Obergefell VS. Hodges

In this unit, we've been focusing on different court cases like Roe V. Wade, Brown Vs. Board of Education, and more. In the last unit, I got the chance to watch a real court case and observe how it was structured. We are applying the same knowledge to this unit as it revolves around the different policies in a court room. We also discussed how different laws and constitutions came to be and its position and history in the court room. For this Action Project, I had to choose a case and go over its history as well as the impact it had on society. I chose to do the Obergefell VS. Hodges case because it's something that impacted a lot of LGBTQ people throughout the country.



In conclusion, I learned that love is power. Since the government is extremely powerful and make decisions for our country, many feel powerless and hopeless. Many also don't get to live their lives the way they want to because of the decisions that the government makes. I am very happy that there was success with this case. I think it's amazing that several LGBTQ couples got the rights that they've always deserved.


Citations:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Obergefell v. Hodges.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 19 June 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Obergefell-v-Hodges.

Chen, Jingwen. “Obergefell to Discuss Marriage Equality, Personal Journey at Ohio State.” The Lantern, www.thelantern.com/2015/10/obergefell-to-discuss-marriage-equality-personal-journey-at-ohio-state/.

“Guides: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Obergefell v. Hodges.” Obergefell v. Hodges - A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States - Guides at Georgetown Law Library, guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=592919&p=4182205.

McLaughlin, Seth. “Plaintiff in Gay-Marriage Case: Donald Trump Is No Friend of Our LGBTQ Community.” The Washington Times, The Washington Times, 26 July 2016, www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/26/james-obergefell-plaintiff-gay-marriage-case-donal/.

“The Effect of Obergefell v. Hodges for Same-Sex Couples.” The National Law Review, www.natlawreview.com/article/effect-obergefell-v-hodges-same-sex-couples.

Policing in Chicago: Engagement with Opposition

In A Nation's Argument, we've been discussing policies, laws, and how that falls under the U.S Constitution. My class held a policing assembly to discuss the policing in Chicago. We met 4 people who work with COPA (Civilian Office of Police Accountability). At the assembly they discussed why they do what they do for the city of Chicago and why policing is important. They all discussed how they want to see the Chicago grow as a city, mostly communities in the South side of Chicago. We held this assembly to speak up about issues that we feel are important as students. The voices of students are not always heard and we wanted to meet with them to get our messages across. Through this assembly we discussed police suicide, immigration policies, gang violence, gun violence, policing and security in Chicago Public Schools, mental health in the black and brown community, and more. In this Action Project, I speak of the limited mental health services that are in Chicago and the traumas that POC deal with in the city. Their traumas are not recognized and there needs to be services that people can go to so they can communicate these problems that they go through. For this project I stated a thesis (The issue), antithesis (Contradicts / opposes the thesis), and a Synthesis which is the solution for the issue, bringing both the thesis and antithesis together as one. I also stated a number of different premises and resources that support my argument.

   

I believe the voices of students, especially in Chicago are important and to ALWAYS be heard. We are the future and deserve to understand how our city is ran. As far as CPS go, I think their voices matter the most. It would make a huge difference in our city if young people could speak up about the traumas they face and how it effects their everyday life as well as their education. We have the right to have a say in things and we have the right to feel safe, secure, and acknowledged no matter what.

The Beauty of the Pinhole Camera

Pinhole Camera (AS 2019)

In this unit of my STEAM course, Light, Sound, and Time, we've been studying light and its wonders relating to mathematics and different science principles. The first experiment that we did in class was the Hershey Bar experiment, where you test the changing temperatures of a Hershey Bar while a lamp is placed above it. We wrote down the initial temperature of the piece of chocolate and then the changing temperature. This revealed what light bulb produced the most heat. For a Field Experience, we visited the Latin School in Chicago and visited their dark room. We created a pinhole camera and related it to the ideas of reflection vs. refraction, light waves and particles, and the science behind the eye and its form. Through this class, we also connected the camera to the eye because the camera acts as an eye. The eye can take in light and focus it. A camera does the same with its lens and focal point. The pinhole camera was made out of an oatmeal box. I poked a small piece of aluminum with a pin and made a tiny hole. I then painted the inside of the box black so it could absorb the light coming in. Lastly, I created a shutter on the lens so I could lift it up when light's ready to go inside the box and create the image. My results were successful!

My Pinhole Camera image: An astronaut with my paining (AS 2019)

Calculations: I left the shutter open for 3 1/2 minutes to capture the photo.

Pinhole Calculations (AS 2019)

The first thing I did was measure the height of the object, width, and the height of the pinhole. 

H1= 7.125 in.

W= 4 in. 

H2= 3 in.

