Monday, June 6, 2022

A Visual Artist’s Survival Guide

Hello, and welcome to my blog. This post reflects my last action project at GCE for my Humanities core class, “Endurance”. For the end of this class, we have been studying what endurance is and breaking down what each of us seniors will have to endure after graduating from GCE. For this action project, we were assigned to create a "survival guide" for ourselves and for anyone who would be interested in taking a similar career path in life. My survival guide is about making a successful and profitable career as a visual artist and how to use resources around you to benefit yourself. My survival guide is down below for all to view. I can't believe this is my final action project as a GCE student but the journey was worthwhile. Thanks for visiting my blog and enjoy your day.


Works Cited:

“Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio.” School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2015, www.saic.edu/academics/degrees/bachelor-fine-arts-studio. 

“Bachelor of Fine Arts with an Emphasis in Art Education.” School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2021, www.saic.edu/academics/departments/art-education/bachelor-fine-arts-emphasis-art-education. 

“Marwen | College & Career.” Marwen, 2018, www.marwen.org/college-and-career-support.

Friday, June 3, 2022

More Calculus

 Hello, and welcome to my last action project for my workshop, "Introduction to Calculus". In this class, we learned the basics of calculus by reviewing slope formulas from Algebra. Calculus is a branch of mathematics that deals with operations on functions and their derivatives. We recently learned and practiced derivatives and antiderivatives. Derivatives or prime is another function that can be used to find the slope at any point. For this action project, we were instructed to use a nonlinear function incorporating our two random numbers, evaluate our functions, find the derivative and antiderivative (integral), and use the antiderivative to estimate the area underneath a section of the nonlinear function. I hope you enjoy my calculus equations down below!

I chose -6x + x^{6} (x to the 6th power) as my nonlinear function to incorporate the random numbers I was assigned.  




 Here is my process of finding the indefinite integral (aka “antiderivative”) of the function. Here you can see how I differentiated my integral to double-check my work and see if I got my initial function. Finally, I calculated and visualized the area underneath your function using the definite integral.
 

Lastly, I estimated the area underneath a section of it using a Left Riemann sum with function notation. Overall, this process was pretty complex but got simpler step by step. I enjoyed this action project and this calculus workshop. Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great day!


Space Poster :)

Hello, and welcome to my last action project at GCE for my S.T.E.A.M core class, "Frontiers". In this unit, we reviewed different styles of presenting and condensing research papers into poster presentations similar to a science fair format. For this action project, I was challenged to create a poster that I will use to make my previous research paper on the further advancements in space technology and instruments more attractive to read and understand. Below is my poster with a link and QR code to my most recent research paper. It's been a long journey finishing this senior year and I'm excited to be moving on to a new adventure. I hope you enjoy the poster and research paper!

N.L. "Space Instruments and Technology Poster" 2022


You can find my research paper here: 

Works Cited:

Hall, Shannon. “Venus Is Earth’s Evil Twin — and Space Agencies Can No Longer Resist Its Pull.” Nature, vol. 570, no. 7759, June 2019, pp. 20–25, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01730-5. 

mars.nasa.gov. “Mars Exploration Rover Instrument Diagrams – NASA Mars Exploration.” NASA Mars Exploration, 2017, mars.nasa.gov/resources/mars-exploration-rover-instrument-diagrams/.

“Why We Explore.” NASA, 2013, www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/why_we_explore_main.html#.YpoaLXbYrrc.


Thursday, June 2, 2022

Better Technology For Further Space Exploration

 Hello, and welcome to my first action project for the second unit, "Space" of my S.T.E.A.M core class, "Frontiers". In this unit, we learned about the history of humanity's understanding of space, how people in ancient times looked to the stars to guide them with directions and record events, and the history of space exploration. We also read Astrophysics For People In A Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson which helped us understand the many variables and components within space. For our field experiences, we meet with An Li over zoom. She presented us with her research from her observation program with NASA in 2020. She was a part of a group that studied the Mars rover "Perseverance" and focused specifically on the X-ray spectrometer of the rover called "PIXL". From this field experience, I was able to further research instruments and technology used for space observation and exploration. For this action project, I was challenged to write a research paper based on a grand challenge to space exploration and to describe the future of space exploration according to modern research. I choose to focus on how advancements in technology can result in more accurate and higher resolution of data collection and observation in space. During the process of drafting and finalizing this research paper, I felt that this project was important to learn about space even though the majority of humanity won't physically reach space anytime soon. I hope you enjoy my project below and thank you for visiting my blog!

Better Technology For Further Space Exploration

How can further advancements in technology contribute to a more accurate and higher resolution of data collection and observation in space? 

Space exploration has become a more common and eye-catching topic throughout the 21st century. Though most of humanity won’t reach space within the next few years or decades even, we invest billions and trillions of dollars into space exploration. I often ask myself “Why is it important to explore space? “Why do we invest so much money towards space exploration if we won’t be able to physically go there yet?” Throughout my research, I found the answers I was looking for and I hope this paper helps you understand the importance of space exploration. According to Nasa, “Human space exploration helps to address fundamental questions about our place in the Universe and the history of our solar system. Through addressing the challenges related to human space exploration we expand technology, create new industries, and help to foster a peaceful connection with other nations.” 

