Bon Appétit! Or Not? - Future Global Hunger

In my third and final action project this term, for the third unit, "IF/THEN," we looked at the world population and what problems could emerge from overpopulation. Population is more than a number. It changes every second. Someone dies or is born every second of the day, and I have failed to realize this. This project focuses more on the downside to high populations. It is actually interesting to see how different people think there is going to be problems with high populations and some think the same thing, but for different reasons. 

My class and I calculated the World Population in 2050. We used geometric sequences and the current world population to determine the world population in 36 years. Our work is shown below:

AMK. World Population, 2050. (2014)

For our project, we wrote a script to inform other teenagers about the problems associated with 

population growth. The script is for an animated cartoon that will be put on social media sites.


[Dillan and Savannah sit outside on a picnic blanket, talking about life]


Dillan: I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while Vannah, haha.


Savannah: Haha, all you had to do was ask! This is really nice by the way.


Dillan: Thanks, it didn’t take too long, just made some sandwiches and stuff. It was actually kind of fun, since I was excited you finally said yes…


S: But Dillan… this is the first time you asked.


D: ...but anyways I used so many different recipes, trying to get all this food made correctly. My garbage had a bad stench because of all the food that was in there!


S: But Dillan you know there’s millions of people around the world that are starving because they can’t afford food to feed themselves and their family.


D: ...Vannah, that’s silly, we both know that people are hungry because the population is increasing and food is becoming scarce because we can’t produce enough!


S: No, hunger, poverty, and food prices are linked. Almost all hungry people are poor.


D: ..well--


S: Millions live with hunger because they simply cannot afford nutritious food.


D: ..I see, but--


S: And also the world produces 17% more food per person today than 30 years ago. But almost a billion people go to sleep hungry every night!


D: ..Vann--


S: Plus we already grow enough food for 10 billion people. And our world population is 7 billion. Now what did you have to say? 

D: Nothing anymore. Wow, Vannah I wasn't aware!

S: Yea, there's a lot of things we may not be aware of.

D: So you want to just go grab some food from the garbage? 

S: I never said that! Haha

What Would Life Be Without Super Heroes?

In my third and last action project this term, the third unit, "Journeys," showed us the stages of the Hero's Journey. The stages we focused on for this project are: The Call, Mentor, The Unknown, Trials, Infinite Despair, Rebirth, Atonement, and The Return. This project was actually really cool because you could see some of your favorite characters from a different point of view. Instead of just seeing them save the day, you respect the journey that got them to that point. This unit was amazing and surprising to me. I didn't know this course would change the way I look at story-lines so much.

I chose Yoda to analyze, from the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated television series for my fictional character. I chose Yoda because he is one of my favorite characters EVER. I like the way he fights people, making them face themselves; he rarely attacks. He just uses the force and the bad energy of the dark side to fight. He uses his opponents’ anger to pierce their armor, metaphorically. I chose my auntie, Ms. Jones’ for my real life hero because growing up as a kid, being in the army was the coolest thing there was. She is an active member in the Army and she continues to inspire me everyday. She also stays really involved in my life. Why not share the love? I feel my heroes,although seemingly quite different, could actually relate. Both of my heroes have been through similar types of experiences--not exactly the same things, but the same idea. They received an invitation to start their journeys, they opened that invitation and faced many problems, and then they overcame those problems to get to where they are now.

Below is an original image of my analysis, or what I like to call the "The Circle of Action." This circle represents Yoda on his hero’s journey to find the hidden secrets of the Force. My analysis of both heroes follows Joseph Campbell's theory of the monomyth:

DNR. Circle of Action. (2014)

DR: Hello how you doing, for this recording can you please tell the people what you do? Your Occupation?

Ms. Jones: I’m currently in the military I’ve been in the military for 12 years now. I’m active duty, rank of a Sergeant first class.

1.) The Call-
DR: What motivates you to keep doing what you’re doing?

Ms. Jones: The things that motivate me to keep doing what I’m doing is the fact that I’m able to assist others and their families to give them resources in which will help them in their time of need. It’s just basically giving soldiers options or helping them when they don’t know certain things. So being a viable resource to others motivates me to keep doing this.


