Mapping Chicago's Homeless

For our First and only action Project in our mapping class - Thin Red Lines, we set out to create maps about problems and issues around Chicago. I decided to focus on the issue of homelessness around Chicago. Each student in the class created three maps that would map the past(what homelessness was like in the past) the present (what homelessness should look like today)  and the future(what homelessness would look like in the future for the demand of abolishing it). Throughout the class we learned what it was like to map an area, what issues come along with mapping certain areas, and how to obtain data sets from sources. I really enjoyed this class though we did learn a lot about TIFs and how they can easily be corrupted, besides that I really enjoyed learning about the good and bad of mapping things, places, and subjects. I hope you enjoy learning about my endeavors of mapping homelessness in Chicago.





Homeless rate legend

Yellow - 0% - 1%
Pink -  1.1% - 2.5%
Brown - 2.6% - 4%
 Black - 4% - 5.4%
Green -  5.5% -7%
Blue -  7.1% - 8.5%
Orange - 8.5% - 10%

Past Map 1st Layer
To view this map - open and view Layer one (Past Map 1)

This first map is the map that maps how the past looks for homeless neighborhoods around Chicago. The Maps each have a corresponding homeless rate along with the count of homeless people in Chicago. They Key besides the map shows what each color represents for the data in 2016. Pink is 1% - 2.5% of the population being homeless and brown is 2.6% - 4% of the population in that area being without a home. Something that really stuck out to me was Yellow and where it it existed the most. Yellow is 0% - 1% of the population being homeless and it mainly exists all throughout the south side of Chicago. From Englewood to Archer heights to Woodlawn they all have a homeless rate under 1%. The rest of Chicago is all mixed varieties of homeless people with the Loop having the largest homeless population in the city of 75 homeless people and a 9.7% homeless rate in 2016 and even worse in 2017.

I also decided to note where some homeless shelters and homeless services are for the people living on the streets. I think it’s important to focus on the goal of pointing out where good places are for helping these people and in the other maps point out where more places like this could exist. The map highlights a few key places in each neighborhood area that could be beneficial for people without a home. The future map will highlight so more beneficiary places that could exist for people living like this.

Present Map 2nd Layer
To view this map - open and view Layers one and two (Past Map 1) (Present Map 2)

There is not many homeless shelters in the southern of Chicago, there isn’t as much of a demand for homeless shelter because the homeless rate in southern Chicago is very low. Because of the low rates of homeless people in Chicago there is no need for me to put hypothetical homeless shelter place possibilities. I really tried to place Shelters and resources where people needed them most; where there seemed to be a lack of homeless shelters. This map marks some of the largest vacant spaces in these neighborhoods. I only marked vacant lots around Chicago, so nothing major would be destroyed. The community should still be maintained so only unused lots will be used to create and solve the homeless issue of Chicago.
Future Map 3rd Layer
To view this map - open and view Layers two and three (Present Map 2) (Future Map 3)

This Final map shows off possibilities for the future that I based off from my first two maps.I included the places where homes shelters and resources are going to best utilized. From the community demand based off the the data, the map works as a plan to put those homeless shelters down making the future map look how it looks. The map also includes the previous homeless shelters around Chicago because those will not be going down for any reason. The future map also includes new homeless rates for each neighborhood area. I adjusted each of the homeless rates by 1% to show if we were all working to complete on total goal to work on homelessness. I wanted to predict and show how the community could be better with more shelters so, I decided to lower the rates if the shelters and resources were built and provided. Every color on the map still applies to the key below the map.

As you can see, southern Chicago hasn’t really changed due to its low homeless rates all throughout. The Southern side of Chicago remains a yellow color, with most of the south side having a 0% homeless rate. The rest of Chicago still has pretty high homeless rates including the Loop. The Loop is in danger because it has the highest homeless rate in the city as of now, but very little space to build homeless shelters that could help the surplus of people living downtown.


Citations

Voorhees Center for Neighborhood & Community Improvement. “2017 HOMELESS Point-In-Time Count & Survey Report.” Cityofchicago.org, University of Illinois at Chicago, 

“Chicago Homeless Shelters & Services For The Needy.” Chicago Homeless Shelters and Services - Chicago IL Homeless Shelters, Homeless Shelter Directory,

“Chicago Lots - Explore vacant City-Owned lots.” Chicago Lots - Explore vacant City-Owned lots, chicagolots.org/.