Humanity started studying space in ancient times. From using the stars as directions and guides to documenting an idealogy of perceiving the stars as higher beings to humanity. According to Northern Arizona University, “The ancient Babylonians viewed the Universe as a flat disk of land surrounded by water. They were the first people to keep detailed records of the paths of planets. Like most ancient people, Babylonians believed that studying planetary movements could help them predict the future.” Before recent advancements in technology,  human space exploration was limited to the instruments and tools such as telescopes to see the stars and our imaginations to dream of what could exist beyond the stars in the sky. Human space exploration started in the 1950s when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. The “Space Race” was a competition between two Cold War adversaries, the Soviet Union and the United States, to achieve superior spaceflight capability from 1955 to 1975. NASA was founded and opened for business on Oct. 1, 1958, following the launch of the Sputnik satellite.  Since then technology has been ever-growing and evolving to solve problems on a micro to macro scale. “NASA’s first six decades of discovery have benefited our lives in many ways. Numerous tools and technologies for solving seemingly impossible challenges in the harsh and unforgiving environment of space have been adapted for Earth-bound use. NASA makes sure that these alternative applications, or spinoffs, are made available to the public. The benefits are making an impact worldwide in better health and medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer products, computer technology, environmental and agricultural resources, and industrial activity.” 

Some of the most notable and most known space technologies are the international space station, space and land rovers, telescopes, satellites, and spacesuits.  “Spirit and Opportunity are the two successful Mars rovers that helped us with many discoveries on Mars and were advanced enough to be controlled from the Earth. They each landed on almost opposite sides of Mars. Their purpose was to conduct field geology and make atmospheric observations. They ended up providing the US with the first, color and clear images of Mars’ surface, as well as discovering the intermittent flow of water on Mars in 2015. Both of the rovers exceeded their 90-day expected lifetime by several years making them one of NASA’s most successful inventions.” The Kepler space telescope was low-cost and was only expected to last three to four years but ended up lasting almost ten years. It was built to find planets outside our solar system that are similar to Earth. “The Hubble space telescope was introduced in 1990 and resided 569 km above the Earth’s surface. It’s responsible for explaining most mysteries of space. Its technology avoided atmospheric distortion, which allowed it to bring thousands of jaw-dropping images back to Earth. It has helped explain many of the greatest space mysteries such as determining the age of the universe, showing us the existence of dark energy, discovering planets, quasars, and 6much more. The antennae on the telescope send and receive information to the Goddard Space Flight Centre. Using satellites, the engineers are able to communicate with it by sending commands.”

With the 21st century’s progress in space exploration and space technology, the talk of colonization of Mars and space has come up in conversation and conceptualization. Ever since we found traces of water on Mars back in 2015, the idea of living on Mars has erupted into countless ventures of technology and experimentation of what it would be like for humans to possibly inhabit Mars. Private and public space exploration companies are now figuring out how to travel to Mars and how laws and regulations about space exploration and colonization should be constituted. I believe that space exploration is important to a degree but I don’t agree with trying to colonize an area or entire planet just for the sake of it because who knows what other life existence can be out there. One very popular spacecraft engineering company is “SpaceX”. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk who is also the owner and founder of Tesla Motors, an electric automotive and clean energy company. SpaceX specializes in spacecraft manufacturing, providing space launches, and satellite communications. SpaceX was founded with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX’s mission is, “You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great - and that’s what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.” -Elon Musk As exciting as the study of and imaginable possibilities are, space exploration is a tremendously lucrative market and field. 

Here’s a chart reflecting the water mysteries of different planets: 

Comparison of Water on Different Planets

Space exploration and observation have cost more than trillions of dollars since we started in 1958. “NASA's budget in the fiscal year 2020 was $22.629 billion which represents 0.48% of all U.S. government spending. This is a 5.3% increase from the previous fiscal year.” The International Space Station is the largest and most expensive technology that has ever been built. It weighs almost a million pounds and costs an estimated $160 billion to date. A spacesuit weighs over 300 lbs and costs $22 million to create. They’re very technologically advanced and allow us to exist in extreme temperatures and conditions that humans would normally not be able to survive in for more than a couple of seconds. While space exploration and technology are very expensive, there are companies, engineers, and scientists that are working on more inexpensive technologies that will continue to further advance space technology. According to NASA, “By utilizing smaller craft – those that could fit inside the trunk of your car versus being the size of your car – the agency opens more opportunities to conduct ambitious deep space missions at a fraction of the cost.” Advancements in technology such as small spacecraft electric propulsion and 3D printed mechanical parts for things such as rocket engines are steps closer to keeping costs for space travel less expensive and more efficient. “For decades, innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have been developing large, high-power electric propulsion (EP) systems that harness the power of the Sun to energize inert gases and turn them into extremely efficient thrust. Higher fuel efficiency means less propellant is needed, lowering launch costs while allowing spacecraft designers to reduce overall spacecraft weight to carry more payload mass, like technology demonstrations or more powerful scientific instruments.” Recent advancement in technology is the introduction of 3D printing in engineering. “Future lunar landers might come equipped with 3D printed rocket engine parts that help bring down overall manufacturing costs and reduce production time. NASA is investing in advanced manufacturing – one of five industries of the future – to make it possible.”

