The Clock for Everyone

For our final Light and Sound unit we learned about time. We found out about time works, how it is measured, how the world started, and much more. We then focused on methods of telling time and learned about pendulums, sundials, geographic coordinates, etc. For our action project we were challenged to design a unique clock. I’m proud of the type of clock I invented, because it is to help people with disabilities which I think is important.

On the FE our class went on, to the Chicago Light House, something one of the head people of the organization said, stuck with me. He said "Blind people can do anything, as long as you give them a chance." So this was my way of trying to give them a chance to do something new.

Work Cited

-Aftelier Natural Perfume Wheel." Essential Oil UniversityRSS. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

-Goodrich, Ward. "The Modern Clock; a Study of Time Keeping Mechanism; Its Construction, Regulation, and Repair : Goodrich, Ward L : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive." Internet Archive. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

- Falcon, A. (n.d.). 20 Alarm Clocks To Wake You Up Creatively. Retrieved March 16, 2015, from http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/creative-alarm-clocks/

Church And State

For our final Argument unit we learned about contradictions in arguments as well as how to find them and fix them. We continued our focus on the United States Constitution, especially issues related to civil rights, and found many flaws, in our opinion. Each of us chose an important issue to focus on and share our beliefs on, as well as how people disagreeing with our beliefs feel. In this unit I was most proud of this Action Project because I think it covers an important topic that is highly unjust.

Thesis
The topic I chose focused on the separation of church and state, and for the US to follow through on its own church-state separation laws. This is important to me because I know people of all religions who are Americans and I believe it’s unfair to them to not uphold these laws, not only because it goes against the 1st Amendment’s protection of freedom of [any] religion, but also because it clearly prioritizes and embraces Christianity. There are multiple cases showing this: many public schools still require their students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, part of which includes pledging themselves to “one nation, under God”, and the Star-Spangled Banner, which has a line stating “and this be our motto, In God we trust." It even says “In God We Trust” on the dollar bill. All of these examples go against many cultural beliefs and against the 1st Amendment. Not only do some people not believe in a god at all, but certain religions aren’t allowed to swear themselves to another supreme being.

On the other side of things, even some Christians don’t want their religious beliefs being included in state’s rights. For example, the Jehovah Witnesses objected to adding “under God” since they won't swear patriotic or other oaths. So, both non-Christians and some Christians even don’t agree with this law not being followed through.

Antithesis
However, on the other side of things some people, predominantly Christians, may argue that “religious viewpoints are inherently embedded into the political system,” claiming it is detrimental to keep the two together. They believe not only that it is crucial in politics, but that changing the way things are would be taking away their freedom of religion.

Synthesis
People who don’t want anything to change ask how things would change if we suddenly enforced this more. The people who want this change ask how is it fair to have such a clear preference of Christianity when America is for people of all religions? Both sides have the same main argument claiming that this is simply their way of expressing the first amendment; however after the research I’ve done, I still believe the government should stick more strongly to its own law about Church and State. I still don’t think they should be favoring one, which they clearly do to this day.

Pro Life on Campus: A First Amendment seminar (2015)

Evidence of Dialect
Work Cited

• Pledge of Allegiance. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance
• Separation of church and state in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
• State/Church FAQ. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2015, from http://ffrf.org/outreach/item/14030-pledge-of-allegiance
• Tyler, J. (2012, November 14). Church and state must coexist, not remain separate. Retrieved March 17, 2015, from http://kykernel.com/2012/11/14/church-and-state-must-coexist-not-remain-separate/

GCE Protection

In our second unit of Argument we learned more about more what makes an argument and about different flaws and contradictions. We studied the US Constitution, and then looked at GCE's Code of Conduct and found all the flaws we could in the document. We then chose a policy and revised, giving our view on the issue. I was proud of the FE I helped make happen in this Unit; it was the closing argument of a trial, and I personally thought it was really interesting to get to see in real life.

The part of the Code of Conduct that I would like to change is the policy:

“Weapons: The possession of any weapons, tools, or objects to threaten the well-being of others (including firearms, knives, etc.) or poses a severe threat to the safety of the entire community. The DC reserves the right to suspend or dismiss a student for an offense which endangers life or health, or poses a special threat to any member of our School community.”

The argument supporting this rule is :
P1: Weapons can hurt people.
P2: Weapons are dangerous.
P3: School is meant to be a safe environment.
C: Weapons shouldn’t be allowed in schools.

The reason I think this should be changed is because of students’ circumstances. Some students may not feel safe without some form of protection, such as a pocket knife or mace. Some students live in bad neighborhoods and don’t feel safe walking home alone without anything. The rule says you can’t possess any sort of weapon, but I think this should be changed to not taking out, using, or threatening to use any sort of weapon that you possess. As long as students aren’t posing a threat to other GCE students or faculty, they should be allowed to possess something to make them feel safe. Students will not be allowed to take out their weapons during school, or make threats with it to any GCE student or staff member, and if they do this privilege will be revoked from them, and the only way they will be allowed to continue bringing a weapon is if they turn it in at the beginning of the day.

