Scramble for Africa humanities 10-30-13

    During the scramble for Africa, I learned that even though the countries may have had simple goal to accomplish, it was very difficult to choose which countries to capture. They had to keep the most efficient countries and not take over any countries that wouldn't be of any importance to them.
      I also learned that when the berlin conference was going in, the politics and Representatives probably thought of the territories only for the resources, and nothing of the people or culture there. They also probably had to fight for territory, like we had to do in this game. So what we saw on the map may have not been what the Representatives wanted, because they were overtaken by other countries, and also had their territories stolen from them.
     Imperialism was a horrible thing. Even though the wording was different, it still meant an invasion of Africa. No locals had any say in it, and had to obey every command they were given. They had their land split up by foreigners, who only did it because they felt like it. It practically meant that they were acting childish, and just because they felt like it, they got whatever they wanted.
    This game also showed me just how little of Africa was not controlled by foreigners. The territories were literally specks on the map. The country that I had was France.  They took up most of the north west part of Africa. They used that area for who knows what. They probably just wanted to take up as much space as they could so they wouldn't look weak. The same probably went for the other countries as well. They wanted to show that they were also a force to be reckoned with, and all decided to use Africa as a showcase for their power. They thought of Africa as a bunch of rural countries without any significance, so they decided to take it over.
   The infographic and the game both taught me that they European countries did not go  to Africa to help the people there. They went to Africa only to strip the land of it resources and leave the people with nothing.

4 biological molecules MPX STEM

Keirsey test MPX STEM

After taking the keirsey test, I looked at the overview of all of the 4 temperaments, and compared them to mine, the Idealist Champion.  The idealist champion is rather rare,  three or four percent of the population are chosen as a champion. Champions have a wide range and variety of emotions, and a great passion for novelty. They see life as an exciting drama, with possibilities for both good and evil, and they want to experience all the meaningful events and fascinating people in the world. This does represent my well. I am always wanting to try new things, good and bad, so I can gain experience from it, and learn from my mistakes . make along the way.
The most outgoing of the Idealists, Champions often can't wait to tell others of their extraordinary experiences. If I do something over the weekend, I can't wait to share it with others, as well as find out what they did too. Very individualistic, Champions strive toward a kind of personal authenticity. This is true for me. I feel like I alway want to be original, and never follow the crowd. At the same time, Champions have outstanding intuitive powers and can tell what is going on inside of others, reading hidden emotions and giving special significance to words or actions. I have noticed that many people do not realize or understand others emotions without the person telling them. For me, even if they do not show it at all, I can usually see what they are really feeling.
Champions are good with people and have a wide range of personal relationships. They are warm and full of energy with their friends. They are likable and at ease with colleagues, and handle their employees with great skill. They are good in public and on the telephone, and are so spontaneous and dramatic that others love to be in their company. Champions are positive, exuberant people, and often their confidence in the goodness of life and of human nature makes good things happen.

Mpx stem workday reflection

During class today, I noticed some things that worked for our group well, and other things that hindered or made it more difficult for us to work. While working on our tables, there were ways of cutting the wood and drilling holes that worked for us and helped us work more efficiently, and there were some things that hindered us, and forced us to redo and waste time.
One of the things that helped us as a group was already having a detailed drawing of the exact measurements and angles for our table. Having this made it easy to cut and measure the wood. It also made us have a better idea of what it will look like in the end, and also make it easier for us to see if we had made a mistake.
The second thing that helped us out was that everyone was doing their job. Each person helped out and did everything that their job required. For example, our scribe was working on documenting everything that happened, took pictures, wrote down what we did well, and accomplished.
Something's that hindered our group from doing good work were mistakes in the measuring of our wood pieces. Without exact measurements and drawings, our table would be off, and would not work properly. One of our measurements were off. Luckily, it was bigger than smaller, so it was an easy fix.
Another thing that hindered our groups work was crooked holes in our wood when we would drill, and also when we were screwing in the screws, we would strip the wood and have to recut the wood and drill holes in them again.  This not only wasted time, but sometimes we had to recut the wood, which would also was waste wood.

