Evolutionary Story of a Living Things

For this project, we were tasked with creating a timeline for the evolution of a particular animal in a google presentation. I chose a camel. Surprisingly, camels migrated into Canada before making their way to Asia. This means that their humps and hair were adaptations used to survive the cold weather.  It was difficult, however, to find reliable sources with valuable information on this animal. Many of the sources were blogs or didn’t have the needed information. Below is my presentation and written explanation of the evidence for evolution.

Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zFjwJcUrwFD8f4uxa5YJl6h1wZyovfkN82K-sfqgYgs/edit?usp=sharing

Written Explanation

Poebrotherium and Protylopus are two of the oldest camelid species and are often compared to each other. In my research, I came across a source written by a paleontologist, J. L. Wortman, in which he compares the fossils of several different ancient camelids. When explaining their connection, he often refers to the skull and teeth. Wortman explains, “…it can be safely stated that the muzzle had moderate length, with slightly overhanging nasals, much as in Pobrotherium wilsoni.” He goes on to say that the Protylopus’ premaxilla, a bone in the upper jaw, shares the same characteristics as Poebrotherium. When explaining characteristics of teeth, Wortman explains that the canine teeth of both fossils shared the same hook-shaped appearance and size. They also both share an extra cusp on the heel of the last molar. Both Poebrotherium and Protylopus share characteristics of teeth, such as shape or size, which connects them as members of the same family.

 Paleontologists are also able to use evidence from pelvic and leg bones to make connections between the two species. To explain, the ilium, the bone that forms the upper part of the pelvis, is consistent between both species. Furthermore, the proximal end of the femur, the end that connects to the hip bone, is structured the same between the Poebrotherium and Protylopus as well as other camelids. The tibia of the Poebrotherium, as well, bears great resemblance to that of the Protylopus. Lastly, both species only have two functional metapodials. To conclude, paleontologists can show the similarities between species in the same family by explaining the bone structure in each species and how they connect, such as the teeth, skull and leg bones of camelids.

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Speaking Out Project Advanced English 9

Frances Kissling writes, “Are we not capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time; of valuing life and respecting women’s rights?” The Roe vs Wade decision was a landmark Supreme Court case surrounding the topic of abortion and allowed abortions across the country. In the decision, the court split the pregnancy into three trimesters where different laws applied to each. In the first trimester, the state cannot regulate abortions, whereas, in the second, it may place some regulations. In the third trimester, it can regulate and outlaw abortions as long as the health of the mother is considered. In the following years, states have created regulations such as bans on partial-birth abortions and heartbeat bills, which have created controversies between pro-life and pro-choice activists. The Roe vs Wade decision protects women’s rights and health and should not be overturned because it is protected under the 14th amendment, is supported by a majority of Americans, and can affect the health
of women.

 In the Roe vs Wade decision, the Supreme Court Justices decided abortion’s place within the fourteenth amendment. When explaining the court’s decision, J. Shoshana Ehrlich said, “it had identified a right of privacy in a variety of contexts, including activities related to marriage, procreation, contraception, child-rearing, and education, the Court held that the “right of privacy … founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action … is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.” Based on cases reaching back as far as 1891, the court identified the parameters of a right to privacy and the place of abortion within the amendment. They decided that the right to privacy encompassed the right to abortion. These laws are similar to those protecting a patient’s right to refuse medical treatment. Although morally questionable, it is ultimately up to the patient. In an attempt to argue for the rights of a fetus, the state of Texas stated that denying a fetus life violated their fifth amendment rights of life, liberty, and property. In their decision, “…the Supreme Court ruled that embryos and fetuses have “potential human life,” but are not protected by the Constitution,” (Lee). Since the question of when life begins has been a long unanswered question, the Supreme Court was unable to grant a fetus constitutional rights. Due to this, all and any amendments that protect life are deemed obsolete for fetuses.

