Project Me
The project me was to get us to make positive changes in our health. The fact that I spent most of my summer slouching around did not help. So we made a chart of what we needed to do. In this project we learned about critical thinking because we had to think to make changes to our diets and exercises. My plan was to add carrots to every day at lunch. This was my choice because I already ride a bike 50 miles a week. You can see the plan here.
Algebra Poster
This project in essence was to create those posters you always see in class rooms with the math text on them. The trick was that we had only a few days and adobe illustrator to create one. My poster was about zero being raised to the power of zero. So I had to make a text heavy document because of this very restrictive rule. I resorted to humor because people will always remember something humorous better than something that is not humorous.
It started with a sketch like most things do. I already had an idea in my mind and I picked this rule because it fit the principle of this design perfectly. When we moved to illustrator my friend insisted that I add a spider wizard so that is the origin of the wizard in the bottom right. The only text option for this kind of assignment was impact so we picked that text. We generally made a sarcastic poster that people will remember.
This project advanced my understanding of critical design thinking. Making a memorable poster is no easy task. So we had to think in three dimensions to make two dimensions memorable. I have always been good at digital media so this project wasn't that hard but we still had to think.
It started with a sketch like most things do. I already had an idea in my mind and I picked this rule because it fit the principle of this design perfectly. When we moved to illustrator my friend insisted that I add a spider wizard so that is the origin of the wizard in the bottom right. The only text option for this kind of assignment was impact so we picked that text. We generally made a sarcastic poster that people will remember.
This project advanced my understanding of critical design thinking. Making a memorable poster is no easy task. So we had to think in three dimensions to make two dimensions memorable. I have always been good at digital media so this project wasn't that hard but we still had to think.
FishKill
In this project we had to decide what killed a fish in the American river. We were given data on just what was in the water the week of the fishkill and the data for two years as a control. We were also divided into groups based on the groups that could have blame directed towards them. We were directed into the chamber of commerce, one of the few un-blamable groups. It was also our jobs to do research on the levels of phosphates and nitrates. We found that Phosphates were high and nitrates were at the same level, leading us to blame the agricultural group for pesticides runoff. Collaboration was a major part of this project seeing the amount of teamwork we had to use to come to a verdict. Content literacy was also another major part because we had to understand just what nitrates and phosphates are and what could cause them to be so high.
Algebra 2 Portrait, Art Show 2012
This project was made of our principle Ms. Hanzel, who was going through surgery at the time. What we did is in a graphing program we made an image that had an ellipse, circle, and oval. We had to graph these with equations as opposed to drawing them. The first learning outcome was content literacy. Content literacy is how well we understand a subject. We had to understand how to do the complex graphing to make our assigned square of the portrait. The second most important outcome was work ethic, work ethic is how well we work. We had to work hard on this project to make it look presentable to others. I feel that my understanding of team work was improved in this project because we had to trust one another to keep the panels consistant.
Reusable Usable Art
The other art piece for the art show was our reusable usable art project. The point of this project was to create art out of things we would not use otherwise. I decided to make a tear-gas mask. The mask was made from objects from around the class. I made the face guard from a 2 liter bottle that I cut to make a face mask. The next part was the filter which was made from a pringles can filled with tissue. I duck taped them together and made straps out of electrical tape. The mask, when put on the face, should block against some gasses entering your lungs. The biggest skill needed for this was work ethic. Work ethic being how well we do things, helped me do this project fast and simple while retaining quality. The next part was critical thinking. Critical thinking helps us get around our problems. This mask had to be made from scratch so little instruction was available for me. This mask was one of my more original works. I feel this helped me become more critical of my own works in later review.
Radioactive Comics and Games
In this project we had to create a comic or game based around the realistic use of radiation. The best part of this project was when we finally got to play the games we made. We made a game called REMpage, based around trying to roll a die to 50 without dying of radiation poisoning. If I could change one thing about this project it would be the time allotted, most of the projects never got past markers and paper. This project was good and worth doing again. We had to make many prototypes and this helped us iron out the kinks from the designs with regards to the science and game play. More prototyping would help if this project was to be done again to help people make the games better. I learned that making a balanced game is hard work and has its own rewards. The group for this project was great, they helped me with every aspect of the creation of the game. Pictured is an early prototype of the game.
This project helped me grow in the critical thinking aspects. Critical thinking is how well we solve problems. We had to include a lot of knowledge of radiation into this game. REMpage was a simple game to make but a hard game to fit facts into. For this we had to get crafty with game mechanics to fit as much learning as we could into the game. We did this through the game explanation sheet and fun facts written on the bottom of each card. These fun facts would include helpful little quips and quotes and in one case even a diagram.
This project helped me grow in the critical thinking aspects. Critical thinking is how well we solve problems. We had to include a lot of knowledge of radiation into this game. REMpage was a simple game to make but a hard game to fit facts into. For this we had to get crafty with game mechanics to fit as much learning as we could into the game. We did this through the game explanation sheet and fun facts written on the bottom of each card. These fun facts would include helpful little quips and quotes and in one case even a diagram.