Artist Statement - Breeanna Noi

So my first drawing was of Gabe. It looks very cartoon-like and it resembles Sam Sirochman more than it resembles the "model." I attempted to draw it in a more realistic form, but all of my screw ups caused me to just say, "This isn't working, so let's try it THIS way.." But other than that, I think my alternative piece came out well enough. 

My first drawing was of a round clear object. Again, still and realistic art pieces have never been my strong point. I also have a tendency to outline my pieces really dark and then include the detail. Which may be the reason why they didn't come out too well. I started out just drawing because I didn't watch our outline video. I learned a new thing with shadowing with helped me tons. Shadowing first was never something I thought about. Now, I feel like I'm gradually improving in art. But I'm also improving on my real life writing so that's always a plus.. 
C360_2011-10-1809-18-03
C360_2011-10-1809-18-03
C360_2011-11-1013-19-26
C360_2011-11-1013-19-26

Quarter 1 Benchmark Reflection

​My portion:
Campaign Ad and Logo 

https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/a-moment-of-your-time/advertising

​Entire Project: 

https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/a-moment-of-your-time/


We at first brainstormed on what was one of the biggest issue on why there were significantly low percentage of voting turnouts. And we thought because, Tuesdays are rather busy days. It's after monday but not even the middle of the week. So we came upon a decision on weekend voting.

Great change is brought upon by great leaders, one must lead in order to gain followers and bring a revolution in effect.

I honestly didn't have much of a clue of how the electoral college worked along with voting. Instead of an object as you would think it'd be, it's actually a process to go through and as each part of the government has their own role. 

In my group's marketing campaign, I honestly thought the Campaign Ad I made was pretty convincing, it just shows a slow down in our daily lives. Like a busy city, busy streets, and packed up schedule, yet we vote on Tuesday? So weekend voting is less stressful more convenient and indeed more relaxing without bringing so much concern. This would encourage people to vote more. 

Non Discrimination act


​sources 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Non-Discrimination_Act


reflection:
Why I choose to the the Non Discrimination Act was because I feel that 
it is wrong that  judge people based on looks and their gender 
identity. equality is the most important thing to have. Not everyone 
understands how important equality is.
My method for choosing a flow map was because I thought It would be 
easier way to tell a story 
If I was to do this project again I would choose a different method 
then what I did and also staying more on top of things with the 
organization process.
The research of my bill taught me that it can be either passed or fail. 
In my case my bill kept getting re- introduced and brought into congress. 
As of today they are still fighting to pass the law officially. The 
process was harder then what I imagined.  
EmploymentNonDiscriminationACT
EmploymentNonDiscriminationACT

Food Benchmark: Baklava/ Food, Food, and more Food

Baklava (Arabic Pastry)


Ingredients:

- Fellow Sheets (Flour Sheets) One pack 20 sheets
- Canola oil half cup
- Almonds half pound
- Sugar 4 tbsp
- Vanilla
- Syrup (4 small cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of lemon juice)

Directions:
1. Bring the a rectangular tray and brush it over with the canola oil so it doesn't stick to the pan
2. Divide the 20 sheets into 2 groups: one group for the bottom and one group for the top.
3. Put 10 flour sheets on the tray for the bottom and every two sheets you put down, brush the whole surface with canola oil.
4. Put half a pound of almonds into a food processor and grind until it is in small pieces.
5. Take the almonds out of the food processor and place into another bowl. Then proceed to add the 4 tbsp of sugar into the almonds and add the vanilla in as well.
6. Put in a bit of water and mix.
7. Spread the almonds onto the sheets you prepared and then take the other group of 10 sheets and every two sheets you put down, brush the surface of the sheet with canola oil.
8. Then proceed to cut the whole thing into small square pieces. (you can make the pieces big or small). Then spread canola oil all over the top.
9. Then put the whole tray into the oven on 325˚ for 30 minutes. Then after the 30 minutes has passed, raise the temperature to 450˚ for 5 minutes exact.

(Meanwhile you already prepared the syrup just by mixing the 4 small cups of sugar, 1 1/2 cups of water,  together and then put them on the stove until it boils. Then lower the flame a bit and add the 1 tbsp of lemon juice in. Let it proceed to boil until the mix looks like a honey mixture. Let it cool completely.)
10. Proceed to take the tray out.
11. Right when you take it out, spread the cooled syrup on top of the whole baklava.


Analysis

a. I would say that its approximately 25% processed and 75% whole foods. Everything is whole except the Almonds. The almonds are the only processed.

b. The caloric count is about 250 calories, about 7 grams of sugar id assume, and about 10 g of fat I'd say. My body will store some of sugar that it obtained from the baklava I made and get rid of what it doesnt need to the liver.  Some health issues that would come up if I ate this meal every day would be diabetes because of the amount of sugar it has, possibly get sick because I am not taking in certain amounts of nutrition, just alot of protein, sugar.

c.  About everything came from the United States I'd say, but I would say that it was mostly grown in California, because it is a popular place to grow many ingredients, especially the almonds. The sheets and vanilla traveled far I know because they were bought from an Arabic Store, in which most of the products were made in Middle Eastern countries. It was not organically grown. The processing for the sheets may effect the environment, but on the package it said it was processed in a factory, so the factory probably uses gas and that gas goes to the atmosphere, etc.

d. The meal, not counting everything in all of the packaging (only the amount of ingredients used) approximately costed 10 dollars. It is so much better than fast food because 2 sandwichs from Mcdonalds would cost about 10 dollars while this 10 dollar pastry would last you a very long time because of the large quantity made from the partial amount of ingredients.