 Although overturning Roe vs Wade is a priority for many in positions of power, a majority of Americans voted against overturning the decision. According to Lydia Saad, “Forty years after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Roe v. Wade, significantly more Americans want the landmark abortion decision kept in place rather than overturned, 53% to 29%.” The monumental case has made several headlines throughout the years due to new restricting state laws or plans to overturn the law. When the public is asked, however, it is clear that significantly more Americans do not want to see the case overturned. Many Americans have also distinguished themselves as pro-life or pro-choice activists. According to Lydia Saad, “…48% call themselves “pro-choice” and 44% “pro-life.” The results from the survey show the American publics’ thoughts on the issue. Although it is controversial and has been long debated for years, the American public does not want to see Roe vs Wade overturned.

 In the case that Roe vs Wade is overturned, the side effects will impact many women and families. Often, when abortion is illegal, women search for alternate methods of termination. This includes untrustworthy doctors, self-induced miscarriages, or suicide. These processes are done in unsanitary conditions and with no post-surgical care. According to Nancy Sprague, “When this happens, the potential complications are numerous and frightening: they include inflammation, infection, hemorrhage, kidney failure, infertility, and an increased tendency toward future miscarriages.” Treating complications have a large financial cost to society and the healthcare system and lead to thousands of deaths worldwide. According to Nancy Sprague, “It is estimated that up to 78,000 deaths occur each year as a result of the approximately 20 million illegal and unsafe abortion procedures that take place worldwide.” Even when 81 countries allow abortions with small restrictions, 78,000 thousand deaths occur worldwide, not including other health complications. If Roe vs Wade was overturned, can you imagine how much greater this number would be?

 Many argue that the 14th amendment was not meant to protect a right to abortion. According to J. Shoshanna Ehrlich, “In dissent, Justices Byron White and William Rehnquist took the Court to task for fashioning what they deemed to be a new substantive right” The dissenting judges critiqued the majority for creating what they thought was a new right. They believed the majority used their judicial authority to place the life of the pregnant woman over the life of the fetus. Although not specifically stated in the fourteenth amendment, the right to abortion is protected under the due process clause which prohibits the denial of liberty. According to J. Shoshanna Ehrlich, the right to abortion is legalized because it is, “…founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action…” The fourteenth amendment has a general “right to privacy” or personal liberty meaning. The ability to get an abortion falls under this definition.

 Overall, the legality of Roe vs Wade is protected under the fourteenth amendment and is supported by a majority of Americans. Overturning it will lead to health consequences for many women. The fourteenth amendment allows abortions due to its clause on liberty. The same liberty that allows anti-vax moms to send their kids to school. When asked to display their opinions on the subject, the American public voted against overturning the decision. Most importantly, health complications as a result of illegal pregnancies are dangerous and numerous. The lives of these dead girls and women are in the hands of anyone who denied them a choice. But is it worth it to save the life of a fetus? Although many disagree with Roe vs Wade’s legal verity, overturning the case will only lead to more complications.

 

How do you feel about your final products, including the persuasive speech script and speech? Are you proud of the work you have done, or were there some areas that you could have improved on? Explain.

After completing both the projects, the script and speech, I feel that I completed the work that I can be proud of. I picked a topic for my speech that I am interested in and I feel that helped me to create a speech that I can be proud of sharing with others. My speech, in my opinion, does a good job of explaining information while also arguing for a claim. The one thing that was slightly disappointing was my score for my speech. I spent a lot of time preparing for my speech by repeating it to myself in the mirror or giving my speech to my family. When it came to give the speech though, my nerves got the best of me. Although I had memorized my speech, I spent a lot of tine looking at my notecards and had a nervous stance. Although my oral presentation was slightly disappointing, I am proud of my script and being able to get in front of the class to give a speech.

What steps in the project were most helpful and least helpful to get you to your final product? Explain.

I would say that all the checkpoints were extremely beneficial for the project. For example, checkpoint one was the research for the entire project and was the basis for writing our speech. It was important to get valid information for our project. Checkpoint 2 was helpful in creating a counterclaim for our speech, although I ended up changing it. Finally, checkpoint 3 helped us to create a whole outline for our speech. This outline was used to write the speech entirely.

Out of the 9 Student Skills profile categories (Innovate, Create, Investigate, Serve, Collaborate, Problem Solve, Lead, Communicate, Reflect), pick 3 Student Skills that you utilized in your project and a couple sentences for each category explaining how you demonstrated that aspect in the project.

