The Road To Olympus

For the second action project of my Electives course, Game Changers, we were asked to showcase the games we created. Some games were solo and some games were duo-created. I had a partner who just so happened to be a great visual artist. Since I have a very creative mind as well, our partnership came to be very successful. We created a Greek Mythology themed game, where Hades has sent 7 demigods to the underworld and they must make their way up to Mount Olympus. Hades has put several different creatures on the road in hopes of tethering the young heroes, but 3 demigods must win! The process of creating this game was time-consuming and really fun! The most difficult thing about this project was definitely the creative part; specifically looking at the lore of the story, and the abilities and roadblocks. Our project was very well-thought-out and has really gotten better over the last couple of weeks. I hope you guys like it!

Our quick elevator pitch: Hello I am DR and my partner is NVA and together we have created the game, Road To Olympus, a Greek Mythology game where you can play as one of 7 demigods. Hades has captured these 7 demigods and now they must make their way back to Olympus. They must go through 5 creatures the Sphinx, the Cyclops, the Hydra, the Minotaur, Medusa, and Hades himself to get to Olympus. They can pray to the gods to help them, but their prayers can be heard by any god, even Hades. Only 3 of the demigods can be victorious in making it to Olympus.

Below is a slideshow, showcasing our failures and successes throughout the creation process:

Below is a video, explaining gameplay more in depth:

The game-creating process is no joke. This class has really showed me that some games were a lot harder to create than they are to play. Even with our almost pure random game, the experience was just really hard. I enjoyed every second of working with my partner, but we did struggle, and there's beauty in the struggle. If you ever feel as if you are struggling, then that means you are improving. The hardest thing that we had to overcome was making sure there was smooth gameplay. We wanted a very balanced game. It was very important to us that the consumer is happy. If whoever is playing the game, thinks it is genuinely unfair. then we were open to feedback. Feedback was huge in creating our game. We had feedback that spanned from our classmates to professional game developers. This made our drafts a lot easier to create because we just tried to solve every problem that we encountered. My partner and I are extremely happy you guys took time to look at our game. We truly did put our all into creating this game. When people are having fun playing it, it actually means the world to us! The Road to Olympus stemmed from our love for Greek Mythology and for just have a good time. Our 7 player game is more fun, the more people that play, and we would really suggest it to anyone! Let creativity prosper and create your own game! Games are more than rolling dice and moving. This project has taught me that.

Some Afterschool Fun

For the first action project of my Game-changers course, we were asked to create a scenario and choose the correct game to fit that situation. Throughout the unit, we analyzed a bunch of different games to then write notes on those games. In the notes, we described the game in grave detail, pinpointing the things that work and the struggles of the game. We also discussed what a game was. We came to the conclusion that a game played with only one player is no longer a game; it is actually a puzzle. This project was actually really cool, but quite difficult. It took me a long time to complete this project because of my passion for video games. I wanted to make sure I could share some of my favorite games with my recommendee while making sure it meets the requirements of the situation. I ended up recommending Spades and Chess. Both of these games are some of my favorites and I'm happy that I got a chance to look deeper into these games, and take on the role of a game designer. I really enjoyed creating this project for you guys! I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

The classroom setting that I chose was a very simple one. In middle school, after school was a huge part of my life, both emotionally and academically. I met my best friend in after school, as well as some people who helped me turn into the man I am today. After school is a place of fun, but I tried to also make the games stimulating.

Here's a link to my Stat Sheet so that you can think about my games from an analytic point-of-view: Stat Sheet

I chose two games: Chess and Spades. I think they both are great fits for this setting. Chess is more stimulating than Spades, but in most cases, it is less fun. However, Spades is, in most cases, more fun than Chess so they are both great fits, but they lack some of what the other game has. Thinking about the age group I am trying to panther to; I believe that fifth-eighth graders (11-14) would have a lot more fun playing spades. The best part is that all they need is a deck of cards and a surface!

Future Plans

The second and last action project for my STEAM course, Economics, we were asked to create a financial portfolio. Throughout this unit, we learned quite a lot about the difference between a good stock and bad stock. We were specifically given a figurative amount of approximately $50 thousand to invest into stocks and bonds over a certain span of years. I ended up choosing Dollar Tree and Ulta because I used these companies' products a lot growing up, and I really remember their name more than most other companies. We also had to invest our money and set our goals pertaining to the SMART rule; Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Relevant/Reasonable, Time-bound. This project was very heavy and it was not easy to fully understand what I had to do, but I got through it! I would say that my favorite part was studying the stocks and comparing their recent and not-so-recent activity to help me choose which stocks I wanted to invest in. I hope you enjoy looking at my project as much as I enjoyed creating it for you!

For this project, we had to really analyze the market to determine what companies we wanted to invest our financial life into. I am not scared of a little risk; no one should be. According to the Investment Risk Tolerance Quiz, I have a high-risk tolerance. The results are below:

The scenario given to us is as follows: "18 years ago, your guardian angel set up a college savings plan for you with an initial investment of $8,500. Your angel contributed $50 each month to the college savings plan ($600 yearly). After 18 years at an average annual interest rate of 7%, compounded annually, the plan is now worth a hefty lump sum. Yesterday, you cashed out your plan and deposited the money in a brokerage account to invest on your own." My SMART goals are presented below:

• 1-year goal: Go on a trip with my closest friends to California before college departure ($2,500)

• 5-year goal: Move into a place I can call my own ($80,000) 

• 25-year goal: Have accumulated money for over 24 years and I wish to be debt free and have money to open up my own recording studio ($1,000,000)

What drew me to these companies the most, is that they stay out of the news, and it doesn't seem like they put their workers through harsh conditions. I choose morality over profit when investing in companies because I wouldn't want to be a part of something whereas I can't sleep at night, but I'm making money. I love a business that is for the people and not just for the profit, although I still love the profit.

Dollar Tree:I chose Dollar Tree because it's prominently known in the neighborhood I live in. The economic moat of Dollar Tree is their ability to maintain $1 prices throughout their stores. Centered in tough parts of the city, aiming to help people with less money and are very useful for those with money as well. $1 prices are always great for everyone! Dollar Tree, with an estimated 2016 growth of 40.7%, is well known for it's exceptionally reasonable prices and will never fail to impress the stock market. Nothing but growth in the near future!

Ulta: I chose Ulta because they have a large brand, and are known around the world as the cosmetics brand. Growing up, all I saw was Ulta brand cosmetics. Makeup will never die. I only see this company expanding from now on. Ulta has a projected 2016 growth of 18%, and they have an annual revenue of over $3.5 billion dollars!

