SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

This is my last action project for my Humanities course and unit on the SDG's, (Sustainable Development Goals). We have been learning about many different sustainable development goals. Some were Zero Hunger, Gender Equality, No Poverty, and Climate Action. For a Field Experience, I got to contact people and organizations and interview them on my chosen SDG.  Throughout the unit, I choose SDG 11 for this final action project of this unit. At the end of the first term, we chose one of the seventeen goals that we wanted to focus on and did an essay on it. I have chosen to do an essay once again for my action project.

Most people in the world can see that racial inequality and segregation in cities and communities is unsustainable. According to the Sustainable Development Goals,“95 percent of the urban expansion in the next decades will take place in developing the world. Sustainability is the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level. Sustainable development is the economic development that is conducted without the reduction of natural resources. A sustainable community is one that is economical, environmentally, and socially healthy and strong. Sustainability and sustainable development are important in cities and communities because without out order and sustainability in cities and communities, there would be chaos in the world.

Sustainable Development Goal 11 is to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, according to the United Nations. Some targets of this goal are to “ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums and to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons”, according to the S.D.Gs. According to the United Nations, “Between 2000 and 2014, the proportion of the global urban population living in slums dropped from 28.4 percent to 22.8 percent.” “However, the actual number of people living in slums increased from 807 million to 883 million.” This data represents how sustainability and sustainable development is important in our cities and communities. This issue affects people who live in lower income areas.

Individuals and countries who have taken action on sustainability and sustainable development are people who are working towards this goal. Countries around the world expand their geographic boundaries to accommodate new inhabitants. From 2000 to 2015, in all regions of the world, the expansion of urban land outpaced the growth of urban populations. One organization that is based in Chicago and has taken action on the issue of unsustainable development by influencing sustainable development. This organization is called the Chicago Network for Technology. This organization uses cargo-oriented development (COD) which helps railroads, freight yards, and industrial sites become greener, more efficient, and better neighbors. They influence environmental and resource sustainability.

Individuals have been starting to take action on this issue of having unsustainable cities and communities. Ways individuals can take action for sustainability in their cities and communities are to reduce natural resource usage, do positive things in your community that make a positive impact like starting community gardens and starting beneficial programs. Something people can do to help achieve this sustainable development goal of having sustainable in cities and communities is to fight for resources and fight for change in their city and community.

Sustainable cities’ and communities’ success depends on the people in it who stand up for healthy community institutions, services, and businesses. They help in achieving this goal.

In conclusion, SDG 11 is important and it also relates to Chicago.  Without sustainable cities and communities, there would be chaos all over the world and our environment wouldn’t very healthy or strong. During this action project, I learned more about the importance of sustainability and sustainable development. SDG 11 affects me and the area I live in because I live in an area where sustainability is on the rise in my community. Sustainability in resources, environment, and economics.

Works Cited

“Goal 11 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11.

“Definition of Sustainable Community.” Institute for Sustainable Communities, sustain.org/impact/definition-sustainable-community/.

“SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.” United Nations, United Nations, in.one.un.org/page/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-11/.

"J. Smith, personal communication, May 17, 2008"

“CNT Delivers Game-Changing Research, Tools, and Solutions to Create Sustainable + Equitable Communities.” Center for Neighborhood Technology, www.cnt.org/.

How does climate change effect Chicago?

This action project is for my STEAM course, on the unit of water. This week we were focusing on the difference between climate and weather. We converted temperatures in Fahrenheit to Celsius and Celsius to Fahrenheit. We went on a Field Experience to the Lincoln Park Conservatory where we measured temperature and humidity in each room. I learned how the conservatory varies the climate in each room by using steam heating and windows on the ceilings as vents. At the end of the week, we were assigned an action project that took one region, country, or city and explained how the weather and climate in that place will change by 2100. Hope you enjoy.




Works Cited:
Benfield, Kaid. “What Communities Should Do To Protect Against Climate Change.” CityLab, 22 Mar. 2012, www.citylab.com/equity/2012/03/what-communities-should-do-protect-against-climate-change/1562/.
“Illinois State Water Survey - the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.” The climate of Chicago - Description, Illinois State Climatologist Office, Illinois State Water Survey, U of I, www.isws.illinois.edu/statecli/General/chicago-climate-narrative.htm.

