H.A.T.S. Hyland Innovation Showdown 1st Place
Dodecahedron of Antigone’s story
Fun with non-newtonian fluids (Oobleck)
Drone building
Bluetooth Speaker (first year)
AP GOV assignment
Personal speakers
Lamp of mat board and wood
Category: Reflect
Spring Break Assignment
This is a visual representation for Antigone by Sophocles. It is about how Antigone stands up for what she believes in, then dies for her choice, noble as it was. The project is made out of mat board and hot glue, and was created using the laser cutter. Each face depicts a character or an important scene in the play, with a short description on the person or scene. The hardest part of the project was designing all 12 faces of the dodecahedron, and figuring out how they all fit together once they were all cut out.
Physics Reflection
My first impressions of AP Physics was the complete change from every other class that I had taken previously. Physics connects to everything in life on a deeper level than every other class, because as you learn more, you see more in the world. Other classes like chemistry and biology, enjoyable as they may be, do not apply as much in everyday life on such a scale. Physics shows the world through different eyes, sometimes fascinating, other times confusing.
Physics has shown me how to plan out a problem before even applying the numbers. I have recognized that sometimes, even though I plan the equation, something goes wrong along the way and I get the wrong answer. I plan to slow down and do the equation in parts so I can see where I go wrong.
On one of the physic’s homework about gravitational forces, there was a problem where all you were given was that a satellite takes 5 years to orbit, and with that I found the mass of the Sun. That was literal rocket science, toned down for college/high school students.
Outside of class, the physics of how a car works struck me. That the force I feel when going around a turn is not actually a force, but only an effect of the forces at play. I found it interesting that a car only holds onto the road in a turn by static friction of the tires on the pavement.
Eagle Scout Project
I am in Boy Scouts, and I when going for my Eagle Scout I planted trees in Bain Park.
I had 5 native trees planted by the pavilion in Bain Park. A Bur Oak, Bald Cypress, Pecan Hickory, Eastern Red Bud, Summer Sensation Maple, all of which can be found in this area. I planted these trees because through some investigating I found the trees in that area where planted by the CCC back in the 1930s to combat the Great Depression. I decided I wanted to replant the trees to help restore the dead part that can be seen in the picture above.
Eagle Scout candidates are required to lead the project in all parts of it. This means I led the scouts and adults in the tree planting on May 13th. Through collaboration and communication I got the trees to the work site, the city to donate gator bags, and the scouts to show up at the right time and do the work I needed the to do. Before all this could be done I had to research where to plant trees, how to plant trees, when to plant trees, and many other important questions. I found these answers through investigating by talking to tree experts, and computer research.
Democracy in Action #4
Zack VZ
Ms. Keener
AP Government
26 May 2017
Democracy in Action
While not directly government, the Rotary Club is a group of very influential members of a community that give back to the community. I attended their meeting one Tuesday afternoon at noon because Dr. Wagner invited me to speak. They started with a hello to all and had everyone introduce themselves. Besides my grandmother and I, Mrs. Babel, the woman who donated the funds to create the innovation center, and others were there. They talked about old business, the discussed some of the plans for Summerfest and small marathons in Fairview Park to raise money. Afterwards, Dr. Wagner spoke about his personal experience running marathons, warrior runs, and doing bike trips. His plan is to run 100 marathons before he turns 52 years old; at the moment he is around his 70th marathon, both 26.2 miles and 13.2, along with 400 mile bike races. I got to speak at the very end of the meeting and after for funding for my Eagle Project to plant trees in Bain Park. (Which went well on May 13th, if you’re wondering.)
There were a couple people from city hall there as they are also members of the Rotary Club. Dr. Wagner is the district’s superintendent in charge of the schools. Mr. Russo, who is a council member of city hall was there. Beyond that, not many government people were there. This event was a local affair for the general community around Fairview Park, Rocky River, North Olmsted, and others. I did not know that my superintendent ran marathons so frequently for the shiny medals they give. This event shows that people outside of government can also affect the surrounding community.
Democracy in Action 3rd Quarter
Zack VZ
Ms. Keener
AP Government
3 April 2017
Democracy in Action 3rd Quarter
I went to a Fairview City Council Meeting this quarter. They started with role call and then started there regular question and answer. During this event the council decided to allow dogs to be on a leash in the city parks. After they finished, they opened the floor to the public. That is when I stood up, and gave my presentation for my Eagle Scout Project. I talked about my plan to plant five trees around the Bain Park Pavilion to restore the forest. Once I was finished talking about my project they opened the floor to others. A person from the Shade Tree Committee reminded the council that they were going to have a booth up at the State of the Community. Once they closed the meeting, I was congratulated on my presentation by the mayor and a majority of the council members. I got the signature I needed for approval from the city, gave a reporter some information, and left.
The mayor, head of the treasury, head of the service department, and all the council members were important to our government. This event was for local government as only policy for the city was discussed. I learned that dogs were not allowed in the parks prior to the new legislation. I learned that there was a decision to allow dogs into the parks with leases. I also learned how far our government will go to help a project come to completion. The event showed me how our democracy is willing to go as far as donate money to help buy trees. They were also willing to donate a truck to move the trees to Bain Park.