One of the most important things in this business is the profit. My Return On Investment (ROI) is presented below:

For one year:

(Total: $2,548.65)'

21 shares of DLTR for $1,579.41  ($75.21 each stock) 62%

4 shares of ULTA for $969.24  ($242.31 each stock) 38%

ROI:

.62 x .2829 +

.38 x .1877

=.246724

=24.7%

total x 1.247 = $3,178.17

For five years:

(Total: $14,430.22)

46 shares of DLTR for $3,459.66 24%

45 shares of ULTA for $10,903.95 76%

ROI:

.24 x .2829 +

.76 x .1877

=.210548

=21.1%

total(1.211)5th power = 1.62961673e21

For twenty-five years: 

(Total: $32,216.51)

41 shares of DLTR for $3,083.61 10%

120 shares of ULTA for $29,077.20 90%

ROI:

.10 x .2829 +

.90 x .1877

=.19722

=19.7%

total(1.197)25th power = 4.51144909e114

With a leftover amount of $55.70.

There's something called a stock sector. A stock sector is how we organize different companies into categories, such as Disney being an entertainment company, etc. I chose to focus on primely retail trade stock sectors. I love the retail business. I think the idea of creating stuff cheap and selling it higher, is smart because if people need it, they will buy it, regardless of the price it cost to create that good.

References:

"Dollar Tree, Inc." NASDAQ.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016. Staff, Investopedia. 

"How To Use The P/E Ratio And PEG To Tell A Stock's Future." Investopedia. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

"Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragran." Vuru. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

"Our Story – ULTA Beauty Careers." Our Story – ULTA Beauty Careers. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

"DollarTree.com." Dollar Tree, Inc.: Floral Supplies, Party Supplies, Cleaning Supplies. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

"The Dollar Tree" Vuru. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

The Man Who Can Do It All

For the second action project of my Journalism class, we were asked to pick someone from the 20th century, that we thought had a powerful voice. This person could be alive or dead. I chose Will Smith because I believe that his music is very underrated and his acting career overshadowed his musical talent. We were also asked to focus on radio-journalism so we used podcasts to portray our message. Although. the podcast did take a long time to complete, I think I'm pretty satisfied with the result. We were also required to create a script. This was not a easy task, but I was up for the challenge. I liked this project because it allowed me to use the creative bone in my body. Anything that allows me to be creative, I'm usually open to, and I opened up to this project and exposed myself to new things. I would suggest this project as a leisure type of thing to do because it's very relaxing and you can get your creative juices flowing while learning more about your favorite people in the world.

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0:00 0:30 0:30 1:14	[Fresh Prince] [Me/end (Summertime snippet ends)] [The Fresh Prince- Parents Just Don't Understand Snippet/end] [Me/end (The Fresh Prince- Parents Just Understand Snippet)] THE END	*Snippet of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song plays* *Snippet of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song ends* Me (Snippet of Summertime by The Fresh Prince): This is Sean and I’m here on Sean Rivers radio to talk about Will Smith and his impact on the youth, specifically talking about his rap career in the 80s. I feel like Will Smith is prominently known for his acting career, and a lot of people call him a sell out because he didn’t continue rap. Was it for a pay check? Or was Will’s passion for acting stronger than his passion for music? Nevertheless, Will Smith has produced quite a lot of quality music and has made many movies a worth-while watch! Today I will be telling you guys, just how important Will Smith is to me, as a teenager. Will: There's no need to argue, Parents Just Don't Understand. Me: We have Nick here on SEAN RIVERS radio. Hey Nick, how you doing? Nick: Good, you? Me: I'm doing great. I just had a few questions for you. Of course we're here to talk about Will Smith and how important he was to us as teenagers, we are growing up now. In the 80s he was a rapper though, why is he important to you? Nick: He's important to me because I feel like his music resonated with me a lot and the way he tried to make it so relatable to the everyday teenager and that kind of stuff and how he was on Fresh Prince and his acting career and all of it was just so great and seeing him progress in that kind of way. The Fresh Prince: Mom what are ya doing, you'll ruin my rep. She said you're only 16, you don't have a rep yet. Me: Have you ever went to school in an outfit that your parents forced you to wear? Example? Nick: Not exactly a full outfit, but I remember my mom bought me these horrible pants and she made me wear them because she loved them (The Fresh Prince: she said if they were laughing, you don't need 'em cuz they're not good friends) so much and she got them at such a cheap price that I was forced to wear them, even though I hated them and it did not go with my style of the day at all. Me: I know how that feels! The Fresh Prince: You go to school to learn, not for a fashion show. Me: Has your mom ever yelled at you for something really minor? Nick: Oh, all the time, like of course. I feel like that's something that all parents do at some point. Me: Well, you ever do something and get into a lot of trouble with your parents? Nick: I have before. I remember I was playing with Nerf guns or something and I shot it at my dad and he all of a sudden got so angry at me. He stood up and started yelling at me. I didn't even do anything that much. It's crazy because parents, they just don't get it sometimes. The Fresh Prince: That was a hard ride home, I don't know how I survived it. They took turns, one was beating me while the other one was driving. Me: Thank you Nick, for coming on SEAN RIVERS radio. Nick: Thanks for having me, man! Me: Will Smith, born on September 25th, 1968, was an inspiration and voice of the teens. I love to watch his growth as an actor and I’m very happy I get to listen to his older raps because it helps me through my teenage years! Those parents tho….. The Fresh Prince: Can't live wit 'em, can't live without 'em!

Economic Dilemma

For the first action project of my senior year in my Economics class, we were asked to map out two different post-high-school paths. One of my paths is the typical 4-8 years of university, to get my Bachelors or Masters in Economics, ironic enough. My other path is pursuing a music career, which could very much make me rich at the cost of college experience and plenty of time. I used the google spreadsheet to map out my cost for school each year and my salary each year after college, to see my lifetime earnings. I also included how long it would take me to pay off all my debt according to my predicted salary. I had a lot of fun doing this project, but it is definitely one of the hardest projects I have ever done. Google spreadsheet is not an easy program to tackle.

