CH GCE Portfolio

What can we do as citizens to peacefully create change? This is the question that we tried to answer in the final unit of our Humanities class, Global Peace. We studied different ways to analyze and understand violence, looking at real examples and applying them to our own lives. By studying famous peacemakers, such as Sharp and Gandhi, we learned many different strategies for peaceful change and were able to better understand famous protests and movements. For our Action Project, our goal was to start or participate in our own peaceful protest. I chose to focus on the efforts being made by the organization Women's March, dedicated to fighting bigotry and discrimination in all their forms — including homophobia and antisemitism — and to lift up the voices of women who are too often left out.

For my final AP, I was looking into how long it takes Nail Polish to decompose. The information I got back was quite surprising. Creating a closed loop system for a common product was very interesting. Continue reading to learn more about the effect Nail Polish has on the environment, and how we could change that. This concludes my project on creating a closed loop system for nail polish. This was a cool project because I got to think outside the box and about an item I use constantly. It was very eye-opening for me and I hope I can pitch this sustainable product in the future. Sources Cited:  “Nail Polish.” How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Nail-Polish.html. “Only Eat Mushrooms Grown Organically.” 100th Monkey Mushroom Farm, www.100thmonkeymushrooms.com/2014/06/eat-mushrooms-grown-organically/. “Secret Ingredient} Acrylic Brushes.” NAILS Magazine, www.nailsmag.com/article/95029/secret-ingredient-acrylic-brushes. “The Ugly Truth: Toxins Lurk...

Flood, Joe.  “David Hogg at the White House Correspondents  Dinner.”  Flickr, Yahoo!, 29 Apr. 2018. In my Global Peace class, we looked into Gandhi's principles. The first Gandhian principle was Sarvodaya, the uplift of all. We looked into Swadeshi, which is looking particularly on the local economy. Swaraj looked deep into self-government. This means to work for yourself, and making your own decisions before making communal ones. Lastly, we looked into Satyagraha. This means finding the truth in something that already exists, or finding the truth in resistance. These principles are important to an activist. In order to create your own "perfect" world, you must be able to follow these principles according to Gandhi. To further our knowledge of Gandhi's principles, we were asked to choose an activist that has used at least one of these principles. I choose to focus on David Hogg. Throughout my research paper, you will see examples that make Hogg an activist....

In Unit 2 of my STEAM course, Biomimicry, our class was based on animals. Throughout this course, we looked into different animal adaptations that influenced the design to solve real-world problems. While looking into the adaptations, we also looked into different animal architects that create structures for themselves to help them in their habitats. For this AP, we were asked to choose two different animals, and create two structures. One for housing and one for transportation influenced by the animals of your choice. I chose the Kangaroo and the Cheetah. Within my project, you will see how I incorporated the adaptations from these animals to create two unique designs. In conclusion, I found that we should be looking deeper into animals forms and processes. We should figure out what purposes they serve in the environment that they are found in. I found many types of animal architecture dedicated to protecting their young against the elements. We should be thin...

One of my classes is called Biomimicry. Biomimicry means mimicking life, in this context, it is humans learning about the ways other species of animals and plants solve problems, then applying it within our own society.  For instance, Velcro is a man-made material that is very useful. Many people do not know that that Velcro was actually inspired by a plant called Burdock, most commonly known as a bur plant.  This is just one of the many revolutionary inventions inspired by nature. In my class, we also went on experience to talk to people within a company called Interface. My class learned that this company uses sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint and waste in the world. Interface also took patterns from nature to design their carpet patterns, this is a form of biomimicry. For my action project, we had to choose a plant, study the features of that certain plant, and then create something inspired by what we found. I chose the Cypress Trees, they are very com...