Companies:
Fellow flour sheets

Berkley and Jensen

Wesson

Domino

Badia

I would say that Berkley and Jensen and Wesson are big companies and the others are smaller espeicially because they are from middle eastern companies. I believe that there is always a bigger company that controls everything.

e. I'd say that they probably added some preservatives and also grew them in a certain way to make them either grow faster or grow a certain size/ have a certain taste etc. Just like we saw in the movie, how they use different fertilizers and feed differently makes the product different than if you were to grow normally. Many companies say certain things to attract customers. They will say anything to please the people; money over everything basically. Growing the ingredients myself might not give me the best quality that you get from using different fertizlizers and such, but it would still be fresh and "clean".

_________________________________________________________________________

Personal Reflection

If it weren't for this quarter, I definitely would not have known this much about food and the real story behind where your food comes from. I learned things that I really was surprised about, such as the point that 90% of all foods are either made with or from corn, food conditions (how they are slaughtered, treated, etc.), how the food industry has a hold on everyone, and how every single word you say can be used against you. I could keep naming so many more things I learned, but it would make this more of a list, not a reflection. Learning all this information in this unit, making presentations on the Food Inc. movie, presenting all that infromation; it made me think about what I can do to inform people about what is truly in their food and how their food is produced. Many people don't get the chance to be informed like we did, and its a problem. People need to become educated and find out more; do research, do interviews, go the extra step. The government doesn't want us to know about the truth, but if we knew the truth and we spread the word, it would impact the world in a big way, and possibly make change in the food industry. Another problem in our food system is the point that its basically all about the money. If the people don't know about it, then why tell them and possibly lose the money? People have to really fight to put all of this out in the open. After watching and learning so much this unit, it has actually change my eating habits in a big way. I started eating less outside, I encouraged my parents to buy many products from the amish stores around the block and they finally did so, and I even started reading the nutrition facts and trying to avoid the bad stuff like high fructose corn syrup, etc. These choices have really played a great impact. I stopped spending so much money, I'm becoming more informed, and I'm more content with what I'm putting into my mouth. I think that if everyone were to take the same step I took, it would really impact their lives for the good as well. In conclusion, this unit has really taught me alot, and though many people might not think the same way I did after this unit, I'm really glad I learned what I did. From Food Inc. to organic/non-organic foods, this unit was a great learning experience.

__________________________________________________________________________

Food Rules Slide


Screen Shot 2011-11-09 at 10.18.48 AM
Screen Shot 2011-11-09 at 10.18.48 AM

Art Q1 Reflection Journal

​1. Full Figure
2. Clear Object

This Art quarter Ms. Hull assigned us a project to draw a still life drawing human body - which was modeled by Gabriel. Since I had experience with this in other art classes this appeared to me rather easier than it came to most less experienced artist but I also learned many new things that I didn't know before about drawing this still life figure. With this assignment I used some of the artistic skills I was used to such as shadowing and shading to give it more of a realistic feel. The clear object drawing I was more familiar with because I enjoy using the shadowing method a lot when it comes to creating artwork so it really followed through with this assignment.

For the next quarter, I plan to work more on the outline of things instead of just focusing on the shading and shadowing of them. Also I want to learn how to work with my facial expressions and structure like the eyes, nose, and smile. I would also be interested in learning how to draw landscapes and more in deft drawings. 


nyjiwdj
nyjiwdj

Science and Society Benchmark 2011

Personal Reflection​

In the Food unit we watched “Food Inc,” a documentary about the food industry. We also read several articles by columnist Michel Pollen and discussed the problems and practices about the food we eat.

            I noticed we were rather biased as group against the food industry and no one tried to defend them. I also noted everyone acted with emotion but failed to come up with a reasonable solution. Also folks tend to blame big corporations on all the world evils that are every ones fault and no ones fault.

            We read a little too much of Michel Pollen I would have liked to read some one else. I am sure others have written on the topic and would want some different viewpoints.

            What I liked was the style of presentation how we learned one little thing at a time and head to answer questions that would help us retain that information.

            And of course I liked the feast. It was tasty. 

            I’m rather disappointed that no one listened to my solution, which I thought was brilliant. What we could do is everyone (in America) puts in five to twenty dollars and we collectively sue the big food corporations. That we even the playing ground and make sure they can’t say, “this is what are costumers asked for.”

            I think we would do much better if we didn’t have other things to think about then the food industry because we were all to busy to do any thing about it.

            All in all a good unit but it could have been better.


Food Recipe

 

Salad

Lettuce

Baby Tomatoes

Cucumber

Carrot

 

Wash Vegetables break the lettuce pieces in half and put in a large bowl. Though baby tomatoes in bowl and toss well. Skin Cucumber, cut it into little pieces, and dump in bowl. Skin carrot, cut it into little pieces, and dump in bowl. Toss well.

 

Salad Dressing

One part vinegar

Three parts olive oil

A pinch of parsley

A pinch of basil

 

Get out a small bowl. Put in vinegar and oil; add a pinch of parsley and a pinch of basil. Shake well before stirring.  

 

Salad is a traditional healthy choice when overloaded with salad dressing, bread, and meat. My dad always puts salad out with every dinner. Usually comprising of lettuce and some other vegetables. I bought the ingredients to this salad at whole and they cost too much. I would have bought them at the ninth street market it closed at the time and ninth street market food doesn’t last long.