Explain Life In 1000 Words If Possible

For the first action project of my Journalism class, we were asked to essentially define the meaning of life in 1000 words. We also had to get some help with answering this question. I chose to interview my cousin, Darius. I chose Darius because he is one of the most insightful people I know, and we just so happen to be very close. We were also asked to take a picture of our subject, which is more connected to the course itself if you think about photo-journalism. There's different types of journalism though; photo-journalism and newspaper editors are just two examples of journalism. I had just a little bit of difficulty writing the 1000 words because this assignment is very open-ended, and I didn't have many guidelines to go by. Conceptually, this project is one of the greatest I've ever had and I had a great time digging deep down into my brain.
___________________________________________________________________

What would you do if you were asked to define life? For some, this question may be quite straightforward, but for others, this question may be very difficult to tackle; I am one of those people. My views on things of this nature are normally anything but straightforward because I'm such an open-minded individual. Nevertheless I am still stubborn so majority of the time when I believe something, I'm not looking back. This project, and my cousin was an eye-opening experience. Questions like, "what's the meaning of life," are what actually gets my brain working, and makes me feel like I have to dig deep to answer them. "What's the meaning of life," is probably one of the most open-ended questions ever; I could say that this question is the most open-ended question ever.

My subject's name is Darius, and he is quite the character. My cousin's views are always different and insightful. As soon as the question for this project arose, I knew exactly who I wanted to interview because my cousin loves to preach to me about his mistakes, and how I can avoid making the same ones. As I have gotten older, he has proven as a really big role model for these stages in my life. Darius' opinions are very abstract, in a sense where you really understand him after you have thought for awhile. Although, most times Darius can be very straightforward, his mind is anything but that.

Since you have pretty much met my interviewee, I would like to show you all what happened when I presented him a couple questions, surrounding what the meaning of life is. When my subject was asked, "what's the meaning of life, in your opinion," Darius responded, "No meaning to it until you put one on it, can’t generalize the meaning of life because it’s different from person to person just live it." Just from his first answer, I knew this would be a great interview. The answer he gave was very expected, and I loved it because it really was a good intro into the interview. My second question was for him was, "has life always meant the same for you, or did this meaning change to you and why," and Darius said, "I always knew life is what you make it, just in the process of learning the full extent of it." Then there was that answer I was awaiting the whole time; when I asked him for a story that explains his view of the meaning of life, he then responded with, "Umm.. I was born in 1993, it’s 2016. 1+1 always equals 2." I wanted to ask him to elaborate on this statement so bad, but I believe it's better off not explained, and thought about. The meat of the interview began to saute when I asked the question, "what image would represent this meaning of life - would it be you yourself, something of yours with sentimental value, a favorite book, etc, and would you please describe it?" My subject then responded with,"the seasons. Life is like the seasons. As far as growth and its representation, you can’t be specific because it means different things from person to person. Just like a stop light or 100 cent means different things to different people, depends on how deep you want to look into it. But when you reflect on what those things mean, it’s a representation of ourselves as well. First thing that comes to mind when I answered seasons is change, process, and progress which is what I’m going through. Any analogy can apply to anyone at any point in time, just a matter of what part we are going through. We can be as deep as in what specific season and its meaning or just as general as the season itself and let you imply what you wish. Life is everything and nothing at the same time, depends on how deep you want to look at something or how shallow you wish to be." I want to stop here for a moment because there's a lot of stuff going on here, in this answer. My subject says that life is like the seasons, and he continues to explain the importance of point-of-view. He flexes change, process, and progress as his main support for answering "the seasons."

Fortunate enough, I have more questions; they are not going to be the same as the last ones. The following questions are going to get a lot more personal. I started this series of questions with what I would say, is the most important question of them all, "how important is money to you." as Darius answered very straightforwardly, "money is essentially one of the most important things in life. In order to do things or not, it usually comes down to finance. Most of life’s decisions come down to money and the ability to acquire it or spend it." I then tried to dig deeper; I asked him if there would ever be one thing in the past he would have did differently and he said that he wish he never would have realized being untrue to himself because it's one of those bad habits that are hard to shake now, as he gets older. I asked my subject two more questions; one of those questions was, "would you risk your life for your family's," and he responded with "indeed." My last question was quite the outro; I asked him "would you rather have a better life now or a better life later," and he responded with, "later, because life would be worse later otherwise."

DR. "Darius" (2016)

Above, is a photo of my cousin Darius where I just asked him to turn around and snapped a photo of him. I wanted to capture the emotion and full persona of him. I interviewed him in the living room and took this photo in the dining room where there was a bit better lighting. I tried to focus on him in the photo and blur out the background, but it was hard because my photo was sudden and not prepared. You can see the emotion of Darius, a bit of a faint smirk with a very serious face, capturing who he is as a person. The photo came out not as perfect as I would have thought, but I'm still proud of what I depicted in the photo.

Lake Redline Renovations

For the last action project of my Urban Planning course (the last STEAM course of my Junior year), we were asked to pick a street that we wanted to redesign. I chose the street that’s home to the Lake Redline stop. I chose the Lake Redline stop (188 N State) because in the last few years, I have frequently gone down this street to get to and from school. Now, of course, in many cases there are a lot of improvements to be made involving infrastructure and urban planning, but I have only have a few. I honestly love this street and I feel like architects did a great job acknowledging the surrounding buildings and places around the Red Line location. The name of this unit is “Flow” because it was basically about the flow of a city. I learned a number of terms, such as Eminent Domain and Redlining. Eminent Domain is when the government forces someone out of their property against their will, while paying them money to cover moving. Redlining is when the government denies services to certain areas based on ethnic/racial background. I feel as if this project is quite clear and easy to understand so I’m happy that this project was pretty fun.

_____________________________________________________

The area I tried renovating is located on 188 N State in Chicago, IL. This street is mainly used for the Red Line, transferring from line to line, attractions for tourists & citizens, and jobs. This popular place is full of opportunity and I believe it could use more restaurants and more civilian-friendly things, such as seats and mobile charging stations. That's essentially what I tried to tackle as an architect of this space. I tried to make this space more citizen-friendly.

The space I chose is shaped like a rectangular. The length of this rectangle is 374ft and the width is 110ft. The area of a rectangle is length X width. 374 X 110 = 41140ft (squared). Below I will show a diagram of this space and I've labeled a few things I found wrong with it.

DNR "Issues with Lake Red Line Area," Web. 24 May, 2016.

Below I have a diagram that I created, highlighting the changes that I will try to make to this space. I chose the same layout to explain my improvements so the scales are similar.

DNR "Resolved Issues with Lake Red Line Area," Web. 24 May, 2016.

My designs were inspired by one area. I was definitely inspired by the idea of mobile charging stations, which I learned about from the AT&T mobile charging stations in New York City. My other inspiration is also from New York, where Metropolitan Transportation Authority created better looking and much safer train grates for New Yorkers with high heels and others.

