This Year's Charity Fair: Project Blog

Tri-fold of our project

Summary

During this project, I learned a lot. One thing that definitely stuck out to me in this project is learning how to use laminate on boards and cards. I needed to learn how to use this because without knowing how to we wouldn't be able to make our product look as professional. I also learned how to make a background that players can follow in order to make our board game functional. It taught me alot about graphic design and how the brain processes patterns and paths according to color coordination. This is what I learned over the course of this project

Backwards Looking - What process did you go through to produce this piece?

To create our board game, we went through a relatively simple process. To create all the different parts of the project is another story, so i'm just going to say how we made the game. First, we had to do all of the printing for the boards and cards. Next, we had to cut all the cards to size and laminate them. For the board, we had to cut all the boards to size and cut cardboard to match the background. We then glued the background to the cardboard and laminated it. Then, we laminated all the logos to the back of the text side of the cards. After all that, we put the cards, boards, marbles, rules, and dice into a box. After this we were done creating our product. 

Inwards Looking - How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?

I feel as if our group did pretty well on this project. We produced a well done ignite presentation, as well as we were able to maintain clear ideas throughout the whole presentation. We also did pretty well on our products. However, some things that I thought we did OK on (not very good, or bad) is probably our tri-fold. Our tri-fold looked overall a bit sloppy, and kind or messy in my opinion, but it wasn't overwhelmingly terrible. This what I enjoyed, and didn't enjoy about our project

Outward Looking - What grade would you give it? Why?

I would probably give this project an A-. I would say this because, for the most part, we did everything relatively well. Our presentation was pretty good. Our product was very nice looking and presentable as a legitimate board game. Last but not least, our instructable was pretty good too. The only reason why I wouldn't give us an A is because, like I said before, our poster board had some faults. But they weren't overwhelming, as in they didn't distract you from the ideas our poster was conveying. This is the grade I would giver our project.

Forward Looking - As you look at this piece, what's one thing that you would like to try to improve upon?

I think that I could probably improve upon the tri-fold. As I mentioned before, the tri-fold was a bit sloppy, and overall could have probably improved. So next time I will know what I did wrong before, which was deciding to put the entire covering of paper at once, which can induce tears due to stretching. I think that we also could have made the rules a bit more specific, and potentially made our product look a bit nicer and more profesional. These are the things I will improve upon for my next project.

Should We Bring Back Extinct Species? - WAC

Almost everyone knows of the tales told of the animals in the past. Where animals such as monstrous Dinosaurs, mammoths, and Tasmanian tigers roamed the earth. Well, modern science has given opportunity to bring back these species from the past. Even though Dinosaurs aren't as likely to happen, there are still possibilities of bringing back those that have become extinct more recently. Modern science has proven to have the prowess of reviving these extinct species. Controversy regarding the subject has stirred among the community of those interested in the discussion, and is shown that not everyone is on board with this idea. This is because reviving these extinct species could take a lot of time, effort, and money that could very well be spent on a failed project. I am in the group of people that isn't supporting the concept of De-Extinction, and I will address all of my arguments separately in this essay.

The first argument I have against de-extinction is the complications that bring these animals back would cause. Let's say that we were to successfully bring back one of these species, where would they even go? what would they eat for food, and if they did find a source of food, would those species die out as well? Similar questions to these were also asked in the SENCER article "Should We Bring Back Extinct Species". A quote that supported my ideas from this article was "We don’t know the environmental impacts of bringing back extinct species. Would they be invasive? If there weren’t predators for this species, it could become overpopulated. Alternatively, it could become a “new” predator and wipe out other species". Another concern to this topic is if these species that are brought back would even be protected or not. This was mentioned in the KQED article "Reawakening Extinct Species". This was seen in the quote "There are significant practical, ethical, and legal questions yet to be worked out, such as whether de-extincted species would be protected by the Endangered Species Act or would find sufficient habitat in which to thrive." This is the first reason why I believe that de-extinction could be problematic to today's environments.

The next argument I have against this topic is the fact that all these resource might be inevitably useless and end in a failed project. These species that are already extinct are probably meant to stay extinct and I only say this because the initial purpose of them becoming extinct may very well be the cause of them becoming extinct again. These species coming back also may be at the cost of several other species. This can be seen in the article "We Might Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. Is It Worth the Cost?" from the New York times. In this article, Dr. Bennet gave his thoughts on the topic. “If you have the millions of dollars it would take to resurrect a species and choose to do that, you are making an ethical decision to bring one species back and let several others go extinct,” Dr. Bennett said. “It would be one step forward, and three to eight steps back.” This attempts have been done before and were almost successful, but not quite there every time. An example of this would be in 1989, when there was a species of mountain goat that was going extinct. Scientists were able to collect and gather samples of the very few animals left and attempt to "clone" them. This resulted in several unsuccessful procedures, but a spark of hope came when they were able to finally deliver one of the baby goats. This goat was born in 2003, but died after a few minutes from a lung deformity. This caused millions of dollars in resources to go down the drain.

