class, I learned a lot and will apply what I learned about designing in my life.

Created By JV & RD Bike 2015.

Our persona's name is Peter: he is 18 years old, lives in Hyde Park, and needs to get to school which is 11.5 miles away via the Lakefront trail. He wants a fast bike that will get him to school quickly. He likes to wear his backpack when he rides, which means he has to carry his heavy textbooks with him. This means his legs get tired quickly on the long ride to school, his arms get tired when they are in the same position for too long, and he has back issues. I interviewed my best friend to get some good feedback on what she thinks is best to have on a bike. She said “I like a lightweight bike so that way I can go fast.” This feedback helped me because Peter also wants a lightweight bike, so I decided to use carbon because it’s a light material to create a good frame.

The bike that we designed for Peter is The White Lighting bike; it has an ID touch handle bar, which identifies the owner of the bike, and the wheels have LED lights that turn on and off depending on how bright the sun is. The bike has handlebars that you can put your hands in and are also heatable. The seat has a back to it which provides the rider with more comfort and the seat is also heatable. The bike has a GPS which allows the wheels to move by themselves if the rider gets too tired. The GPS is water proof and solar powered, which means riding the bike more is better because they GPS will be powered.  It also has an adjustable speed, and the ID handle bar has a light that can be used for the night so that way the rider can have a better and clearer view. The bike has an adjustable basket in the back just in case the rider needs more storage space. The wheels are mountain bike wheels which would help with the snow and rain. Like I said before the bike is made of carbon which is a very lightweight material and the seat is made of nylon which will last longer during the winter and rain. The benefits of riding our bike is that you can go fast, you can change the speed on the GPS, it has cool LED lights, and it will provide you more support for your body with the chair seat. This bike is perfect for Peter because he does have to ride a long distance to get to school. The reason to believe is because my partner and I travel a long way to school, so we know the stress of carrying a heavy backpack and how tired you get.

Created By JV & RD Bike Model, 2015.

Since it takes Peter 11.5 miles to get to school that is 59 minutes. To find his average speed I had to divide 50 mins by 11.5 miles and that equals 5.13 meters per second and in miles per hour it would be 11.69. The wheel’s diameter is 26 inches, the circumference is 81.6. I got that number by multiplying 26 by 3.14. The number of times the bike wheel rotates is 60720 ft divided by 6.8 which equals 8929.4 rotations. Our model’s wheel is 2.36 inches tall, and the real bike’s wheel is 26 inches tall, so our scale is 26/2.36 or about 11:1. Peter is looking for a faster bike because he has to travel a large distance. He would want a big cog in front and a small in back so that he can go faster. The chainring in front will have 53 teeth, and the cog in the back will have 13 teeth, which gives you a gear ratio of 13/53 or .245. Our bike will demonstrate Kinetic Energy when Peter is riding down a hill because the bike is in motion, and Potential Energy when Peter is on top of the hill because the bike isn’t moving.


Citations:
Cardona, Nicolle, personal interview with biker. 11, October 2015.

Tiller Kicks

The title of this course is called Designing and Engineering, which is a STEAM course that focuses on building things well. The course teaches us the history of design and how it changed so much over time, and benefited us in many ways. The purpose of this action project is to redesign a tool with a classmate that can benefit the elderly. Our users would be senior citizens; they are unique customers because they are older and need special equipment in order to work. Some have back injuries, some have knee problems etc. We learned about Empathy, which means to understand and connect to a customer's needs. It relates to this project because my partner and I had to think about what the elderly need in order to complete a task in a garden. What I enjoyed about this action project was redesigning the tool, and making a new one. What I found challenging was coming up with new ideas. What I am most proud of is the product my partner and I made.