In conclusion, space is an awesome place to learn about and hopefully a place we’ll be able to visit and interact with in future generations. I was able to answer my research question through my research. Further advancements in technology will in fact contribute to a more accurate and higher resolution of data collection and observation in space by creating opportunities for further human space exploration and space tools and instruments such as drones and other robotic technologies to study space and planets at first-hand experience.

Works Cited:

 “Early Astronomy.” Nau.edu, 2022, www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio301/content/erlast.htm. 

“Extrasolar Object Interceptor and Sample Return.” NASA, 2021, www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2021_Phase_I/Extrasolar_Object_Interceptor_and_Sample_Return/. 

Hall, Shannon. “Venus Is Earth’s Evil Twin — and Space Agencies Can No Longer Resist Its Pull.” Nature, vol. 570, no. 7759, June 2019, pp. 20–25, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01730-5. 

‌“NASA: 60 Years & Counting - Technology.” NASA, 2022, www.nasa.gov/specials/60counting/tech.html. 

“NASA’s FY 2020 Budget.” The Planetary Society, 2020, www.planetary.org/space-policy/nasas-fy-2020-budget. 

Rabie, Passant. “Two Military Satellites Just Communicated with Each Other Using Space Lasers.” Gizmodo, Gizmodo, 19 May 2022, gizmodo.com/military-satellites-communicate-with-space-lasers-1848944526. 

“Small Spacecraft Propulsion Opens New Deep Space Exploration.” NASA, 2022, www.nasa.gov/feature/glenn/2022/small-spacecraft-electric-propulsion-opens-new-deep-space-opportunities. 

“The 5 Most Innovative Advances in Space Technology.” FDM Group, 17 Apr. 2019, www.fdmgroup.com/the-5-most-innovative-advances-in-space-technology/. 

“The History of Space Exploration | National Geographic Society.” Nationalgeographic.org, 2022, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/history-space-exploration. 

“3D Printed Rocket Parts and the Future of Spacecraft.” NASA, 2020, www.nasa.gov/image-feature/3d-printed-rocket-parts-and-the-future-of-spacecraft. 

‌“Why We Explore.” NASA, 2013, www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/why_we_explore_main.html#.YpoaLXbYrrc. ‌

Environmental and Ecological Engineerings' Impact on Land & Water

Hello, and welcome to my first action project for the first unit, "Oceans" of my S.T.E.A.M core class, "Frontiers". In this unit, we learned about the animal and plant ecosystems and foodwebs underwater, the layers of the ocean and Earth, and the ways the ocean has been discovered and destroyed over time since the 1900s. We watched a movie called "Becoming Cousteau", which was about a French explorer and sailor. He ended up helping oil companies unintentionally pollute the oceans due to the discovery of fossil fuels and crude oils underwater. For our field experiences, we visited Phil at Urban Rivers to explore ways he and his organization are playing a role in maintaining the health of underwater ecosystems through ecological engineering through floating docks and plant islands to stretch a mile on the Chicago River. From this field experience, I was able to further research different threats to bodies of water and different ways of restoration of water ecosystems. For this action project, I was challenged to write a research paper based on a challenge that the ocean faces. I choose to focus on physical and chemical pollution impact the ocean and how can environmental and ecological engineering can help solve the issue. During the process of drafting and finalizing this research paper, I felt that this project was very important to approach because the planet Earth we call home is dying and we need to step up very soon before this planet becomes even more uninhabitable. I hope you enjoy my project below and thank you for visiting my blog!

Environmental and Ecological Engineerings' Impact on Land & Water

How can environmental engineering be implemented into water ecosystems to help clean and filter dead zones as well as reduce the amount of physical and chemical pollution in our bodies of water globally?

Most people on Earth don’t realize how valuable and detrimental the health of the oceans and land on Earth is to our daily survival and health.  The ocean itself produces between 50-80% of the oxygen on Earth. “The world’s oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth containing 97% of the Earth’s water. They currently absorb about a third of the carbon dioxide that is produced by human activities such as air pollution from burning fossil fuels and chemical pollution from fertilizers and pesticides from farming. Carbon dioxide from human activity gets released into the atmosphere, dissolves into oceans, and creates carbonic acid also known as “ocean acidification”. Ocean acidification causes disastrous effects on underwater life and their ecosystems. As ocean acidification continues to worsen, dead zones start to be created in the ocean begin to rise in temperature and areas become uninhabitable for any living organism underwater. We call these areas, “dead zones”. Another major problem associated with pollution is physical waste pollution in our oceans. “There are increasingly high levels of man-made pollution in many of the world’s seas and little actually disappears. By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans.” - Future Agenda

So, what exactly are dead zones you ask? According to Sarah Preheim at John Hopkins University, “Dead zones are caused primarily by excess nutrients that run off the land from fertilizers or wastewater overflow. The nutrients trigger blooms of algae that spread across the water's surface before sinking and decomposing in the water. As hungry microbes feast on the organic matter, they consume oxygen, resulting in less oxygen in the water.” Bodies of water are made up of layers determined by temperature. Dead zones can exist in all bodies of water no matter the layer of the ocean which means underwater life is on the brink of extinction if we continue to pollute our oceans and land. 