In writing and giving our speech, we used many of the skills from the Student Skills Profile. For example, when giving our speech, we communicate a topic to the classroom. The script also communicates a claim for a current topic. In addition, we problem solved within our speech. In our conclusion, we were tasked with creating a call-to-action which also offered a solution to the problem we were discussing. Finally, we used the create skill in actually writing and creating a speech.

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America and WW1 Art Project

     In my painting, I tried to paint a picture of the border between France and Germany. Between the border, there is a river separating the two sides. On the side of France, the left, there was supposed to be a darker hue to the land, to represent the death and destruction that happened in France. On the side of Germany, the right, the land was supposed to be lighter and brighter to show the difference between the two countries. However, both sides ended up looking the same and not showing the difference. That was a struggle as I was painting. To paint, I used brushes and acrylic paint.

  1. Why do you believe people of the past and present have used art as a vehicle for expression during moments of emotion or trauma?

Art has many different forms and has no rules. You can create anything. This makes it easy for people to express their emotions through different forms of art and create beautiful works. The many different forms of art can also appeal to people’s different emotions or abilities. Furthermore, art is appreciated and loved by many and can display an infinite amount of emotion all through words, pictures, paints, etc.

2. Cite a moment in history where art has been used to express important experiences and how that art revealed the beliefs, values, and context of the time. 

An example of art expressing experiences is Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica”. It was painted as response to the bombing of Guernica, a Spanish town, during the Spanish Civil War. The bombing was done by Nazi Germany but ordered by Spanish Nationalists. In the painting, several animals and people can be seen suffering due to violence.

3. Looking at your own piece of art, what are you most proud of? What do you think could have been improved? Why?

Looking at my art piece, I am proud of creating a piece of art that displays a meaning. I feel that the concept, although not perfectly executed, showed the destruction done mainly in France. However, I felt that I needed to make the difference between the two countries more apparent in order to really show how much destruction happened in France compared to Germany.

4. How did art serve as vehicle of expression for you in this project? How does the art reveal your belief or values about the event on which the art is based?

Through painting, I was able to display a meaning through a simple painting of a river. Art allowed me to use my skills to display an aspect of one of the most important wars in U.S History. I was also able to display an aspect that many can forget about, the destruction done to French cities. As well, I was able to reveal my own beliefs about the war, where I felt that the destruction done to France was unjust.

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To Kill A Mockingbird

How do you feel about your final products? Are you proud of the work you have done, or were there some areas that you could have improved on? Explain.

For the project on To Kill A Mockingbird, we were tasked with creating four paragraphs analyzing theme statements in the book as well as central ideas from news article we picked out. Although I am proud of the work I produced for this project, I do feel as though it was not my best work. This is due to me procrastinating when completing the paragraphs. However, I did keep up with my reading. In the future, I need to work on managing my time better. I do feel that at times I rush work and then go back to redo it because I feel that its not good enough. I need to work on taking my time with my projects.

What steps (checkpoints/activities) in the project were most helpful and least helpful to get you to your final products? Explain.

In creating the final product, checkpoints 1, 3, and 4 were definitely the most helpful. The first checkpoint was to pick theme topics present in To Kill a Mockingbird and write theme statements. We also found quotes which we used later in the paragraphs. Checkpoint 3 was the same except we found central ideas in newspaper articles. Then, checkpoint 4 was to create outlines for our paragraphs. After that, the project was basically complete.

A few skills we worked on for this project included: Innovate, Communicate, and Solve Problems. How did your project involve you using these skills as they came up while writing your Analytical Portfolio and the Structured Academic Controversy Prep? Were there any times where you helped another student with these skills on their project? Explain.

In this project we definitely used many fairview advantage skills. First, using our paragraphs we communicated theme topics and central ideas. We also communicated with each other when finding quotes and topics. Throughout the project, I also helped other students. For example, when we got into groups into groups and found quotes to support a theme topic. I also helped students by proofreading their writing.

