We are...Conservation of Resources and Alternative Energies

My group, consisting of me, Dane, Michael, and Bayley, did our project on the conservation of resources and alternative energies, or the "green" movement. This movement really started in the early 70's and has only gotten more relevant since then. One of the first events to raise awareness was the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. This alerted politicians of the danger of polluting the earth and started what is now a worldwide movement to lessen our footprint on the Earth we live.

We included a variety of items on our box that all have to do with the common theme. Just a few things that we found were a "green" brochure from Patagonia, some cardboard boxes with "Made in California" written on them, a Piazzas reusable grocery bag, and a bird that we covered in black paint to represent oil. Michael found the brochure while shopping in Seattle, which confirms that anything can be found anywhere and that you must keep your eyes peeled at all times for anything related to your topic. This is especially true with our topic because earth-friendly products are so plentiful. For example, Dane and I just found the two cardboard boxes with "made in California" written on them while walking through Piazzas shopping for organic cereal. We only had to ask the nice clerks if we could take them, and they agreed when we told them it was for a project. Lastly, Dane found the parrot at Diddums, a store with a great variety of party and miscellaneous items. We figured that we could use the bird to represent the 500,000 birds and various other sea creatures that died in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The black paint shows how the birds' movement would be restricted if fully covered in oil.

I learned a lot about the green movement and alternative energies through the course of this project. I would never have guessed that Earth Day has been going since 1970 or that the Exxon Valdez is still in service over 30 after the tragic incident. My group agreed that a good piece of advice for the next generation of students is to start looking and finding items as soon as possible because it is not possible to find specific items with only one week left until the due date. However, if you know what you are supposed to be looking for then you can just find items during your daily life which makes this project infinitely easier.

-Greg

We are in fear of nuclear disaster by Brent

The theme of our project was basically about the nuclear scare that happened during the Cold War but we focused in during the time period from 1970 to 1990. We explored the fears that the people felt during the time period and also the technology that made these fears a grim reality. Our theme made it crystal clear that nuclear power and technology can pose fatal risks if the reactor sites malfunction like what happened at 3 Mile Island. Our theme was crafted to instill fear within the viewer to draw their attention to our barrel and then give them information about our topic and what we learned about it.

We had many items ranging from a book to a model rocket (which someone stole from our barrel when it was on display in the library). We also had movie posters from the time period such as Silkwood, which were depictions of how Hollywood showed the fears of the American people. When looking around to see what items I contributed to the group I asked my mom if she had anything to do with the nuclear threat. It turns out she had a great book called Missile Envy written by Helen Caldicott who had great insight on the risks of developing nuclear power. When I was flipping through the book a old piece of paper fell out of it, which I made a copy and attached to our barrel. The paper was a bunch of dots each representing a certain amount of nuclear bombs and it put into perspective to the viewer how much nuclear warheads were being built up and how devastating they could be during the world.

We obtained most of our items through the help of the Internet. David braved a scrap yard to find a huge barrel, which he painted yellow and used a stencil Joe made to paint the radioactive symbol on it. The barrel really stands out and can be tapped by the viewer of the project to discover its the real deal. You can see the rings of the barrel too and an imaginative viewer might fear the high frequency electromagnetic waves that could be coming out of the waste barrel. I found the book and other artifacts from my mom who had some things she could contribute from her bookshelf. Also, we replicated artifacts like the nuclear blanket and the nuclear warhead. In addition, Joe made a 3-d model of 3 Mile Island. We obtained our items by just looking around our houses and asking people to help us achieve our goals.

In the future, I think we should have chosen our items first and then the topic of our project. This would have made the project a lot easier since we could have a topic that we had easy access to awesome items too. Also, I think it might of been helpful to ask around on facebook by changing your status to something like "Does anyone have any nuclear warhead replicas we could borrow for a project in exchange for a gourmet batch of cookies?" We could trade other students for items and give them baked goods to persuade them into helping us out. We could also invite them too see their lent items in the finished project in the library when we finished. In addition, it would have been optimal if I did not go down with a high fever the day of our assembly and project presentation but our group pulled through and was able to extract some artifacts from my locker because I got in touch with them when I was sick.

For next years groups the most important thing to a group is a strong form of communication. Everyone needs to have each other group members phone numbers, address, facebook, twitter, email, and AIM to make communication go smoothly. Actually one of the best ways to get the ideas flowing is starting a private group message on facebook in which each group member can post links, ideas, and scan in and post pictures of potential artifacts. Then, the group could come to a group consensus on which items should be used and which should be left in a remote dust filled crevice of someone's attic. Also, its very important to get things done ahead of schedule. In situations were time is running short things our bound to go wrong. Not only that but it is important to realize that you are probably brainwashed by Hollywood film writers. One hardly ever sees a movie where technology fails, computers always work smoothly and the users can manipulate various electronic forms of communication without fail. This of course is all fantasy hodge podge. We all know that if its the worst time for a computer to crash it will crash. Don't save printing out items in the AC during the morning because most likely 50 other kids in the AC will try to print out things too and you will find the situation to be highly stressful and not successful. To sum it up, the crucial concepts that future groups should comprehend are communication, organization, and getting work done in a timely manner. A cohesive group will lead to an outstanding project. Individual items might be perceived as junk but when they are assembled into a logical and flowing presentation they mold into the form of an idea that will give the viewer a message with a profound meaning.

Special thanks to group members Joe, David and Kuleen for their determined work ethic and unprecedented brainstorming capabilities.

We Are...Project

We are interpreters of culture through music. Our theme was all based around music from the 70's and 80's. We learned about the impact on culture and the importance of music to the American people in the 70's and 80's. We learned about 4 different sub topics: Influence on different Genres of the 70s and 80s, influence of different famous People and Artists of the 70s and 80s, influence on basic music and technology, and influence on clothing and accessories. Through these four topics, we learned about the impact of music on the American people. We learned about the importance and cultural significance of different styles of music.

We picked different items for each of the sides of the box, with each side representing a different topic of interest. The first side had influence on different genres of the 70s and 80s. We found an old record and a slightly newer CD from the 70s and 80s respectively. The record and CD had completely different genres. One was rock while the other was jazz. There was also a pair of drumsticks, symbolizing the change of genres. The People and Artists of the 70s and 80s had 3 Record Cases which three famous people, including Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen. There were also short biographies on each artist. The third side, with basic music and technology, had pictures of a record player, mini-records (a newer invention for shorter singles). The fourth side, with the clothing and accessories, had a tape recorder as well as two "stylish" shirts from the 70s and 80s.

We obtained the items mostly through old clothing, records, and CDs that my group members and I had at our houses. We also took a look through Goodwill to see if we could find anything, but we only found one item.

The project went really smoothly. The only problem we encountered was the size of our box. Our box was very, very large and was difficult to transport. If we were to do this project again, we may use mulitple smaller boxes. We could also use a stack of boxes, so the transportation would be easier.

For next years class, I would advise them to look forward the project and just have fun with it. I would tell them not to think of it as work and just have fun. Also, I would tell them that they should make sure the topic they pick is something they are genuinely interested in, or else it would be difficult to have fun doing it.

by Vivek S.
Group members: Rainier, Crystal, Brett