Physical pollution has been getting worse than ever in human history. From oil spills in the ocean to offshore island landfills of physical waste such as “unwanted” clothes, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans. Oil spills horrifically impact sea life and disrupt ecosystems. According to the World Economic Forum, “In the immediate aftermath of an oil disaster, the effects on fish, sea birds, and other marine animals are often very visible. Coated in oil, animals can be killed by poisoning or suffocation. Those living close to or on the surface, like sea birds and otters, or those who come to the surface to breathe or feed, like whales, dolphins, and turtles, can be among those most affected.” As far as ecosystems being disrupted, oil affects food sources for sealife by making it less available or of very poor quality so animals that survive the initial environmental hazards may still suffer for long periods of time after an oil spill. “Oil impacts breeding and reproduction, for example contaminating bird or turtle nests on shore, affecting viability, and suffocating unhatched chicks. Females affected by oil may lay eggs with thinner shells, more prone to breaking.”

Here is a visual that represents how potential oil spills will impact the sea turtle’s life cycle. 

This visual relates to my research through oil spills being a form of physical and chemical pollution that directly impacts the ocean and land later on.

Here is a visual of how much plastic is in our oceans as of 2021.

This visual represents the relation of plastic pollution to the oceans. This relates to my research because it provides context to physical pollution equally negatively has been impacting our oceans as much as chemical pollution from events such as oil spills.

What is an ecological and environmental engineering and how can it contribute to helping reduce chemical and physical pollution? First I must give context to the words “environment” and “ecology”. The environment refers to the interaction between the physical, chemical, and biological components. Ecology is the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment. Environmental issues include pollution, deforestation, global warming, and other broader issues. When engineering intersects with the environment and ecology, developments, instruments, and technologies are created with impacts on nature in mind. According to Nature, “Building with maximum efficiency and minimal materials is increasingly urgent in our resource-strapped times. Many of today's structural engineers and designers are looking to natural forms and materials as the tried-and-tested guide. Today's engineering is too full of 'tree-trunk' buildings: underdesigned and over the whole planet. Astonishingly, the materials used in every three buildings designed in this lazy way could make at least four buildings — and with intelligence, even six.” Ocean engineering is a prime example of ecological engineering. According to MIT, “Ocean engineers are discovering new ways to use acoustics to reveal vital facts about the interior ocean and the behavior of undersea life. 

We are also developing floats, robots, tethered devices, and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that can survey the ocean while communicating with one another and with computer models.”  Urban River’s “Wild Mile” is a prime example of environmental engineering. The Wild Mile is the first-ever mile-long floating eco-park in the world. Through reclamation of the North branch canal and turning basin, referred to as “Wild Mile Chicago,” gives the opportunity to create accessible public open space for the community and new plantlife floating islands for wildlife inhabiting Chicago’s river to inhabit. 

Our world is pretty much coming to an end due to the lack of solutions being provided by authorities of countries around the world to combat climate change. Even though a lot of federal governments and state governments aren’t specifically targeting climate change and pollution, many companies and organizations are. Throughout my Frontiers class,  I was able to meet with Phil Nicodemus from Urban Rivers, an organization that focuses to transform city rivers into Urban Wildlife Sanctuaries; and Kevin Kerrigan, a Restoration Ecologist at Lake Forest Open Lands organization. Some things that stuck with me the most from our discussion with Phil are that in urban environments, cities are responsible for most of the carbon sinks in local water sources and the destruction of ecosystems that already existed before the on-shore developments such as condominiums and high-rise buildings, at the end of the day, nature will reinvent itself to grow around and over manmade structures. As Urban Rivers works to build urban wildlife sanctuaries along bodies of water such as lakes and rivers, an innovation of theirs is a robot created to help combat physical waste pollution in the Chicago River. It’s called “Trashbot”. According to Urban Rivers, “First, we tried cleaning it up by hand. Every other day someone would kayak out to the habitat to remove garbage, but that was not enough. Trash appeared at random times and in large quantities. Sometimes we would remove every piece of trash in the morning and by the afternoon more had reappeared. So, we created at Trash Task Force and went to the drawing board – this project could have never gotten to the level of sophistication that it is at today without the hard work of our task force. Our team prototyped a remote-controlled boat that was capable of herding trash to a safe location where it could then be removed. This proved not only effective...but very entertaining.”  In an interview with Kevin Kerrigan, he had reflected on how he had been experimenting over the last 10 years with very “low tech” charcoal logs ( well burnt 3+ foot logs) across drain ways and channels in hopes of capturing all sorts of environmental toxins and pollutants. He has noticed some minor changes such as clearer water and a small increase in plant life around the waterways throughout the marsh.

