GS Portfolio

Welcome back to my blog! This post is for the second Action Project of the STEAM class, Frontiers. This class has been about the frontiers of science and discovery in space and the oceans. We studied marine ecology, biology, geology, and physiology in the first unit. We also looked at technological frontiers in the maritime sector, such as ways to clean up ocean pollution, capture carbon dioxide, and rebuild coral reefs. In this unit, we have looked at the stars, planets, and galaxies around us. We have learned about how the universe came to exist and how humans began to study it. For this Action Project, we have been tasked with writing a research paper about a frontier of our choosing in the field of space exploration. For my paper, I decided to look into propulsion systems or the types of rockets that can bring humans or crewless spacecraft from the Earth's surface into orbit. Propulsion systems have been researched and built for many years, so in a general sense, they aren'...

Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the second Action Project of the STEAM class, Urban Planning. In this second unit, Power, we have been studying all things electricity. We started by looking at how batteries work in our phones and then onto Nikola Tesla with his Alternating Current and Thomas Edison and his Direct Current. These two current systems have played an important role in how energy is transferred through electronic devices and across large distances. Using this research, we investigated static electricity, current electricity, and magnetism to understand how electricity works. We also worked with circuits to see how electricity would flow and provide light. For math, we studied Coulomb's Law compared to Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation, Ohm's Law, and equations using the Power formula. We finished up the unit by looking at light pollution which is a problem in Chicago and then smart grids like the one in Denmark. For this AP, we have been asked to ch...

Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the second Action Project in the Humanities class, Forbidden Books. In this class we have been discussing how books can become banned or censored. A few large reasons that may cause a book to be banned is challenging religion, politics, and diversity. Books can also be banned for having violent or graphic scenes, age-appropriate language, and the negative setting of the book. In this unit we read the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian which is another book that has been banned. This book has many passages that can be deemed controversial. The book does contain some language that may cause parents to forbid their children from reading it. After having read the book for the first time in eighth grade, I didn't think it was too bad for someone my age to be reading it which made me question why it was banned in this class. For this Action Project we were asked to choose a book that had been banned or censored at some time an...