I then found the total distance from the paper to the object. By doing that I solved the proportion 3x/3= 28.5/3. I got that by cross multiplying 7.125 in to 4 in and multiplying 3 in by the missing distance (x). The answer I got was 9.5 in. Next, I found the minimum distance between the the object and the camera to capture the entire image. I found that by subtracting the total distance (9.5 in) by the width (4 in) which resulted in 5.5 in. After that I used the Pythagorean Theorem to find the hypotenuse inside the camera as well as the triangle's entire hypotenuse. I started with doing 4^2 + 3^2 and got 25. The final answer for the inside hypotenuse is 5 because the square root of 25 is 5. Then I did 9.5^2 + 7.125^2, and got 11.875 which is the triangle's ENTIRE hypotenuse while 6.875 (sq. root of 11.875 in. ) is the section outside of the camera. Lastly, I used the inverse Tangent, Tan ^ -1 (3/4) to find the angle inside the triangle. As a result, my answer was 36.87 degrees. In order to get the complementary angle, I subtracted 90 degrees by the angle inside and got 53.13 degrees as my answer.

           

I feel so grateful to have received. I always wanted to go to a dark room for photography and after taking my pinhole photography, I got the chance to learn how to process the photo. I also learned so much about light and its wonders. This unit opened my eyes about cameras and how they're very similar to the human eye. I had no idea that they were alike in any way. I also enjoyed doing calculations for this project and breaking everything down. This project made me want to create my own camera at home and experiment with photography and how it relates directly to light. I started this project off thinking that the pinhole camera illustrated refraction and reflection. I found out I was wrong, which led me to a new discovery about light. By far, this was my favorite Action Project!

The Life Cycle of a Vinyl Record

Our last unit in Biomimicry focused on decomposition of different products and Linear/Closed Loop Systems. We started this unit off by doing an experiment with different food. As a class, we brought in different food products and placed it on a Ziploc bag. Over Winter break we left it at school in a plastic bin for 2 weeks. The experiment was supposed to show how each food product decomposed differently. We then did a Lab Report about which product decomposed the most. After that, we went to a Field Experience to The Plant in Chicago. The Plant was a building filled with several different businesses. A lot of the businesses made alcohol and they had a facility full of plants, fish, worms, and waste. We learned about Closed Loop Systems and biodegradable products. While we were there, we built our own system and got to a Shark Tank style pitch to try to sell our product. We also got to see worms and how they break down trash, which gives soil to plants and feeds animals and bugs. Everything then leads back to us. A guest also came into our school to teach us about the different ways worms can help the earth. In this unit, we learned about Fungi as well and how it can also save the world, especially mushrooms. Mushrooms can be used for things such as antibiotics. Like worms, they also give back to the soil, making our world a better place for all organisms. For this Action Project, we had to choose a product an explain its Linear and Closed Loop System. We also had to create a new model of that product that is more sustainable. I chose to remodel a Vinyl Record's sleeve because when sleeves are made, trees are cut down to pulp. Records are also not biodegradable so I talked about different ways that they can be reused. The new model is a sleeve made from recycled cardboard. The record itself is also made from useless and old records by being grounded up. I wanted to prove that there are so many sustainable ways to reuse and remake records rather than throwing them out because it's bad for the earth.

In conclusion, This was my favorite unit because I feel like I got more out of it. I thought it was really interesting that some products take over 1 million years to fully decompose. It made me think more about everything I saw everyday. Before this unit, I knew nothing about Closed Loop Systems. I also didn't even know that Mushrooms are fungi. I thought that it was cool that every product has a different Linear System and is manufactured differently. I learned more about vinyl records as well. I chose to speak about records because they've always been a big part of my life. I've always been fascinated by them and curious about how they actually play. I never knew that you couldn't just throw them out. I also didn't even acknowledge the fact that so many records are wasted on a day to day basis. Since they don't last forever, people usually keep them in storage or give them to record stores. Some records never get played again. I wasn't aware that they could be toxic to the earth too. Now, I want to start donating records I don't use to companies so they can make new and improved ones. I think that every product should give back to the earth in some way instead of being treated like waste. It would change the world and the human's relationship with nature.