BMQ1 Reflection

position paper: https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1A-9YO5mGVkaaZr13rfIuodWbF9bVFtpOSlRlotzH0vw/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1 

actual site: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/don-t-have-a-cow-vote-by-mail/ 

-How did your group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project? 
My group went about choosing our topic by sorting out what problems were brought up in class. We came up with mail voting. We thought this would be te most interesting because is only used in a few states so we were able to compare the data from those states and states that don't use mail voting.  

-11th grade Essential Question: What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 
The individual has to be a leader in the change and be able to commit to whatever they feel passionate about. To create change they must research and defend their opinion and they must commit to the cause in order to sustain it. 

-How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?  
We decided to create a Twitter page. We thought that through social networking we would be the best way for people to get to know what our focus was and how it could benefit all of the US. 

-How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?  My understanding of the electoral process has changed drastically because before I didn't really know anything about voting nor the process. I definitely have a better understanding after this unit. Through this unit I noticed that since there was low voter turn-out the US as a democracy is not very accurate because not everyone votes so it makes it less of a democracy than it was before. 









Science and Society Benchmark 2011

​Personal Reflection
In this unit we have looked at many different things including organic food vs. conventional food we have looked at how animals are treated and raised before they are killed, we looked at big businesses and small businesses and we also have taken a look at fast food places and how they like to have their food replicated the same way. The one thing I think was most important about all of the discussions we have had about what we can do differently ourselves to make a difference in the our own communities. some people suggested that they would become vegetarians some people suggested that we stop buying from bigger businesses and start eating from smaller more healthy places. Another big deal that is going on is that we have talked about health insurance and obesity in the country. I personally think that the biggest problem with food related issues in children is that it is very accesible and cheap. I think if corner stores were not on every other corner in almost every section of the city than the obesity rate would drastically change just from that. Some changes I can make are to eat more healthy I have already eliminated soda from a regular diet and I do not eat after a certain time but I can make more conscious choices to pick out organic foods specifically or read labels and ask more questions. I think in making some of these choices I would feel better maybe be more energized and maybe lose weight . I think if I really wanted to I could make this change
Slide1
Slide1
Recipe and Analysis

Ingredients: 
2 cans of Tuna 
half a box of elbow noodles or any noodles that you prefer 
salt 
pepper 
Miracle whip or Mayo 
Relish 
2 boiled eggs(chop them up fine)

Step 1: put water into a pot and wait for it to come toa boil 
Step 2: Once the water comes to a boil put the about a half a box of elbow noodles into the pot 
Step 3: when the noodles are done place them into the strainer and drain all of the water from the noodles 
Step 4: place the noodles into a bowl big enough to mix in other ingredients 
Step5: place another pot on the stove with water in the pot and place two eggs into the pot let this come to a boil 
Step 6: take the eggs out and peel the shell off of the eggs, then chop up the eggs 
Step 7: Then put the eggs into the bowl with the noodles 
Step 8: next open up the two cans of tuna(In water) drain the water out of the cans and then put the tuna into the bowl with the noodles and the chopped eggs 
Step 9: then the next thing is take a tablespoon and a teaspoon of relish and place this into the bowl 
Step 10: this step is based off of skill and eyeballing and feeling now salt and pepper into the bowl
Step 11: mix everything together  
Step 12: taste everything and make sure it taste good  
Note:  the amount of each ingredient depends on how much you are making. so amounts may vary. 

Analysis: 
Even though this dish is not the healthiest it is delicious and tasty. As long as I can remember my dad has been making this dish and it has always been my favorite thing to eat. This is why I decided that I would make this dish for the class. 

As far as each ingredient goes it really depends on what you want to make it you can make this dish more healthy for example instead of using regular noodles you can use wheat noodles and you can change the meat that you put into it, relish has some kind of syrupy type of liquid into the relish, you can put whatever kind of eggs you want to put into it. 

This dish can come from anywhere most of the ingredients are processed and ready to go, I had trouble trying to find exactly where all the ingredients come from but we can produce some of the ingredients on Philadelphia farms also. 


This meal did not cost that much we have most of the ingredients already but if I were to guest I would say an maximum of  20 dollars. Overall the project was fun and exciting it is nice to not only see people bring in cultural foods but foods that mean something to them.

Food


Analysis:
The food was organic and none of it was processed. Since the food was organic my body should fair well with the ingredients in the chicken. There is some fat in the chicken, not much though, so my body should be able to burn off the fat. If I were to eat this everyday a health issue could be high cholesterol and I could become fat. My rice came from Wisconsin or some western state so that is pretty far. I'm not sure where the chicken came from but the rice was also organically grown. The environmental impact would be the flight from there to here. The chicken was about 10 dollars. However in comparison to a McDonalds chicken sandwich that is great. A chicken sandwich at McDonalds cost around 6 - 7 dollars. This was enough chicken for 4 sandwiches. This was chicken from Trader Joes, I don’t think I can get a chicken, maintain and grow him to eventually eat him. So socially I don’t think there would be any ramifications because I don’t believe the chickens were abused and mistreated, however even if it was, most of society doesn’t care about who did what with the chicken, they just care about the fact they are eating it


What I learned:


I have learned a fair amount from this food course I seen most of the movie we've watched so I didn't see anything really new, however I did discover some new things or paid more attention to things that I haven't done so in the past. One of the larger problems I believe is the dominance of the food industry and how they effective they are within the government. Government isn't supposed to have industrial interest because they are the government. So seeing how many government officials has something to do with food or other things like that it kind of put me on edge and question the actual stability and how corrupt is our government in reality. SO one of the things I think I can actually do would be to actually change the way I eat. For a while I cut down on beef and other meats, however in the house that I am in now it would prove to be difficult because I come from a family of meat eaters. Not to mention that my favorite food is a nice old fashioned cheeseburger. However anything is possible and I wouldn't say I couldn't but it would be hard, but I am willing. At least until they stop feeding fish corn, I would feel a lot better if they stop feeding fish corn and take the cows out of the cow concentration camps.





















