The 'Heart' Broken Potato.

For my humanities class; food for thought my classmates and I focused on the unit; life. During the unit we talked about how and why humans transformed from the method hunting and gathering to  agrarian societies. We also learned more about crops and how, and where they originated from. In addition we focused on a crop of our choice. For this action project my classmates and I had to pick a crop and write an autobiography in the crops' point of view, we also had to take the persona of the crop. The crop I chose was the potato. I chose the potato because, although I don't eat it as a regular potato, I still consume it a lot in different forms (mashed potatoes, potato chips, and fries).  By choosing this crop it made me realize how much I consume this product. I am very thankful for the potato. My classmates and I also had to make a family tree based on food. By creating this tree it showed me that, although my family is 100 percent Nigerian they still enjoy American food, and food from other cultures. Down below is my autobiography on the potato, and my picture of my family tree.  

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Hello! Im a potato, I live on a farm in Live Oak, Florida. But my ancestors were originally from Peru in South America. We were domesticated 10,000 years ago. Followed by centuries of breeding there are now, thousands of different potatoes similar to me. I’m not just any ordinary potato. You see, i’m a special potato.I am in the shape of a heart. I am able to detect broken hearts in the potato community. I’ve been dodging mean farmers. There are three of them. Whenever the mean farmers come around I try my best to hide. I know what you're thinking, ‘’how can potatoes move?’’ Well I am the only potato that can and boy am I grateful! Although i'm getting very old, and my time may be soon. One day they might pick me up off the shelf, and take me to be washed, packed, and ready to be shipped, just to be a part of a dish.

I’m a gentle potato, quiet, and very kind to other potatoes. I am able to sense fear, danger, and pain from other potatoes that were taken from the fields too soon. Since I know my time is soon all I ask is to be incorporated into a great dish made by a foreign family, I've always wanted to be near foreign foods. I often smell the greasy American foods that the farmers eat. Weird, right? you'd think he’d eat healthy at least. You also may be thinking how could you, last so long?! I don’t even know, myself. It could be that wisdom thing,or the chosen one, right? Well i’m pretty sure i’m going to be ‘’chosen’’ soon.

One day I was trotting in the potato fields enjoying the sun when I heard two unfamiliar voices talking. I quickly stopped dead in my tracks so they didn’t see me walking. How freaky would that have been? I stood still for five minutes, carefully listening to their conversation. Apparently the farm was being sold to a big company with more workers. The deal was done and they went on their’ way. I was stunned. All these months I've been dodging two or three farmers, and now I would have to dodge who knows how many.

I could not sleep at all that night. I kept tossing and turning I didn’t want to actually meet my fate! Then I heard big footsteps coming towards me. I tried my best to hide, without getting caught, but the heavy footed guy noticed me first and picked me up. He shouted to his partner ‘’Hey look at this weird potato,’’ then threw me into a dark sack filled with other potatoes. I could sense that they were all scared and felt danger. I tried my best to keep them calm but it was no use. They all started panicking.

One potato, ‘’asked old great potato why are we in this dark sack?!’’ First of all, i’m not that old I and I feel great. Secondly, we are in this sack because our time is up, it is time that we go on to get washed, packed up, and shipped out to different places. ..’’Washed w-why do I need to be washed i’m not dirty, and packed up? Where to? Why do I have to be packed?’’ Calm down this is your fate as it is all of ours. You simply have to accept it. All the other potatoes started to weep, but there was nothing I could do.

After hours in the sack I could feel someone opening the back then..ouch! I was dropped on my head onto a conveyor belt, which hurt a lot. Suddenly I was picked up (again) and inspected for rotting. When I did not have a spot of rot, the mean man dropped me hard on my back. I was taken further down the conveyor belt, where I was washed with very hot water. I literally felt as if my skin was coming off! I tried my best not to scream, and I cried when it was over. I didn’t think this process was going to be so difficult. I just hoped that it was done. Then a man wearing gloves grabbed me and tossed me into a mesh sack with weeping potatoes. I tried my best to ignore it, then drifted to sleep.

When I opened my eyes I heard a faint ‘’beep’’. I started to panic I was being bought! I didn’t know whether to feel excited or sad. I was taken on a long ride, listening to a family deciding to go to Nigeria and London for the summer. They also decided on making meat pies for dinner. The mom wen't over the directions to her daughter saying, ''remember the potatoes have to be tender before putting them in the pies.'' I gasped, they're going to make me tender! That instantly reminded me of being washed. I started to cry again , I didn't want to meet my fate!