2.) Mentor-
DR: Who was physically there helping/pushing you forward to accomplish what you wanted to?

Ms. Jones: I would say The person that motivated me to push forward during my basic training would probably be my auntie Stephanie who is currently deceased but at times when I did wanna give up and I’ll call home, she’ll tell me to stay strong and I can make it through it. It’s only a transition, you worked very hard to get there, you can push through it. So she believed in me which in turns made me believe that I can accomplish it.


3.) The Unknown/Crossing the Threshold-
DR: How was the transition into your line of work? How was it different than before?

Ms. Jones: I joined the military right when I got out of high school So I went from high school into the military so basically being able to do whatever I wanted to do as a teen to a structured environment where I had people basically yelling and screaming at me telling me what I needed to do. So I had to make a choice basically of what I wanted to do. It’ll be easier to just listen so at some point I had to put my pride in my back pocket and just follow directions and it made it a very easier transition. So I went from a non-structured environment to a structured environment. So it was a pretty hard transition for me.


4.) Trials/Tests/Allies/Enemies-
DR: Along your way, did you know anyone that was going through the same thing as you?

Ms. Jones: Actually I Joined with two other friends, so it was three of us so we all faced the same challenges right out of high school.


5.) Abyss/Infinite Despair-
DR: What would be the greatest challenge you would have to face during your career?

Ms. Jones: Being that now I am a parent. My greatest challenge would probably be having to leave my 3 years old daughter if I’m required to take a tour overseas. That would probably be my greatest challenge being that I’m a single parent.


6.) Rebirth/Reward & Road Back-
DR: How could you overcome that challenge?

Ms. Jones: I think the only way that I would be able to overcome is to have faith and know that my family would take care of my daughter if I’m forced to have to take another tour.


7.) Atonement-
DR: How has your career ultimately affected you?

Ms. Jones: My career has changed me as a person, it has changed my attitude, it has made me humble. It has made me caring, a more caring individual about others and their needs. And I believe it just made me a better person from what I was 12 years ago.


8.) The Return-
DR: How have you used your new knowledge to encourage others?

Ms. Jones: I use my knowledge to encourage others because I tell them what their possibilities are. To be optimistic about what they're facing and the challenges that come before them. I like to ensure that they build resilience within themselves and allow them to look at the situation, or look at their life from a different angle.


DR: Thank you again for answering these questions for me. Thank you!

References:

"Star Wars: Clone Wars, Season 6: Episode 12: Destiny" 

Harlie, The Omega Adaptor

In my second action project this year, the second unit, "FROM/TO," discovered what it takes to survive in not so friendly environments. Population's class is becoming clear as we roll through our second Action Project. My animal is such a beautiful organism. This assignment was quite interesting because we got to study Mars. The climate of Mars was a bit hard to research because of its complex environment; I didn't think any animal was fit to survive there. I chose this animal to live on Mars and you will learn a bit more on why below:

Since my animal will be living with humans, we will assume that my animal is provided things like water, food, and oxygen. I chose the Husky breed of dog.

PAWS. "Harlie," (2014) Web. fox.com 

My Collected Data (Age In Years): 1,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,4,4,4,5,5,5,6

DNR. Box and Whisker Plot. (2014) 

I chose my Husky off of Paws. Her name is Harlie and she has a sister that she is tied to, mentally.

The standard deviation for this sample was 1.83 with a group with an average of 2.93. This means there's a decent difference in the age of each of these animals. There was no distinct outlier in my data. Although, there was one number that came up only once, which was 6. Harlie is 5 years old, which is 1.13 standard deviations above the average of 2.93.

The Two Ants and The Magnifying Glass

In my second action project this year, the second unit, "Lessons," provided us information on how to create the perfect fable. We discussed the structure of dialogue and how to use sensory language. My fable was really fun to write. I love writing stories, especially those with a moral. The visuals I created were supposed to look like a merged photo and I did a pretty nice job transitioning to the next photo. This unit was right up my alley because of my love for story making.

DNR. Magnifying Glass. (2014)  

DNR. Ants. (2014)