Below is my 3D model of the improvements I chose to make. In my model you will see a number of different structures and shapes. The light grey boxes are representative of the 3 buildings and the one wedge shaped building is my new gas station design, with the small rectangle shaped structures in front being gas tanks. The two small white shapes represent the new and improved clear train grates. The three small yellow pyramids represent some of the seating arrangements. The one cylinder represents one of the mobile charging stations.

The volume of the seats (pyramids) in my 3D model is: height: 11mm X length: 11mm X width: 20mm/3 = 806.67mm (cubed). The volume of my charging station (cylinder) in my 3D model is: height: 11mm X radius: 10mm (squared) X pi = 3455.75mm (cubed).



There’s a concept called “T.H.I.S” that I will briefly address. T stands for transportation, and my improvements relate to transportation because of the renovation of the Lake Redline area and my idea of blocking off the alley for safer bike commutes. H stands for housing, and my improvements relate to housing because the Lake redline is transportation to an assortment of different homes for Chicago civilians and even hotels for visitors. I stands for infrastructure, and my improvements relate to infrastructure because I plan on implementing charging stations which requires an alternating current system to carry power far distances. S stands for services, and my improvements relate to services because the charging stations will require an electricity company to make it happen.

First I thought about the traffic that would generate from there being a gas station and no alleys, but then I thought that maybe I could only make one alley for bikes only. I learned after a while that this street isn’t as perfect as I once thought. Next time, I would definitely look into making the charging stations cost money, just to make more money.

Poetry Is Bliss, English or Spanish

In my third period class, we were asked by our Spanish teacher to pick a topic and tackle it fully. I chose poetry because of my love for rhythm and rhyme. With researching our topic, we had to create 20 sentences in Spanish, related to our topic, while corresponding with a certain vocab word for each sentence. We were also asked to create some form of creative art. Since I researched poetry, I created a short poem about the awesomeness that comes with being bilingual. There was also a required Reference page that's included in my slideshow. If you were thinking, yes, all of the researched I collected is put into the slideshow below, into a cohesive and beautiful presentation for you all to read. I loved this project and I love Spanish. Sometimes I even wish it was my first language. Although the required 20 sentences was extremely challenging to a beginning Spanish student, I took on the challenge and I learned a bunch about grammar, concerning Spanish.

The Teachings of Evolution, Illegal?

For the last project of my Policy course (the last Humanities course of my junior year), we were asked to analyze a controversial case that made it to the Supreme Court. I chose "Scopes' Monkey Trial," which is a case where a teacher (John Scopes) taught his students about Evolution. The teachings of evolution was outlawed in Tennessee at the time. Well, that may sound a bit crazy or excessive, and that's exactly why most people thought that this case was unconstitutional. The purpose of this project is to understand the decisions of the Supreme Court and to dig deeper into finding out how these decisions shape society. I learned that a lot of court cases are very controversial and some may even be called ridiculous. I also learned that the decisions made by the Supreme Court actually do affect society heavily. I think that this project was pretty challenging, but more expressive and informative. This is yet another project where my school allows the student to explore and express themselves. I am quite proud of my work, and I'm super excited about closing out my junior year with a bang!

 

Why The US Occupied Haiti

For the second unit of my last Humanities course of junior year, we were asked to create an organized position on a war being just or not. We specifically targeted wars that the US were involved in, such as World War's I and II. I chose the Occupation of Haiti because I was looking for something different that not many people know about, I saw "Occupation" instead of war and I had to read more. After reading up on the causes and effects of this war, I decided that it was unique enough for me to tackle. This occupation was kind of controversial, but in this case, I believe that the US did what was necessary to protect our country and our allies. This project is one of my favorite projects, where the students can address situations with almost full creative power. I normally never promote war, but this time I have pushed myself to open my horizons and think of the country first. Not the most ideal thought to have in my book, but I am trying to challenge myself as I enter into the last stages of my high school career.

Wikipedia. "United States Occupation of Haiti," Web. 05/11/16

The Occupation of Haiti was what many called "a catastrophe." In 1915, July 28th, Woodrow Wilson ordered 330 US Marines to Haiti, under the influence that foreigners would overthrow the land. The US, being friends with Haiti, thought it would be quite logical to help them fight off Haitian Rebels. That sounds about right, doesn't it? Well, our allies were in trouble and we helped them, but is it really that simple?

US Representatives had the power to veto the Occupation of Haiti, but no such thing happened. Haiti at the time, was using Capitalism. Capitalism is a political system in which private owners profit off the trade and industrial manufacturing of the country, and this could definitely be reason to rebel against the country. The "Cacos," (Haitian rebels) as Americans called them, were quite ruthless in their acts to "purify the country." Haitian rebels were supported heavy by German forces, even though Germany was still recovering from World War I, they still supported the Cacos however they could, including financial investments and additional soldiers. The Cacos also engaged in terrorism and other war crimes against our troops, as well as the Haitian Government and civilians.

The ratification of the Haitian-American Convention allowed the United States to intervene with events that happen in Haiti. With the ratification of this policy, Haiti is vulnerable to US tampering in their country, and the policy also gives the US security and economic oversight of Haiti. The Senate of the US is primarily responsible for this ratification. The US Constitution doesn't seem to contradict the ratification of the Haitian-American Convention policy, although it seems a bit wrong, I feel as if the initial reasoning for this policy was to help Haiti. There is always more negatives and positives though, including 15,000 lives lost during the Occupation of Haiti under the H-A Convention policy. Not to mention the involvement of Germany during their recovery from World War I and the amazing contributions to Haiti's infrastructure.

To wrap things up, I believe that the US Occupation of Haiti was possibly more necessary than we may have thought. The US had legal right to be in Haiti, and that doesn't make it completely right, but the intentions of our country were semi-positive in my opinion. I feel as if Haiti benefited from our supervision. The rebels were going to take over Haiti, and not to mention the constant support of Germany, leaving us more vulnerable for attacks if Haiti was under the control of our foes. So was the Occupation of Haiti just or not? I believe, controversially, that it was.

Works Cited:

globalsecurity. John Pike “Occupation of Haiti (1915-34),” N.D. Web. 12 May. 2016.

windowsonhaiti. Marie-Josée Mont-Reynaud “The Failure of the American Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934,” March. 2002. Web. 12 May. 2016.

Office of The Historian. N.P. “U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Haiti, 1915-34,” N.D. Web. 12 May. 2016.

Wikipedia “United States Occupation of Haiti,” N.D. Web. 12 May. 2016.

SMITHSONIAN. Helen Thompson “The United States Once Invaded and Occupied Haiti,” 3 August. 2015. Web. 12 May. 2016.