Analytical Portfolio

Link to Analytical Portfolio

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Ecosystem in a Jar

In our Ecosystem in a Jar project, we were tasked with learning and investigating ecosystems in order to properly plan how to create our own ecosystem in a jar and monitoring it’s progress. After planning the types of plants and and animals needed for our jar, we were able to travel to Bain Park to collect plants, fungi, and small animals to put in our jar. Although I had a plan, upon arriving to Bain, I was overwhelmed with the different varieties of plants, insects, and other small animals that I could put in my jar.  I got a little too excited and ignored my plan which I believe led me to severely overcrowding my jar. If I were to do this project again, I would stick my plan and not put so many animals into my jar. This made my project harder in the end because I had to deal with including every species in my food web and carbon cycle.

Throughout the project, we used the Fairview Advantage skill of investigation in order to create and analyze our jars. Before creating our jars or collecting plants and animals, the class was tasked with researching and learning of ecosystems and their processes. With information on food webs and pyramids, we created plans that were suited to our individual jars . We also created digital or hand drawn sketches of our plan which were meant to resemble a real ecosystem. Throughout the month, we monitored and investigated that was happening in our jars and analyzed our findings.

Below you will find my infographic, analogy, and collection of vlogs.

Vlog

Infographic

Analogy

Throughout the Ecosystem in a Jar project, we have journaled how our jar is related to the Earth. In these journals, we detailed similarities between the two and contrasted their differences. To explain, our jars all contained soil and rocks, plants and animals, and a water source of some kind, just as the Earth. However, when journaling, we were to go more in-depth in explaining their similarities by including aspects such as the water and carbon cycles. Although the Earth differs from my jar in its size and biodiversity, they are similar due to their ability to be disturbed by small changes, their seemingly closed system, and the way in which both can conduct the greenhouse effect.

 As a system, the jar is “closed” or sealed by plastic wrap which covers the opening of the jar and is there as to not let any air or animals out. Although the Earth has no problem of animals escaping, it too has a barrier that closes it off, this being the atmosphere. In the jar, plants and animals can photosynthesize or cellular respirate, and the water and carbon cycles can continue much like they would inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Due to the plastic wrap acting as an atmosphere, the jar can also mimic the greenhouse effects present on the Earth. To elaborate, the carbon dioxide released from the organisms cannot escape from the jar, the build-up leading to the jar feeling warmer, much like a crowded room full of people tends to feel warm. The greenhouse effect is also present on Earth but to a much larger scale as the Earth also has factories that give off carbon dioxide. Similar to the Earth, the jar can be thrown off by minuscule changes. For example, if I remove the ants from my jar, my spider will have no food and die, leaving my centipede without any food and leading to an abundance of potato bugs. This is similar to how keystone species on Earth can be the sole reason why an ecosystem is thriving, when they are removed, the ecosystem weakens severely.

 As well as similarities, the jar and Earth have major differences. For example, the Earth is huge, way larger than my6x6x10 in jar. Meaning that is has a larger carrying capacity, as well as the ability to house more than one ecosystem in more than one biome. Its size also means it has greater biodiversity compared to my jar, which has three plants and six animals. To conclude, the Earth and my jar have similarities in how their systems run, however my jar cannot match the Earth in size and diversity.

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Prescription Drugs

For our health class, we were assigned a type of drug and instructed to make a presentation and poster. In the presentation, we explained the effects of the drug, prevention, and treatment programs, as well as statistics and various subtopics. For the poster, we were to create small drawings that related to the information on effect, dangers, prevention, statistics, and addiction. Below, there is a link to our presentation, it is also embedded in the post and a picture of our poster

Link to Presentation.

 

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Progressive Era Newspaper

As we learned about the Progressive Era, we were tasked with picking a topic relating to the era and creating a newspaper about it. I picked the Bull Moose Party, from this topic we found four subtopics to write articles about. I was able to write about the William Taft and Theodore Roosevelt split, which discussed why Roosevelt and Taft had ended their friendship. I also discussed the election of 1912, which saw Taft, Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson running against each other. The nickname of the Bull Moose Party was also a subtopic and stemmed from Teddy Roosevelt himself. My last subtopic were the beliefs of the progressive platform which included the Bull Moose Party and Theodore Roosevelt. As well as writing four articles, we were tasked with finding at least three pictures to put into our newspaper. At the end of the project, we had a gallery walk. In this walk, we had to read at least three other classmate’s newspapers and write a reflection. My newspaper can be found below.