Screen Shot 2011-10-26 at 10.17.32 PM 

Q1 Benchmark Reflection

Link to entire project: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/amending-the-constitution/

Link to my individual portion:
https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/amending-the-constitution/rebuttal-paper-shamarlon-yates

________________________________________________________________
Reflection
: Each member of your team must post an individual reflection at the end of the project (SLATE):

How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?

My group
brainstormed numerous ideas about how we can improve voter turnout and then we decided to pick repealing the Electoral College since this was very influential during the 2000 elections. We thought that this was an important aspect of our voting system since it affects voter turnout.


11th grade Essential ? - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 

Great change have been created throughout history though the role of one individual. An example of this is Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation. Change can start with one person but an individual has to initiate that change first and then other people will relate to this change and become part of it.


How has your understanding of the electoral process and
whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?

Before this project, I did not even know about the Electoral College and the role it plays in Presidential elections. I thought that the president was elected through direct popular vote. While conducting research and reading my group member's proposal paper, I learned about the history of the Electoral College and why it was created. I also learned about the pros and cons of both the Electoral College and the direct popular vote systems. I think that the Electoral College is very democratic since the direct popular vote method is used in each individual state to decide which candidate gets all the Electoral College votes in that state.


How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?  

We had a commercial and a print had to promoted why the Electoral College should be repealed. The commercial could go on TV and the print ad and the proposal could be printed in newspapers around the country.




Marina Pyfrom Q1 BM Reflection

​My Part (Print Ads):

https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/got-democracy-be-your-government/home/print-ads-got-democracy-be-your-government

Our Whole Project:

https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/got-democracy-be-your-government/home

Well we all answered the journal question and as a group we each shared our ideas. Then talked about each idea and then all came to an agreement on which one would our benchmark. Collectively we chose Combining National Popular Vote and Instant Runoff as our focus topic. 

If we all as humans come together, positive change will happen. All age groups can benefit from one an other. In order to create and support change we need to get rid of all the negative energy and replace it with positivity. 

I realized with the electoral college it does not benefit the people from small states which means every voters' voice is not being heard and that is not a democracy. That is exactly why we chose slogan "got democracy? … Be YOUr government" We want voters from all ages to feel as though their vote is valuable. 

Our marketing scheme was to mimic the successful "got milk?" campaign. As a group we all decided a print ad's slogan needs to be one thing and that was universal. A universal slogan is appealing to all age groups. The best thing about using a universal slogan is that it will always be remembered by your audience. Because we wanted to target an older and younger audience we chose to have a slogan that could be used as an entire phrase or broken into two separate ones with the same amount of impact. 

Our Slogans:

"got democracy?"

"got democracy?… Be YOUr government!"

Quarter 1 Benchmark Reflection

  • How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?
    -Our group began with a ton of ideas that covered multiple ways of addressing the voter turn out problem in the United States. We debated for almost two day about the direction that we wanted to move forward in and ultimately it was out slogan that helped us finally decide what we wanted to do. Our slogan, "got democracy?...Be YOUr Government" lead us to the decision of combining National Popular Vote with Instant Run-off Vote to provide more of an incentive for voting and create a more educated or aware voter. 

  • 11th grade Essential Question - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 
    - I believe that the role of an individual in creating and sustaining change is fully understand the change that is occurring and be active in its continued existence. In order change to be instituted, it must have support from the individuals that it will be effecting. If not then the change will be challenged and sustainability decreases. Change also requires supporting individuals to be active because if/when the change is challenged or active support decreases, the effectiveness of the change falls.

  • How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?
    -Prior to this unit, it was my understanding that the because it is the international symbol of democracy, we must be pretty well off as a democratic nation. After the unit i have come to understand that although we are the international symbol of democracy, we do not live up to that international standard. I have also learned and formed my own opinons about the electoral system based on the research done during this project. Through research I learned the original reasons behind created the electoral system and that the US was created to be a republic not a democracy. I found this to be quite interesting because democracy is something that most if not all Americans value most.

  • How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?
    - Our group chose to target three specific groups at the national level. We chose to target youth, older Americans, and minorities. To do this we created a slogan that could be used three different ways. Each element of the slogan would appear in different forms of communication. For example the "got democracy?" portion of the slogan stood for the print add so that it would be mor accessible to an older audience and because older voters were more likely to correlate this ad with the successful "got milk" campaign. The "Be YOUr Government!" portion of the slogan targeted youth an minorities in the audio ad because it put the individuals at the center of attention and used music from an artist popular amongst youth and minorities. The combined elements of the slogan were used in the video ad. They were intended to be create a universal and unifying campaign.

    My individual work can be viewed here.
    Our group's final product can be viewed here.

Sophia Henninger Benchmark Reflection

The link to the whole project.

This
is the rebuttal paper I wrote.

  • How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?
    It was not very difficult because we just chose what we collectively felt the strongest about which was the effectiveness of the Electoral College. There was also some discussion about concentrating on how voting is always on Tuesday, but in the end we decided the Electoral College is a more pressing issue. 

  • 11th grade Essential ? - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 
    An individual must be committed to a change to sustain it. Say one person decided not to support a change, they could influence others do the same, then no one would be trying to change anything. An individual can quickly expand into a majority, thats how changes begin. People must stay committed to an idea to make it a reality. 