When the family arrived home I was put on the counter for a couple of hours. Then a girl opened the bag and picked ME out first. She stated ‘’hey mom look at this heart potato.’’ She washed me with warm water (thank goodness). Her mom started to tell her how this dish called 'meat pie' was a party favor in a Nigerian culture.it was really interesting learning a little bit about the dish, but then I felt a sharp pain it took a long time. I felt as if I was being chopped up (I was). I then realized she was cutting me right down the middle. My heart was now broken, I had lived a long potato life and I was glad. Now I may finally rest.

This is my family tree I created. Down below are my sibling and I. Then it connects to our parents, then it connects to my parents' brothers and sisters. All followed by they're favorite food

Citations:
"The Cambridge World History of Food- Potatoes (White)." The Cambridge World History of Food-Potatoes (White). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

Life. "Where Did Potatoes Come From?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014
Potato History and Fun Facts." Potato Goodness Potato History and Fun Facts Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

"Potato Harvest Season." Oregon Rural Action. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.

Micro-mentary

For this action project, my group and I made a micro- mentary (a mini documentary) about deaf education. We wanted to answer our guiding question: How do Educational strategies for DHH students move them towards success?(Represented in the different domains of culture, medical, and life skills?) We faced many challenges during this project but eventually overcame them. We had a hard time working on a specific guiding question to answer. Overall my group and I ended up making a successful micro-mentary. Although at times it did get hard, and frustrating we managed to make a succful micro-mentary. Below is our video. Also below is our script from the video.

GS: Our group created a micro- mentary about Deaf education. We wanted to focus on one specific thing: How do educational strategies move the DHH students towards success?

GS: At Anixter, they taught us that DHH students have a higher risk of substance abuse because they don't know to to communicate as well as other people.

KIS: The National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials says that a typical DHH 17 year-old understands what they read at a 4.5 grade level. Another article provides a strategy to help students read better. They suggest teaching kids more words by having the mother talk to their child more. They say that the kids vocabulary will increase and then they will be better at reading and writing! Having a better vocabulary is one way to meet the kids needs.

AMK: One thing a teacher used to help a deaf child in the classroom was to have a translator so they could communicate with the other children.

HP: An example of students using their skills is the movie Deaf Jam, with them using their creative skills to make poetry.

AMK: In the video, Mary Compton, an associate professor in Special Ed says the most important things is to have high expectations for the deaf, although deaf students are extremely individual in term of previous backgrounds that they've had.

MV: So, I interviewed people about the tightness in deaf community, and especially how the deaf community was in the schools, and how the hearing community has been accepted by the deaf community in the school.

MV: So in the schools, we saw how students were mixed up, not by how old they are, but what their skill level is and how teachers used Total Communication, which is speaking and signing at the same time.

DP: After we’d gone on all these FEs, they summarized being able to use tactics such as needs- based tactics and age- appropriate learning and stuff like that. It also helps the students skills improve a lot more.

Micromentary Reflection.

For this term, our school focused on the deaf community and culture, we also spent 3 weeks learning ASL (American sign language). Thanks to Lexicon Handmade,an organization that focuses on the deaf community, they provided us with two amazing teachers; Thomas and Eugenie both helped us get a better understanding of what American sign language is and how the similar signs are supposed to be used. For our GCE work, our teachers put us into groups where we had to create a micro-mentary regarding the deaf community. My group and I had to come up with a good guiding question that required people to have more of an insight of what we were learning. I will go more in-depth about the micro-mentary we created throughout my essay. Lastly my classmates and I had to go on an external field experience to participate in deaf culture, and to get a better understanding of what it is. I am proud of my group and I because without each other we would not have completed a successful video.

For my individual project/ field experience I embarked on a journey to Washington park where my brother, my friends, and I helped volunteer at a local basketball game. Getting to the basketball game was fairly easy because as we were getting off the train we immediately saw a group of people using sign language,which made us know that they were going to the basketball game too . When my friends and I asked to confirm I felt relieved that I was able to communicate in another way, being a part of another community can truly help you sometimes.

When we arrived at the park district we didn’t know where to go so we just decided to watch a brief basketball game. I immediately saw people signing, even people that could here (to what I assumed). It made me realize how big this community truly was. In the beginning, I felt as if we were misguided, because we didn’t see anyone we knew. At that time, I felt like I was just “going just to go.” But after awhile, we were introduced to the woman who organized our volunteer experience, and I felt like I had a purpose.

