The Journey of Wheat

In our first unit of our new humanities class Food For Thought we learned about the ingredients of food and the journey it takes to get to us. Throughout this unit we focused on the energy, the work, the history of food, how food has shaped our society, and how we've changed food throughout it's journey. I learned that this very important ingredient impacted myself, my family, and my ancestors. For my action project I worked on researching about wheat and where it originates from. I hope you enjoy.While working on this unit I discovered that corn is in almost everything.

I started out as a vegetable that was sometimes picked and eaten by hunters and gatherers. Soon these hunters and gatherers realized my potential to help them thrive along with me. I am wheat. I first started to get farmed in 8000 B.C.E in Ancient Mesopotamia , back then I grew in smaller stalks than I do now. I don’t remember exactly where I had started to be grown but I’m sure it was around the Karacadag mountain range in what is now modern day Turkey. Starting in Mesopotamia in the Fertile crescent which is now countries like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Jordan I started as both emmer and einkorn which were both younger versions of me that I later decided to change/ evolve into what is now called wheat.

About 1500 years later in 6500 B.C.E I started to spread to more countries and regions close to ancient Mesopotamia like India, Cyprus, and Greece. This started because Mesopotamia was expanding and innovation was occurring with development of stamp seals and cylinder seals. These seals were created to put drawings, and forms of written communication on. Because of this large expansion to Cypress, India, and Greece I traveled and kept more civilizations alive for longer.

Between 6500 B.C.E and 6000 B.C.E I managed to also travel to Egypt where one of the biggest discoveries was made that had me in the spotlight. In Egypt in 6000 B.C.E I was used to make baked bread. Bread is one of the world’s biggest food milestones because of how much more foods it is mixed with, how many food were made from it, and how relevant it still is.

About 3000 years later in 3000 B.C.E I traveled to the British Isles and Scandinavia. This was still the result of local expansion from Greece. The British Isles were very enjoyable to be planted there because they used me in both the making of foods but I was also able to help build and sustain houses on the shingles of their roofs. 

In 2000 B.C.E I was still being grown and being produced more all across India, which allowed a lot of travelers to spread their civilizations along with me over large pieces of land. I was able to travel in 2000 B.C.E to China where I was also grown to help later civilizations like the Huang Ho.

From China I traveled to places all over the world; going to newly developed countries and continents that have been around for a long time in places like the Americas, Africa, and the rest of Europe.

Now in the 20th century I am used in all kinds of dishes that include the main ingredient flour in foods like, pies, crackers, and still bread. I am also being used a very important ingredient for a family in Chicago IL, they make beignets. A family member quoted saying “ Beignets help bring our family together in a way of joy and strength because it helps us all understand who we are.”I’m very glad I could be part of something so important to a family’s life, and I couldn’t have gotten there without the journey.

Growing a Guerrilla Garden

In our first unit of our new class Food we focused on what plants do to survive, the chemistry of plants, and calculations to focus on what would would be good plants for a garden. This unit really showed me how important some small plants are to this huge world of 7 billion people. I really enjoyed learning through this unit and going on a field experience to learn about how it is to supply food that is locally grown. More on the science side of this unit, we learned about how plants take in nutrients, how plants work together to "co-evolve", and what plants defend themselves along with hurt each other. I hope you enjoy.

"Raised bed" July 31 2007 Srl 

Plants might not seem to be the most exciting type of organism in the world, but they certainly do pack a punch when it comes to defending themselves, attacking others and overall fighting for survival. In order for plants to survive a healthy life in a garden they need the right amount of growing area, other plants in the area that work well with the plant, and the necessary nutrients they need to live.

This garden will be in the North side of Chicago in my front yard and will be outside with the elements to support it along with me caring for the plants. My garden will be in the front portion of my house, this portion is 6 ft x 4 ft so I have a total of 24 sq ft to use for my garden of ten plants. I decided to put these ten plants into my garden: beets, beans, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, corn, celery, garlic, lettuce, and onions. The most important plant in this garden to help out all the other plants are the nitrogen fixer that is the beans. All types of legumes (beans are legumes) are nitrogen fixers which means that the nitrogen needed for the plants gets to those the easiest and quickest, allowing the other plants to take more nitrogen from microbes. Plants that stand tall like the corn are excellent for the beans to grow up, the relationship/symbiosis for the corn and the beans is mutual-ism because they are both helping each other survive.

Also while learning about plants’ survival and companionship we read the book One Straw Revolution and learned from the author (Masanobu Fukuoka) about his natural farming methods. Fukuoka's methods included not using any pesticides, herbicides, mechanical plowing, and chemical fertilizer. For my garden I should be able to bypass using the pesticides, herbicides, mechanical plowing, and chemical fertilizer; my garden wouldn't require any of these potentially harmful methods. My garden is only 24 square feet so plowing wouldn't be necessary and I wouldn't want to be eating the chemicals from the plant. I should be fine going all natural like Fukuoka.