“WeatherSpark.com.” Average Weather in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Year Round - Weather Spark, weatherspark.com/y/14091/Average-Weather-in-Chicago-Illinois-United-States-Year-Round.

What Is the Carbon Cycle?, www.netl.doe.gov/research/coal/carbon-storage-1/faqs/what-is-the-carbon-cycle.

“350 Climate Science Basics.” 350.Org, 350.org/science/.

Representations of: Mathematical Combination and Pascal's Triangle

In my last action project for prove it or lose it, we were looking at combinations.  This action project is for my course "Prove it or Lose It.” In class, we have gone over permutations, combinations, and Pascal's Triangle. We saw how pascal’s triangle it symmetric and how it shows reflections. We also watched videos and saw slideshows on permutations and Pascal’s Triangle. This unit has made me think about how math does relate to things that we wouldn't expect.

A mathematical combination is a selection of things from a group. The order of those things doesn’t matter in combinations, unlike permutations. FOR EXAMPLE: There are 10 marbles in a jar and each marble has a number from 1 to 10 on it. Three marbles are selected at random. How many different ways are there of selecting the three balls?
Formula: (n/r) = n C r. = n!/r! (n-r)!
Answer:
10C3 =10!=10 × 9 × 8= 120
             3! (10 – 3)!3 × 2 × 1
Pascal’s Triangle is a triangular array of numbers. Each next row has one more number than the last row.  Each row has 1's on both sides and every inner number is the sum of two numbers above it. It can span infinitely. The connection between mathematical combinations and Pascal’s Triangle is that the numbers in Pascal's Triangle represent mathematical combinations. If you sum each row, you can see that each row has powers of base 2, beginning with 2⁰=1 and so on.

N.L., (2018) Pascal's Triangle with Powers with the base of 2 

Triangular Numbers

If you start with row 3 and start at 1, the diagonal contains the triangular numbers.

N.L. (2018) Pascal's Triangle with Triangular Numbers

In conclusion to this action project, I learned many things from this project. I learned more about how I can relate reflections to Pascal's triangle and I found different patterns in Pascal's triangle. Some challenges for me during this process were coming up with a question and answer about mathematical combinations and creating my own Pascal’s Triangle. I found completing this action project enlightening because I know I a lot of effort into this action project. Overall I enjoyed doing this action project and I also enjoyed this unit.

My Water Filter

This is my second action project for my STEAM course on the unit “Water.” The project is to make water filter that filters dirty water into clean and potable water. During this class, we have been studying water filtration. In class, we learned about logarithms, and we also learned how to find pH levels using logarithms and scientific notation, and what the pH scale is. We went on a field experience to the Jardine Water Treatment Plant. During the field experience, I learned about the filtration process that provides clean water for the city of Chicago. These studies and experiences have all helped me create this action project.

N.L (2018) Sketch of My Water Filter

N.L (2018) Construction Part 1 (Before)

N.L. (2018) Construction Part Two (Before)

N.L. (2018) Water Filter (After)

My guiding question for this experiment was Does the materials for a water filter affect the pH level of the filtered water? I tested my question by recording the pH levels of the water. I'm able to show how well my water filter works by using pictures of my water filter, before and after pictures of the water sample, and also by showing how the pH level of the filtered water changed.

This was my first time making a water filter. I took my time constructing the water filter and my water filter remained stable throughout the experiment. My hypothesis was that my water filter will increase the unfiltered water's pH level because the water will go through a filtration process that filters the water so that it becomes safer to use. I used an activated charcoal water filter.  My water filter has a cap with a hole in it seal on the lid of the 1-gallon plastic bottle and the bottom of the bottle is used as a collector for the filtered water.

My water filter has a cap with a hole in it seal on the lid of the 1-gallon plastic bottle and the bottom of the bottle is used as a collector for the filtered water. My water filter relates to groundwater filtration because just like in groundwater filtration, my water filter has large and small gaps that filter large and small particles in water as the water travels throughout the filer. I layered the gaps in my water filter a specific way so that the large gap at the top and the small gap at the bottom take small and large particles out of the water. During the filtration process, gravity pulls the water through my water filter, which then allows water to pass through those gaps leaving particles behind.