Instead of working with the lady we met, we worked with a lady named charlotte who was a part of the hearing community, but knew ASL. She was kind enough to get us volunteer shirts and tell us what we were doing. She told us that she worked for another park district but she has a passion for ASL so she decided to volunteer there that day. She also said she went to Columbia college and that is where she learned ASL. My friends and I spent about 4 hours getting the basketball players lunch, moving boxes of lunch, and cleaning up.

Overall,I thought this experience was great, it taught me how to be independent from most school activities, where I always depend on my teachers to take us one place safely. It was also fun interacting with the friendly people who were deaf. They did not judge us because we knew very little sign language, they encouraged us to continue. It also made me more determined to learn ASL because it made me feel like an outcast not knowing what everyone there was already familiar with. This experience taught me to be to be more independent, and open to all the experiences you fulfill.

For my groups micro-mentary we all had individual parts to carry out. I fulfilled the role of the researcher and partial interviewer. My role mostly consisted of finding facts, statistics, pictures, and overall useful information my group could use to put together this micro-mentary. In the beginning, I thought the researcher role would be a fairly decent task to take on, my opinion about that role changed throughout the weeks. It was very difficult finding specific research that pertained to our topic, it was also difficult to keep up because with this role as a researcher I also had to fulfil my ASL work, and my weekly journals involving the deaf community in the news, and what not. Overall I thought this role was very stressful but I wanted to get the work done regardless of the task. I am proud to say my group and I made an outstanding video. Below is my individual video expressing my gratitude towards what I've learned and who helped me learn throughout this term.

These are pictures of the basketball game I attended. The picture below shows the sportsmanship both teams had during the game and after.  

 
 

Dreams And Dream Catchers

For this Action Project my class mates and I had to create a dream catcher to symbolize our good and bad dreams, using color and materials. The most rewarding part of this action project was completing the dream catcher it was awesome seeing my final outcome. The hardest part of this action project was trying to understand and incorporate the colors and the materials into the dream catcher, often times the fathers would fall off or my beads would loosen from the string.

We also had to have our dream analyzed by someone we trusted and were comfortable with. I chose to tell my brother my dream because he's close to me and I felt as if he would not judge me based on how wacky my dreams are. Below is my dream and his interpretation of it. Overall This action project was a success! If you look further below I also have explanations on my dream catcher.

Living The Dream:

One day I was walking down Time Square in New York ( I don’t know how I got to New York though). I entered a busy mall, when a lady came up to me and ‘would you like to work with me at a professional fashion and modeling company’? For some reason I said yes. The next day I go to the fashion agency with her and I see models, designs for new clothing, and busy grown adults running everywhere! She showed me my little office and told me I can sketch, and pitch any ideas I want, for some reason no one was concerned with my age. I began sketching my ideas and showing them to whom they called ‘the boss lady’, she loved the ideas and before I knew my designs came to life and models were modeling my clothing. I was so happy with becoming successful the past couple of days, I decided to throw a party. Once the party started I recall hearing Drake blaring through the speakers, everyone was out of control but I didn't really care. Next thing I know I hear a loud crash, followed by someone screaming my name, I then woke up to my dad telling me ‘its time for school’.

My brother interpreted my dream by saying it must have been doing something I wanted to do but didn't think about as often. I then started to wonder about that statement because, I have always had a passion for fashion, but I have never thought about it as a real job to do wen I become older. Sharing my dream with my brother was casual for me because if one of us were to have a crazy dream we would often share it with one another, so I was already used to this. It felt nice to hear another perspective on what my dream meant because usually I would try to analyze what my dream meant for myself. Maybe if I would have came to my brother sooner this dream would have already been clear to me. Having this particular dream analyzed also makes me wonder if my unconscious is trying to get a message across.

This is the middle of my dream catcher. The middle resembles a spiderweb so that all bad dreams can get caught. The reason why I chose the beads are close together is because I've been having bad dreams in pairs of four so I decided to put them close together, I believe if I hang my dream catcher up above my bed then I would not have bad dreams.I also had to put something in the middle to represent good dreams, or what I would enjoy dreaming about (my bliss). I decided on a heart because a heart can mean multiple things, the heart for me meant love, eating ( I love eating!), family, and friends.