My Fun-sized Oven

For the second action project of the last STEAM course of my Junior, my group members and I were asked to create a parallel circuit with 5 resistors, a parallel switch, and a master switch. This unit we focused mainly on power and who has harnessed it best to create different ways of shaping humanity. For example, Nikola Tesla being one of these great scientists, who created Alternating Current which can be seen throughout large areas where electricity has to travel far distances and Thomas Edison being a contributor to Direct Current whereas, it travels shorter distances, using less voltage. I learned quite a lot this unit I think the project was difficult, but quite interesting. Definitely not my favorite project, but I love the creativity that my school has put into it!

 

Civil Wrongs Act of 1964

In the first unit of my last Humanities course of Junior year, we were asked to pick an act or policy to address, or even create our own. I chose the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because I don't believe it's living up to its expectations. The policy states that it "outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." My concerns are that this policy isn't very well carried out and enforced. Our main mission as a class was to address each of our policies by sending a letter to a person of power that could properly address our issue. I found no other option better than writing to the president himself. I feel like this project went pretty smooth, especially since I am very passionate about the topic I chose and trying to rat out the corrupt power figures in our government. I am definitely proud of my letter as a whole and the fire I used to compose it. That's not literal fire, don't you know the fire you get from wanting to speak your mind? I did learn that with writing a letter to the president, comes a lot of proofreading, and I'm sure my letter is not perfect.

Amazon. "Civil Rights Act of 1964," Web. 04/29/16

DR
GCE Lab School
1535 N. Dayton
Chicago, IL 60642

April 24, 2016

The One and Only Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
White House, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500


Dear President Obama:

"Civil Rights Act of 1964- Outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin."
I could come at the Civil Rights Act a couple of different ways. One being the extreme lack of employment benefits for women. Another being the corruptness in the Police Department, specifically targeting the racism in the executive branch. Another way I could attack the Civil Rights Act, is by simply pointing out that there is still discrimination in the US. There's discrimination small-scale and large-scale, so what's the point of this big act? Don't ask me.

I could break this down deductively, by stating the facts:

• African-Americans comprise only 13% of the U.S. population and 14% of the monthly drug users, but are 37% of the people arrested for drug-related offenses in America. - dosomething.org. N.D.
• After being arrested, African-Americans are 33% more likely than whites to be detained while facing a felony trial in New York. - dosomething.org. N.D.
• Equality in pay has improved in the US since 1979 when women earned about 62 percent as much as men. In 2010, American women on average earned 81 percent of what their male counterparts earned, - International Labour Organization. N.D.

These statistics are not only true, but extremely sad. How can we be proud to call ourselves Americans? We have done society so wrong for so long that we have trained our minds to think that an increase of woman:man pay from 62% to 81% is actually okay. That 19% is obviously significant, but we glorify gender inequality by looking over the fact that there is still 19% to go. As of 2014, according to the AAUW Organization, there has been a decrease to 79% in the woman:man ratio, meaning there's now 21% remaining. By no means, is this acceptable.

Some may say that there's a reason for women not being payed as much, but there's no legit reason. Is it that women don't work as hard as men? Of course not, that can't be why because that's not at all true. Some people believe that women shouldn't be working and should stay at home and tend to household things, but why? That's equivalent to saying men should stay at home and do "household things," then who would work? Complete non-sense!

There has been recent uproars regarding young men who suffer from racial profiling, racial discrimination, and police brutality. Me and these young men have the same complexity and the only thing that separates them from me, is the fact that I didn't run into the wrong police officer at the wrong time. As I commute back and forth from the south side to the north side of Chicago to get to and from school, I fear for my life as I am just like those of our lost ones in these officers' eyes. Does this not frighten you as president, as much as me being a potential victim? Chew on that.

Me and my mother live in Chicago IL, born and raised in the US, our home country. How can we call this place our home when my mom works a nine hour shift and is only getting payed a 79,000$ yearly salary, whereas her male counterpart works the same exact shift and "earns" a 100,000$ yearly salary? My mother is then put in a position where she has to tell my little female cousins that they have to be men to earn fair pay. If this doesn't ring a bell in your mind, then I don't know what will!

I propose a reinstatement and stronger legislation of our former Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Thanks for viewing this letter and I would like to close by just saying that these problems are picking the US apart. You, as the president, have some type of power to make a difference. If you understand that you are being a witness and bystander to the horrible things that are happening to YOUR people that voted for YOU, to get YOU to where you are now, then you would understand that before you leave office, you need to address some of these problems with more passion. Remember, I meet the profile of being black and I could be next at any time. The next cop rolling down my block, deciding that he wants to use excessive force, you're gonna wish you made a difference. It's never to late too try your hardest.

Break, Or Not To Break

In the first unit of my last STEAM course of junior year, we were asked to create a bridge with a random partner. KIS and I had to create a bridge using triangles because we have studied that triangles have proved to be the most effective shape in infrastructure. We used a combination of glue and popsicle sticks to create a stable bridge. There was a small amount of super glue available so we used it with caution. After overcoming some problems with our initial design, our outcome was different than expected. The main concern before testing the 10lbs on our bridge was the constant leaning of it. Not to mention we could only use 50 popsicle sticks. Despite our difficulties with the design, I am extremely proud of my bridge for holding 10lbs.

Where Amazing Happens (Hyde Park - Chicago)

The name of this course is "If These Walls Could Talk," and surrounds its curriculum around historic artistic views and defining "mural." For the first Action Project of my Humanities course this Elective Term, we had to create a drawn piece of art work that signifies what our chosen neighborhood needs. For example: if someone's chosen neighborhood has a violence problem, maybe they can draw a no shooting picture. We also have to tie this back in to what we have been learning by utilizing historic styles of art. We have to also utilize our mind and think of symbolic ways to get our point across, which is my favorite part of the project. I chose to pick the Hyde Park neighborhood because I currently live there and it's one of my favorite places to be. Researching the neighborhood was pretty easy because it's widely known as a pretty important place in Chicago. This made my project flow pretty smoothly because I could easily research what I had to.

DR. "Where Amazing Happens," Nov 30, 2015

DNR
11/2015
Where Amazing Happens
Pencil on paper 11” x 14”

In my art piece, you can clearly see the the statement in the middle of the drawing. It says "Where Amazing Happens," and if you look closely you can see "Hyde Park" faded in the background. The intended message that I hope to get across is that greatness has came out of the Hyde Park neighborhood, so this is inspiration for people my age and younger to be something great, no matter what neighborhood you're from. From my research, I realized a lack of education in Hyde Park, as the main school there, Kenwood Academy High School, has a 50% reading proficiency rate and 40% mathematics proficiency rate. These are fairly average numbers for a CPS High School, but I believe my neighborhood can do better! This serves a problem to me, because the worse this situation gets, the more kids on the streets, which means more killings and all types of other bad stuff. 