Created by JV & DR Storyboard, 2015*

This is our story board about where, how, and why our customers will use our product. I learned that many things can go wrong when gardening, hands are better than tools, and take your time when you are working in a garden. Lightweight tools are easier to move around. Bad tools are heavy, electric, and wooden. For the external investigation I interviewed my mom who is a gardener and she told me, “I like using a tool that has a gel grip on it, because it makes the tool more comfortable to use.” Going off my mom’s quote I knew that I had to add gel in my project. For our field experience we went to Home Depot and decided to recreate a Tiller, which is a tool used to turn soil making it fresh and more alive. I learned that all versions of Tillers have feet/legs and are all used to work with dirt, and mix it up. Tillers all have handles and tines. They also all have safety pins to protect the sharp parts.

Created by JV & DR Model, 2015*

The new tool my partner and I designed is a shoe, the name is Tiller Kicks. It’s shaped to fit one foot of your choice, has toe slips so your feet fit in more comfortably and gel is inserted by the toe area. The kicks also have Croc material inside which is gel/foam-like to make the shoe even more comfortable. The outside material is made of Nappa material which is a full-grain un-split leather made from kid lamb, or sheep skin and is very protective; and will protect the customer's foot. The tines on the bottom spin on their own when you push down. Much like a pen that clicks, it uses force and a wedge because it digs into the ground and separates the material in order to work. The unique shoe isn’t too heavy so it will be the right amount to help an elderly get more leg strength. It also benefits people with arthritis because their toes would be separated and fit better without hurting. 

Created by JV, Vectors/Forces, 2015*

The obstacles my partner and I went through was if our design should have batteries or be able to have the same design as a clicking pen, like when you click down it moves and when you don’t click down it’s back in its place. We also looked into if our tool should be for both feet or for just one. My partner and I just talked it over and we both agreed on a clicking shoe, and for it just to be used for one foot because it will be easier to keep balance and also more lightweight.

We think our new tool is better because it’s more useful and it benefits the elderly more, especially if they have knee problems or arthritis. The Tiller Kicks will help them improve their leg strength and also get good exercise out of it.

Citations:
Vargas, Lucy, personal interview with gardener.19, September 2015.

No more Tonsils or Adenoids?

The title of the course is Cure, the course is divided into 3 units, each one representing a revolution in the history of western medicine: emergency, treatment and prevention. The first Unit was called "Emergency" which we learned about surgery as a primal method of healing in western medicine. Surgery lead us to an understanding of the different anatomic systems, organs and tissues. The purpose of our first Action Project was is to map a chosen surgery, by presenting the type of cells affected by the procedure and explaining the process of healing that takes place. The surgery that I picked was Tonsillectomy, the reasoning I chose this surgery was because I had this producer done on me when I was younger. I had both my Tonsils and Adenoids taken out. I wanted to learn more about the surgery, and how it was done. My experience wasn't that bad, I healed in 3 weeks, the pain was mild I was on a liquid diet and the only bad thing was I couldn't eat like a normal 8 year old. I really enjoyed this project, I learned a lot and I like how my prezi came together. 

https://prezi.com/q6v8dzb7ok06/edit/#25_30863873

No more Caffeine!

My Steam course is called Disease, and focus on how the body works and how it also creates diseases and sickness in your body. In the first unit called Body, we learned about cancer, how how different diseases can manifest themselves in your body. For our first action project we were asked to pick a disease, create a patient profile for the person that we chose to interview. I picked STV which a heart disease, the reasoning I picked this disease was because my mom has it. I didn't know a lot about it, and it was really easy for me to interview her. What I enjoyed the most about this action project was drawing the profile to show the disease and were it affects the body. 

