Domestic Desert Cats

Hi and welcome to my blog. This is action project is for the second unit of "From and To" for my S.T.E.A.M course, Populations. We have been learning about the behavior and traits of animals and evolution and the changes in organisms by how they adapt to the environment around them. We have been studying the concepts of combinations, permutations; sample, population, scatter plots, standard deviation, quartiles, mean, median, and mode. We went on Field Experiences to Lincoln Park Zoo, where we interviewed and listened to Professor Stephen Ross. During this discussion, we learned about how zoos collect data specifically on primates and apes; where do zoos get their animals from, and how scientists record data identifying behavior and traits of the primates and apes. For this project, we were instructed to pick a random number of either cats or dogs from a data collection that our class made together. With my "sample" of cats from the entire "population" of cats, I decided where I would travel to in order to experiment with their behaviors, traits, and adaptations to their new habitat. The most challenging part of this action project for me was creating the clay model of my animal(s) in the future. It was very time consuming but I enjoyed the outcome of my art and this project.

In this project, I decided to incorporate the math and calculations inside of the google spreadsheet so they wouldn't distract you from the story of the project. You can click on the link highlighted to view my calculations.

Citations

Nemtsova, Anna. “The Aral Sea’s Disappearing Act.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast, 4 Oct. 2014, www.thedailybeast.com/the-aral-seas-disappearing-act. Accessed 12 Nov. 2019.

“Wildcat | Mammal, Felis Silvestris.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/animal/wildcat-mammal-Felis-silvestris. Accessed 12 Nov. 2019.

“BBC - Science & Nature - Wildfacts - Fennec Fox.” Archive.Org, 2012, web.archive.org/web/20131202191221/www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/146.shtml. Accessed 12 Nov. 2019.

"Karma, Snap Rabbit and Dash the Wolf"

In the second unit of my Humanities course class, "Stories", focused on the concepts of morals and values. We studied and read some of Aesop's Fables to get inspiration and examples for what makes a good fable. Reviewing different well-known fables brought back nostalgia from my childhood. To get into our morals and values, we did a self-evaluation exercise that influenced some of my characters' traits. For this action project, we were instructed to create our own fable about anything as long as we end our story with a clear moral or lesson. We had to describe the setting of our story using descriptive language and we also described our protagonist and antagonist by using anthropomorphic features for animal characters in our story. Our story finally had to have a piece of symbolism in it. The parts of this action project that I am most proud of are my story itself because I put a lot of effort into and my edited photo of a scene from my fable. I hope you enjoy my story.

N.L. "Thank You Snap". 2019

“Snap Rabbit and Dash the Wolf"

The blossom of spring in nature made the animals’ homeland burst into beauty. Every Summer morning, the birds sang louder than an opera and the frogs played beats from their bellies. Snap Rabbit loved waking up to the sound of grace in the morning. He skipped through the forest to his job of gardening in the center of the forest. Whenever he had time to spare, he traveled throughout the peaceful forest to greet his neighbors. “Hello, how are you” and “You got help if you need it”, were his most common sayings when he kindly greeted his neighbors. Every day when he was done working, Snap would visit his forest friends to check up on and help them out in any way possible.

All of Snap Rabbit’s forest friends loved having him around. He often helped the foxes, weasels, birds, mice, and squirrels find and collect food for their young. He also took care of Grandma Owl by making her soup for her cold. Only one animal did not enjoy having Snap Rabbit around, Dash the Wolf. Dash didn’t have friends because she didn’t get along with the other animals very well. She lived pretty far from the rest of the animals, besides Snap Rabbit and Grandma Owl.

Snap Rabbit and his family lived in a burrow placed around the western points of the forest. Dash the Wolf lived in the cave 3 miles away from Snap Rabbit and Grandma Owl. She enjoyed being mean to all the other animals as her hobby. She would take backpacks from the children of Snap Rabbit, mice, and weasels to confuse them on which ones belong to who. Dash would often get yelled at by the other animals for playing tricks on them and their families, but she did not care.