If you look closely, you can see my horizon line, drawn through the middle of the drawing, this is where the eyes of my viewer are first drawn to. There are also buildings throughout the drawing with a long path that has a vanishing point. I tried to create this art as a tribute to Hyde Park and simply, all the greatness that comes out of my neighorhood, with shoutouts to Mary Lincoln, Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali, Erne Duncan, and Vic Mensa. These are all people that are and have done great things. 

I colored my drawing accordingly to the color of each symbol. So, the Save Money symbol is red, so I colored it red, and Ali's gloves were usually red or gold, so I colored them red as well. 

Solar Time...

In the third and final Action Project for my Winter Term, my STEAM teacher asked me to create or innovate a time-telling device. Throughout this unit, we explored the secrets and different perceptions of time. While we studied the different techniques and devices for telling time, we also started to think about how we could create something that could potentially tell time using the units days, hours, minutes, and seconds. We also started to think about how we could improve ideas or devices that already tell time. The most important thing we tried to focus on was the video that you will see below. The creation of this video was very stressful and new to me. In this project, I tried to open my mind to new things. Designing your own clock may sound a bit crazy or impossible, but this project was extremely fun and even though the video may have been challenging, isn't that what makes projects fun?

Math Concepts: 

The circumference of the face of the watch is represented as 2piRadius. The diameter of the watch is about 1.5 inches, and since diameter is just radius times two, this means that all we now have to do is multiply 1.5 by pi. The circumference is about 4.71 inches. 

Works Cited:

Seiko "SEIKO Solar and the Environment," N.D. Web. 19 March. 2016.

Solar cooking "horace de saussure and his hot boxes of the 1700's," N.D. Web. 19 March. 2016.

Stand Up Video Game Activists!

In the third and final Action Project for my Winter Term, my Humanities teacher asked me to create a fairly balanced argument of our choice. The point of choosing the argument was to look at it from the opposing point of view and not just focus on the logic in our own. Looking at the argument from an opposing point of view allows you to be at peace with both sides, while filling in the flaws and loop-holes of your own argument. The main thing we tried to achieve throughout this project was to synthesize and create a new agreement for the better; this was about as difficult as it was fun. Throughout my last two Humanities projects, I have been able to speak my mind and I am being taught different ways to do so. I find it awesome that our school is allowing us to change our community for the better, extremely cool!

________________________________________________________________________________________

Thesis: Video Games are quite amazing in my eyes. There’s an onslaught of negative judgment against them, but I would like to propose that we give video games a chance. Video games have been quite a positive outlet in my life. Games allow time away from stress and everything else in the world that might alter your attitude negatively.

Support 1:

"In most video games people grab a controller and watch the screen, and act as fast as they possibly can according to what is happening on the screen. This helps people improve coordination, it improves dexterity, and in some cases, it even improves reflexes." - OCCUPYTHEORY. 17 January, 2015

Support 2:
"A lot of video games require the player to go through a determined puzzle to advance in the storyline or to get to the next phase of the game. This helps the development of problem solving abilities and logical thinking, which can be used in real life." - OCCUPYTHEORY. 17 January, 2015

Support 3:
"Multiplayer video games improve teamwork, cooperation, and in some cases are a great way for social interaction. While players need to work cooperatively and act as a team to win the game, they need to communicate with each other in order to achieve success. This type of teamwork can be used in real life to improve team activities and possibly facilitate employment." - OCCUPYTHEORY. 17 January, 2015

Antithesis: Video games are addictive and promote violence, poor health, and less physical activity. Video games corrupt the summer breaks, winter breaks, and spring breaks. Games have become a poison to the academic world. which leads to less performance in class and in overall mental ability. Jack Thompson is an American activist against video games. He stated once: "Many parents think that stores won’t sell an M-rated game to someone under 17. We know that's not true, and, in fact, kids roughly 50 percent of that time, all the studies show, are able to walk into any store and get any game regardless of the rating, no questions asked." This is a problem because although there can be an acceptance of violent games, that acceptance is if there's a limitation on the ages that are playing those games. If video game distributors aren't following this rule, then under-aged children will be exposed to violent content.

With every argument, there are questions. When there are questions in an argument, generally they come from both sides. Here is a simulation of a Q&A that I created between the opposing view points:

Questions for my side: Would you want your children playing games, endorsing killing and theft?
Answer: In all honesty, my children will be allowed to play any game they want by the age of 14. Obviously I'm not a father, but children are raised how you raise them. If your children will be influenced by video games and aren't mature enough for mature content, who's fault is that? The parent/guardian in that household.

Questions for opposing side: Would you rather our children be out on the streets with our free time?
Answer: Children are influenced by their household guardian as well in this situation and if your child is in the streets, maybe that's what he sees around him.

There's one golden question though. What can both sides agree on? Well this is how I synthesized the argument between both sides:

• Games are a worldwide phenomenon and our youth can be encouraged through other ways, not to resort to violence or profane behavior. Youth are motivated by the people in their household more than anyone or anything else. It’s almost unrealistic to take away all video games from children and teenagers across the world. We can continue to do what we can to motivate our youth to bring positive effects to our world.
• Knowledge is power and video games are expressive of expanding your mind. Whenever a video game is played, you learn something you didn’t know before, whether it’s the name of a defensive formation in basketball or a strategic plan to take down the Prime Minister. We can agree that video games can be quite informative.

Synthesis: Seeing as we can all agree on something, we should plan to move forward from this. By putting more limitations and restrictions on age, we can allow the playing of mature games. Maybe instead of ridding teenagers of video games that they love and video games that keep them from getting into trouble, we can teach them how to limit themselves and be good role models in their households. 

Below is a visual representation of my project:

Works Cited:

YouTube. SourceFed "7 Health Benefits Of Video Games," 11 March. 2013. Web. 14 March. 2016.

YouTube. AllTime 10s "10 Surprising Health Benefits Of Playing Video Games," 14 November. 2012. Web. 14 March. 2016.

OCCUPYTHEORY "Video Games Pros And Cons List," 17 January. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

ProCon "Do Violent Video Games Contribute To Youth Violence," 23 September. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

Penn State University. Qian Chen “Video Games: Cause or Cure For ADHD,” 23 October. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

ZME SCIENCE. TIBI PUIU “Do Violent Video Games Really Make Children More Aggressive,” 19 August. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

Wikipedia “Jack Thompson (activist),” N.D. Web. 14 March. 2016.