Even though they were unsuccessful in cloning the animal, the research did end up making several breakthroughs that could potentially help other animals. This proves that this research could be beneficial to other things, but would be wasted if used on de-extinction. There are tons of animals that are on the brink of extinction and could be saved using this revolutionary research and technology. This can be seen in the quote from the SENCER article in the quote “[This technology] could be used to help populate species that are currently endangered, or to diversify the gene pool of species with little genetic variation, leaving populations less susceptible to viruses, bacterial infections and disease". This is why I believe that the research backing de-extinction should be used for something that could be worth our time and money, and could be very possible if done in the right hands.

In conclusions, de-extinction is something that would be not desirable for the following reasons. The resources, time, and money that would be spent trying to make de-extinction a reality, will most probably be wasted on a failed project, or result in the species not having any place to go. De-extinction would also bring up a lot of problematic situations for today's ecosystems and environments. Finally, even though de-extinction isnt the best idea, the research being put on bringing back these species, could most certainly result in saving several species that are endangered because of our damage to their homes. This is why I believe that de-extinction isn't a good idea.

Learning About De-Extinction - Weekly Blog #12

www.sciencenews.org

Summary

This week in science, I learned about the research done on extinct species, and the attempts of bringing them back. I found a lot of things very interesting regarding the resurrection of extinct species.They  talked about how we morally feel obligated to bring these species that we did wrong to, but controversy has spurred among everyone about this topic. Bringing back these species would also take a lot of resources and time to make a reality. There are several engineers working in the field that have been making several developments in this field and that at the end, the benefits would most certainly out weigh the costs. This whole concept of bringing back these extinct special definitely has a lot of controversy, but also has a lot of thoughts coming from both sides of the argument. There are most definitely benefits and disadvantages to both sides of the argument, and just hearing people discuss the topic taught me a lot about different things that have to do with resurrecting extinct species. 

S&EP - Arguing From Evidence

I used evidence to defend my explanation. I answered Riccardo when he tried to claim that one of the articles from KQED learn Investigation was informational. I was able to disprove him by providing  quotes from the specifically explained key concepts in science that are being used today to bring back extinct animals. I was able to successfully rebuttal his claim, and explain using evidence from the text in response to the comment made on his source.

XCC - Stability and Change

This week in science, I was able to identify the stability and change that bringing back these extinct species would cause. The stability that could potentially be brought if Woolly Mammoths were to come back is to help reduce the amount of carbon being released into the air through melting. They were going to bring back the Woolly mammoth by splicing the DNA of the mammoth into the Asian Elephant. Through reading the articles, I learned that bringing back these mammoths would be at the cost of today's Asian elephant population. Through this, I identified change in the population of Asian elephants becoming Woolly Mammoths, could provide stability in the ecosystem, but could also change life in the tundra and the population of the elephants drastically.

Our Product's Carbon Footprint - Weekly Blog #11

Summary

This week in science, I learned about the affects that modes of transportation have on the environment. When materials for products try to get from one place to another, they have serious affects on the air quality. With every shipment comes a price, and not only the price you pay for the product, but also a price of kg of carbon released in the air through gas emissions. We had to calculate how much kg of carbon our product releases in order to know what our products carbon footprint is. We were able to calculate that to make one of our products, we have to

Fluxx, Body System Edition - Project Blog

Edited by me: Original Photo from http://www.sciencephoto.com

Summary

In this project, I learned about the different body system organs, and how they directly correlate with each other. I also learned how to create a card game by printing the context of the card onto the front side, and print the backing onto to the back using double sided printing. Through this card game, i could make direct connections between organs, due to them having to be connected in some sort of way in order for the game to work and make sense. I also learned how to play Fluxx, and what the different cards meant and how they affect game play.

Backward-Looking: In what ways do you think you need to improve?

Well, I think that I could improve on the overall neatness and presentation  of the cards. Even though I tried my best cutting the cards to shape, the backing of the cards wasn't perfectly aligned. This ended up messing with the entire composure of the cards. With this in mind, I know that I can make the cards better in presentation. I also think that I could have come up with better, and more creative interpretations of the "new rule" cards.