The bottom of my dream catcher are also happy things that I would enjoy dreaming about, or want to have good dreams about. I chose green feathers because, green symbolizes restfulness I believe everyone needs they're rest while they are asleep because that's the time when you escape from you're problems in the real world. You wouldn't want to have a nightmare that would just make you stressed out in the real world. I also think you should not resist restfulness because humans need they're rest, you are not a machine! I also chose a big blue feather because it symbolizes calmness, you also need calmness once in a while (also when you are sleeping). I personally believe calmness and restfulness is key to a healthy happy life. That is why I chose these two colors!

Pollution Action Plan

For this Action Project we studied pollution, Pollution can be emissions released into the atmosphere such as, volcano eruptions, burning of fossil fuels, breathing, and livestock that we consume. Using  Foot Print calculator  I calculated the amount of carbon emissions I used on this website and it showed me how many planets it would take if everyone on Earth were to live like me, I got 4.8 planets which is a lot! We then had to pick scenarios that would lower these numbers. The most accomplishing thing from this project was being able to write a well rounded essay. It was also inserting learning about what I produce, and how much of it. Also how I could reduce it. The website also let us explore scenarios on how we could reduce our carbon emissions, this could  also help our planet, and our health in a small but big way. The hardest part of this project was incorporating the numbers into my project because, I had to determine how much carbon I was releasing, luckily I had a greenhouse gas calculator to help determine the equivalences my Co2 emissions equaled to. Although I had some difficulties I still managed to make a great project. Down below is my essay on how I personally can reduce my own pollution's!
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Pollution is contamination of land, air, or water.Pollution is caused by the discharge of harmful or toxic substances which can cause harm to animals, and humans. Pollution can be caused by releasing fossil fuels, breathing, volcano eruptions,and gas being given off from livestock. The majority of pollution is man-made,  therefore we need to find a way to stop it, in order to live longer and healthier!

One of the biggest fossil fuels being burned is carbon dioxide (CO2) .It is one pollutant causing our Earth to become warmer.CO2  is the main source of where our pollution is coming from.My own calculations will show the impact. I used the Footprint calculator to determine how many planets it would take to support everyone, if everyone lived like I do. I release about 22.6  tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Almost half of my Carbon emission are  due to services, while the other half is due to; food, shelter, goods and mobility. My lifestyle is being supported by 21.2 acres of the Earth's’ productive areas, such as, energy land, cropland, grazing land, forest land, built up land, and fishing grounds.  

These are big numbers, therefore I will put it them in perspective. Annually my lifestyle produces the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as 4.7 passenger cars. My carbon dioxide emissions are equivalent to the CO2 produced by 2,534 gallons of gasoline. This is a lot of gas being consumed for one person, considering my mom only fills her gas tank up every two weeks.

In order to reduce my use of carbon, I pledge to:

- Take a local vacation instead of flying this year: The combustion of fossil fuels creates CO2, which plays a large role in global warming. By not taking a plane I can reduce the number of planets required from If I chose to take a local vacation this year I would save 0.5 tons of carbon from being burned (22.6-22.1). By taking this action, it reduces the number of planets by 0.1 (4.8 to 4.7).  

- Reduce the amount of animal products I consume, by half: I enjoy eating chicken, dairy products, and beef. The livestock releases too many greenhouse gasses, such as methane into the atmosphere. If I cut down on these products, I would lessen my carbon emissions. If I cut down on the amount of lean meat I eat, this will reduce the the amount by 0.4 tons. Taking this action, would also reduce the number of planets from 4.8 to 4.6!

-Use more public transportation: Even though I already use public transportation, if I pledged to use public transportation more often then, I would reduce 0.2  tons of carbon (22.4 instead of 22.6) This would also reduce the number of planets I used by 0.1 (4.8 to 4.7)

Although taking these actions won't necessarily eliminate all the carbon emissions, it still helps the environment in a small way. Another way I could help reduce carbon emissions is investing in an emission offset project that will capture and store greenhouse gasses, this will prevent them from releasing into the atmosphere.One way I could help is by planting trees , trees help capture carbon during photosynthesis. This can convert Co2 into sugar and oxygen. I would have to plant 579 trees these trees would be growing for ten years! Scientists have found that 1 tree can remove 0.039 metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere. Below I have made a formula of what it takes for 579 trees to capture 22.6 tons of carbon.

22.6 tons (1 tree/0.039 metric tons)= 579.48 trees.

