Posts

Mars: The New Age of Discovery

For this final unit of our STEAM Class this term, Frontiers, and the final unit of STEAM I'll have here at GCE, we dove into the Final Frontier itself; space. We learned about the abbreviated history of astrophysics, through reading Neil Degrasse Tyson's book  Astrophysics for People in a Hurry , and learned how to calculate a Riemann sum.  For this Action Project, we were tasked with creating a scientific conference poster that discussed the current state of space exploration, through detailing one of the several Space Technology Grand Challenges set up by NASA.  Below is my conference poster, detailing one of NASA's Grand Challenges, Colonization. This Grand Challenge has us aiming to create self-sustaining and reliable human environments and habitats that enable the permanent colonization of space and other planetary surfaces. Currently, the infrastructure and integrated technologies needed to enable permanent, self-sufficient human settlements away from Earth do not exi

Survival Guide to Becoming a Fantasy Writer

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For this final unit of our Humanities class, Endurance, and my final unit of Humanities ever here at GCE, we ended up going on our own personal Field Experiences, tailored to what we chose to do for both our previous Action Project (12 hours of Endurance), and this one. I chose to visit the Deering Family Galleries of Medieval and Renaissance Art, Arms, and Armor at the Art Institute, to get a better idea of what people would've worn in the general time period I'm interested in writing for.  For this Action Project, we had to create a survival guide to what our dream job would be, and plan out how we'd get there. Below is my Survival Guide on becoming a fantasy writer, specifically for Tabletop Roleplaying Games, such as Dungeons and Dragons. Writer’s Dream: This Survival Handbook is a guide for someone who may have a dream similar to mine. My dream is to become a writer, and ultimately a Tabletop Content Producer for Wizards of the Coast - the official writers/publishers o

ICNA

ICNA Relief strives to uplift the undeserved in the US through a nationwide network of shelters, food pantries, health clinics, skill development programs, disaster relief services, refugee services and more. ICNA Relief works to build healthy communities, strengthen families and create opportunities for those in despair while maintaining their dignity and advocating for their basic human needs. During my time there, I helped volunteer and stock their food, and helped guide customers through the setup that they had going. 

Why Do Our Lakes Matter?

For this first unit of our STEAM Class Frontiers, we learned about the ocean and how it works geographically. Including currents, vents, and how the acid level of the ocean can change and affect the ecosystems within it. For this action project, though, we were tasked with writing a scientific paper on the state of the oceans and their future, while centering the paper around one of the Grand Challenges in marine ecosystems ecology.  Below is my paper, which is centered around the second aquatic Grand Challenge: Understanding Relationships Between Human Pressures and Ecosystems. In conclusion, I thought that this Action Project was quite difficult. I'd never written a proper scientific paper before, and although writing the paper itself wasn't that difficult, selecting what research I wanted to use was quite challenging.

12 Hours of Endurance

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For this second unit of our Humanities class this term, Endurance, we learned more about modern examples of people that have endured, such as people like David Blaine, who set a world record for the longest time a person could hold their breath underwater, and Laura Dekker, who embarked on a two-year voyage sailing around the world in pursuit of her dream to be the youngest person ever to do so.  For this specific Action Project, we were tasked with deciding on something that we would commit to work on and endure for 12 hours over the span of two weeks. I chose to write out a setting for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, personally, and see how far I could get with those twelve hours. Below is my video log of my work, documenting the process and my thoughts, and the planning table I used.   In conclusion, I thought that this Action Project was actually really interesting and fun. I liked the complete creative freedom that we had in choosing what we wanted to do for the required twelve h

Zooniverse

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The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. This research is made possible by volunteers — more than a million people around the world who come together to assist professional researchers. Our goal is to enable research that would not be possible, or practical, otherwise. Zooniverse research results in new discoveries, datasets useful to the wider research community, and many publications. These are some examples of what Zoonivese looks like when you're participating in assisting a project. 

My Life as An Author

For this first unit of Endurance, we learned about famous figures in history that've endured hardships, and looked at our own lives to see what we've endured throughout them. We also started reading Night  by Elie Wiesel, which is a book about his experiences in a concentration camp during the Holocaust and how he endured it and survived to tell the tale.  In this Action Project, we were tasked with writing our own autobiography from the future. Below is my autobiography. I’ve always had a certain place in my heart, a certain passion for books. Something about being able to escape reality and come into this new world that the author of the book has woven for you just captivated me, and it still does to this day. Books have been a constant throughout all of my childhood. Even now, I find myself getting hooked on a series of fantasy books and can’t wait for the author to release the next volume. The feeling of excitement and joy when I find out that that one book I’ve been waitin