 

https://www.makemynewspaper.com/designer/app/open?share=9aa805dcc47d12633f

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Analytical Paragraphs

In Advanced English, we were tasked with creating a personal narrative and paragraphs analyzing other narratives, which can be found below. Although I try hard to produce quality work, writing about myself is not something that comes easily to me, so when it came to writing a narrative, I found it challenging. There were definitely areas in my narrative where I felt I could have improved such as using imagery or including more dialogue. Analyzing other narratives, however, was much easier for me to do. I did not find it very challenging in finding themes and evidence throughout the stories that we read.

In creating the narratives, I found it helpful to have an outline of the plot and characters such as the one included in checkpoint five. It certainly helped to complete a cohesive story. As for the analytical paragraphs, analyzing a story with the class helped me to better analyze stories on my own. Completing the template in checkpoint 1 helped me to get the needed evidence and themes for my paragraphs. The template for the paragraphs also helped to create a well structured paragraph.

Throughout the project, we used the skills collaborate, communicate, and investigate in preparing for and writing our paragraphs and narratives. For example, in analyzing stories, we investigated said stories in search for theme and evidence. After completing our paragraphs and narratives, we peer edited with others, displaying the theme of collaboration. Not only did people help me with editing my stories and paragraphs, I also edited the stories of my peers. Obviously, we created a narrative and two analytical paragraphs.

Analytical Paragraphs

 In “Nightwalker”, the author Brent Staples displays a theme about race: the prejudice of others affects the way they perceive you. The story follows a young black man who walks the streets of New York, alone, at night, scaring those who take it upon themselves to cross the street or lock their doors as he passes by. They, however, don’t know that he has no intention of hurting anyone he walks by, he just enjoys the scenery. The author writes, “She cast back a worried glance. To her, the youngish black man-a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket-seemed menacingly close. She picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. ”The author describes how his appearance, along with the fact that he was alone at night, affected this women’s impression of him, enough to make her run away from this man, because she was worried of his intentions. Throughout the story, the author explains ways in which he had scared those around him. After noticing the behavior towards him, the narrator changes qualities about his appearance and how he moves, even singing classical music as he walks the streets. After this change, people see him as less threatening. The author writes, “I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composers. Even steely New Yorkers hunching toward nighttime destinations seem to relax, and occasionally they even join in the tune. ”The author explains a way in which he would make himself appear less threatening. After doing so, others around him stopped perceiving him as dangerous or menacing, but instead as calming. The story explains the ways in which people can react towards people they have a prejudice to, especially when dealing with race. The text reminds us of the everlasting problems of racism which are still prevalent in America today.

 In “How It Feels To Be Colored Me”, by Zora Hurston, the author displays a theme about race: our perspective of ourselves can be changed by who or what we are surrounded with. Zora, a colored girl, lived in a primarily colored area of Florida. Her exposure to white people consisted mostly of tourists that passed by. The text reads, “I remember the very day that I became colored. Up to my thirteenth year I lived in the little Negro town of Eatonville, Florida.”The author explains that she only became colored when she was surrounded by those who weren’t, showing that our perspective of ourselves is ever-changing depending on what we surround ourselves with. Later, the author explains where she felt as if she had no race. The author explains an instance with a white friend in which she got up and danced to music, whereas he sat motionless, showing, to her, her race. She goes on to explain when she feels as though she has no race. The author writes, “AT CERTAIN TIMES I have no race, I am me. When I set my hat at a certain angle and saunter down Seventh Avenue, Harlem City, feeling as snooty as the lions in front of the Forty.” The author explains how walking down certain areas, known for their dominant African- American heritage, she does not feel her race. This reveals that your environment can make you feel differently about yourself. The story explains how a change in your environment can change the way you perceive yourself. This text reminds us of the power that our environment can have over ourselves.