Observer 1

In the first an only Action project of our Elective term class, Rocket Science, we did a series of activities along with some educational field experiences. When starting the class, we were determined to learn about the physics concepts of rockets, historic events/figures, and what rocket science in the field looks like. Our class traveled on several field experiences such as the Adler Planetarium and the MSI. I enjoyed how involved and connected the class was; from the first mini-mission everything was being connected to our final action project: the launch of our rockets. This action project was about making our space launch real. From explaining the naming behind our rockets to how much it costs to graphing the parabolic height of the flight. Today, you will learn about the launch of my rocket: Observer 1. I hope you enjoy.


 

Photos: The Holy Grail of Preservation

The final unit of our Population class we discussed and learned about how populations grow and change. We took a trip to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to view the change of population among butterflies along with seeing the change of Chicago from a nature preserve. For our last unit we created a very short and small one day action project that focused on methods of preservation. I decided to write a short essay about photography and what it has done for us in terms of preservation. I hope you enjoy; thank you. 

Photography has been around for a long time without a doubt; with the oldest camera being made in the 1500s. This camera was called the Camera Obscura and was the first pinhole camera. This camera would let in a small amounts of light through a small hole in a very dark area. The image would be projected onto the wall and would be traced out with pencils or paint. Photographs and pictures are a simple way of preserving the look of something; they are a visual time stamp.

In the image below we are clearly able to see what it's attempting to show. Photography is great for preserving the specific look of a thing compared to a written description. If someone were to write about the look of the yellow flower it would probably take a long time to get all the specifics of the flower. Taking a photograph is a much simpler way obtaining the the look of something with detail and precision. A picture is worth one thousand words. Without photographs, many people wouldn’t know what a polar bear looked like.

IF 2017 "Yellow Fellow"

Photography is a very useful tool as a preservation method. Photography can help scientists get an accurate description of an organism's physical traits, the habitat it lives in, and the organism’s resources. Drawing works the same as photography but it’s less efficient and can’t gather specifics and dimensions like photos can. A still photo for the most pat can’t be wrong with the the dimensions of a thing, drawing can be inconsistent and the look could be changed due to human error. Sight is one of the most useful traits for some organisms; making photographs very helpful for seeing something that is potentially dangerous without actually going face to face with it. Photography has helped us preserve the look and the behavior of organisms for a very long time.

Luke Skywalker and Malcolm X: Their Journey

The last action project for our Stories class we focused on explaining the stories and journeys behind fictional and real heroes. I decided to pick some very important heroes with one being a knight that needs to save a princess and gets involved in intergalactic warfare and a civil rights activist and leader that has had conflict filled history. I chose Luke Skywalker and Malcolm X's journeys to show what each journey looks like as heroes.

Luke Skywalker and Malcolm X are without a doubt very different people with very different views and stories but in a way can be looked in the same light. Luke goes on a journey of self discovery and fights for people who are being oppressed by the Empire. In a way Malcolm X did the same; Malcolm X wanted people to fight against an oppressing force. This is the main thing that makes these two people some similar and makes them like many heroes. Heroes typically fight against something that is unjust and is for other people. I hope you can recognize the similarities between not just Malcolm and Luke but all heroes in general. I also hope you enjoy reading about Luke and Malcolm's journeys as heroes.   




Citations

Ford, Ed. “Malcolm_X_NYWTS_2a.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 7 Feb. 2008,

Hiller, Herman. “Malcolm X NYWTS 4.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 23 Oct. 2006,

Kloske, Tim. “Dueling lightsabers.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 3 Feb. 2010,

Lemos, Manoel. “R2-D2 & Luke Skywalker.” Flickr.com, 21 June 2007,
“Malcolm X.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Oct. 2017,

Shabazz, Malik. “Malcolmxm1carbine3gr.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 14 Oct. 2011,

Trikosko, Marion S. “Malcolm X March 26 1964 cropped retouched.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 12 Feb. 2016,

