Open Heart Surgery!

This class Cure, the first unit is called Emergency. In this first unit, the Science we focused on was the structure and function of the human cells. The Math we learned was functions and variables as an introduction to systems of equations. What I learned about was many different types of surgeries. For our FE, we went to the International Museum of Surgical Science; what we did there was visit the different rooms and we learned a lot about surgeries. For our AP, we had to find a surgery to research. The surgery I choose to research was Open Heart Surgery. What I liked about this project was researching for the Open Heart Surgery. The thing I had trouble with was making my Prezi. I overcame that by going through the instruction again and fixing it. Here is my project for you to look at.

Star Wars In School Stage

This class is called Stage Chemistry; the unit is called Below & Above. Stage Chemistry is about finding new ways to see things. What I mean is when you go to a play you are not really interested in how and what happens backstage. We learned about what goes on behind the stage. The FE that we went to was to the Steppenwolf Theatre. We got to see two stages. One was being taken down from a play a couple months back the other one was being set up for a new play. What we had to do for our AP was create a design of the stage we made a blueprint from our last Action Project (if you would like to see it, click on here). We needed to create a model that is around the size of a shoe box. We had to make safety protocols for two motions on our stage. This means we had to make two things that could move on the stage. What I liked about my project was turning the blueprint we had made into a model and make a design out of it. What I had trouble with was the scale part of it. At the end, I just used the scale I used in my blueprint for the model as well. I overcame the struggle with scale by cutting out pieces of cardboard in different scales and putting them together and deciding which one I liked best.

The picture to the left is the blueprint of my stage. It shows where the stage is and a lobby. The picture to the right is my design of my stage. It shows the door and the trapdoor which is in the back. This was made out of cardboard.

The Death Star, AA, 2017

Here is a video of a trapdoor working in Star Wars, which is what I based my play on. This clip is from Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi when one of Jabba's slaves fell through the trap door. This shows how it looked in the movie, and I am going to do the same scene in my play on my stage.



Here is my version of the Star Wars trapdoor. How this works is that when a person is on the trap door, the door will not do anything. There is a person in back pressing a button to open it.

Man falling, AA, 2017

Here are some things that can go wrong with the trapdoor.
TRAP DOOR: A person could get stuck, a person could fall too hard, the door could close too early, the door could open and close rapidly all at once.
TRAP DOOR FEATURE: Trapdoor will open, a person or figure will fall, then the trap door will close.

Here is a sign that shows what to watch out for.

Trapdoor Warning. AA. 2017.

Here is the force diagram for the trapdoor that shows what forces are acting on it. It works by having pressure on it and a button.

Trapdoor man, AA, 2017

Here is the mathematical formula equation for the trapdoor. There is a trap door and a person is on it who weighs 140 lbs. One pound is equal to 4.44822 Newtons, so you multiply 140 X 4.44822 then get x in newtons which is 622.7508 N. To get the F_Net , you see what can hold the 140 lbs body weight up, it would be 140 lbs (or 622.7508 N). The F_Net is the F_up - F_down. It would be 140 lbs - 140 lbs which is 0. The F_Net is 0 for this equation. Let's also show this in straightforward mathematics:

Fnet = Fup - Fdown

0 N = 622.7508 N - 622.7508 N

Here are the doors. The actors will use the doors to enter and exit the stage but audience members will not be allowed to use these. This is my animated version of doors opening and closing. How it works is when a person goes to the first door the pull it, whereas for the second door, they push it. 

Man Walking Through Door. AA. 2017.

Here are some things that can go wrong with the doors.

THE FOUR DOORS: The door won’t open, the door won’t close, the door could break, the door handle could break off.
THE FOUR DOORS FEATURE: The 4 front doors will open so a person or figure can go through them.

Here is a sign that shows what to watch out for.

Notice. AA. 2017.