To conclude my research, ecological and environmental engineering must be implemented into our on and offshore ecosystems in order to help filter dead zones and reduce the physical and chemical pollution in our bodies of water globally or we won’t have an Earth to call home for any much longer. We should not plan on leaving these life-changing issues up to the next generations and youth to be responsible for solving them with little to no support. We should rather approach these issues together regardless of ethnicity, class, gender, and age. I chose this topic to research because I always wanted to learn more about ecosystems on and offshore. My biggest challenge throughout this research has been understanding the differences and similarities between ecological engineering and environmental engineering. After understanding the relationship between ecological and environmental engineering, I was able to identify various examples of both types of engineering taking place in our world. The topic of pollution and climate change is imperative to our lifestyles and health as humans on Earth. We need to continue developing solutions to help the naturally Earth replenish itself and efficiently clean our environments on and offshore to ensure the life and longevity of the human race and the planet Earth.


Works Cited:

Admin. “Important Difference between Environment and Ecology.” BYJUS, BYJU’S, 28 Jan. 2020, byjus.com/biology/difference-between-environment-and-ecology/. 

“Ecologist Sarah Preheim on Dead Zones, Algae Blooms, and Working on the Chesapeake Bay | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 24 June 2021, publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/ecologist-sarah-preheim-on-dead-zones-algae-blooms-and-working-on-the-chesapeake-bay. 

Edmond, Charlotte. “How Do Oil Spills Affect the Environment?” World Economic Forum, 12 Oct. 2021, www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/oil-spill-environment-ocean/#:~:text=The%20effects%20will%20be%20long,malnourished%20or%20poisoned%20over%20time.

McCarthy, Niall. “Infographic: Plastic Items Dominate Ocean Garbage.” Statista Infographics, Statista, 11 June 2021, www.statista.com/chart/25056/waste-items-polluting-oceans/. 

“Plastic Oceans - Future Agenda.” Future Agenda, 18 Mar. 2019, www.futureagenda.org/foresights/plastic-oceans/#:~:text=There%20are%20increasing%20high%20levels,three%20quarters%20of%20the%20Earth. 

Urban. “Urban Rivers.” Urban Rivers, 2014, www.urbanriv.org/trashbot. 

This visual represents the relation of plastic pollution to the oceans. This relates to my research because it provides context to how negatively physical pollution has been impacting our oceans.


Monday, May 9, 2022

Life Passions and Health Balance

Hello, and welcome to my blog. This post reflects my first action project for my Humanities core class, “Endurance”. Throughout this class so far, we have learned about the holocaust and visited the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, IL. We watched a movie called “Schindler's List” which is based on a list of people who were bought to be freed from concentration camps. We also read the book "Night", which was written by a holocaust survivor. The biggest takeaway from our studies of the holocaust was the different things people endured throughout the holocaust. For this action project, we were assigned to brainstorm an activity we endure up to or complete in 12 hours. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Welcome to my Endurance Journey, throughout the video below you will see me either doing some sort of physical activity or making art. The purpose of my endurance project is to balance my endurance between my passions of physical activities such as skateboarding and playing basketball that benefit my physical well-being; and creating artworks through printmaking, drawing, and painting which benefit my emotional and mental well-being. I chose this because the last 2 years of high school have been the toughest on my overall health. I lost two close friends and classmates at the start of my senior year, I was struggling with continuing school because of my family issues outside of school, and I truly struggled to retain the academic material taught to me throughout this pandemic. These are a few major reasons upon more on why I depend so much on my passions as coping mechanisms and therapy from the pain I continue to endure throughout my life. Through these passions themselves, I endure doubt, fear, and struggle to improve my talents physically and artistically.

 




 In conclusion, this endurance project was pretty difficult for me. I have been struggling with managing my time for a while and I will continue to work on balancing my time for making art and exercising consistently. Something that I learned from this journey is that I need to be more kind to myself in order to get through the hard stages of the things I do. I am my worst enemy when it comes to failure and not meeting my own and others' expectations of me. Since I will be attending an art school for college, I'll have time and space to create as much artwork as possible. Now I just need to figure out my schedule for exercising either through gym workouts, basketball, or skateboarding. 

Friday, May 6, 2022

Calculus; (Yes This Was Difficult)

Hello, and welcome to my first action project for the first unit of my workshop, "Introduction to Calculus". In this class, we learned the basics of calculus by reviewing slope formulas from Algebra. The slope is a formula used to find the steepness between two points on a graph. We learned and practiced derivatives and instantaneous slope, which is the slope at a specific x coordinate. Derivatives or prime is another function that can be used to find the slope at any point. To help us with figuring this out we learned the power rule. The power rule is just simpler equations that show us how to distinguish between form expressions. For this action project, we were instructed to use a nonlinear function incorporating our two random numbers, evaluate our functions, find the derivatives, and use the derivative to estimate the instantaneous slope of our function on a graph and its tangent line. I hope you enjoy my calculus equations down below!