Since Snap Rabbit was a good friend of all the other animals and always willing to help them out, the animals gifted him a celebration to show their appreciation for him. A “Thank You” banner hung in between the trees while Snap received gifts from the other animals. During Snap’s party, Dash decided to have some fun of her own since she wasn’t invited. She took some of Snap’s gifts and ran off towards her home with them. Squirrels whispered amongst each other as they watched Dash the Wolf run off with the gifts. In a matter of minutes, Dash was struggling to get out of the giant spider web near Grandma Owl’s home. The spider web caught Dash like how a dreamcatcher catches bad dreams and allows good dreams to flow through it.

The three squirrels ran to Grandma Owl and told her to beware of Dash the Wolf. Grandma Owl didn’t like Dash but she felt bad for her. Instead of staying in the comfort of her home, she went to go help Dash out of the web. She was still sick but helped anyway. Dash was puzzled about why Grandma Owl wanted to help her out of the web. They didn’t have a positive relationship with each other but Grandma Owl wanted to change that.

The biggest nuisance of all the animals in the forest finally was struck with bad luck while hanging in a giant spider web. After Dash was out of the web, she felt bad for stealing Snap Rabbit’s gifts so she decided to return them. She also said sorry for being mean to the other animals and gained trust from them. In the end, Snap Rabbit and Dash the Wolf become good friends and lived peacefully among each other and the rest of the forest animals.


Moral:

Be good to others and good will come to you.
Be bad to others and bad will come to you.

Karma is the constant cycle of good and bad energy flowing through people and their lives based on the actions of people.

FLAVOR

In the first unit of my Humanities course class, "Stories", focused on the concepts of descriptive writing such as adjectives, adverbs, metaphors, similes, and imagery. We studied the importance of figurative language and practiced writing stories figurative language. We had to describe settings using adverbs and adjectives. In addition, we read different etiologies, which are the creation myths of the Earth. We studied how reading a story with figurative language engages a reading more than reader listening to a story. For this action project, we were instructed to create our own etiology about anything. Our etiology had to incorporate descriptive and figurative language and be clear to the readers. The parts of this action project that I am most proud of are my edited photograph of a hand swooping down from the skies, during an important event in the story, and my creative story itself. I put a lot of effort into this story so I hope you enjoy my etiology of cooking and clothing.

The picture below represents a hand sprinkling resources from the sky. Upside down, this picture represents the hand of a demi-god snapping their fingers which brings color and imagination to the island.

N.L. "Snap of a Goddess." 2019 

N.L. "Hand of Nas/Dre".2019

FLAVOR

Boom! Splat! Woosh! Siszz! These spooking exciting sounds came to the ears of mankind like a splash of Oceania washing the shores of beaches. After Xonos and Ursia created our planet, the world was devoid of colors throughout the lands. Xonos’s named means stranger, as in he was a stranger to the land he created beside Ursia. The name Ursia comes from a family of moths called Notodontidae. Xonos is a minotaur who fiercely stands 30 meters tall. Ursia has been seen once in all existence of mankind. She’s described as a fairy goddess with the face of a blossom of roses and the body of an enormous butterfly with moth wings. Our sizzling land was filled with an oppressive hierarchy of people for the past centuries. Our people looked different from each other. No family was the same skin color or shared the exact same characteristics. Our great Elder Wise passes the legends and prophecy of our land to its young. She loves to go on with her storytelling and spew out questionable acts of different gods such as Xonos and Ursia. What interests me the most is the prophecy of their two children. “The Mighty Ones”, Nas and Dre are destined to return to their antecedents created homeland for mortals. They are to provide mysterious resources from the unknown,” once said Elder Wise. Many people here wish for resources that boost their statuses such as riches and wealth. I myself dream of things that change the perspectives of people on this land. Resources such as knowledge beyond our world, realm, and universe. Heck, our even existence. “Stories” such as this one have been told for centuries throughout out so many generations. Elder wise knows about the 5 inner realms; Ereth, Synoth, Haewz, Sahdar, and Nikjau. “Ereth is the realm of our planet. Sahdar is the realm of unknown creatures that could be anything from colossal giants to microscopic insects that breath fire like demons. Synoth is the realm of sound named after the sound of music within nature. The realms of Haewz and Nikjau are unknown, yet they haven’t been discovered by man through prophecy, legend, or miracle. But they are said to be the realms of “The Mighty Ones”. Our people lived simple lives. We are farmers, landlords, tax collectors, traders, priests, students, and children.