I acquired most of the materials from the school. I did bring in a 1-gallon plastic bottle that I used at the base of my water filter.

Materials for My Water Filter:

1. A 1-Gallon Plastic Bottle
2. A Plastic Bottle Cap
3. Two Coffee Filters
4. Activated Charcoal 2 ½ cups
5. Sand 2  cups
6. Gravel 2 cups
7. Water
8. Digital pH meter

In order to build a stable water filter, I followed this step by step procedure:

1. Wash all materials. (1-5)
2. Cut the top of the 1-gallon plastic bottle. Cut at the top's midway point of the bottle.
3. Add in all filtering materials, step by step, into the plastic bottle top. Flip the cut off top of the bottle and place the materials in from bottom to top in order.
4. Place a coffee filter inside the top.
5. Put 2 cups of activated carbon on top of the coffee filter.
6. Place another coffee filter.
7. Place sand and gravel on top of the coffee filter.
8. Place another coffee filter on top of the sand and gravel.

My Water Filtration Process:

1. Unfiltered water will pass through the 1st coffee filter
2. Water will pass through a layer of activated charcoal
3. Water will pass through a layer of gravel
4. Water will pass through a layer of sand
5. Water will pass through another layer of activated charcoal
6. Water will  pass through the 2nd coffee filter
7. Water will come through the hole in the plastic bottle cap
8. The base of the 1-gallon plastic bottle will collect the filtered water.

Results:

         Before Filtration            After Filtration

pH             6.1                                7.3           

Color    dark and murky                no color       

Clarity cloudy                             clear           

Odor      harsh odor                       no odor        

Before 6.1

After 7.3 

Change 1.2

-log x =0.06

or

10^-2

x=  0.063095734448

BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURE

N.L. (2018) Before Filtration

N.L. (2018) After Filtration

This picture above represents where my water sample is on the pH scale before and after the filtration process. The pH scale ranges from 1-14 with 7 being neutral. Anything below 7 is acidic and anything above 7 is alkaline. 6.1 is below 7 so it's acidic. 7.3 is above 7 so it's alkaline.

In conclusion, my water filter successfully filtered the water from the Chicago River mixed with dirt into potable water. Through this test, I was able to prove that my data supports my hypothesis because the filtered water’s pH level did increase after going through the filtration process of my water filter.  My water filter kept its stability. My water filter collected a lot of large and small particles from the water. I learned about the different kinds of water filters there are and how I can make a water filter. If I do this experiment again another question I can think of is can I manipulate the pH level of water by using different types of water filters.

Works Cited

“The Different Types of Water Filters.” Five Different Types of Water Filters, 2018, www.softwaterfiltration.com/water-filters/.

“A Beginner's Guide to Charcoal Water Filters.” ALL ABOUT WATER FILTERS, 5 Sept. 2018, 

all-about-water-filters.com/guide-to-charcoal-water-filters/.

Gender Pay Gap: United States and Canada

This action project is about "Equality". In my Humanities Class, we've been discussing and studying Equality. We talked about specific areas on equality like gender equalities and inequalities. We went on a field experience to "The Center on Halsted" and we took a walk throughout the neighborhood surrounding GCE. We discussed how we see equality and inequality in our lives. Areas where we commonly see gender inequalities are from the media and throughout social media. One thing that stood out to me in gender inequality was equal pay.  Professor Hewit from Oakton Community College and Scout Bratt from the Chicago's Women's Health Center also came to GCE to talk to us about Anthropology and Sex and Gender. These things we studied, learned, and experienced is important because we didn't just learn about these subjects for a grade, we wanted to dig deeper into these topics by experiencing the topics and discover how and why they exist and what's being done to fix some of the problems we learned about.

U.S. Census Burau (20)  77 Cents for Every Dollar

Haven't you heard ? The gender pay gap is a big problem. The gender pay gap is a man to woman pay ratio. It represents how many cents a woman makes to every man’s dollar and also represents how women get paid less than men. The United States gender pay gap is very similar to Canada’s gender pay gap. It is a problem in today's world because it shows how women are treated and looked upon differently compared to men just because of their gender and it also shows how equality has not been achieved yet.