  • How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?
    Before this unit I had almost no idea of how elections worked in the US. All I knew was that people went to polling places, stood in a booth, pressed some buttons and then they were done. I did not know about any of the regulations or processes of voting. Since then though, my knowledge on the subject has grown exponentially. Learning about the processes, like the Electoral College, and other things, has truly sparked an interest in me. All the laws surrounding voting in the US are interesting and some of them are still useful, but certainly not all of them. It makes me wonder why people havent tried to change them yet but then I remember that many people are as clueless about these things as I was before this unit. If everyone is to have a fair say, they must first be educated on the subject and this isn't happening. Things like that make this nation seem less free then it did before I knew these things. 

  • How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?
    In our marketing campaign we tried to emphasize that not many people even know what the Electoral College is. Showing that the people it is apparently trying to serve don't even know about it. By doing this we not only educated people on it but showed how dated it is. If more people knew about it, it may not as much of a problem because when voting, people would know what they're getting into and where their vote is going. I believe this was a very effective way to relay our group's message. 

Courtni Matthews Science & Society Q1 Benchmark

Vegetarian Lima Bean Soup !

Ingredients:

·      2 One pound bags of large dried lima beans

·      1 very larger or 2 medium Vidalia Onions

·      1 large green pepper

·      1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

·      2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic

·      ½ pot water

(For Taste)

·      Onion Powder

·      Ground Black Pepper

·      Mrs. Dash (Onion & herb)

·      Essence of Emeril Seasoning

·      Crushed red pepper flakes

·      1 tablespoon Agave Nectar



Procedure

1.     Soak 2 bags of Lima Beans in a full pot of cold water

2.     Sit aside for 8-16 hours

3.     Once soaking is complete Rinse lima beans in cool water in a large colander or strainer ( remove any discolored beans or empty shells)

4.     Chop onion and green pepper in small cubes (diced about ¼” )

5.     Heat large vegetable stock pot over med/high heat

6.     Add ½ cup of olive oil when pan is hot (heat until olive oil is hot )

7.     Add diced onion and green pepper

8.     Add seasonings and minced garlic

9.     Sauté onion, green pepper , garlic , and seasonings until vegetables glisten and start to become translucent

10.  Turn heat up to high

11.  Add very hot water until pot is half full

12.  Cover w/ lid and bring stock to a boil

13.  When liquid / vegetable mixture begins to boil Add 2 lbs of lima beans

14.  Allow to come to a second boil

15.  Reduce heat to low or simmer. Add agave nectar

16.  Simmer beans for 2 hours or until tender and liquid starts to thicken.

17.  Stir every 15-30 minutes with wooden spoon. If beans start to stick add water and reduce heat. 

18.  Taste beans in last ½ hour of cooking Add seasonings or Agave Nectar to taste

 

 

Recipe Analysis

When thinking of a “healthy meal” to share with the class I thought Lima Bean Soup was the perfect dish simply because it is a meat less, non-processed meal. Everything from the beans to the seasonings and vegetables to make the meal is whole and tasty! The lima beans used to make this meal were very cost effective and for families on a budget the brand of beans can be purchased with WIC and food stamps. This reminded me of a discussion we had in class when the issue of healthy food being too expensive came up and how it affects families’ decisions w/ purchasing food and cooking meals. Well there is no excuse for this healthy meal, if you can but things like pop tarts, different meats, and chips, you can without a doubt pick up a bag of beans and some peppers! Although this meal is time consuming, the way it is prepared allows time to get homework, housework, and daily tasks done while waiting. When meal is complete Lima bean soup becomes a quick throw and go meal. Great for packing a lunch or a quick dinner heat up ! Also, the packaging and preparation of the meal does not involve a lot of material. The material they do involve can be recycled. With all of this being said this delicious meal is great for a meal to last a few days and feed the whole house! You can put your own spin on it by adding hot sauce, throwing it on rice, and even vegetables. No matter how you like it, if you love beans it is a great healthy choice your body will be happy with!

Self Reflection

            This section has opened my eyes too so many different aspects of my health and also the health of my family members. It was definitely disturbing to see the truth behind different meat companies and how they deal with the animals. It made me feel somewhat helpless as a person who is not a vegetarian. To keep a steady diet it seems impossible to make the best choice in meets to create a balanced meal. Though I don’t see myself or my family members becoming vegetarian any time soon, we have taken extra steps to pay attention to where we buy our meat and checking the different labels so we can get the best meat possible. The other sections of the unit like Fracking for instance allowed me to educate my friends and family on what exactly it was. I have shared this information with my family to the point where it became annoying. After a while lunch and dinner time became very uncomfortable and I was just a nag when it came to shopping trips according to my family . I do not regret it because after all of the nagging something stuck with each one of them!




 

final
final

Q1 Reflection

​This is the entire project: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/a-moment-of-your-time/
This is my portion: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/a-moment-of-your-time/rebuttal

  • How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?

    Each person basically pitched the idea they had. Then discussed the pros and cons of each idea. We originally decided to focus on voting online. But after talking to Ms. Laufenburg we had to come up with another idea. Our theme of convenience stayed the same but our new idea was voting on the weekends.

  • 11th grade Essential ? - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 

    The role of the individual is to take action, expressing their concerns and what they think can be done to solve them. Giving up on getting things done is not an option.

  • How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?

    Learning the ends and outs of how a voters ballot counts help me to understand why some people think that in essence they still get no say. There are a lot of factors that go into the final decision. Not to mention a lot of different representatives and things. Before I didn't have view a view of the  electoral process. Now I see how complicated it really is.

