SR GCE Portfolio

This term, I decided to explore photography to demonstrate expression by doing portrait photography. Before choosing my independent study, I was contemplating if I should continue photography or do something a bit different like surreal face painting. While contemplating my options, I thought it would be a good idea to do surreal face painting, and take it a step further with professionally documenting my work by taking photos. My goal throughout this independent study was to improve the way I shoot and become more comfortable with snapping pictures and editing them. Additionally, I wanted to learn some skills and techniques when it came to face painting. Instead of using a regular canvas I wanted to see what it would be like to use the face as one instead and to become familiar with face painting in a different sense. I was really excited to learn new things about these two different kinds of art, but I was also excited about reaching out and working with people I know and new people ...

Unfortunately, this is the final unit of our STEAM class, Cure. Throughout this unit, we learned how to prevent diseases before being diagnosed with them. We briefly learned about probability and the ways it can affect the possibility of getting a disease or illness. In class, we created a family tree by talking to our parents or any family members about our history of diseases or a common disease that may run in the family. For example, diabetes, heart failure, cancer, Alzheimer's, etc. I found this activity interesting because I have never really thought or even looked into the diseases that are passed down in the family or any diseases that have occurred in the family. For this action project, we created a patient profile where we played doctor and patient. We had the option to either create a fictional patient or a real patient. For the profile, we had to create a medical history for the patient and list the risk assessments, nutrition recommendations, lifestyle advice, etc. Fo...

In the third, and final unit of our class, Drama we read the play, A Raisin In The Sun. Which takes place in the 1950s in Chicago while there was blockbusting, segregation, and discrimination. This play focuses on a black family that lives in the South Side of Chicago with many different dreams of kinds of dreams. In class, we have been learning about what is the matriarch and how it can be perceived with some people dividing gender. A matriarch is described as someone or something that strong, decision maker, and the leader. An example of a matriarch is Mama from, A Raisin In The Sun. She was the head of the house, the matriarch. For this action project, we had to choose a scene and a character from, A Raisin In The Sun and create a commentary of the acts of the character throughout the scene. We had to comment on the negative and positive qualities the character we chose demonstrated in the specific scene. At the end of the commentary, we had to give a lesson that we learned from tha...

For the second unit of our STEAM course, Cure, we learned about medications and treatments. We took a look at how medication and drugs are different and how they alter the body in different ways. An interesting way we learned this was by completing a lab using miracle berries. To give us a better understanding of how a drug changes our bodies, we consumed a miracle berry. This type of drug basically cancels out our sour receptors and reveals the sweetness of the food item that is originally sour. This helped us have a better understanding of how a medicament works. A medicament works by targeting certain receptors to cancel out pain or nerve activity. For this action project, we had to choose a symptom to learn about and research a medication that is prescribed, an over the counter medication, and another type of treatment that is easily accessible. I chose a common symptom, which is a cough. By demonstrating our research, we had to produce what we learned into a medication box. I deci...

For this our Humanities class, Drama we have been learning we read and looked at a play called A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. We learned about the history behind Ibsen, and how his play writes was a big influence on society. He took a lot of what he saw in society and implemented them into his creations. We learned about the different gender issues that continue on from the early 19th century to now. By reading A   Doll's House we were able to gain a better understanding of gender roles, and how women were treated. For our action project, we had a write two original scenes that include Nora from A Doll's House, a historical woman from The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, and another character that characterizes the student who is playing that character. While doing this we were given a guiding question, "Should men and women have different roles in society?" as a group we decided to focus on the question, "Are women able to be independent on their own?" I...

In this first unit of our STEAM course Cure, we learned about cell biology and the functions of a cell. We started off this term reading, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. This book is about how HeLa cells came to exist. In the 1950s, Henrietta Lacks was a woman who was diagnosed with cervix cancer. After she passed scientists discovered that her cells kept on reproducing. By doing so we also learned how cells multiply and the importance it has in humans. For this course, we also learned about different surgeries and how cells are affected by the many different procedures. For this action project, we had to conduct a slideshow about a specific type of surgery following the procedure, the cells affected, what type of surgery, post-operation, etc. For my project, I chose to learn about an enucleation which is the removal of the eye, and the process of it contains behind the operation. While conducting this project I learned so much more than I expected to. When picking t...

For this first spring unit of Drama, we did some research about Shakespeare, who he was, and he affected the way we look at literature today. We learned that Shakespeare was not only a playwright, but he was also an author of many sonnets. In class, we read one of Shakespeare's well-known plays called, The Taming Of The Shrew.  This play focused on gender roles, and "jobs" men and women had back in the 1500s. As we read this play we learned that the work that Shakespeare created was based on what was happening around him. For this action project, we had to create our own sonnet that speaks to one of the characters in the play, The Taming Of The Shrew. In the sonnet, we had to agree or disagree with the character and give them advice. While creating this type of poem we had to think about the iambic pentameter which is having ten syllables in each line, and in sonnets, we have to rhyme with every other line following the format of four lines for each quatrain. SR.TheT...

In this STEAM class called Disease, we have been looking into different mental diseases and the struggles others have to experience. During this second unit, we read the book, The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida. This book is about a young boy who has autism. In this book, the author answered some questions people have about autism and the way he deals with his autism. In class, we also learned how to create a piecewise function by using a graph and the different brain waves people produce at any time of the day. For this action project, we had to choose a disorder to focus on and research. I chose to research insomnia. When doing this, we had to conduct a simulation for our class and demonstrate how it is to have that specific disorder. We also had to record the brainwaves of our classmates during the whole session. Definitions of insomnia According to MedicineNet, insomnia is, “The perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep due to a number of factors, such as...

In our winter term for our STEAM class, Disease, we have been learning about the different body systems that a human obtains the help to keep our body in balance. We also went over the causes of different diseases and how our bodies react to those certain diseases. In addition, we learned about the classification of diseases such as the cause, geographics, and geoeconomics. For this Action Project, we had the opportunity to create a patient profile and describe how their disease affects their everyday lifestyle depending on what it is exactly. I chose to take a look at type two diabetes and how it affects someone in different ways. I also interview someone who currently has diabetes, in order to get her experience of type two diabetes. I think type two diabetes is pretty common. It is a common disease because it could come because of aging, excess weight, family history, etc. Every person who does have diabetes goes through a different journey with it.        ...