MPX STEM Water is Liquid Awesome

Africa iMovie humanities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUq0FGC7DrQ&feature=youtube_gdata

9-13-13 humanities sustainability curriculum

How did exploring the issue of food security affect you (surprise? anger? interest?)? What impact do you think our year-long project could have on the community? How did the lo’i field trip teach you sustainability?

When we researched the food security in humanities, it surprised me very much. I didn't know that hawaii was in such bad shape. For example, if hawaii was cut off from the mainland, we would only survive for about 5 day with the amount of food that is on the island right now. This scared me a lot, because hawaii being cut off from the mainland is a very realistic possibility. This research led us into another discussion: sustainability on the islands. For hundreds of years the hawaiians thrived on just what they had on the island. they had no contact with the mainland, and had no ships ever find them. They were one of the most sustainable civilization in history. But look at us now! An estimated 90% of all of the food we eat is imported. This means that there is not much local farming on any of the islands.

When we first started the year off, I didn't think that sustainability would help us as students learn anything. But, I was very wrong. The topic drew me in immediately. when i learned how dependent the state was on the mainland, and how much food was imported, it made me really angry. It also made me change the way I looked at everything. My family has also been involved in the topic. we now take advantage of the farmers markets and open market. Even if the items are a little more expensive than the other larger companies, it help the island keep its money. I think that as a state we need to promote local produce more than imported products. Its not really the peoples fault though. As for everything that is screwed up in this state, it is politics that killed our independence from the mainland. Instead of staying our own great original selves, politics forces us to follow the mainlanders ways. I think this is why Hawaii is going downhill faster and faster as the years go on.

When we went to the lo'i, it really lightened my heart. Seeing that people still really care about staying independent and sustainable was great. Helping out was fun, and i learned so much while i was there. I liked it so much that me and some of my friends have been going there during the weekends to help out. It also made me start expanding and taking better care of my family garden.

10-12-13 humanities heroes project reflection

After the “gallery opening”, you will need to complete a written reflection, posted to your
blog, regarding this entire project.
First, look through the bulleted concepts carefully and pick THREE that you sharpened
orgained throughout this project, including:
● Develop and present more sophisticated writing
● Practice planning, drafting, and revising
● Use clear and concise language
● Speak eloquently and knowledgeably
● Accessing and analyzing information
● Curiosity and imagination
● Effective oral and written communication
Second, write a minimum 350 word reflection essay explaining: a. which 3 concepts you
improved significantly on, or gained b. specifically how you improved/gained c.
what you enjoyed or are proud of, and what you wish you could have done differently.
3. Post this essay in your blog with the title: Date. Humanities. Heroes Project Reflection.
You will be graded based on: your ability to accurately identify 3 concepts you acquired,
your
inclusion of DETAILS as evidence of your concept gains, meeting the length
requirement, timely
completion, effort, and your honest and critical thoughts.

After finishing the Hero's project, I noticed that I had a better understanding of many concept and themes that the project taught us students. The first concept that I understood and gained experience from is the planning, drafting, and revising that we had to repeat throughout the whole project. If I just tried to write out the project in one draft and then turn it in, it would be all over the place. I also learned that you should get multiple peers to critique your work, because everyone has a different view than yourself. Getting more people to look at your work will mean it will make more sense to a larger amount of people. Also, it will give you more of an understanding of how peoples points of view are different from others.

I also refined my speech. Its been very hard for me to pronounce my words because I recently got braces, so I've been really having to strain to speak clearly. I hadn't had a chance to really practice my speaking until the second half of the heroes project. Using correct speech skills and grammar is an essential skill to have. Being able to speak clearly and correctly can really engulf listeners, and also help to convey your emotions or theme.