  • How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?
    We had a central theme of convenience. With our campaigning we tried to keep things simple and to the point.

Anwar Abdul-Qawi: Halal Meat Lasagna

Personal Reflection:

I have learned that the whole food thing is a large business. Things are being made differently than before, but because it is more convenient for the people growing it, if it takes a short period for a crop, to be grown for money, of course these companies will do it. Things are being done for money, and people are not being cared about.  Whether it’s the life of a cow, to the growing of a see. Farming is slowly turning more into a process, than an actual experience. For examples instead of caring for cows in a grass environment, certain places mainly feed them corn, in pens to quickly fatten them. Then they are killed in a factory with other animals, by machinery. These places do not tend to be the cleanest so the chances of disease or sickness are high. The country has becoming blinded by money, to actually see what it is doing to itself.

Since I eat kosher the majority of the food I buy comes from cleaned slaughterhouses that treat their animals correctly. The place is highly religious so the workers there would not do anything that was break the work halal. 

  A big problem with the system is how different people are being feed. How is it that a poor person can’t afford to buy veggies, but has enough to buy a burger? It is just that the system isn't pushing anyone into any better directions. This meaning that, this poor man, or family, isn't really being helped if they are being feed burgers for dinner because it is cheaper. They only thing it is solving is the hunger state for the time being, but aside from that it brings a lot of cons. Along with that, I have learned how big companies make farmers their workers, and enable them to live, or go against them. For example, the company Monsanto makes genetic seeds, that are expensive, and forces the farmer to buy more and more, when they run out, which causes him to be trapped in debt.

I can start eating thinking about my environment; I know that there are many animals, and environments that are being affected by the food that we eat. For example, the Humboldt penguin is going extinct because a lack of fish. This is due to people over fishing, or taking more than what is needed, or for example the refraining from eating things that contain palm oil. The reason why is because this palm oil is from a rainforest in Borneo which is being destroyed and turned into a plantation of more oil. When you think about the food that could change the future, you find it a bit easier to change.


I may not be able to enjoy most of my snacks that I tend to buy. Sadly palm oil is found in a majority of foods. But if I refrain from eating palm oil, I would be helping the forest/ animals of Borneo from extinction.

Yes I currently am, it is a challenge, fighting your desires, but if it for a greater good, then why not? And I see know point of going into zoology, if I am currently destroying a place where 1000 of animals still haven’t been discovered. 



Halal Meat Lasagna:



lasuhhnyuhh


Recipe:

Halal beef

Vegetarian meat

Mozzarella cheese

Mexican cheese

Pasta shells

Tomato sauce

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Parmesan cheese 

Instructions:

Step 1: Boil water in pot, and oil so pasta won't stick. 

Step 2: Cook pasta until they are tender, or ready. 

Step 3: Get a frying pan; cook the ground beef, and vegetarian meat in pan until it is because ready, and tender. 

Step 4: Mix pasta and meat in a new baking pan, season the food with garlic, and onion powder. 

Step 5: Mix with a tomato sauce. 

Step 6: Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, Mexican cheese, and mozzarella cheese on it, and then bake it. 

Step 7: Bake until cheese turns brown.


Nutrition Facts:

Nutrition Facts: Serving Size 297 g Calories 377 Calories from Fat 126 Total Fat 14g 22% Saturated Fat 7g 33% Trans Fat Cholesterol 45mg 15% Sodium 832mg 35% Total Carbohydrate 38g 13% Dietary Fiber 4g 14% Sugars 6g 14% Protein 25g

Analysis: 


This is a food that is made, and eaten on special, or important events. I am not sure where the meat is from, but as for the vegetarian meat, it is from the Morning Star Company in the United States. It is basically the largest producer of vegetarian products in the U.S. This meal is considered fairly healthy, because it really isn't that fatty of a food, at times it can be made with veggies, but main it is cheese that is being consumed. 

When I want to find really good ingredients, I shop at Fresh Grocers, which at times can be a little pricey, but in the end it is worth it. I feel as though eating this would be than a burger from McDonalds, because it isn't greasy like a burger. It is balanced out, it isn't all super meaty, cheese, and other things are there to insure that one doesn't eat too much of one thing.

 Also the meat one half being kosher, comes from a Muslim slaughter house, where the meat, and animals are handled with respect, because they take that seriously, the other side is eating from Morning Star's healthy mock meat. It is really good, and doesn't really have all that fat, that normal meat may have. I know the food may still not be the healthiest thing out there, but I feel as though, if I get my clean kosher meat, and mix it with fake healthy veggie meat, where could it go wrong.

 Food Rule Slide:




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Screen Shot 2011-11-10 at 12.33.40 PM

Benchmark Reflection

THe work I created individually on this benchmark was the print ad (the picture below) and the introduction to our site. 


Electoral Colleges is not an actual college where people would go for education but a group of people who were chosen to vote for their state during the Presidential elections. Each state has different numbers of electors and is also labeled as a state for Democrats or Republicans. The Electoral College doesn’t acknowledge each voter’s vote so technically the Electoral College only votes for what they want to happen and not what their state wants to happen. The Electoral College takes the voice away from the actual inhabitants of the state and what makes things worse is that the electors aren’t politicians but regular civilians.

This is the link to the final benchmark: ​https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/amending-the-constitution/?pli=1





1) We thought about what really effects people not voting and realized that it was either because of the day it was on or because of how there is a group that has a higher power that votes for them. So we decided to do our project on the Electoral College.