In conclusion to this project, I didn't have too much difficulty solving the equations once I understood the rules and formulas used in calculus. I enjoy calculus and math overall when I have a decent understanding of the formulas and rules involved. I wouldn't do anything different with this project since my equations led me back to my exact derivative. I hope that this class will continue to benefit me after high school when it comes to more advanced mathematics. 

Thursday, May 5, 2022

Mi quitapena creativa

This is my third action project for my Spanish class throughout my senior year. In this class, I've grown in mastering the basics of Spanish and further growing in having some conversations in Spanish. The purpose of this action project was to create a quitapena doll. I was instructed to sketch out what I want my quitapena doll to look like, then create it using either yarn, fabric, piper cleaners, tape, glue, or paper. The purpose of this action project is to break down the vocabulary on clothing, colors, and fabric to say what the quitapena doll is wearing and discuss what emotions it can take away. I learned about different materials for clothing, the clothing in Spanish, and reviewed the colors in Spanish as well. I didn’t find anything too challenging with this action project. I enjoyed creating the quitapena doll aside from almost burning myself with the hot glue gun when wrapping pipe cleaners around the body of my doll. I am the proudest that I have created a quitapena doll for myself for the first time. I hope my quitapena doll will inspire you to create one as well! Thank you for visiting my blog!

 

The sorrow doll wears an orange hat, a red sweater, green pants, and blue gloves. His face and body are made from cotton cloth. His clothes are made out of pipe cleaners with a wool texture.
La muñeca del dolor lleva un sombrero anaranjado, un suéter rojo, pantalones verdes y guantes azules. Su cara y cuerpo están hechos de tela de algodón. Su ropa está hecha de limpiapipas con textura de lana.

Hablo a la quintapena. 
I talk to the worry doll.

La quintapena me oye mis miedos. 
The worry doll listens to my fears. 

Escribo mis miedos. 
I write down my worries.

La quintapena aprende sombre mis miedos.
The worry doll learns about my fears.

Yo estuve anisoso y estresado la quitapena quita estas emociones.
I feel anxious and stressed and the worry doll takes away these emotions.

Thursday, April 28, 2022

The Almighty Black P Stone Nation

Hello, and welcome to my first action project for the first unit of my Humanities core class, "Equality". In this class, we learned about race, class, and gender relations in American society today and in the past. We studied several pieces of writings from black and brown writers that all lead back to injustice in America. Racism, classism, and sexism are the main ways people have been discriminated against. For our field experiences, we spoke to an attorney named Allegra Love who helps people that are about to be deported from the United States, and Gregory Banks, a survivor of ex-Chicago police officer Jon Burge’s torture rings. Through talking with fighters and survivors of social and racial injustice, we established a sense of where America stands today.  For this action project, we were instructed to choose a historical event, research deeper into it, and interview someone who was around during the time of the event. Our end goal was making a zine to further discuss and explain the event's relation to injustice whether by race, class, or gender. I chose to attack class and racial injustice and use the black-led gang organization The Almighty Black P Stone Nation as an example of what happens when systems of power continuously neglect the people who built this country. I hope you enjoy the zine!

Overall, I enjoyed diving into the issue of Inequality for a class project. I was able to research and understand why black gangs in Chicago existed and how they even stood up to racial and class injustice. Inequality of resources to my area, which is predominantly black, is an issue I deal with almost every day of my life. I enjoyed getting to talk with my grandma and an elder member of the Almighty Black P Stone Nation to gain insight into what Chicago was like for black people in the 1960s. The most challenging part about this project was trying to decide what information would be most valuable to include in my zine. But as a solution, I did leave links and QR codes to free documentaries for further understanding behind the ABPSN and black-led gangs overall from Chicago. I am pleased with my work and wouldn’t really want this zine to be made any other way.


Friday, March 18, 2022

JUNETEENTH IN 2122!

Hello, and welcome to my blog. This post reflects my second and final action project for the unit of “Hxstory” of my Humanities core class, “Equality”. Throughout this unit, we have explored current race, gender, and class relations in the United States throughout history. We watched a documentary called “Roger and Me”, which was about the GMC company’s impact on Flint, Michigan after closing all of their factories. In the last few weeks of class, we played traditional Monopoly and “Stratified Society” of Monopoly. The stratified society version divided us, players, up by financial class with each class having its own different set of privileges. This version of monopoly allowed us to experience systemic discrimination by financial status. For this action project, we were assigned to predict the future of Equality in video format the way Trevor Noah does his news reporting. My news report captures the historical context and current events in 2122 related to the Juneteenth holiday. Watch my video and read my script down below. Thanks for visiting my blog! 



Script
NL: “Today is June 19, 2122, better known as Juneteenth. "Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States of America and is considered the longest-running Black Indigenous and African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday.  Today in the 22nd century, I’m proud to be an American and proud that our country is reeducating American and world history nationwide through our schools and media more truthfully.