Created by JV 2015*

Lucy was at work when she felt tightness in her chest and pain on her left shoulder, she started getting really hot and started sweating. She felt like she was going to faint than all of a sudden her heart started beating so fast and felt little shocks were hitting her heart. She sat down by the nurses station, they took her blood pressure and it was really high. Her boss then took her to the hospital. The doctors didn't really know what was wrong with Lucy, they ran tests and said she just had a mini heart attack. She was than released from the hospital, but when she got home she drank a cup of coffee and ate a piece of dark chocolate, and just in a few minutes she had another attack but this time it was even worse than the first. She went back to the hospital and was diagnosed with SVT. She knew that this heart diseased was passed down in her family but didn't know she had it. She never felt symptoms until she had her first attack. She grew up her whole life not knowing she had this disease, so why would it show up now? Lucy was under a lot of stress, she works in a nursing home with 12 hour a shift. That can put a lot of stress on your body, she also consumed lots of caffeine she drank 8 cups of coffee a day. That is a lot of caffeine that the body can't handle especially the heart. This disease also makes your blood really thick, since the heart has an irregular heart beat, there is a lot of blood being pump into the body. To thin Lucy's blood she has to take aspirin, and Cartia to slow her heart rate. After being diagnosed with SVT Lucy had to change her diet, she could no longer consume anything that has caffeine in it. Lucy started having the more attacks, her heart rate would go up to 230 beats a minute. "Having attacks feels horrible, you don't know when it can happen."

 Supraventricular tachycardia was passed down genetically from Lucy's father side of the family. This can be a risk because Lucy's children can carry down the disease and pass it down. The disease mostly occurs in Women, and Lucy has 3 daughters. When Lucy is having an attack she experiences electrical impulses starting from the Sino-atrial node. Than travels to the Atrio ventricular node causing shock waves to the heart. SVT  can happen all over the world because its genetically passed down.

Overload on Babies?

In the last unit in the Population class, which is called If/Then. In this unit we talked about the population and tried to predict what the human population would be in 2050. We did this by using a method in math called the geometric and arithmetic sequence. For the last action project we were ask to come up with a topic and write a script about the human population going up so quickly. The discussion had to have 2 viewpoints that had strong evidence. For the math part to fit in we used the geometric method to figure out what the human population would in in 2050. What I found most challenging about this action project was the math part, but when we went over it as a class I understood it much better. What I enjoyed the most about this project was doing the research and how my project came together. 

Right now the human population is at 7,125,000,000, by 2050 my class predicted that it could reach up to 10,715,465,520. We got this answer by using geometric method our work is show below. 

Created by JV Geometric Sequence 2014*

Human population is too over crowded in certain areas in the world. All around the world many babies are born to young teen parents, this is causing our population to go up. 

Below is a discussion between too young teens that have noticed how much teen pregnancy has gone up over the years. They are talking about ways that this can be prevented so that way our population doesn't go over 7 billion. 

Dustin: Hey Haley, is it just me or have you seen like 10 girls pass by that have a baby bump?

Haley: I was thinking the same thing! But just didn't want to mention it. 

Dustin: Do you think they are in some kind of competition or something because there are so many girls at this school that are pregnant?! 

Haley: I have no idea, but I hope that is not the case! You know I was watching the news and I heard that there are 72% births per 1,000 adolescent females. The U.S teen birth rate is higher than any other developing countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom. (1)

Dustin: That is insane! Knowing that our population rate worldwide is growing so quickly, too many teen girls are having babies! 

Haley: Right now our world population is at seven billion, but if we stay at our current rate of growth we can reach up to 10 billion by 2050! 

Dustin: So the 72% of birth rates are in the United States alone?

Haley: Yes, I know its a high percent. The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world. 

Dustin: But do you honestly think that these young teens that are having babies and increasing our population affecting our planet? I mean I don’t think having too many humans well harm us. The more people we have on our planet the better because we would have more resources!

Haley: That is true, but have you thought about our planet and how its handling all of us? We should run out of food, and water. Plus women and young teen girls in developing countries that have high fertility rate will suffer the most. (2)

Dustin: So teens having babies at a high rate the will cause commensalism because its benefiting our population, but hurting the planet’s population. But since that population is growing, it will than turn into competition because than we will be fighting for food, and other resources in order to survive.

Haley: Exactly! And this can hurt the U.S because we have such a large population rate for teen pregnancy compared to Canada, which has 27.9% per 1,000 adolescent females. (3)

Dustin: So what can help this rate go down?