Some of us aren’t like all the other sheep among the herd. We, the mind-blowing artists, create many works from natural resources such as rocks, grass, trees, and water. We discovered the colores red, orange, and green from nature on our planet. We wanted to adjust common things to be more appealing to the eyes of man. At first, we all lived without a worry for taste until the Night of the Black Moon. During this night, my friends Ezra, Amarowa, and Benji and I snuck out from our homes. We closely watch the Black Moon and the blistering sparkles vividly glow from the stars in space. As we stargazed, a hand reached out from between the Black Moon and clouds. Nas, the descendant half-blood god of trends and style, struck our world with an explosion of colors and life throughout the land. Nas’s fist pounded our island like a mountain erupting from beneath us. Nas was only one of the “Mighty Ones” destined to come back to our island. As soon as Nas snapped his fingers, every piece of clothing lit on fire with eye candy. You could see the flavor of his craft within different colors of every thread. Our clothes before were boring colors such as beige and khaki, but now that changed. Benji’s sandals became the oceans’ waves, Amarowa’s dress transformed into a glossy sunflower, Ezra’s hair and shorts merged into the stars and glowing sky, and my headscarf had turned into angel wings. Galactic stars and hues of light shined bright throughout the pitch-black atmosphere. Right then and there I and my friends slept into the breeze of the night.

The next morning, we all woke up in our beds with no idea how we got there. As breakfast was being prepared Ezra noticed a fisherman out on the water ready to caught lunch. In our village, our usual meals are either loaves of bread, rice, fish, fruits or water. As the fisherman was drinking water from her pouch, a hand from above our stars graciously swooped down onto the shore of the ocean. A humongous oval-shaped stick flew into the palm of their right hand. A gigantic bowl rose from the ocean made of diamond crystals. “I am Dre, the mightest of all”, a voice shouted through the wind. Dre’s head levitated from his body as if he was decapitated. His hand right hand started stirred the stick around in the submerged bowl. Ezra hurried outside without care of fear to watch Dre. Our eyes glistened as Dre sprinkled mystical ingredients and seasonings from a portal that shot out his eye on his forehead. “I bless you all with this porridge, it will open your third eye,” said Dre. The population of the island gathered around and watched him mix and swiftly stir things into the bowl.

 Dre stood in shock as he stopped stirring the humongous bowl. Smack! He clapped his hands against the bowl which shattered it into a hundred thousand pieces. Every shattered piece of the bowl became a dish for everyone on the shore filled to the brim with a mushy oaty substance. “Porridge, this is the food from that legend,” said Amarowa with excitement. Everyone, including myself, stood confused as Amarowa and Wise jumped with joy. Elder Wise and Amaraowa explained, “This food will strengthen our minds with knowledge and creativity. It will allow us to find the Gods within ourselves.” Elder Wise walked further towards the ocean as she was stuck in a daze. Dre handed her a giant book that shrunk in her hands so humans could obtain what was within. She proclaimed that this book would provide the prophecy for the future and generations of their people to come. Benji finished the porridge with a single slurp while everyone else enjoyed the tastes and feelings in their mouths. An inferno of savory fats made our mouths water. Elegance from the half-blood god was expected nevertheless. Dre smiled down on his parents’ creations and then returned to the sky from which he came.

Green Tree Python

In my first unit of "In/out" in my sophomore STEAM course class Population, we have been learning about the math and science behind organisms. We have been learning about Set Theory; which is a language used to write mathematical statements for grouping things. Something similar to Set Theory is taxonomy. Taxonomy is the science of classifying and organizing organisms. We went on Field Experiences to Lincoln Park Zoo, where we took pictures of an organism that we would study for our action project. In class, we got to dissect a Lubber Grasshopper, which taught us about morphological features, differences from similar organisms, and the anatomy of the organism. For this project, we were instructed to pick an organism, breakdown and represent the taxonomy of that organism. We had to create a mosaic that would represent and showcase the taxonomy of our organism. We also had to compare and contrast our animal to that of another student’s animal. Lastly, we had to represent our organism using Set Theory. The most challenging part of this action project for me was creating the mosaic of my animal. It was very time consuming but I enjoyed the outcome of my art.