Wolfson, Stanley. “Elijah Muhammad NYWTS-2.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 4 Nov. 2014,

Chil Flamingo: A New Threat

In the second unit of our Population class, we learned, practiced, and discussed several math concepts from finding standard deviation to mean, median, and mode to combination/permutation. We also learned a lot about our animals and evolution. Evolution was another really big focus of this unit. We discussed how evolution happens, what and why specific traits stay, and how that effects a species. I really enjoyed this unit because it went deep into evolution and made sure I got a good grasp of the content in this unit. For this action project, I created a presentation and predicted and hypothesized what could happen if a predator was to move into the Chilean Flamingo's habitat. I hope you enjoy the learning about what traits would work well for flamingos with a different predator.

IF "Open" 2017

Math Concepts

I assumed the height of my different flamingos and put them into a list so I can measure how far our outlier are from the center. The average height of a Chilean flamingo 43.2 in -51.6 in

Mean- 47.27      Median- 48        Mode- 48      Range- 9.59     Maximum- 51.6

Minimum- 42      1Q- 44.4           3Q- 49.5 

1. John- 48 in 

2. Carla- 49.2 in

3. Hubert- 44.4 in  

4. Robert- 46.8 in 

5. Leah- 48 in 

6. Michael- 42 in 

7. Max- 43.2 in

8. Ethan- 50 in 

9. Joseph- 51.6 in 

Standard deviation 

The standard deviation of the data tells us what percentage of the flamingos are in a certain height range.
Mean = 47.27
S= 3.13 

IF "Standard Deviation" 2017

68% of the flamingos = 44.14 in - 50. 4 in
95% of the flamingos = 41.01 in- 53.53 in
99% of the flamingos = 37.88 in- 56.66 in

This picture shows that the 99% of the 9 flamingos we chose land in between the heights of 37.88 inches and 56.66 inches. 95% of the 9 flamingos are between the heights of 41.01 inches and 53.53 inches. 68% of the 9 flamingos land between 44.14 inches and 50.4 inches in height.

Combination and permutation

For finding the combination, I found that introducing the flamingos into a new environment doesn't matter; making the situation a combination. Shown in the photo below is the work that I did to find the permutation and combination of my set. Their are 9 animals in my set making the "n" = 9. I chose three flamingos to possibly survive making my "r" = 3.

IF "nPr" 2017

Citations

Arpingstone. "Slimbridge chilean flamingo". 2004. photograph  

Bjoertvedt. “Phoenicopterus Chilensis LoroParqueTenerife Chilean Flamingo IMG 5181.”Commons.wikimedia.org, 22 Feb. 2015,                                                                  

Bjoertvedt. “Phoenicopterus Chilensis LoroParqueTenerife Chilean Flamingo IMG 5187.”Commons.wikimedia.org, 22 Feb. 2015,     

Cole, Sandy. "Chilean Flamingo juvinile SMTC". 2012. photograph 

Dominic Sherony. “Western Grebe Swimming .” Commons.wikimedia.org, 30 Nov. 2008,
Grider, Angela. “ZAFlamingo.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 8 Sept. 2006,      

Ltshears. “Chilean Flamingo.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 15 Nov. 2013,     

Lydekker, Richard. "The royal natural history." IV, Warne, 1922. - Flamingos are related to smaller birds.

Shears, Trisha M. "Chilean Flamingo 4". 2006. photograph

Tragopan. “Chilenischer Flamingo Tiergarten Bernburg 2007.” Commons.wikimedia.org, 6 July 2007,
Zienowicz, Alina. "Phoenicpterus chilensis". 2010. photograph       

A Fox to a Cub

In this second unit of our Stories class we focused on what it takes to make Fable. I really enjoyed this unit because it was very interesting. We discussed the characters and traits of those characters in common and less-common fables out there. This unit and action project allowed us to explore a lot of creative options within our writing. In my action project I decided to write about the small dangerous adventure of a brown bear cub. The cub learns a very important lesson along the way but the cub's brothers learn a more important lesson. I hope you enjoy the Fable and maybe even learn a lesson along the way.