Haley: Schools can have more well educated classes, to inform teens on how to prevent pregnancy!

Dustin: Oh yeah this school definitely needs that class!

Citations:

(3) "Seven Ways Seven Billion People Affect The Planet."newsecuritybeat.org. Geoff Dabelko. Web. 2011. Oct 27, 2014. 

(1) "Trend in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing." hhs.gov/ash/oah. Evenlyn Mkappeler. Web. 2010. Oct 22, 2014. 

(2) "Why Teen Pregnancy Is One The Rise." theglobeandmail.com. Zosia Bielski. Web 2013. Oct 27, 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!

Beautiful Organic Garden

In the STEM course Food, we are studying plant ecology and looking at the importance of different plant nutrients. I watched a TED talk by Ron Finley where he discussed planting gardens in South Central Los Angeles because it was a food desert. Therefore he started planting gardens on sidewalks, his back yard and so on. That inspired me to come up with a garden so I can start planting. I would love to plant gardens all around Chicago if I had the chance and encourage other teams to do so too. It will totally benefit communities and the city not only beautifying it, but there will be organic food to eat.

My garden is going to be a raised-bed so that way it is easy to move and assemble, and I won’t disturb the ground. My garden’s dimensions are 48 inches in length, 48 inches in width, and 12 inches in height. I choose to size my garden this way so I can plant 10 different vegetables and fruits. On the side of the bed will be a water hose so that way every hour the plants will get watered. The raised-bed will be placed in my backyard because it gets the most sunlight and it will be accessible for my family and neighbors as well. My backyard is a good environment for gardening. There is a lot of animals and life. The soil that I collected had a l0t of life as well. There were bugs in the soil, the dirt was really soft and clay like. It was thick and the color was really dark. My dirt is really moist and I think that is because of the winter we had where it snowed so much and I think the soil still has a lot of moisture left over. In class I learned that plants need 16 nutrients to grow and survive. The 3 most important elements are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. I wanted to be sure that my soil was healthy so I did a soil test, testing the existing soil for those 3 elements and the pH.

Soil testing allows me to find out the makeup of the soil, and helps me determine the type and the amount of fertilizer needed for a good crop. From my soil test, I learned that my soil has a pH of 6.75 an adequate amount of phosphorus, between adequate and sufficient amount of potassium, and a deficient amount of nitrogen. A nitrogen deficiency stunts growth and causes yellow leave. Knowing this, I realized that I needed to buy 1.25 pounds of blood meal, and I needed 2.08 pounds of soft rock phosphate to increase the phosphorous levels.

 I will be planting garlic, squash, corn, soybeans, basil, tomatoes, cucumber, spinach beetroot, and strawberries. When I was choosing the plants that I wanted to grow, I wanted plants that helped each other, a mutual relationship. Garlic benefits cucumbers because it prevents bugs from eating cucumbers. Cucumbers are great to plant with corn and beans. The three plants like the same conditions: warmth, rich soil, and plenty of moisture. Corn is great to be planted with beans and squash. The corn provides a natural trellis for beans and squash to protect them and give them moisture. Basil can be planted with tomatoes to improve flavor and growth. Basil gets rid of flies and mosquitoes. Spinach gets along with strawberries because they give each other nutrients. Beets are good for adding minerals to the soil, and strawberries are also good to be planted with beans. I am adding soybeans because it is a nitrogen-fixer and it improves the conditions of the crop such as amino acids and protein. All of these plants have a soil preference pH between 5.5 and 7. This is how my garden will look like.

Created by JV "Beautiful Organic Garden" 2014*

In conclusion I think my garden will be a great success. The garden will be full of delicious organic and healthy vegetables. I learned so much from this one unit about soil and plants. I always thought that dirt did not matter and planting was so easy. However, they are both hard to take care of and very important to the Earth. I think if everybody learned more about dirt they will see the big picture and realize it will help our Earth.