TG. "Green Tree Python". 2019

The Green Tree Python can be found in places below the equator including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. According to ExoticAnimals, “They are usually in or near a rainforest and are primarily arboreal, residing in trees, shrubs, and bushes”. Occasionally, you can see them on the ground. “Green tree pythons have a particular way of resting in the branches of trees; they loop a coil or two over the branches in a saddle position and place their head in the middle. This trait is shared with the emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus) of South America.” Fun fact, females grow bigger than males when they mature.

TAXONOMY (Classification of Organism)

Kingdom	Animalia	It’s a multicellular organism and reproduces 25 viable eggs per clutch.
Phylum	Chordata	It has a spinal cord and tail.
Class	Reptilia	Maneuvers on the ground. (Tetrapods)
Order	Squamata	“Squamates” or scaled reptiles.  Suborder: Serpentes
Family	Pythonidae	A family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Genus	Morelia	A genus of large snakes in the family Pythonidae. Currently, eight species are recognized as Morelia.
Species	viridis	Scientific Name:  Bright Green Snake Morelia viridis (Green Tree Python)

Taxonomy Gif

Here is a Gif I created to represent the taxonomy of my organism.

N.L. "Green Tree Python Mosaic". 2019

Venn Diagram

My Venn diagram below shows the similarities and differences between three other organisms chosen by my peers. They are my Green Tree Python, the Two-Toed Sloth, Dwarf Mongoose, and the African Giraffe.

N.L. "Four Set Venn Diagram". 2019

Even though these organisms might be similar by some traits or characteristics, each has its own traits to separate from each other. The African Giraffe is a tall mammal and herbivore that eats small fruits and leaves. The Two-Toed Sloth shares a connection with the giraffe in eatings small fruits, leaves, and other plants. The Green Tree Python is a carnivore that eats other small reptiles. Lastly, the Dwarf Mongoose is a small carnivorous animal that lives in South and Central America. All four of them have similarities such as they all live in places below the equator and they all depend on trees throughout their lives. In other words, they are considered “Tree Huggers”.


Set Theory

Here is my list of math sets of my organism and the organisms I used in my Venn Diagram as well as organisms that share similar traits and characteristics.

Epsilon ϵ = Is an element of.
Set Brackets { } = All elements of the set.

Reptiles = {green tree pythons, alligators, lizards, turtles, cobras..}
green tree pythons ϵ Reptiles
English Translation
 Animals that are included in the Reptile set are green tree pythons, alligators, lizards, turtles, cobras, etc...


Carnivores = {green tree pythons, dwarf mongoose, tigers, bears,...}
green tree pythons ϵ Carnivores
English Translation
 Animals that are included in the Carnivores set are green tree pythons, dwarf mongoose, tigers, bears, etc...


Tree Inhabitants = {green tree pythons, dwarf mongoose, chimpanzees, two-toed sloth, giraffe...}
green tree pythons ϵ Tree Inhabitants
English Translation
Animals that are included in the Tree Inhabitants set are green tree pythons, dwarf mongoose, chimpanzees, two-toed sloth, giraffe, etc...


Vertebrates = {dwarf mongoose, chimpanzees, two-toed sloth, giraffe, green tree pythons...}
green tree pythons ϵ Vertebrates
English Translation
Animals that are included in the Vertebrates set are green tree pythons, dwarf mongoose, two-toed sloth, giraffe, etc...


Morelia viridis = {green tree pythons}
green tree pythons ⊂ Morelia viridis
English Translation
Animals that are included in the Morelia viridis set are green tree pythons.

In conclusion to my very first action project this year, I was interested in learning about my organism and I found out ways to look deeper into biotic organisms. I hope you learned something new and mostly I hope this engaged and raised questions for you. Thank you for visiting this project. Please give me any feedback you can. Thank you!