Now to get more focused on the math and science part of creating a garden and growing plants for the garden. I plan on planting a garden in my front yard in the area that is 72 in x 48 in which is an area of 3,456 in squared, which is more than perfect for planting more than 10 plants. I also included three different containers (Bucket, box, and bottle) that I could grow plants in; with one of the containers having the total volume of 283.73 inches ( cubed, another one having a volume of 265.46 inches cubed, and the last one having a volume of 753.05 inches cubed.This means the total volume of them all is 1,302.04 inches cubed.

Calculations:
Pi x 4.25 squared x 5 = 283.73 in cubed Total = 1,302.24 in cubed
Pi x 3.5 squared x 8.25 = 265.46 in cubed
Pi x 5.75 squared x 7.25 = 753.05 in cubed

I also found that the total surface area of the three containers was 975.08 inches squared. Another important step to keeping a garden alive is making sure your plants are getting the right nutrients. I found I had a few unbalanced nutrients in my soil so I knew that I needed to change and monitor my planting soil. These calculations showed be how much of each nutrient I needed to add according to the size of my garden.

Nitrogen = 7 lbs /100 sq ft = 1.68 lbs for 24 sq ft
Phosphorus = 5 lbs/100 sq ft = 1.2 lbs/ 24 sq ft
Potassium = .5 lbs / 100 sq ft = .12 lbs/ 24 sq ft

I really enjoyed doing this project because it really showed me the power of plants and why they are so important to our society. If one plant species like corn gets wiped out we won’t have magazines, Twinkies, skateboards, or beef. I would really love to implement a garden into our home, and after doing this project I think I will, especially after getting so informed about plants and what they need to live. I might not be able to follow the exact garden plan I had shown earlier because I might not have the necessary resources to build my ideal garden.

The Pursuit of Happyness Stage Setup

In this final unit of our class Stage Chemistry, we focused on the 3rd dimension to find out what our stage would look like in reality by making models of our spaces (fitting to scale with first AP). We did this by learning how to handle the necessary tools to make the model along with going over a small bit about how physics plays into mechanics with the stage. There are two gifs and two signs here to demonstrate how actions would happen on my stage and the needed caution for working with these possible hazards. The necessary scale factor for making this was making this be one inch on the the model equal to three feet in real life with the longest wall being 118 ft long in the real space. Because this specific performance would be presenting The Pursuit of Happyness play adaptation, the background would be themed in a New York feel and the moving deck would replace cars to give it a more immersive feel. I hope you enjoy.

"Model" IF 2017

BACKGROUND CONVEYOR

"Background switch" IF 2017

The background switch will be used to switch the background in or between scenes and will be able to create a feeling of travel while also keeping with the theme of the performance with the necessary background. The background will be switched by moving conveyors that will be controlled by a switch of some sort off stage. I created a safety sign that will be placed in rooms to let people know of the possible dangers associated with the conveyor. I also made a few safety protocols that all staff will need to know about to ensure safety while using the conveyor.

-Background Conveyor Safety Notes and Protocol

Flip the switch when the conveyors need to move and allow the
background to switch.

- Do not put any body parts near the conveyor while it's in motion.
- Make sure others are aware that the conveyor is in motion.
- While applying a new background, make sure the conveyor is not in motion.


MOVING DECK

"Movable Deck" IF 2017

The movable deck is made for actors to move on stage quickly to give off the appearance of some sort of travel also that would work with the background conveyor. It could be used for somebody traveling on a car or somebody flying across the stage. I've also come up with a safety sign and some protocols to make sure this system doesn't hurt anybody.

"Caution" IF 2017

-Moving Deck Safety Notes and Protocol-

Step on the deck and push off the ground in the opposite direction
Where you would like to go.

- Do not go in front of the deck or it’s path while it’s in motion.
- Do not step on or off of the deck while it’s in motion.
- The deck is intended for trained users only.- Make sure others are aware that the deck is in motion.

"Work" IF 2017

This photograph shows how much work would happen if a person was riding a deck being moved by 15 lbs of force ( 66.72 N) (orange) over 10 meters (red). It resulted in 667.2 Joules (pink) of work being done. 

The Pursuit of Happyness Performance Setup

In Our first unit of our new class Stage Chemistry we worked on making blueprints of spaces where we could set up a stage by getting measurements, doing calculations and making comparisons. For my project I worked on a parking lot to create a blueprint, while focusing on a theme about how I wanted to present this "performance" with my theme being The Pursuit of Happyness. In this project we mainly focused on showing amenities of the what the blueprint presented. I tried to give my amenities a theme of being in New York as much as possible from the ticket booth at the front of the theater to the food concessions like New York street food vendors. I hope you enjoy.

While creating this project I struggled with getting the correct measurement of the parking lot space that I needed. This was probably one of the most important things that I needed to complete for this project. I got through by getting the one of the biggest measurements from the front desk worker at Menominee. Overall this was a pretty tough project to do but I ended up getting help from my piers and trying out new methods of obtaining what I needed.