Many students live in unsafe areas, and allowing them to carry a weapon with them could stop a lot of bad from happening. These weapons, used for self-defense, are like a key, unlocking the door to safety. They could save a students’ life or prevent a student from getting raped. According to an article “Stranger kidnapping victimizes more females than males, occurs primarily at outdoor locations, victimizes both teenagers and school-age children, is associated with sexual assaults in the case of girl victims and robberies in the case of boy victims (although not exclusively so)” (Bilich). Another report asserts that: “1 in 6 endangered runaways reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in 2014 were likely sex trafficking victims” (Key Facts). Issues like this could be eliminated if a safety weapon were to be carried. GCE doesn’t want any harm coming to their students, and to help make sure our students don’t add to statistics like the ones above, they should be allowed to carry a weapon.

One of our students, MV, stated “I think weapons should be allowed because a lot of students live in bad neighborhoods and feel unsafe walking home alone, and should be allowed something to make them feel safer.” A number of students feel this way, and it is the school’s responsibility to help make them feel safer.

Furthermore, this directly relates to the Second Amendment of the US Constitution- the right to keep and bear arms. This is pretty much the same argument as my amendment, that weapons should be allowed for safety. It protects our right to protect ourselves, and to possess weapons for our own safety.

In conclusion, my argument is that:
P1: Some students travel through unsafe areas before/after school.
P2: Weapons provide a self-defense method and protection.
P3: Students will be safer walking in dangerous areas, with a weapon.
C: Students should be allowed to possess weapons on campus, if they want to, in order to feel safe.

The following video shows what other Chicago students go through in order to safely get to school:

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Work Cited:

-Bilich, Karin A. "Child Abduction Facts." Parents Magazine. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.<http://www.parents.com/kids/safety/stranger-safety/child-abduction-facts/>.
-"Key Facts." National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.missingkids.com/KeyFacts>.
-"A Dangerous Walk to School." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h2Yytecex0>.

LEGO Guitar

In our second Light & Sound unit we learned about what sound is, how it is made and heard, how it travels, and other fundamentals of sound. I am most proud of the science concepts learned such as how to graph sound waves and learning what each variable stood for. Our action project is about about creating sound waves and making an instrument that can be played by the Landfill Harmonic. We were each instructed to build a guitar from scratch. This would show how sound is produced and amplified.

The guitars we built work like a normal guitar: the strings vibrate the air, and the body amplifies the vibrations, projecting a louder sound. When you press on the strings you change the length of the vibrating which changes the pitch. The lower on the neck you go the higher the pitch.

The sounds the guitar makes show all the principles we learned. Sound waves are molecules contracting and expanding, which is shown on the guitar with the vibrating strings. They make vibrations in the air which are just contracting and expanding molecules. Wavelength is the distance from one peak/crest/trough to the next peak/crest/trough. The shorter the guitar string length the shorter the wavelength. Pitch/frequency is how fast a wave travels (how many cycles there are per second). Each string has a different pitch, and if you change the length of the string by putting your finger down, it will change the pitch. Amplitude is how high/low the wave is, the guitar’s body demonstrates this by amplifying the sound the strings make.The amplitude is how loud the sound is, the higher the amplitude, the louder the sound is.

All the dimensions are shown in the picture below. The rubber band width was .26 mm and the fishing wire width was .47mm. The volume of the body was 74 7/32 squared inches and the volume of the sound hole was 15 5/8 squared inches.

AG Guitar Sketch (2015)

After building the guitar we also found the frequencies and wavelengths of the open notes and the octave notes of both strings. The rubber band string was a G note, the open note frequency was 403.4 Hz and the wavelength was 185.8 cm, the octave note frequency was 806.8 Hz and the wavelength was 92.9 cm.The fishing wire string was an A# note, the open note frequency was 455.9 Hz and the wavelength was 657.6 cm, the octave note frequency was 911.8 Hz and the wavelength was 328.8 cm.

AG Guitar Front (2015)

AG Guitar Side (2015)

Another thing we learned about in this unit was the Doppler Effect; this is the phenomenon that makes a sound’s pitch seem to get higher as it travels towards you and lower as it travels away from you. Really the pitch stays the same the whole time, but it sounds like it changes because the waves get pushed together and overlap when the sound is moving towards you, and spread out when moving away from you.

I really enjoyed this action project and had fun making the guitar. However, if I could do this project again I would add more strings and add tuning pegs so I could change the tension of the strings as well. That way it would be even more like a real guitar.