Housing Discrimination in Chicago: A History of Injustice

This is my action project for my workshop, "Writing Workshop". In this class, we looked at many different examples of writing and reviewed some basic and advanced writing skills. We took the time to either write a research paper about a topic we were interested in, write a personal narrative about ourselves, or write a summary response essay. This workshop challenged me by introducing me to more styles of writing. I chose to do a research paper because I wanted to challenge myself for this last project of my Freshman year. I have spent a lot of time researching housing discrimination. I even reached out to the director of Human Rights Compliance/Fair Housing at the Chicago Commission On Human Relations. I hope you enjoy my research paper.

GMOs vs Organic Seeds (Debate)

In the last unit of GMOs in my Freshman STEAM course, Food, we learned about genetic modification and gene editing. We studied math related to genetics such as Punnett squares and probability. We went on Field Experience to the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. There we got the opportunity to meet and speak with farmers from all over the Midwest about their opinions on the argument on GMOs and organic crops. For this final action project, we were instructed to choose a side in the argument on GMOs. I was able to gather information from the farmers at the Green City Market to use as resources in my debate below. I enjoyed arguing this topic because the topic is an issue which can have a global impact. I hope you enjoy!

Volunteering at Marwen

Before and during my time at GCE, I have ventured out to a free art program located in the west loop of Chicago called Marwen Arts. I have been attending to their art programs for about 3-4 years now. This completely free art program has built me into the successful young man I am today. Marwen has given me opportunities in auctioning off my artworks, meeting professional artists, and experimenting in different mediums of art.

I have been recently volunteering at Marwen, a free art program in Chicago. At Marwen, I have been volunteering and helping at events such as DIY Holiday Parties, End of Term Exhibitions, Career Fairs, and even as a student representative at their annual gala. During these times, I have been doing things such as setting up tables and chairs, passing out flyers and giving people information about the art program, setting up and running a photo booth, and making buttons for people. From this volunteer experience, I have been learning how to stay organized, how to insert myself into communities, and help give back to communities. I made a difference for others by introducing people to a free art program where they can learn arts, express themselves, and develop their artistic skills. These experiences have impacted my future volunteer work because now I can look forward to connecting and reaching out to fellow organizations that support Marwen.

Here are some pictures of me setting up cameras for a photo booth at Marwen's Fall Term Exhibition.

N.L. (2019) "Setting Up Lights"

N.L. (2019) "Gathering Tech"

Thank you for viewing blog.

Beef Fried Rice

In the third and final unit of Birth in my Humanities course, Food for Thought, we studied how advancements in technology and research such as the Industrial Revolution and technology has affected our food today. We watched a movie called, "Food Inc", which showed us how major food industries and corporations such as Tyson and Monsanto control the animals and food we eat. The movie exposed me to the disgusting realities of the food industry in our country today. In this unit, we also read excerpts from Michael Pollan’s book called, "In Defense of Food"; which explained how the Industrial Revolution has affected our food and the way we eat today. We learned about the difference between organic and industrial food, different ways of farming to substitute for industrial farming, and the six ayurvedic tastes which relate to nutrition. We went on Field Experiences to Whole Foods where we analyzed different food and nutrition labels and to Uncommon Grounds where we met Brandon who talked to us about their rooftop farm and how their restaurant operates. For this last Action Project, we were instructed to write a food review on a meal that was restaurant cooked and homemade. We had to describe each dish using our senses and recommend which one we like more. I decided to write my reviews on beef fried rice because it is one of my favorite dishes from Asian cuisine. I really enjoyed this project because I went out to eat my favorite meal and then recreated it myself at home.

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Volunteering at Trucking Company

I spent 20 hours volunteering at Vision C & S Express Inc for one day each out of 4 months. At Vision C & S Express Inc I spent time washing off trucks that travel all over the United States to deliver shipments of products and goods. I also help clean and organize their office by moving desks, papers, and boxes around the office. I learned how to become better at organizing things and skills that I can use in the future. For example, using tools such as paint scrapers and water pressure hoses to clean the trucks. I made a difference for others by volunteering to show people in a community that money isn't the most important thing for giving back to the community. I did not take pictures of the office or the trucks out of respect for Vision C & S Express Inc.

