Sugar Is Me!

     This is my first Action Project for my last term, Food. In this course we are studying food and where it comes from and framing. For this Action Project we had to choose an ingredient and write about it in first person from where it was made to our recipes. We had to research a lot about our ingredient and the center origin of it. The thing that I am most proud of is making the whole project. Something that was hard for me was recording the project. Please learn more about the project down below.

                                             Sugar is me! from AA on Vimeo.

A Rooftop Garden Delight

In the STEAM course "Food" we are learning about planting food/crops and plants. We also learned about the mathematics of planting plants and the science behind it. We learned about a farmer named Mr. Fukuoka who uses new ways to plant plants in a way that is better for the environment. I chose to plant my garden on the roof of my building. I will begin planting some vegetables and flowering plants in the garden. I like how the end results of my garden turned out. I also like the plants that I chose for the garden. What I am proud of is my garden overall and the illustration for my garden. The two things that I could have done better would be to choose some better ways to plant the plants in the garden and I could have made my drawing more specific.

My garden will be located on the roof of my building. I put it there because it is sunny, it is big, and small animals like rabbits and squirrels won't eat my plants. I will have to make sure that the wind doesn't destroy the garden or blow away the plants. I will be constructing a top over it so the wind won’t ruin it, but so it still gets sunlight.

I learned that plants need three main things from the soil to stay alive: Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), and Nitrogen (N). My volume is H16 in x W60 in x L84 in = 80,640 cubic in or 47 cubic feet. My garden will have soil in 10 squares surrounded by water. Instead of going on the roof every day I will go once a week because my water system will keep the plants moist over a longer time. I would find a way to keep the water in the garden without it coming out, probably some kind of plastic sheet lining. The plants for my garden are called mutualism because they all work together without one plant taking chemicals away from another plant.

AA Garden (2016)

The materials I will use for my garden will be seeds for vegetables and seeds for flowering plants. I also will need some soil, wood for the base and bed. I will need nails and a hammer to put the wood together. I will need water to feed the plants, and some clear plastic panels to block the wind. I also will have to find a waterproof material to keep the water in its holding area. I will line the area where the water will be with thick plastic sheeting so the water won't seep through the wood and ruin the garden.

My sample soil pH was a 7.9. I needed it to be lower, around 6.7 to 6.4. Therefore I will need to add organic matter to the soil to lower the pH level. The Potassium was only 200 parts per million. I will need to put Sulfate of Potash which is 1/2 per 100 square feet for the quantity. After that my soil should be good because I don’t need to add anything for Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Both at their current levels.

My Potassium calculations are:

35 square feet

0.5/100 = x/35

0.5 x 35 = 100x         

x=0.175 pounds of sulfate of potash

Test	Result	Parts per Million Equivalency Chart
pH	7.9	----
Phosphorus (P)	P3	50
Potassium (K)	K1	200
Nitrogen (N)	N4	80

Nutrient	Product	Quantity
Nitrogen	0	0
Phosphorus	0	0
Potassium	Sulfate of Potash	½ per 100 square feet

The plants I chose were basil, borage, dill, marigolds, mint, nasturtium, onion, oregano, radish and sunflower. The onion is the nitrogen fixer out of all the 10 plants listed here. Onion’s companions are basil, borage, dill, marigolds, nasturtium, oregano, radish, mint and sunflower.

What I learned from this project was that everything needs to be thought out in advance. You need to know a lot about the properties and the nutritional needs of plants in order to make the correct plant selection. You need know how to change your soil if you don’t have good soil. You need to know about pH level and how it works. You will also need to know about volume and how to calculate it.

The volumes for the three containers I chose to put my plants in are: Plastic milk jug V=H8in x W4in x L4in = 128 cubic inches; Water bottle V= 3.14 x 3^2 x 6 = 169.56 cubic inches; Plastic box V= H8in x W10in x L14in = 1120 cubic inches.

In conclusion my garden will have ten plants in it. I will only need to water them once a week. I won’t have to buy many vegetables at the store because I am growing them in my garden. The soil I have now is pretty good, but I will have to improve it slightly. This will be fun to make at home.

WORK CITED:

"Companion Planting Guide - Growing Tips Article at Burpee.com." Companion Planting Guide - Growing Tips Article at Burpee.com. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

"Cubic Feet To Cubic Inches Conversion." How Many Cubic Inches in a Cubic Foot? Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

"Top Ten Companion Plants." Porchside Gardening For Food and Fun. 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Pollution Action Plan

     This is my third Action Project for my third term course, Fuel. In this course we learned how to balance chemical equations, and discussed pollution. For this Action Project we had to do three action plans to help not pollute the air and we had to see what pollution is and how it gets into our atmosphere. We also had to make a diagram, and make it look like a paper. The thing that I am most proud of is making the diagram and making the paper. Something that was hard for me was finding the equation. Please learn more about the project down below.