Inward-Looking: What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?

Something that was especially satisfying at the finished product was the overall gratification that completing all the cards gave me. Doing all of that painstaking work to create the different types of cards was really worth it at the end. I was able to look at the end product with a strong sense of completion and fulfillment in making an engaging and creative Fluxx game.

Outward-Looking: In what ways did your work meet the standards for this assignment? In what ways did it not meet those standards?

A way that I met the standards of the assignment was by creating a variety or cards that were both intriguing, and included all the necessary components of the assignments. I also met the standards in the lamination process for the card making. During this process, I was able to accurately laminate the card stock onto the lamination sheets, and create protected cards that looked professional. A way that I didn't meet the standards of the assignment because I didn't cut the cards very neatly.

Forward-Looking: As you look at this piece, what's one thing that you would like to try to improve upon?

If I were to improve upon one thing in this piece of work, I would improve on making the cards look more presentable and playable. I could have done this by doing neater cutting and making sure that the backing of the cards was perfectly aligned with the front. I also could have taken out the bubbles that occurred from the laminate much better. With these small improvements, I could have made a more professional, and neat looking end product.

Making My Own Fluxx Card Game! - Weekly blog #10

Amazon.com

Summary

This week in science, I learned about a game called Fluxx. We were given a task to recreate this game catering to a certain topic in science. My partner and I chose the topic of the human body systems. I learned more about human body systems than I ever did before. These are facts such as communications between the brain and different organs of your body, as well as how organs in the same system are codependent of each other. I also learned how to better use google tools including google sheets and google drawings. I also now know how to make nice looking cards that can be used to play with. This includes using card-stock, applying laminate, and a logo to be put on the back.

S&EP - Constructing Explanations

Through this project, I was able to construct explanation on how organs in body systems work together and what allows communication between different parts of the body. With the keeper cards and goals, I was able to set explanations about different connections between our body systems. Through these cards, I can provide a fun game that also can teach people all sorts of thing about the different human body systems and connections between them. This is how I constructed explanations this week in science

XCC - Structure and Function

There are vast amounts of examples regarding structure and function when it comes to the human body system. There is a sense of structure built into each of our body systems because several organs are joined together in a way that requires structure to operate. There is function because these organs and body systems rely on one another in order to function. There is also several tasks given to certain organs in order to make a functioning body. This is why structure an function is present in the different human body systems.

Designer Species: Project Blog

Drawing of our species

Summary

In this project, I learned how different animals use their adaptations to help them out in the wild. I learned about this through researching the different traits that might be beneficial to our animal. Through this, I was able to learn how the blowholes of dolphins work, how the reproductive system of a frog is like, and how seals keep themselves warm. Through the designer species project, I also learned how to create an engaging, and informational video. I also learned how to better use the green screen effect through the green screen that we filmed on.

Backward Looking - In what ways have you gotten better at this kind of work?

I believe that I got better at this type of work because I learned how to better make a drawing as a representation of collections of ideas. This allowed me to have a better understanding of the importance of teamwork and collaboration to share ideas. I also learned how to get better at making video that are informational and also entertaining. I also leaned how to better film with real cameras, as well as how to do green screen effects.

Inward Looking - What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?

I guess what was especially satisfying as the end result of the project was the collection of different types of products that we made for the project. I like the fact that we did an animatic, as well. as a detailed sketch/model. This way, we were able to express different versions of the same product.This was especially satisfying at the end because  we got to see lots of collections in different ideas coming together. Another thing that was especially satisfying at the end was the video quality. Even though the audio lacked in quality, I liked how we were able to use a variety of shots and angles. 

Outward Looking - Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

We did our work differently then other in a variety of ways. Even though our methods were different in presentation, we all had the same concepts, for some the same planet. The reason why our methods were different then other was due to us wanting to do something a little out of the box. Because of this, we decided to do a video instead of a presentation, which pretty much everyone else was doing. We also included a different type of detailed sketch, because in a way that detailed sketch was like a model, in the sense that it could stand up on its own, and used all sorts of materials. We were similar to other groups because we all made animals that were, in some way, adapted to their environments and. 

Forward Looking - What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

If I were to do this piece over again, I would redo the filming on a lot of the shots. I say this because the audio on all of the shots that we did after the restaurant scene had a lot of background noise in it. Also, the green screen didn't come out very good on those shots, and was pretty hard to work with. I would also probably try and add more texture to our detailed sketch/model. I say this because we were originally going to add all sorts of material onto the sketch but ended up not having enough time for it. These are thing that I would change if I were to do this over again.