Buttery Buttermilk Biscuits

In the second unit of "Cooking and Chemistry" in my freshman STEAM course class Food, we have been learning about the math and science behind baking foods. We also have been studying how discovering fire and cooking impacted the evolution of humans. We went on Field Experiences to Pacific Gardens Mission where we met Chef Erica Web who is head chef and an expert in baking. She taught us about the different types of bread, yeast, and leavening agents and how they work. In class, we have been baking things like sourdough and cornbread to get the feel for baking. For this AP, my class was instructed to choose a recipe for biscuits and choose an ingredient to substitute. I enjoyed making biscuits from scratch a lot. I now have more experience in baking and cooking.

Global Hunger and Malnutrition

In the second unit of "Death" in Food for Thought, we learned about global trade and "fair trade" history and colonialism. We learned about how agriculture influenced greed in people, how foods from different countries got imported to where they are today, and how resources impacted the behavior in people. For our Field Experience, we went to S.K.Y restaurant in Pilsen where we met a sommelier named Charles Ford. He talked to us about his job as a sommelier and the history behind his restaurant. For this action project, we were asked to look back on the past, literally. We looked back at our first Humanities course, SDGs & You. We focused on SDG 2 and decided on a specific target of the SDG. I wanted to focus on a target that is a symptom of hunger so, I chose malnutrition. This target on malnutrition was challenging when it came to the history of malnutrition. The most difficult part of this project was filming the video. Overall I think that I completed a great project.

Food For Thought -AP2 NL from NL on Vimeo.

“1 out of 2 children in Guatemala suffer from malnutrition. People from Central American countries such as Guatemala are coming to the United States’ and Mexico’s border seeking asylum because of issues like malnutrition plagues. Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 16 goals that we should achieve by the year 2030. These goals were created by the United Nations. I will be addressing target 2.2 of the goal Zero Hunger. This target is a global priority because due to malnutrition, people and children in third world countries are on the edge of dying. Malnutrition in pregnant women and children 2 years old or younger can affect a child for the rest of their lives and the conditions can’t be fixed as they get older. Some of the conditions are stunting in growth, being underweight for one’s age, and wasting; being dangerously thin for one’s height. A solution to achieving this target is food fortification in staple foods and condiments. The purpose of this paper is to advocate for the issue of malnutrition and bring awareness to this issue.

I chose Target 2.2, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons. According to UNICEF, “Malnutrition develops when the body does not get the proper amount of calories, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients required to keep the organs and tissues healthy and functioning well. A child or adult can be malnourished by being undernourished or overnourished.” Undernourishment is when someone can’t acquire enough food to meet dietary energy requirements. Overnourishment is when someone gets too much food that exceeds their dietary energy requirements. “More than one-third of all child deaths every year around the world are attributed to malnutrition.” The United Nations has identified hunger as a global priority because global hunger and malnutrition affects the lives of millions all over the world, but mostly “underdeveloped” countries. According to Global Goals, “Hunger is the leading cause of death in the world. Our planet has provided us with tremendous resources, but unequal access and inefficient handling leaves millions of people malnourished.”

Malnutrition isn’t just a recent issue but has major issue been for many years. Malnutrition dates far as back to the existence of the ancient Egyptians. A civilization that faced malnutrition like we do today were the ancient Mayans. They were argued to fell as an empire and civilization due to drought, warfare, disease, or even political instability. Today we think that all these things played a role and were only symptoms in the fall of the Mayans. According to NASA Science, researchers used classic archaeology techniques to find that human bones from the last decades before the Mayan civilization’s collapse shows signs of severe malnutrition. The root cause was a chronic food and water shortage, due to some combination of natural drought and deforestation by humans." Their agriculture was based on slash and burn and clear-cutting methods which resulted in deforestation for fertile land to grow crops. According to Empires of Food, “A sustainable food empire can only exist if most of its farms are smallish, diverse, and serving customers not too far away.” We can learn that unsustainable methods of agriculture lead to negative impacts on land over time.

