Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

Presentation

1. What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I'm really proud of how much I have grown in presenting through out my senior project. I was nervous for all of my presentations, but I was more comfortable in my final presentation than any of the others. Through out the project I learned a lot of information, and I'm really proud of how my project turned out in general. I was a lot more confident in my final presentation though, and I was able to make time, which is what I was personally the most concerned about.

2. Questions to consider:

A. What assessment would you give yourself on the block presentation? Look back and use the component contract to defend that assessment?

On my block presentation I would give myself an AE. I would give myself this grade because I did everything that was required on the component contract, and went into great detail on each answer. I used multiple sources and explained all of them, and talked about a lot of examples for each answer. A lot of work and planning went into my activity, and it ended up working out really well in regards to my presentation. I also brought in my independent components, and used them to really help me explain one of my answers. 

B. What assessment would you give yourself on the overall senior project? Use your component contract to defend that assessment.

Overall on my senior project I would give myself an AE. I really put a lot of effort into this project and learned a lot from it. Through the different projects that we had to do I was able to gather more information about my project, and I really made things like my independent components count towards my learning experience of the project. I completed all of my project hours, and learned a lot from my mentorships. A lot of effort and planning went into my final presentation as well. Throughout my project I really made sure I was learning as much as possible about my topic, and I really gain a lot from all of the research that I did. Through out my project I was even able to add new components to my project that I hadn't really considered before, such as pollution prevention.

3. What worked for you in your senior project?

I think what worked best for me was constantly looking for new information that I could use with my topic. Through the process for research, my mentorship, and my independent components, I was really able to broaden my topic and figure out what water conservation is all about, and then through that I was able to create my essential question and my three answers. My answers came through a lot of research and work through my mentorship and independent components, so really just making a point of trying find more information helped me greatly throughout my project.

4. If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve my senior project?

I think if I could change anything I would go back to the beginning of my project when I was doing really narrow minded research on what I thought water conservation was. It was only later on that I broadened my range of research and really started to figure out the full extent of what water conservation is and what is so important about it. I think I wish I had found that out sooner so I could have started broadening my research a lot sooner.

5. How has the senior project been helpful in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.

This senior project has helped me out quite a bit actually, and in multiple ways. I don't plan on pursuing water conservation as a career, but I do now plan on still helping with water conservation efforts as much as I can, which I didn't really plan on doing before this project. Since water conservation is such an important issue topic there are a lot of groups out there that work towards fixing this issue, and now that I've completed this project I want to put an effort towards joining one of these groups or at least helping where I can. This project has also impacted me too because now I more understand how important of an issue it is, and I have become pretty passionate about it in general. Another thing this senior project has helped me with is getting over my fear of presenting in front of people, and helping me talk for long periods of time. Even though I have gone to IPoly for all four years, where we do a lot of presentations, I was still majorly afraid of speaking in front of my class. This senior project has really helped me grow to be more confident when I'm presenting, and taught me how to plan out a long talk and presentation. I don't generally like talking for long periods of time, so obviously it wasn't really something I was good at. The multiple presentations that we had to do helped me overcome how to not only talk for long periods of time, but also the importance of organizing and talking about quality information. I did really enjoy this project, but it did have its stressful moments, and it did have its moments where I didn't want to do the project any more, but now that the project is over I am actually really grateful for it as I have gained a lot from it and will be able to use a lot of those skills and information in the future.

Exit Interview

Exit Interview

(This is why we need to start protecting water)

1. What is your essential question, and what are your answers? What is your best answer and why?

My essential question is, "What is the best possible way to preserve and protect our water and its ecosystems?" My three answers are education, pollution prevention, and getting active. Out of all three, my best answer is education because people wont be able to fix the problem unless they know about it. Quite a few people have heard of water conservation, but not a lot know all of the facts or what is causing our shortage of water. A lot of people are unaware that whole entire countries are already being forced to pay billions of dollars to clean up polluted water so that they can give their people fresh water. People need to know this is happening if were going to be able to work towards fixing the issue. Further more, people need to know how to fix the issue, so it is important that we also educate the public on how they can help.