2)The role of an individual in creating and sustaining change is to convince others that they have a voice against all odds. By simply have one people speak up for change it will create a larger voice because his/her community will speak out too which will create a stability for that individual's voice.

3) I realized that the United States is secretly not really a democracy when it comes to the larger more important things. Like voting for the next president. It's not fair because the U.S presents itself as a place where everyone's voice is heard but that's not the case.


4) I knew that displaying things that could catch a person's attention like bright colors, a nice contrast between the colors and also using words that would draw a person is. Using simple, less complicated words so that any audience would be able to understand what the print ad is trying to put out. 
Printad
Printad

Q1 Benchmark Reflection

​My Portion: http://www.schooltube.com/video/737f9a67ccb74732b468/

The Entire Project: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/don-t-have-a-cow-vote-by-mail/

    • How did your group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?
      - Our group wanted to do voting my mail for a couple reasons. We wanted to find a system that has been introduced already somewhere in the nation so we can base our information on true events. We chose voting by mail also because it covers most of the difficulties people encounter with voting. Voting by mail eliminates the excuses for not voting. 
    • 11th grade Essential ? - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 
      - The role an individual has in change is the ability to assemble and create protest. if one individual works up the courage to decide to make a change in the system of which people fallow, then they have that ability with proper assembly and protest. 
    • How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?
      - My understanding of the electoral process has changed completely. i had no idea that the voter turnout was so low that barley a fourth of the nation as a whole votes. this leads me to believe that the decisions made are not balanced and this makes it less viewed as a democracy. 
    • How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?
      - Marketing techniques require the message to connect straight to the viewer. The marketing campaign should include simple and broad issues that are adressed that many people can relate to. then at the end of the campaign you offer to help fix the dilemmas which most of the time leads the viewer to agree. 

CSheridan;Reflection

Cyndi Lynn Sheridan

US History – Y

November 10, 11


​Here is the link to my project
:

https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/amending-the-constitution/

Reflection:

Process:
For this project, my group and I completed the necessary requirements on time and used the class-work periods effectively. Our full project was uploaded when needed and we asked questions if things were unclear.


Group Dynamics:
In the beginning of our project, my group brainstormed everything we would include in our project some possible ideas to elaborate on. After that was done, we started our individual parts. Once we knew the general topic to talk about and finished our portions of the project, we asked each other to revise and provide constructive feedback. Overall, I would say my group worked very well together and helped each other throughout the process. This made it easier to collaborate and create a decent project.

 

How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?

First my group and I brainstormed what we thought would make a difference in voter turnout within the United States. We had three general ideas, which were voting on the weekends, eliminating the Electoral College, and finally give rewards to people that vote. After discussing these ideas with Ms. Laufenberg she helped us determine what idea makes the most sense and could possibly change society for the better.

 

11th grade Essential Question - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change?

In my opinion change starts with one person and is influence into a whole community of modified civilians. It takes a determined person to create this sort of change, as well as someone who is involved with their environment.

 

How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?

Honestly, at first I didn’t know much about how the voting system worked but after researching and collaborating with my group I have a stronger understanding of it. It’s ridiculous how America has one of the worst voter turnout percentages. Being more knowledgeable about this topic makes me want to make a change.

 

How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?

We incorporated the social media networks since that’s the best way to communicate with the citizens of America, and create a site where information on why the Electoral College should be banned is portrayed. Hopefully we did a fine way of relaying this message because it’s a problem that needs to be addressed.


Charles Norman Q1 Artwork Figure Drawing & Clear Object Drawing

 I started off this quarter slacking in my work, because honestly I didn't know how I got into this Art class. After a while I got caught slacking by Ms. Hull, and she told me to good work to the best of my ability. I did, and instead of having a figure drawing that looked completely like crap, I made it look presentable. Ms. Hull was not here when I drew the clear object. I took my time and put effort in it, and I think it looked nice. This quarter overall was not bad for me, I enjoyed art class.
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Screen Shot 2011-11-10 at 12.21.31 PM
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Screen Shot 2011-11-10 at 12.21.21 PM

Bench-Mark Reflection Taina Rosario

https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/reform-our-electoral-college/do-you-disagree-taina
The first is my part, the one below is the group project.

  • How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project? We thought about what would make us feel more comfortable voting, or what changes would get others to understand that we care about their vote.

  • 11th grade Essential ? - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? Individuals need to express their feelings or else there will never be a change, and if there is no automatic change, work harder for it. Don't let the dream die!!

  • How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit? I didn't understand anything about politics before, but then after writing the rebuttal paper I started to get a better understanding. 

  • How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign? We figured a play on words would make other want to research and understand what we were insinuating. 
https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/reform-our-electoral-college/home

MLong Q1 BM Reflection

​Link to my video: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/amending-the-costitution/electoral-college-commercial-maggie-long

Link to the whole project: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/amending-the-constitution/

1. How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?

We took a topic that would be best backed up with some heavy information and outside sources. We all agreed it was the best topic to talk about also. 


2. 11th grade Essential ? - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 

The role in the individual is to try to grab readers attentions and to hold that attention while giving valuable information on why Electoral College should not happen anymore. 


3. How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?

My understanding of the electoral process and the US democracy has evolved because through the time we were learning all of the facts, they were fun and I payed attention. Doing the project helped me understand more because I had to learn it to make it interesting and know how to say things to get peoples attention.


4. How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?

We used facts against Electoral College instead of using other organizations against it. We showed the flaws and made motivational movies and print ads. We also have great papers for people to read giving alot more information on why electoral college should be  banned. 