Malnutrition and hunger have both resulted in the death of millions and billions of people in our world throughout history. The Mayan civilization’s population grew in masses which led to a demand for more food. They addressed this problem by replacing their neighboring jungles with maize fields by using deforestation methods in order to get more land for agriculture. The result of these deforestation methods was that they trapped themselves into a broken hydrological cycle which caused their fields to dry up and crops to die. They also suffered from relying on and growing crops such as maize, beans, and squash together. Something we can learn from this history is that malnutrition can be prevented with sustainable practices of agriculture and food productivity.

If these global issues of malnutrition and hunger continue in the future masses of people and children around the world will continue to suffer and die. To achieve this target of ending all forms of malnutrition, some contributions would be food fortification in staple foods such as bread and potatoes, food security in poverty-stricken areas, and an increase in the prices of unhealthy foods since they are cheaper to buy compared to healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. Large scale food fortification is the process of adding micronutrients to foods or condiments consumed regularly by the population. If we did this in “developing” countries, more people will have access to the food and nutrients they need. Poverty in areas also affect the diets of people within a poverty-stricken area. According to Global Citizen, “donors should increase long-term funding for the prevention and community-based management of acute malnutrition. This will stray away from the current short term, emergency only funding approaches.” Long term donations would help bring this issue of malnutrition to an end by giving aid to areas where there is a lack of food and resources. Malnutrition can be eradicated overtime with these solutions.

These global issues of malnutrition and hunger might not affect me but they affect people living on this planet just like you and me. My main argument is that we need to think about all the people on this planet and not only people around us where we live. Ending all forms of malnutrition should also be prioritized just as much as the issue of hunger because it affects children in their early lives. My recommendations will help achieve this goal of Zero Hunger and target of ending all forms of malnutrition by helping areas with food insecurity get the food and nutrients they need. How will you help contribute to eradicating this global issue of hunger?

Works Cited

“Feeding a Family, Nourishing a Community - United Nations Development Programme | UNDP.” Exposure, 2017, stories.undp.org/feeding-a-family-nourishing-a-community. Accessed 3 May 2019.

“Goal 2: Zero Hunger.” The Global Goals, 16 Sept. 2016, www.globalgoals.org/2-zero-hunger. Accessed 6 May 2019.

‌Nations, United. “Goal 2: End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture — SDG Indicators.” Un.Org, 2018, unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/goal-02/. Accessed 6 May 2019.

Roser, Max, and Hannah Ritchie. “Hunger and Undernourishment.” Our World in Data, 2018, ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment#definitions-of-measures-of-hunger-and-undernourishment. Accessed 7 May 2019.

“The Rise and Fall of the Mayan Empire | Science Mission Directorate.” Nasa.Gov, 2019, science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/15nov_maya. Accessed 7 May 2019.

“Underlying Causes of Malnutrition - Action Against Hunger.” Action Against Hunger, 2017, actionagainsthunger.ca/what-is-acute-malnutrition/underlying-causes-of-malnutrition/. Accessed 8 May 2019.

UNICEF/NYHQ2006-0081/Noorani. Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health Child Development and Early Learning Breastfeeding Nutrition and Growth Immunization With Advice on: Diarrhoea Malaria HIV Child Protection and More Facts for Life Fourth Edition. 2010.

“10 Ways to End Malnutrition.” Global Citizen, 2019, www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-ways-to-end-malnutrition/. Accessed 6 May 2019

My Garden Plan

In the first unit of my freshman STEAM course class Food, we have been learning about ecosystems, interactions/symbiosis within ecosystems, the nitrogen cycle, the symbiosis between plants, nutrients plants need, and philosophy about agriculture. We have been studying the ecology of planting, different farming methods and how these methods affect the food we eat. We went on Field Experiences to Patchwork Farms where we learned about how they managed their farm and to Big Delicious Planet where we learned about how their catering company as a business takes actions towards being as green, clean, and sustainable as possible. For this AP, my class was instructed to design a garden, find a location, find ways to make the soil compatible, find materials or containers that we could grow plants in, and pick 10 vegetables to grow. I enjoyed everything that has led up to this action project. Here is a slideshow of all the vegetables I plan to plant in my garden and a sketch of my garden.