Plant to Design

This term I am taking a course called Biomimicry. Biomimicry is when designs are inspired by nature. In this unit we discussed plants and animals and how they adapt to their habitats. In class, we talked about how plants function and survive. We also learned about how living things have evolved over time. One way we did this was by looking at a timeline of the earth and how long life has been around. From there, we discussed people who used Biomimicry to make their own designs like Jay Harman who created the PAX impeller. He mimicked the way a whirlpool works and applied it to his own design by making the impeller spin the same way. In order to get some inspiration for our project we went on two Field Experiences. Our first Field Expierence was at a carpet company called Interface. We learned that their company creates sustainable and replacable carpets by using Biomimicry. They observe different forms of nature to their own designs to make their carpets Eco-friendly. For example, they created a carpet that looks a lot like an ocean. They also think of materials they can use from nature, which I thought was very fascinating. The second Field Experience we went to was the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Here, we closely observed several different plants like different flowers, fruit, leaves, and much more. As we looked at these plants, we got to draw them and see if they use the Fibonacci series. The Fibonacci series is a series of numbers like 1,1,2,3,4,8,etc. Each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. For example, 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, and so on. These numbers are often see in spirals on different kind of plants. For our action project this unit, we have to think of a human challenge and think of how a plant would solve it through a design. The plant I chose was the Desert Rhubarb. It stores water and had huge roots. The human problem I chose was dehydration. I chose this because not all people have access to clean water. I created a water system that has a small set of tubes and a big set of tubes. When it rains, the water goes through a drain that would be installed in the ground like a plant. The water then travels through the small tubes that are connected, creating a steady water flow. Then, it goes through the bigger tubes that look a lot like the underground roots of the Desert Rhubarb. When the water travels through it becomes filtered. It then comes back up through a faucet and the water is clean and healthy to drink. Through this project we had to talk about how it connects to any Life Principles or SDGS (Sustainable Development Goals). I was able to create a beneficial and sustainable design thanks to the Desert Rhubarb plant!

Design and Engineering: Making A Tool For You

In Design and Engineering class, we learn about producing things that we can use in our everyday lives. We also incorporate Mathematics and Physics to understand what components go into designing products. In this unit, we learned about simple machines and how they are used. For example, we got to see how wedges, levers, and inclined planes work before learning about tools and how people use them in their everyday life.

This action project was about empathy, but mainly about how we can use empathy to develop new tools for people who may not function the way the “average” person does. The user would be an elderly person, but the tool I made can be used by anyone with a physical or mental disability. Our main focus was to make a product for someone that is of old age and has difficulties with using regular tools. Empathy is understanding how someone really feels. In order to create a product for someone else, we need to use empathy.

I interviewed my neighbor Eileen about the tools she uses in her garden. She stated, "I love a tool that doesn't require much bending". This inspired me to make a sledgehammer that won't cause back strains when using it.

Three things I learned from interviews with gardeners and experts:
1. Good grip is important and effective.
2. Tools with a sturdy and sharp point are helpful (shovels for ex.)
3. Multipurpose tools work best.

Three things I learned from researching existing examples of my tool:
1. The best sledge hammers are the most expensive.
2. They’re usually made with steel.
3. They come in different shapes, lengths, and sizes.


My new and improved tool is called the “Grave Diga”. The Grave Diga is an example of a lever because one hand would be considered the fulcrum, while the other hand is the first weight, making the head of the tool the second weight. It’s a sledge hammer with a long length and movable handle grips on the ends. It is made out of carbon fiber so it’s lighter. The handle grips are helpful for old people who may need more support. The grip slides up and down for an easy use. Some people have really weak or shaky hands so the grip and extra hand support helps with that. Since it is very long, you don’t have to bend down that much either. Just lift and smash.

My partner and I did some prior research on the sledgehammers by looking at other sledgehammers. We went to Home Depot as a Field Experience and looked for the improvements we could make. We noticed that the grip was not stable enough and it was too heavy. From there we looked up the prices of the sledgehammers we saw and the materials used to make it. This gave us a good sense of what we needed to create: an affordable tool with simple but helpful qualities. Knowing this information led us to creating an easy product for mostly elderly people.

Three ways my tool is better than the competition:
1. Carbon fiber to make it lighter.
2. Hand strap and grips are for shaking or weak hands.
3. Sliding grip for comfortable use.

A lot of sledgehammers have very uncomfortable grips. Any tool without a sturdy grip can make the job hard and time consuming. The Grave Diga is unlike other tools because it has everything you want and need in a sledgehammer.

I learned that it’s possible to make a tool that doesn’t already exist. I also learned that you need to understand empathy to create a product for someone. This was not easy for me because I had to make a model for someone who doesn't function like I do. I’m not an old person so I don’t exactly know what a “good tool” would be for the elderly. I had to put myself in the shoes of an old person and think outside the box. One obstacle I encountered was figuring out how to make the sledge hammer lighter. The sledge hammer has to be heavy in order to do the job because of the hard steel/metal material. I had to think of different ways I could make it either lighter or easier to hold. The handle straps seemed like a reasonable choice. Thinking outside the box, especially when faced with difficult obstacles can be challenging but it is worth it in the end.