Even without investing in the emissions reduction project I can still manage to reduce my carbon emissions from 22.6 tons to, 21.5 tons! (footprint calculator). That is 1.1 tons less carbon in the atmosphere! If everyone were to live like me we would only need 4.4plantes (0.4 less). this is more than half I needed previously. Along with the emission reduction project I am sure that with planting 579 trees it will be sure to reduce the number of carbon in the atmosphere!  

This is an image of one of my action plans I chose to take!
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"Footprint Calculator." Footprint Calculator. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014

"Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

A Great Guiding Question!

For this action project my classmates and I had to come up with a good guiding question after watching a movie where a mans life was questioned because he had been living a lie since birth our teacher made us think of good guiding questions. The question that stood out to me the most was ‘Is the Earth a cave?  This question was brought up in the movie because there was no way of this man leaving his world of lies. This question is also similar to Plato's way of seeing the world (which I explain in my essay) This question is a great question in my opinion because it really makes you think and its also up for debate, people don't’ really know, can there be life on other planets? For this project we had to find research that proves this topic has been discussed, this was the hardest part for me because I really couldn't find major information on my topic. But this project came out a success! Down below is my essay on my guiding question.

My guiding question is, ‘Is the Earth a cave’? I was compelled by this interesting topic therefore I chose to talk about it. This is my guiding question because, after watching The Truman show. The Truman Show tells the story of a man,Truman, whose life has been a set up since birth. Growing up he finally realized that his whole world is a lie.Truman couldn't leave this world of lies which made him question his existence. Truman started to question his existence when he heard everything he was doing being broadcast-ed on the radio, also when his wife and best friend wouldn't talk directly to Truman but seemed as if they were advertising things they had, such as beer, or hot cocoa. This is when Truman started to question is this real life? This question also refers back to Plato's view on the world, Plato believed that this world we live in and think is real is actually just shadows and illusions. Plato explains that if we try to leave this world in seek of finding something else then we will be blinded by the light we will react violently because we aren't accustomed to it. This is similar for Truman because he was the one trying to leave his cave, but many people didn't want him to because they wouldn't know how he would react.

Some people may believe this question is indubitable, thinking there can only be life on Earth. But I wonder can there be life on other planets, or even somewhere else, this world just may be what’s given to us, therefore we need to find out for ourselves if there is another ‘Earth’. In many articles I have read it states that God created us on this Earth therefore there shouldn't be any existence but I would want to know for myself if this is actually true.

I believe this is a good guiding question because it makes you wonder what this world actually is, This question is also a good guiding question because it goes with Wilhelm's requirements for good guiding questions, its open ended, and it may encourage people to engage in a quality discussion. It also requires thinking and knowledge, whether it be scientific, or religious  it . There can be different opinions to this question.creation research Danny Faulkner wrote an essay on possible existence about life on different planets such as Mars. Mr Faulkner talks about many theories, one having to do with god, and others having to do with science.  Faulkner states that evolutionists believe there is life on other planets exists. While creationists believe life on other planets is not possible unless god created life elsewhere or permitted life to travel somehow from that planet to earth. This essay manifestly shows both sides to this universal debate.

Therefor this question is very interesting to pursue because, it makes you want to find out for yourself is life somewhere else possible?  I will pursue this question by contacting different people that believe there is more life than just on Earth, astrophysicists at NASA, research philosophers that looked into astronomy such as Thales,  and people that do believe Earth is a cave religious experts, also random people’s opinions. The risks I will have to take is going out into the real world to seek multiple answers to this question, possibly getting rejection from people and or places I go trying to find this answer. Although these risks will be worth it in the long run because then I can find the answers I was in search of.

In conclusion my guiding question is ‘Is the Earth a cave’? This question is an important question because it makes you wonder, it is also open ended therefore it requires intellectual knowledge in order for it to be answered. I am in search of the answer to this question because I want to know is it really just a cave? And if it isn’t can we escape? Also how can we escape? That is why I am trying to find multiple opinions (answers) to this guiding question.  

Choose Solar Panels!

For this fuel action project we had to pair in groups of two, and create a video on why a renewable energy , me and my partner chose solar panels. Solar panels are an interesting way of using electricity because it saves money and it comes from a source that's Eco-friendly. The most challenging part of this action project was contacting someone to interview, I had someone to contact but, scheduling the time was an issue. The most accomplishing part of this action was actually finishing it because I though I wouldn't be able to because the work was a little overwhelming . Down below is my video on why someone should switch to solar energy enjoy!