My Amendment

For the second action project of my Winter Term course, Argument we very thoroughly discussed how our history used valid argument to get their point across more effectively. More specifically, we dove deeper into the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. We also discussed different forms and techniques of argument or fallacies, such as: Ad Hominem (addressing your dislike for the presenter of an argument, opposed to the argument itself), etc. Along with our studies regarding the U.S. Constitution, we also reviewed the amendments created in that document. You guessed it, our assignment was to review our school's Code of Conduct and choose a section in which we wanted to justify or "amend." Now this project was a problem for me at the beginning, as I found close to nothing wrong with the Code of Conduct. Fortunately, a couple hours past and I remembered that a younger student from my school suffered from a bad illness which then restricted him from being at school for a very long month and a half or so. This struck my mind when he told me that he had to drop one of his courses because the workload was petrifying. Below I will explain why I believe there should be some justification in these situations.

Her Campus. "The Busy Work Assigner," Web. 03/08/16

The Code of Conduct addresses truancy in at least 2 key places. First, it is defined as:

...tardiness or absence (s) without a valid excuse. A student out of school without a valid excuse is considered truant. Truant students must arrange with their teachers to make up missed work. Parents will be notified of unexcused tardiness or absence.

Later in the Attendance Procedures section of the CoC, the details about truancy are expressed in this way:

A parent or guardian is expected to communicate an absence with GCE Lab School as soon as possible when a student is going to be absent. Students are expected to contact their teachers as soon as they are able to address next steps for makeup work.

If a student is absent for more than 20% of classes during a term, the student and family will meet with the Disciplinary Council to address appropriate school placement and support systems.

Tardies

If a student acquires 4 tardies in a two week period, they will be expected to meet with the Disciplinary Council to create an action plan for improving their timeliness. The Co-Curricular Coordinator will communicate with students and families every two weeks regarding tardies.

A student will be considered absent from a class if they miss more than 25% of a class on a given day.

In either case of a tardy or an absence, it is the responsibility of the student to reach out to each of the instructors to figure out a way to complete/make up missing work.
______________________________________________________________________________

I chose to amend this section of the CoC simply because there’s not always a clear understanding on the part of the school of why students are absent. I argue that the school uses the term “unexcused absence” too loosely. There’s no say in who decides if an absence is unexcused. This rule is a bit corrupt, as it promotes students working in a non-working state. In other words, if the student is unable to complete work for whatever reason, there should be a compromise.

Simply put, the attendance rules section of the CoC has a clear argument, which is formally recorded below:

P1: Students are subject to illness at pretty much anytime.

P2: Students are expected to attend school whenever it is in session.

P3: Students are expected to complete each day's assignments and homework.

C: Students who are absent are 100% responsible for making up the work they missed.

My interpretation of the CoC’s argument on this topic is that natural and unnatural illness has a mind of its own, so according to the duration of time a student is not in school, I think we should be assigned work, justice. There should be a feasible workload for the students who suffer from illness!

I propose to amend this section of the CoC through a different syllogism:

P1: Students might get sick, temporarily physically impaired, etc…

P2: Students are not to blame for their illness.

P3: Students are responsible for their daily schoolwork, including homework assignments.

C: Students should, according to the amount of time they miss, communicate with Eric (the Director) and their teachers to obtain the necessary information to complete a REALISTIC amount of work to keep up with their peers and course content. This entails that the amount of work assigned to that student be realistic for him to complete in a feasible time period.

To spice it up for you guys, I would like to represent my argument with an interesting analogy. Imagine you lay down your laptop on a glass table, then go to the restroom. Upon going to the restroom, that glass collapses, along with your laptop. You pray to whoever that your laptop is still in top-notch shape, but frankly, it’s not. Now, it wasn’t your fault, but you still have to deal with the situation because it happened. It’s just reality, a reality that should, however, be adjusted for those too young to remedy the crisis 100%.

This revised version of the section I chose will change things at our school for the better. If it be extremely necessary, students should be excused from work and “truancy.” Not everything is excusable, but excuses are necessary sometimes. know a student who was out for approximately 2 months and he legitimately dropped a whole course! This student is a freshman and he already has to make up an entire course. That is definitely cruel and unusual! I propose a medicine for this.

In a larger legislative context, my new amendment is connected to the 8th amendment 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which focuses on citizens rights to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment. Is it not extreme for a freshman to have to drop a course because he was sick for an amount of time that was not in his power to change? Sure, my proposal isn’t as serious as the Constitutional amendment itself, but who’s to say it’s not unjust or unusual punishment? As it is a school rule affecting all students that is still far from fair.

The impact of this revision will be nothing but positive for the community. I would say that based upon the motive behind my amendment proposal, my argument will benefit all of the “citizens” of my school and help protect them from excessive punishment in situations beyond their control.

An actual student, MO, inspired me to address the attendance section of the CoC, in the first place. He supports my argument and stated “The workload they tried to give me was ridiculous. I had to drop the class. A little stressful, but I’ll be alright.” That quote represents the core of my argument. This student is subject to unfair punishment because he was sick, which doesn’t make much sense at all.

In conclusion, MO at my school suffers from this corrupt system that my school has put in place where the student is almost “too accountable” for his absence. In doing so, the school has expressed beliefs of carelessness for their students by assigning an overload of work which is situationally unrealistic depending on the state of the student. I fight for fair conditions concerning the sick students at my school. I hope you believe in my amendment as much as I do!

An Expert Musician

For the second unit of my STEAM course, "Light, Sound, and Time," we were assigned to create our own guitars, or "diddley-bows." This unit deeply revolved around how sound travels and the speed it can reach. We explored many math concepts that helped us along our road of understanding the background of sound. We studied key concepts that play a big part in the traveling and manipulation of sound as well. For example: studying how as the frequency of sound increases, the wavelength decreases and theories related to that. I loved the versatility and flexibility of this project. The creative control of the guitar allowed us to tamper around with materials. Getting the string very straight and firm was the hardest part. This consisted of a lot of screw driving!

DR "My Diddley-bow," Photo. 03/02/16

DR "My Diddley-bow," Online Drawing. 03/02/16

Above is a diagram labeling each part of my guitar. Relating my diddley-bow to a real guitar, the tin can represents the resonator, the wood represents the neck, and the battery represents the nut.