Perico

Ingredients:

·       1 medium onion, chopped fine

·       2 tablespoons butter

·       1 tablespoon vegetable oil

·       1 medium tomato, chopped fine

·       1 green pepper, chopped fine (optional)

·       4-6 eggs

·       3 tablespoons cream

·       Salt and pepper to taste

  

Preparation:

1.     Whisk eggs together with cream. Set aside.

2.     Melt butter with oil in a large nonstick skillet. 

3.     Sautéed chopped onions over medium heat until translucent. 

4.     Add tomatoes and peppers and cook over medium heat until soft, 8-10 minutes. 

5.     Pour eggs into skillet and cook gently, stirring them lightly and flipping them as they cook. 

6.     Cook to desired doneness, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm with arepas.

Analysis 

Perico is a Venezuelan dish consisting of eggs, oil, tomatoes, onions, and green peppers.  A single serving would have about 18.5 grams of fat and 222 calories.  It has no sugar (except for a little natural sugar from the vegetables).

            Our dish is nearly 100% whole food.  The only processed ingredient is vegetable oil, of which only a tablespoon is used.  It was also, dollar for calorie, the cheapest ingredient.  A 48-oz bottle cost $2.99.  Eggs were $2.29 a dozen, also relatively cheap.  The pepper was $1.99, the tomato and onion $3.99 each.  One serving of perico costs approximately $3.97, more than a serving of fast food.

            The only ingredients whose origins we were able to find were the eggs and oil.  The eggs came from a small organic farm called Sauder’s Quality Eggs.  The oil was manufactured by Clover Valley, which is owned by Dolgencorp, LLC, a subsidiary of Dollar General.  While we don’t know exactly where the vegetables came from, they probably came at least several hundred miles.  They were from a normal supermarket and therefore are probably from Florida, California, or Mexico.

            The only vegetable oil regulation I could find was a bill that requires animal fats and vegetable oils to be regulated just like non-food oils for manufacturing and transportation.  There are many regulations concerning the production of all eggs, to prevent the spread of salmonella, and more for organic eggs.

            Sauder’s eggs come from hens that eat organic feed with no antibiotics and roam outdoors.  Conventionally produced eggs come from hens given antibiotics and growth hormones.  Since Sauder’s is in Pennsylvania, the eggs also travel less than eggs from a non-local company might.  The tomato wasn’t organic.  While an organic tomato would have been grown without pesticides, the tomato we used was likely sprayed with pesticides to control weeds, pests and disease.

            Initially, I was suspicious that Sauder’s was a friendly face hiding a large corporation, but I looked through their website and it’s clear they are a small family farm.  Meanwhile, the CEO of Dollar General, David A. Perdue, makes $1.94 million a year.  It’s amazing what a far-reaching effect the purchase of a single meal’s ingredients can have.

  

​Personal Reflection 
In this unit I learned many new things, and I saw many things inaccuracies about how food is processed. This definitely changed my way of thinking about food.

Building on this experience I am trying to change my diet, but is more complicated than it look, since humans are not machines that will simply pass a button and change.

I believe that is the same with the food system. I think the country as a whole is trying to change, but not so easy to change the habit that hundreds of people have had for many years, so fast, and more when behind all this are the powerful people trying to manipulate the situation to their behalf to keep filling their pockets with ‘easy money’ because the big companies do not really care about the quality of food they sell, but by the amount of money they generate.

I think for a country to change your lifestyle in every aspect you need to educate the population, so they know for themselves how they can choose good food, as you can not force people to do something even when is better for their lives. And here is the worse part of the situation, there are people who know that even knowing that something is not good for them, but they still doing. This is what the person should be understood primarily in order to change their way of life.
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Screen Shot 2011-11-10 at 12.14.14 PM

Quarter 1: Benchmark Reflection


https://sites.google.com/site/stampandsend/position-paper


The process for this project was timely. I wrote our position paper, and I had to find many sources for our project, arguing why mail-in ballots are better. I found sources that included statistic, charts and other information, all from reliable sources. After I got these sources, I wrote my paper. 

 I was Cheyenne's back-up for our video, which I was that star of. Cheyenne was the back-up for Alshya's portion of the project, which was our advertising, which Ronald was the back-up for. I was Ronald's back-up for his rebuttal paper. 


I handled group dynamics well. I was helping my group stay atop of their individual parts, by checking in and making sure their work was completed. 


Once my paper was done, I had all three member's of my group look over the paper, adding, removing or changing anything that they saw as needed. I went to them for feedback on my writing, asking what I could expand on when I couldn't think of more arguing points. 

The best way to relay a message to a national audience is through media, whether it's on tv, the web or other, it's the best way to reach a mass of people, encouraging and promoting citizens to vote. 




Our group decided on what to do our project on by arguing, and deciding that instead of doing a holiday for voting, we'll do mail-in voting. 

In creating change, the individual is in charge of creating a new system, allowing for new ideas to be spread. In sustaining change, one needs to hold the same drive that they had when they first had the idea.


Before this project I only knew that we used electoral voting. I did not know why we voted on Tuesday, nor why we do the things we do. After doing this project, I now know why we do these things. It really showed to me that the United States has some trouble as a democratic society, and we could improve on our voting process, such as removing electoral voting and counting individual votes. 

The best way to relay a message to a national audience is through media, whether it's on tv, the web or other, it's the best way to reach a mass of people, encouraging and promoting citizens to vote. My group did that by creating a website, and also creating a video that went along with it. The website and video both encouraged for there to be mail-in ballots.