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Mock Trial

In 9th grade Advanced History, we were put into groups and given an Industrialist to research. This was to later create a trial which would determine if they were a captain of industry or a robber baron. Our group was given Andrew Carnegie, a leader in the steel industry. I was given the role of prosecutor, and was tasked with writing an opening statement and questioning witnesses, my script can be found below.

 

Opening Statement:

Your honor, members of the jury, my name is Livia Kola, and my partner Cadence Ries and I will be prosecuting Andrew Carnegie in this case. Andrew Carnegie, regarded as a captain of industry, a man who has given away his wealth, and known for saying “a man who dies rich dies disgraced.” A man known for being generous, and donating to many different charities did not extend his generosity to his workers. As a boss, he gave them awful working conditions where they had a break of a few minutes and no time to eat as according to PBS. org, which states, “For many the work went without a break; others managed to find a few minutes here and there.” He also often lowered the wages of his workers. He is a man riddled with hypocrisy. The wealth of his company mattered more to him than the livelihood of his workers. Arguments from the defense will try to shift the blame to Mr. Frick and pretend that Mr. Carnegie has no responsibility for the actions that take place in his factory. He is a boss who did not care to pay attention to his workers, or his factory, his negligence and lack of empathy leading to the homestead strike. He is a man who decided breaks and safety were not necessary for his workers, and decent wages were not a given. But most importantly, he is a robber baron.

Steel Worker

What is your relationship with Mr. Carnegie?

It is said that Mr. Carnegie often lowered the wages of his workers, is this true?

Who is Henry Clay Frick?

Mr. Frick was seen as Mr. Carnegie’s right-hand man, is this correct?

What is the reason that you were locked out of the factory?

After you stood outside the factory for while what happened?

These guards were sent by?

Do you feel that Mr. Carnegie made living tougher?

Did the wage cut affect you directly?

Did it make providing for your family harder?

 

Mr. Frick

Mr. Frick, you were put in charge of Mr. Carnegie’s factory, correct?

And you lowered the wages of the workers, correct?

In what way would this have benefited the workers?

Would Mr. Carnegie have wanted you to do so?

Was this a direct order from Mr. Carnegie?

Why did you lock the workers out of the factory?

Were these orders from Mr. Carnegie?

Why were the guards called in?

Had the workers been violent before?

Are you aware that seven men were killed by these actions?

Would you say any of your actions were because of orders from Mr. Carnegie?

Why do you feel you were assaulted?

Andrew Carnegie

Mr. Carnegie, would you say that you pay your workers a good amount?

Is it true that you often lower their wages?

Moving to the homestead strike, you were not at the factory, correct?

Who did you leave in charge?

Henry Clay Frick, would you describe him as your right-hand man, your most trusted employee?

Since Mr. Frick was left in charge of your factory, are any of his actions are your responsibility?

.

Did you know ahead of time that Mr. Frick was going to order the factory to be closed, and the guards to be called?

What do you think caused the workers to revolt?

Can you give a few examples of these actions?

Do you blame Mr.Frick for this revolt or someone else?

There were ways to communicate with Mr. Frick through telegraphs, correct? Yes.

If this was the case, why did you not check in on Mr. Frick as he led your factory?

How many breaks ( during the day and through the year) did your worker receive?

 

Closing Statement:

Mr. Carnegie’s generosity through donations to various charities is only a facade to hide the fact that he refused to pay his workers with the money that they deserved and instead lowered his wages. Although he was not there during the homestead strike, he placed Mr. Frick in charge of his company, for which he takes responsibility for. Even though, it had not been his actions that led to the strike, the actions of his so-called right-hand man are greatly his responsibility as he was the one to place Mr. Frick in charge. Andrew Carnegie, a man that would drive his workers to a deadly strike through his low wages is a robber baron.

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Anorexia Presentation

In our health class, we were tasked with creating a presentation based on 10 different prompts ranging from personality/anxiety disorders to eating disorders and mental health issues. Our group chose to present on Anorexia and described its symptoms and causes in the presentation below. We also showed a trailer to the movie To The Bone, which tells the story of a girl with anorexia who goes to a group home for help.

Link to Anorexia Presentation

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