NL: The popular misconception and miseducation throughout the 20th and the early 21st centuries on the “ending” of slavery was that slavery ended because it went against Abraham Lincoln’s faith and morals as a person and he thought it was the right thing to do. In the 2020s, more Americans realized that the abolishment of slavery wasn’t in Lincoln’s intentions at all.” Here's a quote from Lincoln’s famous debate with Stephen to give context to some of Lincoln’s beliefs at the time of slavery leading up to the Civil War: 

Abraham Lincoln: "I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." 

NL: When Abraham Lincoln feared he would lose the Civil War, he freed slaves in the South assuming they could rebel against the southerners who enslaved them. Lincoln also didn’t want equality for especially white and black people at the time either. He believed that there could be only one superior race and it had to be the white race.  

Abraham Lincoln: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it," wrote Lincoln in 1862. "What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union." 

Abraham Lincoln: "I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races... I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people, and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man is in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."

NL: Since the 1850s, history has been white-washed and rewritten so white people’s words would be believed by the future generations of Americans as “right” and fact even if the written documents were lies. The reason for all of this was to preserve the white supremacist beliefs and values of America which consisted of barbaric acts such as the capturing, selling, beating, raping, breeding, and experimentation of enslaved people groups; and genocide upon all people who weren’t white. As well as the discriminative class system of race, gender, and social and financial status. The major effects of slavery lasted from the late 1800s to the 2040s in America. These effects of slavery were systemic and blatant racism, discrimination, racial injustice, disproportionate imprisonment, disproportionate disparities in health, and lack of investment to black and brown communities nationwide. All of these negative experiences of people who aren’t white were created just like the categorization of race. Now with that being said, let’s define race and how it has affected not only our country but the world. Here’s a video from Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary to discuss more of the matter.

Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary: “Race is a concept of society that insists there is a genetic significance behind human variations in skin color that transcends outward appearance. However, race has no scientific merit outside of sociological classifications. There are no significant genetic variations within the human species to justify the division of "races. Mankind is one. We are one humanity. Isn’t it a shame that we are debating that in 2008? But the reason, why we continue to debate it, is we still try to reconcile the ugly stuff that we've never dealt with. We still want to say they deserved it so no one has to feel bad about all of those little babies dying and ignoring the ravages of Africa and killing young black males and urban cities altar in disproportionate imprisonment disproportionate disparities and health, oh it must be their fault how do you reconcile it you see you rather than deal with it we just continue to try to justify the behavior.”

NL: In 2122, we’ve come a long way from the misrepresentation of the mistreatment of black and brown indigenous people. Policies such as the federal act of the “Publication of Slave Trade and Selling Documents” and the “Aboriginal and Indigenous Reparations Act” are proof that our country will invest in the people groups impacted by our nation’s wrongdoings. In 2105, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued the Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. These standards are commonly used for federal data collection purposes, not only in the decennial census, but also in household surveys, on administrative forms (e.g., school registration and mortgage lending applications), and in medical and clinical research.”

NL: The 22nd Century standards contain six minimum categories for the race: American Native or Alaska Native, Asian, Black American or Black Native (specify which indigenous group(s) if possible), Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White or European. There are three categories for ethnicity: "Hispanic or Latino"  or "Not Hispanic or Latino," and the “Specify Indigenous group” option.

NL: In today’s breaking news, we interviewed Zion Randal (17) and Marsha Harris (18). They’ve been friends since kids and have successfully traced their family’s lineage and discovered that they are each other’s cousins.” I asked one of them to walk us through the steps you took in order to trace your family’s lineage and heritage. Here’s what Zion had to say about the matter:

ZR: “I was able to trace my lineage back to the late 1870s and trace my heritage back to the early 1800s through the use of the government portal in accordance with the “Publication of Slave Trade and Selling Documents” and “Aboriginal and Indigenous Reparations Act”. The portal asked for my grandparents’ and great-grandparents' date of birth and from there the portal made a family tree and traced documents from centuries ago. For reparations through the federal government, I  was able to receive 25 acres of land in the US and in West Africa along with a check for $10,000 dollars. My family has been able to reap the benefits we have been owed for hundreds of years. 

NL: June 19, 2122, marks the day that the United States of America has changed for the better and has achieved true equality and equity within indigenous people groups. Moving forward, we want to make this country home again for the descendants of people who existed on this Earth before America was created. That wraps up today’s news broadcast, have a great weekend America!

Conclusion
I enjoyed writing my script for my newscast and choosing a topic that reflects the progression black and brown people have made in this country. I felt challenged when predicting life in our country 100 years from now because I couldn’t think about much good for our country’s future. Overall, I enjoyed this project because I was able to record a news report-themed video for my topic and predict the future I want in America for my people.

Works Cited

“Abraham Lincoln Papers: Series 2. General Correspondence. 1858-1864: Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, Friday, August 22, 1862 (Clipping from Aug. 23, 1862, Daily National Intelligencer, Washington, D.C.).” The Library of Congress, 2015, www.loc.gov/resource/mal.4233400/?st=text&r=-0.272,-0.206,1.612,1.305,0.