2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

Through my presentation I began to realize that not a lot of people think that water conservation is a big issue, or that it will never affect them, which is very untrue. The issue is progressively getting worse every single day, and people need to know that its happening. Before we can get anything done to fix the issue, we need to teach everyone what its really all about . At this point I came up with my best answer, which is education.

3. What problems did you face? how did you resolve them?

For a little while a had some trouble finding any new sources, but at the time I want really looking for any real life examples of places affected by water conservation. At one point I heard about the water crisis happening in Rio, and I looked into it. From then on I found tons of places going through water crisis's, including whole entire countries. I was then able to find new sources, and add a whole new piece of information to my project. I also had trouble towards the beginning of the year with finding another mentor. My original mentor had been in Nevada, so I needed a new one one when I came back to California. I wasn't sure what to look for when trying to find a new mentor, and I am a really shy person. In the end with Mrs. Ortega's help I was able to find and call people, and I found a new mentor.

4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

I actually have three extremely significant sources. My first would be my second mentorship. I learned more then anything else from this mentorship, and through my mentorship I was also able to come up with my three answers. My second biggest source would be NASA. A couple years ago, NASA released the results of a study they had been conducting for over ten years, and it changed the way a lot of people view our water. Their survey was done with satellites, which took pictures of the earth, and then from there they where able to figure out that our aquifers are being quickly depleted. This was our first real indicator that we would ever have any problems with our aquifers, so this whole entire experiment is extremely important to my project. My final source is "The Water Project", which is where I first heard about the water crisis's happening in other countries. Through this project I was able to find out about the full extent of each specific problem, and about the projects that they do as well.

Blog 22: Independent Component 2

Independent Component

I, Kyndra Isom, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours and 30 minutes of work.

Sources: 

• Brooks, Brad. "AP Test: Rio Olympic Water Badly Polluted, Even Far Off Shore." The Big Story. 2, December 2015. Web. 11, February 2015
• Leguen, Roger. "Water Scarcity." WWF. Web. 25, March 2016.
• Schwartz, John and Wines, Michael. "Unsafe Lead Levels in Tap Water Not Limited to Flint." New York Times. 8, february 2016. Web. 11, February 2016.

For this independent component I have created a commercial advertising the need for water conservation and its importance. In the video I give my the two main problems that water conservation is trying to solve; pollution and lack of water. In the commercial I give numerous examples for each problem, and statistics towards the end. The video itself and finding all the parts for the video took a long time, especially when it came to the music. The video ended up being three minutes long. I also did a story board for my video as well. When I was completely finished with all of that, I went and made a pamphlet that also explained the problem. This pamphlet will help me spread my commercial because on it, I put a QR code of my video. I've already put it up in some places, that I will show pictures of. This component helped me answer my EQ because through this I was able to help educate the public. One of my answers is education, and it is a very important part of my topic, so through this I figured out a way to tell people about the issue at hand.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gZ9ULlwHRr1Zm78CLMG0c0_14uZJT6wh96ybBlv28eE/edit?usp=sharing

This is the link to my story board!

This is the QR code for my video!

https://youtu.be/t_VlJOOhIx0

Here is also a link to my video!

These are both sides of the pamphlet that I made!

This is an image of the pamphlet at my dads office!

Blog 21 - Interview 4 Reflection

Interview

https://soundcloud.com/kyn9/interview-5

1. What is the most important thing I learned from this interview?

From this interview I learned new terms about water conservation and different ways that big businesses and others can conserve water. I also got a new source that I can use as well. It was interesting to get someone else's opinion on the on some parts of the subject.

2. How will what I learned affect my final lesson? 

I can use some of the terms I learned in my final lesson, and I can use the new information I learned about conserving water and put it towards my third answer. 