Finally, I learned how to use my imagination and find out different questions to ask my hero. While thinking of questions to answer, I became curious about what a hero was. Hero's are not at all like the people in the Odyssey. They do not go around killing people they don't like, or stealing things just because they want to. Heroes are people who do the exact opposite. If they don't like someone or something, they will help them change. If they want something, they will give it away to people who need it more then they do. A hero is someone who always puts other before themselves, and always thinks about their actions beforehand. When I was thinking up my questions, I had these traits in mind. If I could do my questions over, I would make them more specific.    

The odyssey book project 10-9-13 humanities

http://prezi.com/vgzzrm_g0e1l/copy-of-the-odyssey/?kw=view-vgzzrm_g0e1l&rc=ref-55280955&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Why do plants need water? MPX STEM

After working on the infographic with my teammates, it really gave me a different perspective on why plants need water. Before I thought that plants only needed water because it was essential to keep it alive. I generalized it like how I think of humans needing water. But it is actually much more complicated than that.
    First off all, water is needed to keep the plants shape. Plants bodies are much more dependent on water than human bodies. If they lose water, the plant will lose its shape. Water is also needed for making food for the plant. Photosynthesis cannot be preformed if the plant does not have water.
   The way water goes through plants is almost exactly like the water cycle. It rains, which then soaks the ground an gets absorbed by the plant, which passes through it body and goes back up into the sky. This cycle, if consistently working, will make the plant flourish. But, the cycle will not always work, because it is not consistently raining, and there are too many variables involved. Plants must be resilient, which leads to plants evolving to fits its needs. For example, if the cactus wasn't able to hold water, there would be no way it would be able to survive in desserts.
   My understanding of plants, because of this project, has flourished. I will never look at plants the same as I did before. They need water as their first necessity in a sense, because it gives them shape, and lets them create food for themselves.  

Maris garden follow up blog MPX STEM

3 things you learned that stood out the most to you
2 question you still have, or 2 things you would like to learn more about

When we went to Mari's garden, I learned a lot of things that stood out to me. Not only were they excelling at aquaponics, but also their hydroponics too. They were raising the vegetables in little troughs that were at a slight angle so the water constantly flowed.Raising fish in long, skinny underground pools really stood out too me. They were mass producing fast growing fish to even out the nutrients needed in the aquaponics systems. The way they experimented with growing plants using no light from the sun and only used artificial light was cool because  it would solve a lot of food problems and is portable.

     I still have some questions to be answered though. For example, what would be the next step in cutting the costs of operating down? They told us that the operating costs were very high, but I wasn't sure if it was because they weren't prioritizing on cutting the costs down or it was just because they did not think the cost could be cut down much more than it is now. What is your reason for trying to use hydroponics or aquaponics to grow food, but without the use of sun? Is it because you want to make a place they you can grow food in that will not be affected by any variables? I would also like to know more about want types off fish you plan to grow in the future, and also about your progress on your research on growing plants with only artificial light.
 

Food security infographic humanities

http://eatlocalgrown.com/locally-grown-food-articles/menu/page:2/

Mpx stem Maris garden pre questions

a. With your  'big project' in mind, what are some things do you think you have to pay attention to?
b. What are 3 things you need to learn tomorrow?  explain each one. DUE FRIDAY

When we go to Mari's garden, I need to look at how they make efficient hydroponic systems in very simple ways. By doing this, we can figure out a better guide line and also see how they reuse the water and what nutrients they put in it. Looking at the hydroponic systems might give us a better understanding of how hydroponics works. If I had to choose three things to learn tomorrow, they would be what natural way can we restore the nutrients in the water, what types of plants are the best for hydroponics, and how long they take to grow.
         I think that we will need to know how to naturally restore the nutrients into the water because first off, we have to be able to sustainably grow our plants without the use of non organic materials, and secondly, if we can't then our plants will die.
We need to know what types of plants will work when we use hydroponics because when we do the project, if plants that we use don't grow, were in a bad situation. We will also need to know how long every plant takes to grow. We want fast growing plants so that we will have room for error