Standardized Testing Debate
During the debate heard the pros and cons of standardized testing. I learned that standardized tests are meant to compare students to others nationwide. These tests allow different racial groups to be compared. The test also allows teachers and schools to be held responsible for the students’ scores. Schools can be judged on how the students do overall, and the teachers can be judged on how their students did on the test. The better the school, the better the community. It was pointed out that when a school does not do well on the testing, they lose federal funding. This leads to more failures, and thus, less funding. Supposedly, the flaws in the system will be worked out in the future. The point was never raised, but I learned some of the extents standardized tests have on the health of children. These include stress, enough that Standford-9 exam sends out packets on how to clean up throw up because enough kids threw up on the test it was needed. What I did not hear was if it would take a year, a decade, a generation, two? I also did not learn why students have to be compared to students, beyond to see who does better. Although standardized testing is nationwide, I believe it is not the right was to judge progress, because it can hurt students, hurt schools, and hurt communities.
There were a couple skilled that were needed for this assignment. Being able to read an article or essay and understand which way they lean on the subject was needed, which I believe I mastered being I am able to tell nine out of ten times. Another skill was public speaking, which I am still working on a bit because sometimes I feel my voice shake and sometimes I lose the words and thoughts. Being persuasive is necessary, otherwise, your argument is pointless. I hope I have mastered that skill, in my opinion, being the opposed sometimes have no comment to block my comment. This course connects to the outcomes of this course, partially because the outcome of this course is decided by a standardized test, but also because being able to use information and history to back up and make your case is a needed skill.
These skills can be used through the future. For a job interview, you have to make an argument as to why you should be hired and not the five hundred other people applying for the job. When buying a car or comparing insurance companies, being able to find facts and compare them is important, and arguing for a better deal is nice too. Being able to speak in public is a necessary skill for a multitude of jobs. Wanting to be an engineer, this is a needed skill, as I will have to give presentations to colleagues or at large conferences. One way to improve on this assignment would be to have a larger pool of data and numbers to pull from when confronted with a topic the other side gives. I like to learn the other sides facts first si that I can structure my argument around then and tear each fact down into nothing.
Lobbyist Reflection
On the Friday of February the 10th, Justin McCaulley came to discuss with my AP Government class on lobbyist. Justin McCaulley is a lobbyist, and has wanted to be a lobbyist since he was 8 years old. Lobbyist help people in politics to understand issues that citizens want heard. At the moment, Justin McCaulley is helping a propane seller by talking to the government to make grants for propane run buses for schools. The seller want to have schools buy propane for their buses, but needed help talking to the government for the change. I learned from this discussion is that lobbyists are misunderstood from every viewpoint. The public sees them as sneaky, under-the-table, liars; some government officials see them as annoying, and blabbermouths; and they see themselves are keystones to connecting the public to the government.
I planned to ask him three questions. How was being a director of the Federal Advocacy? What do you think someone should do to be heard from by the government? What did you have to do to get where you are now? I never got a chance to ask a question however, my last question was answered vaguely. Overall, the takeaway was that lobbyists are needed in politics, because they connect the people to the government. Although they are misunderstood, and some are devious, lobbyist are a helpful, and constitutional part of our government.
E. Coli Results
This petri dish is our LB- dish which contains no ampicillin and no bacteria that are immune to ampicillin. This dish had growth because the bacteria had no antibiotic fighting them and so they flourished, with or without resistance.
This petri dish contains ampicillin and bacteria without the resistance to ampicillin. No bacteria grew on this dish because the ampicillin inhibits bacterial growth and without resistance the bacteria died.
This petri dish contained ampicillin and bacteria with the resistant gene to ampicillin. There was small bacterial growth because some of the bacteria took up the ampicillin resistance gene and grew immune to ampicillin, while others did not and then died.
This petri dish contains no ampicillin but ampicillin resistant bacteria. This dish had unhampered growth from no antibiotics. The resistant gene that some held was not used as their was no ampicillin.
Democracy in Action 2nd Quarter
Zack VZ
Ms. Keener
AP Government
23 January 2017
Democracy in Action 2nd Quarter
Over the quarter, I went to a Shade Tree Committee meeting. The meeting was for a discussion on the city’s tree plans. I was there to give a presentation for my Eagle Scout project. My project is to plant trees around the Bain Park pavilion for a reforestation project. The committee listened to my project and gave their opinions and recommendations for tree species and where to plant the trees. After my presentation they discussed the plan from 1995 to plant 3000 trees down a multitude of roads in Fairview park. Then they discussed the christmas tree ideas for Bain Park gazebo. After that the meeting was concluded with a quote from Thomas Jefferson on trees.
This committee meeting holds small value to the booming government but still has its importance. Mike Varga, the Assistant Service Supervisor of Fairview, third powerful of the service department, was a member of the committee. This event was clearly for local government as it was tree planting in the city of Fairview. I learned that Fairview made a plan to plant 3000 trees throughout the city, yet has not finished that promise at this time. This event tells me that the government is broken into many different pieces, each with varying amounts of value.