"Menominee Lot" IF 2017 

"Menominee Parking" IF 2017

Goodman Theater Comparison

                                        Menominee  Lot                      Goodman Theater

Seating:                                 320 seats                                 856 seats

Type of stage:                      Proscenium                             Proscenium

Sound booth:                   No sound booth                         5 ft, 10 in deep x 9 ft, 2 in x high

Box seats:                         0 seats in 0 boxes                     48 seats in 16 boxes

Fly space:                           0 fly space                              (Above the stage) 76.5 ft

Removable center stage:  completely removable               34 ft x 40 ft is removable

One Step to Solving Pollution

In this final unit of our Fuel class we focused on pollution, where it comes from, how is it made, and how to get rid of it. One very dangerous form of pollution is excess carbon. Everyday the world's carbon level is rising, which we talked about in our previous class Water that a large amount of carbon is being put into the atmosphere. Right now we are at dangerous levels that aren't reversible like 400 ppm of carbon when we are supposed to be at 350. That's why this unit was really important to focus on how we can solve the problem and focus on the future of our world. I really enjoyed learning about how I can reduce my carbon footprint. I hope you also see the benefits of reducing your carbon footprint while reading this essay.




Works Cited

footprintnetwork.org , published 2017, viewed - 2/24/17 “Footprint Calculator”  

terrapass.com, published 2017 viewed - 2/24/17 “ How emissions reductions projects work”  

epa.gov, published 1/24/2017 - 2/24/17 “Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator”

flickr.com published July 8, 2008 viewed 2/26/17 - Steven Vance- "Bike Bicycle Symbol"

commons.wikimedia.com published April 2 2016, viewed 2/26/2017 - Karlis Dambrans "Toyota Prius" 

My Creator

In this final unit of my class Who am I? we focused on Doubt and dream. In this last Action project we were assigned to make a dream catcher and explain what it represents to us. I really enjoyed how in this unit we had many discussions about what our own experiences with dreams were like and how that impacted our lives. I was assigned any essay/reflection to write so we could completely evaluate what what me us ourselves an what is our Creator.

The center of a dream catcher represents somebody’s creator or bliss. In the center of my dream catcher I have a piece of one of my favorite photographs, this is somewhat my creator because I like to do photography and it makes me who I am. Therefore photography is the creator of who I am. I chose to put my favorite photo in because it represents what I want in the future- my best photo will lead to even more good photos. I want my future to be photos as a hobby, and a side job that I don’t want to get paid for, this is why this photo is so important to me. I want for the catcher to take away some of the unfortunate and negative thoughts that have been happening to me lately. I want it to take that away so I can focus on things that I want in the future like better cameras and taking better photos. When I was younger I was always worried about the future, so I  held this down with a lot of repression that wen to the unconscious.

For the threads making up the loop I used dark blue thread to represent what I don’t know and how I don’t know. I wanted this to be the base color of the hoop because I feel as if I wanted to represent the good future letting things in as dreams (hence I don’t know the future) while bad things in the future could be held back into the hoop to burn in sunlight. I made the bottom hanging thread out of brown thread because to me brown represents strength and determination, I wanted a good future in photography leaded by strength and determination. I made four with one bead on each to represent a strong stable future because that’s how I want my future in photography to be. Some good things that I want the dream catcher to let through would be to own a clothes business and do photography as a background. I made the inside purple thread because purple is my favorite color so I want something I like to be the barrier between my good hopes and dreams between things I don’t want. Otherwise it’s like hiring a security guard that looks super shady. I had accidentally made the center of my dream catcher look like a crucifix, I'm not religious so it doesn't line up with me. I am agnostic so I don't know if I want to believe in a god.

"dream catcher" IF 2017

I had a dream only a couple of weeks ago that displayed a lot of good fortune and hope for things that I want. My dream had me and my brother walking on the underpass of a bridge where two people wearing my favorite clothing brand we loading some of that brand’s clothes into a black van. I was super excited and I asked one of them if that was what I had really been seeing, then the person tossed me a hat without saying anything but gave me a cheery smile. Then the other person got in the car and said we could have the rest of clothes they left behind. I hope more dreams like this happen so I could more focus on what I want. Around the time I had this dream I had been just staring at things that I had wanted.

"Dreamcatcher" IF 2017

IF You Like Clean Energy Go Wind Energy

In our second unit of our Fuel class we discovered new topics about creating functions and learning about the use of clean renewable energy opposed to our last unit which was the opposite. I'm really proud of how quickly I was able to grasp topics from this unit, while still learning new things about renewable energy. Like how it gets to us and how energy is obtained. In the video I created I go over a presentation I had created to inform viewers about the renewable resource of wind energy. The infomercial goes over topics like the advantages/disadvantages of  wind power and a  company that has already switched to wind energy. I hope you enjoy.