A Fox to a Cub

Once there was a small bear cub, his name was Pelo. Pelo was very small, very cute, and very curious. Pelo lived with his brothers and sisters. His two brothers didn’t like him very much because he got the most attention from his parents because he was so young and small. His two sisters loved to play with Pelo; they especially loved to play a game called Far. To play Far one person traveled into the forest to pick up items and bring them back to meeting place. The first bear to bring all the objects back would win. Mama and Papa bear didn’t like when the cubs played this game because they feared that the cubs would get lost in the dangerous forest.

One day the oldest cub suggested, “How about we try something new, maybe something more challenging.”
“Like what?” replied the other sister cub.

Pelo was waiting impatiently for his older sisters to decide what special object they would need to find. He really wanted to play, so he tried to pick something for the sisters to speed up the process. Pelo looked around impatiently to get an idea of what to find. Out of the corner of his dark brown eyes, he focused on the center of daisy and he immediately thought of the soft color of cheese.

“What about cheese?” Pelo softly asked.
“ I don’t know, doesn’t that seem too hard.” replied the older sister.
“Seems pretty simple to me.” said the younger sister .
“Okay, I guess” replied the older sister.
Pelo smiled with joy, and started hopping in excitement on his small paws.
“3, 2, 1, GO!” said the younger sister.

Immediately the cubs darted into the forest to find cheese, bring it back, and be crowned the winner of this special game of Far. Pelo eventually got tired of running and decided to walk. He walked for 9 minutes. Pelo eventually started to smell a familiar smell. It was CHEESE! Cheese was stuck in the cub’s mind, he ran deep into the forest to find the source of the scent. All of a sudden Pelo saw a small piece of cheese sitting on a rock.

“I found it! I win!” Pelo yelled out loud.

After Pelo yelled he noticed a large fox standing by the cheese that he didn’t see before. This terrified Pelo but he was too scared to move. The fox saw Pelo standing in fear and saw this as the perfect opportunity to upgrade his lunch from a single piece of cheese.

“Well hello there small bear”, the fox said. “ What is a small cub like you doing in the middle of the forest all by yourself?” Pelo couldn’t respond. He was frozen in shock.
“Well the darn thing must be broken, it won’t even talk nor will it move”, the fox said. “ Would be a shame for such a beautiful cub to go to waste. I guess I should use it myself, maybe as lunch.”

Pelo didn’t like the idea of being the fox’s lunch so he responded and backed up from the fox.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, I have a family who will do the same to you if you eat me.”
“Where are they now, I don’t see any hungry bears around,” replied the fox.
“They will come.” Pelo snapped back.
“ You are very brave for such a young cub.” replied the fox in a humble voice.
“ I must get it from my Papa, who you’ll be meeting very soon.” Pelo said in a stern voice.

Out of nowhere there was loud thumping coming towards the fox and the cub.
“That must be them now” said Pelo in a worried voice. He couldn’t be sure if it actually was his family there to rescue him from the fox.
Out of the leaves Pelo’s two older brothers popped out of the leaves to help Pelo.
"What is going on here?!”, yelled the oldest brother.
“We were just having a friendly conversation about my cheese” the fox worriedly replied.
“HE IS TRYING TO MAKE ME HIS LUNCH!” screamed Pelo as he cried and stumbled towards his brothers.
Pelo’s brothers grew angry at the fox and wanted to attack him.
“ Look, How about I take the cub, and you two can have all the cheese, berries, and fruit you would like.”

The brothers like the sound of having an unlimited amount of food. The two brothers talked and turned away from the fox to discuss the offer. Pelo was now
more frightened than comforted at the presence of his brothers.

Though the brothers were jealous and didn’t really like all the attention that Pelo got from his parents, they decided that their little brother was worth more than unlimited food. They rejected the fox’s offer and scared him away. The Brothers all walked and talked back home. Before they left, Pelo took a good look at the cheese that the fox left. He decided to leave it for the next cub to come by. They talked about how important family is and why it was so important to be safe in a dangerous world.

IF "Fox and cub" 2017

Family always comes first, and needs will be more helpful than wants. 