Overall, the building process was fun. At times, it was hard and frustrating but, in the end, it was a nice process. For the animation or GIFs, I found that process was really annoying and I had to remake my picture over and over again. One of my last times taking the picture, I lost them on my computer but after a while, I found them and put them together as a GIF. While physically making my stage, I learned really important rules about using X-Acto knives. One of the rules I learned was to not put the knife down if the blade is out. I don't want to do that because someone could get cut.

Star Wars In School

This class is called Stage Chemistry, the unit is called Behind. Stage Chemistry is about finding news ways to see things. What I mean when you go to a play you are not really interested in how and what happens in the backstage. We learned about what goes on behind the curtain of plays. The FE that we went to was to the Goodman. Before we watched Uncle Vanya, we saw what they did behind the curtains and how people make blueprints for it. What we had to do for our AP was to turn a non-theatre place and turn it into a place where you could have plays there. We needed to make a blueprint of a place where we want to have a play. I decided my place would be at GCE Lab School in a room called The Death Star.(See photos below to see the layout of the room.) We call it that because of how it looks. There is a light thing that is made up of C.D.s. What I liked about my project was turning that space into a theater. What I had trouble with was trying to think of good ideas to do for my theater. I overcame that by drawing it out and trying to find a good scale I ended up choosing 0.8 Inches = 2 Feet.

The transformation of it was easy and hard. Overall the theater I created could fit about 20 to 30 people. The parts that I hated for the transformation was the calculations and measuring. The parts I liked about the transformation was how it ended up as and the whole space overall. A few things that I wish I could still change is the size of the space and how big the stage and trap door is.

                                       The Death Star, AA,(2017)

                                   The Death Star, AA,(2017)



The Death Star Stage, AA,(2017)

For my stage there are three places where you can watch it. You can watch it on the left and right of the stage and in front of the doors. There are two stages in the Death Star. The main stage and a small but longer stage going down the middle of the audience. This is why this stage is called a Thrust stage.

My Stage Vs Albert

My Stage	Albert	% Compare
23 Seats	856 Seats	My seating is 2.6% of the seating at Goodman's Albert stage
Fly Space (above the stage above the height of the proscenium): 0 ft	Fly Space (above the stage above the height of the proscenium): 76.5 ft	My fly space is 0% of Albert
4 toilets	18 toilets	I have 22.2% of Alberts toilets
Center of stage that is removable 3 ft x 3.8 ft:	Center of stage that is removable: 34 ft x 40 ft	I have 0.83% of Albert center stage
4 sinks	7 sinks	I have 57.1% of Alberts sinks
4 Bathrooms	2 Bathrooms	I have 200% bathrooms of Albert.

Is Junior two people?

In this class called Forbidden Books, the unit I studied is called Diversity. We learned about why have book been banned and what is a limit for censorship. We learned how to tell a story through censorship. During this unit we read this book called The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian. It was about a 14 year old kid who lives on a rez. His name was Junior he lived with his parents, grandmother, and sister. He needs to leave in order for his dreams to come true. He goes to a white school and at first he does not really fit in but at the end he does. For this AP, we had to find make an essay about this book. On of thing we had to do for this was explain the censorship about this book. The thing I did great at was writing the essay. The thing that I had trouble was thinking about what to write for the paragraphs. I over came that by going through the book and finding quotes that could help me. Overall, I thought that this was a fun project to make and to write the essay. I hope you enjoy my project that I did.

Maryann Yin, The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian,(2016)

Is Junior two people? In the book, The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian, Junior is technically two different people because he lives on the rez and studies in the white community. There are two main settings, both are towns in the Pacific Northwest. The first is Wellpinit, which is the hometown of the Spokane Indian Reservation where Junior lives with his mother, father, sister, and grandmother. His family has lived there for generations. The second setting is Reardan a white school that’s 22 miles away from the reservation and Wellpinit. This novel explores the inner conflict that minorities feel when they are forced to go into an all white environment to pursue their dreams.

