Epic Elements Video - 11.1.21

This is the stop motion video that my group members and I created for our Epic Elements PBL event. I drew many of the slides and edited the video and audio. Drawing the initial storyboard slides and making backgrounds for my project went well. It wasn’t that hard to do these, and I was relieved that we could use simple images to convey our ideas. Also, editing and doing the voice over for the stop motion went well, it wasn’t that difficult for me because I have prior experience editing. However, sometimes it was difficult to work with a group of people because you have to make sure that everyone is doing their part, and certain members of the group may not be as good at certain aspects of the project (ex. drawing, writing, etc.). I could improve my work ethic so that I am not as overwhelmed and so that I get more of my work done by the deadline. I learned how to make a stop motion animation using google slides and how to use photopea to design characters and backgrounds. If I was assigning this project, I would allow group members to fully choose how they divide the work, one member may want to write the entire epic while the other two want to do the entire art portion. This allows groups to fully use their strengths to their advantage.

Epic Elements Chemistry Research Part 1- 9.7.21

For our epic elements research, our group researched noble gases.

Epic Elements PBL - World History

For the World History portion of my Epic Elements PBL project, we studied ancient civilizations. The civilizations that we focused on were Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus River Valley. In the pictures above, you can see us making mud bricks and a bamboo structure, representative of shelter and construction during Ancient times. This knowledge of Ancient civilizations formed the basis for the ancient civilizations we would use and base our characters around in our Epic Elements project.

Weaving

Over the course of multiple classes, I made a friendship bracelet out of twine, and wrote a nice message on a card attached to the bracelet. I gave the bracelet to my close friend, Brennon, because I really enjoy his friendship. I gave it to him in class and he was really happy to receive the bracelet and message. I was happy that I could make my friend happy and show my appreciation for him. In the future, I may choose a different, more complex, bracelet design so that it looks nicer, and give it to a different friend that I want to show my appreciation for.

Molecule Art

In chemistry, we have been discussing the different types of bonds. These bonds include ionic, covalent, and metallic. A covalent bond is a type of bond in which the molecules share electrons with each other. Covalent bonding is responsible for the bonding of dyes and paints to papers, fabric, etc. My art above shows the covalent molecule for hydrogen (H₂). I chose to do this because I knew that hydrogen was used to make rocket fuel, so I could easily make an art piece that shows how hydrogen is used in the real world. In my art, you can find the elements of line and color, along with the principles of contrast, similarity, and symmetry.

Recycled Textiles

Artist Statement - Recycled Textiles

For my recycled textiles project, I made a hand bracelet out of plarn, which is short for plastic yarn. I used multiple plastic bags to make the plarn, and braided the plarn together in order to make it. This project is very closely linked to chemistry through the materials used. I decided to use plarn because I could recycle and reuse the plastic that would otherwise harm the environment. Plastic has very strong covalent bonds that make it very hard for it to break down in the environment, hence why there is a huge problem of excess plastic waste in the environment. I used the principles of rhythm and repetition, which are forms of unity and harmony, along with the principle of asymmetry, which is a form of balance. For me, I found it difficult to formulate ideas, I simply didn’t know what I wanted to create. On the other hand, I did not find processes such as creating and braiding the plarn to be difficult. I could improve this project by spending more time on it and paying more attention to detail. Throughout this project, I learned how to use the design process to create a piece of art; I also learned how to recycle plastic, create plarn, and make it into something that is useful.

Final Molecule Artwork

For this project, the molecule that I chose to represent through this artwork was carbon dioxide. My idea for this artwork was to show factories blowing smoke into the air, as much of the carbon dioxide emission into our atmosphere is made up of factories burning fossil fuels. In this artwork, I used the principle of movement. The smoke rising out of the buildings show movement as they each have their own unique, irregular shapes which move upward, making the image feel less static and still. I incorporated my Tinkercad model of the carbon dioxide molecule by placing and arranging it within the smoke, since much of factory smoke includes carbon dioxide. Some careers that use CAD software like Tinkercad include: architectural designing, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, interior designing, and more. Careers that use graphics editing software like photopea include: graphic design, photo editing, creative design, web design, and more.

Columbian Exchange Cooking Project Reflection

The Columbian Exchange was the exchange of food, religion, goods, people, and animals from one hemisphere to another. In this exchange, European countries on the eastern hemisphere and the Americas in the western hemisphere came into contact with each other for the first time, and shared many of their goods with each other. In this project, the class was divided into the Eastern and Western hemisphere, and there were two groups per hemisphere. Groups that belonged to either hemisphere could only use and cook with ingredients that came from either hemisphere. For instance, citrus fruits and cattle came from the eastern hemisphere, while turkey and sweet potatoes came from the western hemisphere. This project helped me to understand the limited recipes and foods that the people on either hemisphere had prior to the Columbian Exchange. It is surprisingly difficult to cook with only certain ingredients while not being allowed to use others and the interaction between the two hemispheres brought about a lot of new foods which we still enjoy today.

Research on Calcium Carbonate

Research on Sucrose

Rollercoaster Project

Book Cover

Above is a picture of the cover that I designed for the book that I was writing, titled La Doña. This book was about a young woman who was suddenly thrust into the dark world of the Mafia. I chose this design because I found it to be a simple yet aesthetically pleasing representation of the contents within the book. The book, being a mafia story, is dark and sometimes bloody, so I chose the black and red color scheme with blood splatters on the front to represent that theme.

In The Beginning

At The Mid-Point

In The End

Dr. Stanley S. Brown Workshop

From left to right: meme, Facebook post, and Twitter post:

Tiktok (left) and Instagram story post (right):

Financing Life Project Part 1

This is part 1 of the financing life project that I completed for Algebra 2. In this project, I had to select a job and plan my life around the average salary for that job. In this section of the project, I chose the job, listed the requirements for the job, the average salary, and picked a car to buy with this money. I chose to be an electrical engineer, and the car I chose was a 2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody. I then calculated various monthly payments with differing interests rates to determine how much I may end up spending on this car. Needless to say, if real life I would definitely choose a much less expensive car. At the end of this part, I used my own knowledge along with research on Google to determine what it takes to build good credit.

Financing Life Project Part 2

This is part 2 of the financing life project that I completed for Algebra 2. In this part of the project, I planned to buy a house and calculated my monthly expenses. I used the 8.9% interest rate on the car from part 1 to plan my monthly expenses, which came out to $2,726.17. I then used my gross monthly salary and multiplied it by .43 and .31 to determine how much money I can spend on my house per month. I then multiplied this value by 150 to determine what price my house should be. Lastly, I chose a house in Atlanta, explained why I chose it, and linked the Zillow page for the house.

Overall, this project taught me about financial planning and making smart, responsible decisions with money.