Carney, Terrance. “Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary: Post Traumatic Slave Disorder.” YouTube, 12 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGjSday7f_8


NOT-OD-15-089: Racial and Ethnic Categories and Definitions for NIH Diversity Programs and for Other Reporting Purposes.” Nih.gov, 2015, grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not-od-15-089.html.


Nix, Elizabeth. “What Is Juneteenth?” HISTORY, HISTORY, 19 June 2015, www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth.


“US Government Should Pay Reparations to the African-American Descendants of Slaves, UN Committee Says.” The Independent, 30 Jan. 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-government-should-pay-reparations-to-the-africanamerican-descendants-of-slaves-un-committee-says-a6842851.html. (Picture1)





Saturday, March 12, 2022

Kiy's Tech Repair

 Hello, and welcome to my second and final action project for the second unit of my S.T.E.A.M core class, "Social Entrepreneurship". In this unit, we learned about how to plan and start a social enterprise. A social enterprise is a business with specific social objectives that serve its primary purpose. Through this process, we researched the types of legal structures of businesses and the ways they're taxed differently, where they get their funding, and what are goals of a business are. Next, we started to talk about the mission and vision statements of our social enterprises. For our field experiences, we had the opportunities to speak to Felicia Winiecki who is the strategic engagement officer and the head of fundraising at our school, Ian MacKaye who is the owner/ founder of Discord Records, and visited the neighborhood schools program (NSP) at the University of Chicago. All our field experience guests are all entrepreneurs. For this action project, I was assigned to create my own social enterprise. I decided to create a tech repair shop for my social enterprise. I was influenced by the startup story of the company Joe'sGE to start my tech repair shop social enterprise. During the process of drafting and finalizing this social enterprise, I felt that this project was pretty straightforward when coming up with a business idea. When it came to properly creating the structure I felt somewhat overwhelmed. I hope you enjoy my project below and thank you for visiting my blog!

Kiy's Tech Repair (KTR)

How many of you love technology? Everyone, I assume. Now, who loves it when their phone screen cracks or laptop battery needs to be replaced and there aren’t any repair shops in your area? How about when you find a repair shop, the cost of the repair is out of your budget? 

The correct answer is that nobody likes to deal with those inconveniences. Many people can relate to cracking their phone screen and not being able to afford the repair for it. At Kiy’s Tech Repair (KTR) we value the devices you

 love and use so much that we make device repair services as affordable as possible.


In conclusion to my presentation, I hope that I can pursue this business venture while I'm in college next fall.  I enjoyed creating this social enterprise because it would do so much good in the community that I grew up in. I love exploring the possibilities in the tech industry through tinkering and technical engineering.

Works Cited:
First, Kids. “Kids First Chicago.” Kids First Chicago, 2014, kidsfirstchicago.org/digital-equity-coronavirus#digital-equity-explore-data.

Lynch, Matthew. “Why Should We Invest in STEM Education? - the Tech Edvocate.” The Tech Edvocate, 22 Feb. 2017, www.thetechedvocate.org/why-should-we-invest-in-stem education/#:~:text=STEM%20programs%20inspire%20children%2C%20boost,%2C%20engineers%2C%20and%20computer%20programmers.&text=STEM%20affects%20everything%20that%20we%20do%20as%20citizens%20of%20the%20modern%20world..


Friday, March 11, 2022

Tinkering in DigiFab

Hello, and welcome to my blog. This post reflects my time in the "Digital Fabrication" workshop. In this class, we learned about online programs and software like TinkerCad, Easel, Vectr, to create different designs and structures, learn to use a 3D printer, a Carvey machine, Silhouette vinyl cutter, and a laser cutter machine. Wrapping up the winter term, I decided to use TinkerCad to digitally design my personal art character "High-Top", use a Silhouette cameo vinyl cutter to make a QR-code connected to my Instagram account and the Inventables' Easel program design my carve out of a logo for my Social Entrepreneurship class project. Here is a portfolio of my digital design results below. Thank you for visiting!

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

El Apartamento Universitario De Mis Sueños


This is my second action project for my Spanish class throughout my senior year. Recently in this class, I learned how to conjugate verbs and new vocabulary for things that make up a house such as things like appliances and furniture. The purpose of this action project was to design a floor plan for a house. Below you will see my rough and final draft of my college apartment floor plan. The most challenging part of this action project was creating a floor plan in google drawings. I hope you enjoy it.

N.L. El Apartamento Universitario De MisSueños Rough Draft, 2022.


N.L. "El Apartmento Universitario De Mis Sueños Final Draft",2022




Sirvo y como comidas con mis amigos en el comedor.

Estoy haciendo comida en el horno y en la estufa.

Los lavo en el fregadero de la cocina. (los platos)

Limpio el inodoro y el espejo del baño.

Mis amigos y yo jugamos videojuegos en la sala.

Me relajo y pinto en mi sala de estar.

Les juego en el comedor. (mis gatos)

Estoy reparando aparatos electrónicos y escuchando música en el dormitorio.