There are many themes in this book, but I will only be focusing on one. That is Hopes/Dreams/Plans. Junior’s hopes and dreams are to become a famous cartoonist, but for people who live on the rez their dreams don’t really come true. Junior says, “But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re just poor. That’s all we are” (18). This means that Junior has to leave in order for his dreams to come true. Junior’s math teacher at the rez school told him that the farther he walks away from the rez the more likely he will find hope. ““I was starting to understand. He was a math teacher. I had to add my hope to somebody else’s hope. I had to multiply hope by hope. “Where is hope?” I asked. “Who has hope?” “Son,” Mr. P said. “You’re going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation.” (46).

Junior leaves the rez to attend the white school in order to have his dreams come true. At the new white school Junior has everything that he needs to fulfill his dreams. “But Reardan has one of the best small schools in the state, with a computer room and huge chemistry lab and a drama club and two basketball gyms. The kids in Reardan are the smartest and most athletic kids anywhere. They are the best.” (49).

Another way of Junior giving himself hope to achieve his goal, was when he was supported by his White classmates. When Junior’s sister dies he went to school the next day. The teacher tried to make a joke of him but the whole school walked out of the teacher's classroom. “I walked out of the classroom and felt like dancing and singing. It all gave me hope. It gave me a little bit of joy. And I kept trying to find the little pieces of joy in my life. That’s the only way I managed to make it through all of that death and change. I made a list of the people who had given me the most joy in my life” (171).

There are many reasons that the book was banned. In fact it was one of the most banned books in 2014 according to (Schuab). Some of the reasons were anti-family, cultural insensitivity, and drugs/alcohol/smoking. The people who wanted to ban it used Junior’s words. Junior said that people on the rez got drunk a lot. “And the whole time, everybody would be drinking booze and getting drunk and stupid and sad and mean. Yeah, doesn’t that make sense? How do we honor the drunken death of a young married couple?” (202). When the book was published, many people did not want to read about the troubles minorities faced in an all white school. They thought it offended minorities, especially Indians, and they did not want to confront their own prejudices.

My main points were that Junior had dreams just like every kid, but because of who he was he faced obstacles to making his dreams come true. He had to live two lives and endure hurts that he faced in each life in order to succeed. He had a lot of courage.

Work Cited

Schaub, Michael. The most banned and challenged books of 2014. latimes.com, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

“Some parents seek to ban ‘the absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian.’” tribunedigital-chicagotribune, 22 June 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Titus, Ron. Banned books. 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Yin, Maryann. Hugh Jackman lands role in the absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian movie. 6 Dec. 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

How Bad Is An Outbreak Of HIV/AIDS

This course was called Disease which is a STEAM the unit was called World. In this unit, we learned about R-Naught and how a disease can spread. We also learned about the categorizing of an outbreaking disease. For this AP, we had to find a disease and do research about it and make a Newspaper about it. What I had fun when doing this project was making the newspaper. what I had trouble with was finding what the R-Naught and other research items. I overcome that by asking for help and doing more research. Overall I thought this project was fun to make.

                        

   Fodey, Newspaper,(2017).                                             Blogger, Map,(October, 10, 2015) .

My disease that I am researching is HIV/AIDS. I found an outbreak in Africa in 1990s-2000s. “1990 Jonathan Mann resigned as the head of the WHO AIDS programmed, to protest against the failure of the UN and governments worldwide to respond adequately to the exploding pandemic, and to protest against the actions of the then WHO director-general Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima. During Jonathan Mann's leadership, the AIDS programmed became the largest single programmed in the organization’s history.”

HIV symptoms include fever, sore throat, and fatigue can occur. AIDS symptoms include weight loss, fever or night sweats, fatigue, and recurrent infections. The R-Naught is 2-5. It means 2-5 of new cases from one person. Two risk factors are having unprotected sex and having another STD.