 

 Below are the containers I will grow my vegetables in.

4 Plastic Bins (10 plants per pin) Volume = 91356.85 cm.³

( L x W x H): 26.5 x 16.5 x 12.75 in.).

5 five-gallon buckets (5 plants per bucket) Volume = 29233.52 cm.

(11.91 Top "x 10.33" Bottom x 14.5 in." H)

5 plastic rectangular containers (3 plants per half bottle) Volume= 1577.25 cm.³

(L x W x H): 8 3/4" x 5.5" x 2 in.")

Below are my calculations for what product or supplement and quantities per 100 square feet. I need for each outdoor space.

Original Soil Quality:

Nitrogen in soil: 15 out of 40 (low amount of nitrogen)

Phosphorus in soil: 23 out of 30 (high amount of phosphorus)

Potassium in soil: 61 out of 300 (very low amount of potassium)

These are the products and need to add in order to amend the soil.

(F101 Blood Meal)     F2100 Soft Rock Phosphate           F2260 Sulfate of Potash

5 lbs per 100 ft²                   2 lbs per 100ft²                              0.5 lbs per 100ft²

5.5 lbs per 150 ft²               2.5 lbs per 150ft²                            0.85 lbs per 150ft²

10 lbs per 200 ft²                   4 lbs per 200ft²                            1 lbs per 200ft²

Ron Finley is a guerrilla gardener ad he is making a difference and impact in his community of South Central, Los Angeles. He started free and voluntary community gardening and plans to make this practice into future business and project. In a TED Talk by Ron Finley, he said, “Food is the problem and food is the solution.” To me, this means unhealthy food and food practices are the problems and healthy food and food practices are the solutions to that problem. For my garden, I planned to have it in my complex yard and in a yard at a local community college. I chose both of these locations because they are local and accessible places for a garden in my neighborhood. The dimensions of my complex yard are 10ft. long by 15ft. wide and the dimensions of the community college yard are 10ft. long by 20ft. wide. In all, the area of my complex yard is 150 square feet and the area of the community college yard is 200 square feet. I will plant cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, corn, peppers, cabbage, beans, and lettuce in my garden. I chose cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. I will plant these vegetables because these are some of my favorite vegetables and they also are compatible companion plants to some plants out of the ten I chose. Beans, cucumbers, and cabbage are companion plants to each other and onions, carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce are also companion plants to each other. Carrots take the nitrogen from the soil and allow the tomatoes to take in the amount of nitrogen needed in order to grow. My garden will represent the symbiotic relationships of mutualism and commensalism because my garden will be public to my surrounding community and I will have a garden where organisms will have interactions of mutualism and commensalism. For example, if a cottontail rabbit happens to eat a carrot from the garden and then produce organic waste, my garden will benefit from the organic waste and the rabbit will also benefit. I will use the principles of natural farming no chemical fertilizer, no weeding by tillage or herbicides because I feel and learned that any synthetic chemicals and addends to plants and crops will hurt the soil and land over time.

In conclusion to this project, I learned about the history of agriculture and ecosystems, different methods within maintaining and sustaining agriculture, and the reasoning and importance behind the different ways and methods of agriculture. I also learned about why it is important to have healthy fertile soil compared to dirt for plants, why the symbiosis between plants matter, and why food needs to be sustainable for all people. If I could do this project again, I would plan a garden for a space about 500 square feet just so I can add components and factors to it.

I am Paprika!

Hello, my name is N.L. In my Freshman Humanities course class Food for Thought, we are currently at the end of the first unit of "Life". During this unit, we have been learning about the history behind food. We went on a Field Experience where we walked around the Goose Island neighborhood of Chicago with a forager named Dave who is the CEO of Odd Produce. He taught us about many plants all around this urbanized society that we can eat. Just as our ancestors used to do as foragers. We also had a Field Experience The purpose of this project is to pick one ingredient from food or ingredient passed down through my family. In the process of this project, I learned that my family really values cooking. During the process of this project, I learned that paprika, which is very popular today, has been around for many centuries. I hope you enjoy!

N.L - Family Tree, 4/22/19