Who Am I Dream

This is my third action project for, Who Am I. In this course we did studying about dreams, and what they have to do with us. In order to complete this project, I had to study about my dreams, and when I am awake. I had to create a dreamcatcher. We also had to share a bad dream with our partner. Next I examined my partner's dream. For this we had to see what Id, superego, and ego does in your dreams and reality. What I am most proud of is the dreamcatcher. Something that was hard for me was creating the explanation for the dreamcatcher. Please learn more about my dreamcatcher. You can view it down below.

AA, Dream catcher,(2016)

I made a dreamcatcher it was hard at the beginning because I used a big hoop so my dreamcatcher. After I finished and started doing the loops it was easy and fun. The center of the dreamcatcher symbolize God protecting me. And how there is protection. The positive things the I want it to pass through is good wishes. Like thing I want or things I want for others. The bad things I want to get stuck is bad things like bad dreams. There are Fender guitar picks on it they represent by passion for music and rock.

AA, Dream catcher,(2016)

One of the vocabulary words is Id. The Id represents the middle the bead in the dream catcher because it choose what stays or goes like a boss. Id is when you are asleep the Id is like the boss. If I can study my dreams I can find out what the Id is doing. The second word is superego. The superego represents the good and bad dissensions in a person's life it choose what you do when you are awake even if it is bad. The superego is when you are awake it is like the one who make dissunitions even though they may not be good. If I study my dissunitions and how I react I can learn how my superego works. The lesson I learned was you need to be patient. The dream I told my partner was: I would wake up from hearing a scream. I would look in front of my door I heard a whisper saying “don’t look.” There was a man in black carrying a body away somewhere. Every night I been having that. Until a week ago it was me who was the dead body. When I woke up I was in my living room and my arms were hurting. I interpret this dream to be a fear or nervous. Maybe it was a dream I had when I was little and it is just recurring and I just did not remember because I don’t really remember my dreams that much. The only time I do is if it is important or a fear or even some bad dreams. My partner talked about my dream being a fear or being afraid of something that happened or will happen. It could also mean that I am nervous for something. The materials I used were a metal ring, a bead, string and thinner string. I got the materials from home and school.

Doubt

         This is my second action project for, Who Am I. In this course we will be studying about doubt, and what philosophers think about it. In order to complete this project, I had to study about philosophers and what they think is doubt. I had to think of a question for the base of my project. Why it is important to me? How did I arrive at the question? We also had to see how this fit Wilhelm’s definition of a guiding question. We had to see if it is a question that addresses humanity or if it is Universal question. Next I examined both external and internal risks. For the philosophers we had to choose one to study answering this question, I chose Descartes. For the last slide we had to choose which discipline that you agreed with the most. What I am most proud of was making the slideshow, thinking of the question and deciding how it finished at the end. Something that was hard for me was finding what a philosopher would say to the question and selecting which discipline I agreed with the most. Please learn more about the slideshow and you can view it down below.

Wind Energy

     This is my second Action Project for my third term course, Fuel. In this course we are studying graphs, and systems of equations. For this Action Project we had to choose a renewable resource so I did mine on wind and make a slideshow. We had to find a location to switch to my renewable energy. We had to research functions and how much it would cost to install our product. The thing that I am most proud of is making the slide show and finding the data. Something that was hard for me was making the graph. Please learn more about the project down below.

Untitled Screencast (1) from AA on Vimeo.

What is truth?

This is my first action project for, Who Am I. In this course we will be studying about who we are, and the truth. In order to complete this project, I had to studied philosophers and what they think is truth. For this Action Project we had to make a podcast about a topic we choose, our definition go truth and our beliefs. The thing that I am most proud of was making the podcast and how it finished. Something that was hard for me was recording the podcast and writing the script. Please learn more about the podcast and you can hear it down below.
                                                                                                                                                                 

Is there such thing as truth?

I did an interview with my dad. His definition of truth is that, yes, genes are a key part in making us who we are, but nurture also plays an important part too. This connects to the whole thing by have another idea of what truth is.

I was in 7th grade, I was in science class and a question popped up in class which is true nature or nurture for genes. At the end of class and for a week I was really thinking about this question a lot every time I had time I was thinking about. Finally I came up with an answer to say to my teacher. The answer is that nature (gene) made who we are today.

I believe that nature makes us who we are. Not only that, but how we act. I believe in this because each of us have many genes in common but each also some unique genes that are ours alone that no one has. Even identical twins has a different gene than each other.

I have not really thought about in for a while. I thought about it for a in 7th grade. In 8th I did not think about it at all since we were doing a different type of science (chemistry). In 9th I thought about it for a little in the beginning of the year I did not really. Towards the middle of the year I thought about it a lot more.

Now you will hear an interview I did my my dad.

The 2 min interview

1.The issue I did was nature vs. nurture I think that it makes who you are today.

2. I interview my father. His position is that our gene makes up who we are and what we do, but also nurture is important in who we are.

3. He believes what he said because we have genes and it makes up what we will be and do in our life.

4. The interview did not influence in my position at all. It stayed the same.It influence my idea of truth by changing it by everyone has their own definition of truth.

5. But no one will have to same definition of truth. It changes my definition of truth to something that it really different than was.

For me truth is a small tennis ball in a big pile of tennis balls of lies. We won’t really know the truth, so there is not really a definition of the word truth in my words.