The golden question is, how does this mediocre looking guitar actually produce sound? The string vibrates as you pluck it, creating a longitudinal wave which allows molecules to travel as sound, to your pinna. There is also the tin can, which allows you to hear the sound better because it amplifies it for you. Connecting the science of the "diddley-bow" back to what we learned throughout this unit, this homemade guitar is sending sound waves out; not only that, but the versatility of the string allows you to change pitch and frequency. Can’t forget that as the frequency changes, so does the wavelength. You can use a slide to change the frequency as you pluck the string. The amplitude of the string increases and decreases when playing the guitar.

The Doppler Effect is when an object has a higher frequency and lower wavelength when approaching another object, but as it moves farther away from this other object, there is a lower frequency and higher wavelength. For ex: while moving towards a person or object, the frequency of your guitar is increasing because you are getting closer.

In order to assemble my diddley-bow, I used a string with a thickness of 0.035 inches and a length of 9 inches. To get the volume, I first had to find the radius of my resonator. Since the diameter was 3.5, the radius was 1.75, and to find the the volume of the amplifier, I had to do pi x Radius(squared) x Height. My volume came out to be 38.48 inches (cubed).

DR "The Harmonics," Online Drawing. 03/02/16

Above is the listed harmonics in order of highest wavelength to lowest. These harmonics originate from the actual sound of my guitar, where I used an online program to record the frequency of it.



If I could do it all over, I would definitely explore ways to customize my project a bit more and I would have also explored options of making my wire a lot more firm.

Declaration of Driver's Ed

In the first unit of my Spring Term Humanities course, "A Nation's Argument," we dove down deep into why an argument is effective. We have discussed political issues that would further influence us to create stronger arguments for our action projects. For our action project, we were assigned to almost re-write and recite the Declaration of Independence, but for a class that we feel can benefit the school we reside in. I personally believe that EVERY high school should provide Driver's Education. I feel like Driver's Ed is so essential to young people because knowing the rules of the road, driving a vehicle or not, will be beneficial to your safety and who doesn't want their license after all? I know I want my license!
____________________________________________________________________________________

I believe that it is mandatory for the teenagers of America to learn early, how to drive in order for them to be comfortable with it in the future! So therefore, it is extremely necessary that I propose this class. I feel the need to make this class official because I know how it feels to be deprived of Driver's Education. I also feel as if obtaining your Drivers License goes hand-in-hand with growing up as a teenager and adult.

Why does GCE Lab School not allow access to Driver’s Ed class? The purpose of my Driver’s Ed course is to allow my fellow peers to take a journey that we are currently missing out on because of unjust restrictions. I want to learn to drive so bad and I know my peers wouldn’t mind it, as well.

Well, there’s the right to have access to your permit at the age of 16 or Sophomore year. There’s also the right of getting your license at 18. Other schools allow Driver's Ed, so why not us? Doesn’t seem to me, that this course would be harmful to the alumni. After months and months of professional training and partnership, we should be able to hold our own on the road!

As sophomores (and upperclassmen) we are almost entitled to learning enough about driving to obtain, at least a permit. After completing this course, I would like for there to be GCE students exploring the world with their very own license and auto-mobile.

This program/class will require access to a number of resources:

• Driver’s Ed (Lane Tech Program, 30-40 minutes by train)
• Student Ventra cards issued by school
• GCE teacher (advisor)

P1: Declaring Driver's Ed is essential for teenagers.
P2: Due to restrictions, I am not allowed to take this class.
P3: Other schools allow access to Driver's Ed, what's the harm in implementing one at GCE.
P4: Being 16+ without a permit, is bologna!
C: There should be a Driver's Ed class in the GCE system!

DNR Diagram N.D. Web. 16 February. 2016.

My official declaration is that there be a Driver’s Ed class issued ASAP (preferably before I leave). I believe that Driver’s Ed is very important because of the simple fact that driving is important!

My Little Camera

For the first Action Project of my STEAM Winter course "Light, Sound, & Time," my peers and I had to create a bunch of pinhole cameras! The materials for a pin hole camera consist of: a box, aluminum can piece, black tape, scissors/knife, and black paint or paper. Throughout the unit, we discussed plenty mathematical and scientific terms and theories that we were required to bring up in our Action Project, such as: electromagnetic spectrum, particle vs wave, similar triangles, sohcahtoa, etc. We were required to go to a dark room to develop our photos with chemical-based liquid. This did not turn out as planned, but was still, of course, an unforgettable experience. 

DR "My Pin Hole Camera," Photo. 02/11/16

The pinhole camera is very unique and takes quite a lot of steps to develop a picture. The creation of the camera itself was very fun. To create the camera, I needed the following materials: a box, aluminum can piece, black tape, scissors/knife, and black paint or paper. All these materials came together to create a light proof, homemade camera, believe it or not. The camera works by using the light exposed to the camera from the hole in the lens, located in the middle of the camera. That same light then projects the object across from the lens. In my case, I attempted to develop the image of one of my favorite things in the world! Air Jordans! 

DR "Air Jordan 1s," Photo. 02/09/16

Then the black flap on the camera comes in handy. The flap allows you to easily cover up the hole when you don't want light passing through the lens. After I left my camera at the developing station for about 4 minutes, I proceeded to the dark room. On my way to the dark room, I had to make sure absolutely no light passed through the hole in my camera so that it wouldn't affect the quality of the photo. The dark room allows you to remove your film from inside your camera and use the special sink with special liquid chemicals to "clean" and reveal the photo that your camera developed! The idea of refraction is not presented in this project because refraction can only occur when light moves from one medium to another, such as glass and water (more specifically a glass of water). The "shutter speed" required for my photo to develop was around four minutes, even though it didn't come out too well. The part I messed up on, was the concealing my film from light part and that's ultimately why the figure didn't really show.

DR "Developed/Failed Film" Photo. 02/10/16

My camera uses the science concept of the "Electro-magnetic Spectrum," which says that, since the inside of the camera is painted black, it absorbs more sun and light energy. There was also some math terms used to represent the light rays using similar triangles! The height of my camera is 6.25 inches tall. The length of the circular top of my camera is 4 inches wide. From the pinhole to the bottom of my camera, it is 3.25 inches in height.

DR "Calculations" Google Drawings. 02/12/16

NBA 2k16, Profound

I am here to talk to you about NBA 2k16. In specific, the myPark game mode which is one of the most amazing and creative ideas I've ever seen in a game before. This game does a great job of fighting against the idea of basketball being boring and repetitive. Its fast-paced gameplay and awesome player creation makes you want to cry. I would REALLY suggest this game, especially to those into NBA basketball. 

"Rough Day At Sunset Beach," Pottsy Gaming. 02/05/16