The Creation of Aleph

In this this first unit of our new class Stories we discussed what made a story interesting and engaging. We talked about how it was necessary to include a lot of detail/ descriptive words to show off the world you are creating. We had two field experiences in this unit, one was inviting a storyteller over and tell us stories while explaining the important elements of one. This really helped me create my story because it gave so many examples. My job in this unit as to create a story that would demonstrate the creation of a world. I decided to name my world Aleph. Aleph isn't like a lot of other religions and creation stories out there, this story starts with an element and how this element created a world like our today. I hope you enjoy. 

The Creation of Aleph

Before there was anything existed, there was water. Water was the basis of everything that was ever created. Water was infinite and had a state of consciousness; Water floated in the universe she didn’t know what she was part of. Water didn’t like living alone, there was nothing for her to do, and nobody for her to talk to. Water solved this problem by creating air and gases. She talked with air for long periods of time, the everlasting conversation created waves across the water. The air and the water got into a discussion about creating land, so they did. They wanted to see the world bloom and prosper, so they created people using themselves. The people of the world were birthed underneath the sands of the beaches by water herself. The people of the land built homes and planted farms. Water and air wanted to name their amazing creation, after all the people of the world want to know what to call their land.

The air and the water got into an argument about what they wanted to call this world. The Water wanted to call their world Aleph, while the air wanted to call the world Dependence. Naming the world Dependence made Air feel powerful. The Water wanted to name the world Aleph because she believed that the world would be ever expanding in the universe she created, and the sentient beings would create their own infinite pathways. Aleph comes from the math term of the same name that shows sets of infinite. The Air wanted to name the world dependence after the their relationship with the beings on the world. The beings depended on the Water and the Air to support them. The Air and the Water turned to a hostile relationship.This tension and frustration between the Air and the Water caused rows of mountains to pop up and stab through the land like spearheads. The mountains were giant rocks that towered over the trees and plants. The mountains had massive hills that gave off the appearance of the giants kneeling down. These great mountains were new to the humans; they fearlessly and without caution explored the mountains.

One day, Shamun visited the mountains, he wanted to know why they were shaped as giants. Little did Shamun know that these mountains had come from conflict between his creators. The mountains were the home for air and water’s anger. Shamun came to the mountains while Air and Water were arguing. This arguing caused a windstorm in the mountains that caused Shamun to fall to his death. This was the first time that a human had died because of the two creators. The people eventually found out about the death of their friend. The town fell into a deep depression; people walked slowly with their heads down in mourning. The town ha an eerie sense of quiet and emptiness. People sadly did their duties to keep the town running in a town of sadness. Plenty of people have died since the creation of humans, but the death of Shamun was special because the people usually get words from Water and Air about their life and the individuals afterlife while Shamun didn’t receive any words from Water and Air. They felt like Water and Air had forgotten about the world and the people they created.

This depression caught the eyes of Air and Water. Air and Water discussed for 3 days about how they wanted to repay the village for their terrible mistake. They were so concerned that about the morale of the village they stopped bickering. Water told the people of the village of their terrible mistake and told the people about Shamun’s afterlife. Air came to realize that the world they created wasn’t about dominance and that it was instead about love for each-other. Water an Air discussed about adding a temple for Shamun into the world, this temple would represent the similarities between man and their creators. We argue and make mistakes, none of us are greater than the other. They built the temple on the mountain where Shamun had fell. The temple was positioned right on the mountain's backbone; this clearly showed that Water and Air were the support for the people and that the people were their creators support. The temple smelled like roses and baked goods that Water and Air delivered everyday. The temple was a haven for people to connect with one-another and their creators. Air told Water that the world should be named Aleph instead of Dependence, Water agreed. This world would be named after the countless mistakes, corrections, questions and possibilities that the world would endure throughout time. This world would be named Aleph.  

Trail for travelling

I took this photo to show where the village's trail which would allow the people to reach the temple. 

"Trail leading to temple" IF 2017

Artist's statement

This action project wasn't very difficult; I found out to be pretty simple to write a creation story with a lot of creative involvement. The most difficult part was trying to implement my creative input into the story without getting in the way of the necessary elements like the last feature. I really enjoyed writing this story, I couldn't begin to describe how happy I was when I had put everything together like a puzzle. I enjoyed learning about these new concepts and genre of literature.