Blog 20: Fourth Interview Questions

Interviews

1. Who do you plan on interviewing? What is their area of expertise?

I plan on interviewing one of my mentors workers. He works in the storm water department, so he knows quite a bit about my topic. 

2. Post 20 open ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

• What is the best possible way to conserve and protect our water and ecosystems?
• Who or what do you think some of the biggest water wasters are?
• What are some ways that the city could help conserve water?
• What are some ways we could educate the public about water conservation?
• Do you think our aquifers are beyond repair?
• Do you believe that it is unnecessary for farmers to grow crops in dry regions? Why or why not?
• What are some ways to conserve water in this drought?
• A big part of your job is to make sure that oil from restaurants and general waste from business is not going down the storm drain. Why is this important?
• What are some ways for an average everyday person to get active and start conserving water?
• Do you think that we should lean more on educating adults or kids about this issue?
• Do you know of any sources I can use to get more information on my topic?
• How important do you think it is that this topic is taught to the public?
• What do you think needs to be focused on the most in this topic?
• Do you think California's lack of water could start to affect other states?
• Have you heard of Rio's water problem? If so, what is you opinion on this?
• Do you think water in other areas of the world could get to be like Rio's water if we don't start protecting the water?
• Why do you think the topic of water conservation is not more talked about?
• Do you think that the prevention of wasting water and pollution prevention should both equally be focused on?
• Whats one way that big businesses can help conserve water?
• Any final comments?

Blog 19: Third Answer

Research

1. EQ.

What is the best possible way to preserve and protect our water and its ecosystems?

2. Answer 3.

The best way to preserve and protect our waster and ecosystems is by getting active in our community and in water conservation projects.

3. 3 Details to support the answer.

The more people we have that are active in trying to conserve water, the more change will happen. We need a large amount of people to be working on fixing this if we ever want to see progress. Having more people working on this project may also influence others to want to make a change. Finally, we need to be active in our community to spread the word about this issue and help others to want to fix it.

4. Research sources to help support your answer.

• http://www.cocoonyourhome.co.uk/section/content/?pageID=534
• http://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/

5. Concluding sentence.

In order for us to see change, we need to start getting active out in the world, or even just in our communities. The more people we have trying to fix this, the more change we will see. We need to show people that by just making small changes we can save water, and essentially ourselves, since water is such an essential part of our survival.

Blog 18: Answer 2

Presentation

1. What is Your EQ?

What is the best possible way to preserve and protect our water and ecosystems?

2. What is your first answer?

My first answer is that education ids the best possible way to preserve and protect our water and ecosystems because people need to be taught about the problems at hand before we will be able to make change.

3. What is your second answer?

My second answer is that keeping our water clean is the next best possible way to conserve and protect our water an ecosystems because it plays a major part in conservation and trash greatly affects our environments.

4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real world application for each

Answer 1: Education

• People need to be informed about this problem
• The problem will never be fixed if people don't know about it
• Telling younger generations about it could help them want to conserve when their older

Answer 2: Keeping the water clean

• There are multiple garbage patches in the ocean that are causing great damage
• Unclean water is starting to affect us (Rio, Flint Michigan, Texas)
• Trash is killing over 100,000 sea mammals a year

5. What Printed source best supports your answer?

http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

6. What other source supports your answer?

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cabd453515244bf2b1063e15f6b680c9/ap-test-rio-olympic-water-badly-polluted-even-far-offshore

7. Tie this all together with a concluding thought.

A really large part of water conservation is keeping our water clean, so I really want to emphasize this by making it an answer. Garbage affects marine life every day, and it is quickly starting to affect humans too. The garbage found in the water creates bacteria that is extremely harmful for any life in the water. I cases like the beaches in Rio, the water is so polluted that a lot of people that go into the water catch deadly viruses, such as flesh eating bacteria. In fact, if a person where to ingest just three teaspoons of the Rio water, they would have a 99% chance of getting infected. People need to know how badly our pollution is affecting the ocean an ourselves, and by making it an answer I can inform them as to why keeping our water clean is such an important answer to my question.