91% of HIV cases in Africa are caused by sexual transmission and virtually all is heterosexual. “So says the World Health Organization, with other agencies toeing the line. Some massive condom airdrops accompanied by a persuasive propaganda campaign would practically make the epidemic vanish overnight. Or would it?” In Africa, the HIV outbreak is epidemic because epidemic means, “a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.” In Africa, there are a lot of communities that have HIV/AIDS. “69% live in sub-Saharan Africa. There are roughly 23.8 million infected persons in all of Africa. 91% of the world's HIV-positive children live in Africa.”

There is no Vaccine for HIV yet but here is an Evaluation of: Liu J, O’Brien KL, Lynch DM et al.: Immune control of an SIV challenge by a T-cell-based vaccine in rhesus monkeys. Nature 457(7225), 87–91 (2009), of it. It says that we don’t have a vaccine but what you can do is have safer sex. For the decline of HIV, it was nearly declined over 20% overall during the past decade. Is happened because people had safer sex.

Here is a list of things to avoid a future outbreak of HIV/AIDS:

1. Use a new condom every time you have sex:

2. Consider the drug Truvada:

3. Tell your sexual partners if you have HIV:

4. Use a clean needle:

5. If you're pregnant, get medical care right away:

6. Consider male circumcision:

Work Cited 

"A Timeline of HIV/AIDS." AIDS.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

"Can the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in New York City be Stopped?" Can the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in New York City be Stopped? N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Devarajan, Shanta “What caused the HIV epidemic in Africa?” 27 Jan. 2011, Web.

Fumento, M. Michael Fumento: Why is HIV so prevalent in Africa? Retrieved February 24, 2017.

ΚΟΣΜΟ, ΝΕΚΡΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ, and Προβολή πλήρους προφίλ. The history of AIDS in Africa. Oct. 1980. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

sahoboss. HIV/aids in South Africa. 20 May 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

"Symptoms of HIV." AIDS.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

"Timeline: AIDS moments to remember." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

The Da Vinci Code

In this class called Forbidden Books, the unit I studied is called Dogma. We learned about religions and how they are and what they do in the world. Dogma is a set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. One good thing about dogma is that people have a set of rules to follow. A bad thing about that is that someone people may not agree with what it says. For this AP, we had to find a movie, book or video that was banned for religious reasons. The book I choose was The Da Vinci Code. We had to make a power point about the banning, like when was it banned or how or even what group banned it. The thing that I had trouble with the most was finding what book to use my project on since there was and this are a lot of books that are banned and being banned now, I over came that by choosing a book I have already read. The thing I have to most fun at was making the whole project and rereading the book again. Overall, I thought that this was a fun project to make and I hope you enjoy my project that I did.

OCD In You!

This course was called Disease which is a STEAM the unit was called Mind. In this unit, we learned about mental disease. We learned about what mental diseases there are and how to diagnose them. We learned about the brain waves and how each can work or not work with some mental diseases or disorders. For this AP, we had to find a disease and make a video, and a simulation of it. The disease I did was OCD. We had to present out project on Wednesday February 8. The thing that I excelled at was the video and presenting part. The part that I had trouble with the most was trying to find and create a simulation. I overcame that by looking up case studies and examples of OCD simulations. Overall this Action Project was great I learned some many things about OCD and how it gets diagnose. Watching the videos of the simulation really helped me think of ways to make the class feel what people with OCD feel everyday. Also by reading some articles about kids who have OCD and watching a video about Howie Mandel and his life with OCD helped a lot too. Look below to see my project!

Work Cited:

ABCNews. "Howie Mandel Talks About Living With OCD | 20/20 | ABC News." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Nov. 2009. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

"Facts About OCD." Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Spectrum Disorders Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.

Gluck, Samantha. "OCD Diagnosis: OCD Criteria and Characteristics in DSM 5." HealthyPlace. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. 

"Howie Mandel." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.

"Psychology Today." Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder | Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

"Region in Brain Is Linked to Obsessive Disorder." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Mar. 1988. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.

Sarah. "UOCD: Facts& Statistics on OCD." UOCD: Facts& Statistics on OCD. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

"What Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is all about." Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative. N.p., 13 Jan. 2017. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.