The gender wage gap in the United States affects women across the nation. Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1996. It was a public awareness event to represent the gap between men's and women's pay wages. The United States implemented the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which requires that men and women are given equal pay for equal work in the same job but women still earn 18.2% less than the median wage of American men. According to "History.com", the Equal Rights Amendment was to provide for the legal equality of the sexes and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.  It also aims to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of a divorce, property, employment, and other matters. Women earned only 77 cents for every dollar that men earned in 2012, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.  "The gender wage gap has hovered at about 77 cents on the dollar since 2007" according to the Huffington Post.

The gender wage gap in Canada has a big effect on women in Canada. Women in Canada still earn 18.2% less than the median wage of men and 26% less for a full time full year-round work that men do, despite the Canadian Employment Standards Act. The act prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of sex and employment status in Canada. Canadian women still make 74 cents to every dollar that a man earns. According to "canadianwomen.org " women, workers in Canada earned an average of 69 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2016. According to catalyst.org "women in Canada earned 83.1% of what men earn on average, based on the weekly wages of full-time workers in 2017."Canada's wage gap has overall increased and decreased over the years.

The United States and Canada both have similarities and differences when it comes to the gender pay gap. Some similarities are that they both have a gender pay gap in their countries that affect many people and both countries have implemented Acts that focus on equality. Certain states and provinces in the US and Canada have legislation which prohibits discrimination in employment. The United States now has a gender pay gap of 18.2% out of the 100% of pay men receive. Women in the United States earn 77 cents for every 1 dollar made by me while, women in Canada now earn 87 cents for every 1 dollar made by men. The United States gender pay gap is worse than Canada's gender pay gap.

In conclusion, The gender pay gap affects countries all over the world and has been a problem for a very long time. I can see how this one subject ties in with equality and the different views on equality. I learned how the US and Canada both have similar problems and both have their own ways of fixing those problems. There are things being done to fix to help to close the gender pay gap but there have not been any noticeable or shown improvements towards ending the gender pay gap.

Works Cited

“Gender Wage Gap | Canadian Women's Foundation | Gender Equality Advocates.” Canadia.
Women's Foundation, www.canadianwomen.org/the-facts/the-wage-gap/.

“Home.” ERA: Home, Alice Paul Institute, www.equalrightsamendment.org/.

Sanders, Katie. “PolitiFact Sheet: The Gender Pay Gap.” PolitiFact, 15 July 2017,
www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/jul/15/politifact-sheet-gender-pay-gap/.

Racco, Marilisa. “Gender Equality in Canada: Where Do We Stand Today?” Global News,
8 July 2017, globalnews.ca/news/3574060/gender-equality-in-canada-where-do-we-stand-today/.

Venessa. “Women in the Workforce: Canada.” Catalyst, 10 Oct. 2018,
www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-workforce-canada.

Geometry Reflections In Buildings and Structures

This action project is for my course "Prove it or Lose It" and unit on finding reflections in the real world.  We went over what reflections were, how to find reflections, talked about how we can show them in the real world. In this action project, I found reflections and I also found two different ways to measure or quantify the reflection using mathematical terminology. I looked for my geometric reflections in buildings and structures.

The first way to measure the reflections in buildings and structures is using angles.  In the screenshot below, you can see how this building has different angles on its structure. You can also see how I found the angles that the buildings made. To understand this reflection, we can look at the angle of where they are equal. That is an important property of geometric reflections.

O'Neill, McKenna. (2012) Two Buildings. Web: Blogspot 

Another way that you can measure reflections is to measure reflections in buildings and structures is using slope.  In the picture below, you can see window bars. Instead of measuring the angles of the lines, you can find the coordinates of the points on the ends of the triangles on the window bars and calculate the slope of each line.

NL. (2018) Window Bars.

Using the slope formula, we find:
SLOPE of AD: (-6.5+-1.6) / (8 - 2.7) = (4.9) / (5.3) = 0.92
SLOPE of ED:  (-6.5+-1.6) / (13.5-8) = (4.9) / (5.5) = 0.89

My slope is off by a decimal of 0.3 but we can see that the slopes of the two lines are about the same.

This action project was challenging for me because I had a difficult time figuring out how I was going to include some mathematical terminology to show and measure reflections. Overall I enjoyed this action project and I hope that my skills with measuring reflections have increased because of this project.