Simple is Smart

In my second unit of Light, Sound, and Time, my class and I focused on how sound works. Although people don't notice it, sound is always present. Silence can't be acquired because our body constantly makes noise and our environment is always in movement. I think that noise gives humans comfort to give the feeling that they are not alone. I like having background noise around me when I work, or else I would be lost in my thoughts. On the mathematical side of the world of sound, we learned how to use the speed of sound in calculations to find wavelength and frequency. We also did a simulation on how life would be with bad hearing. This unit made me thankful for my good hearing and more considerate to help out people if they can't hear as well.

After learning about how sound waves work and their important impact in our daily lives, the class and I created our own diddley bows to create unique sounds. Diddley bows are one stringed guitars that influenced the development of blues music. They can be made with items lying around the house. I used an old tin can, a plank of wood, three screws, two batteries, and a guitar string to make mine. Everyone used the same length of wood, but different sized guitar strings, cans, and nails. My teacher taught us step by step how to make the diddley bow. I had trouble screwing the screws in that help secure my can and string, but my peers assisted me.

JMP, Diddley Bow, (2019)

The yellow and green line is the middle of the diddley bow's neck. The other lines signify the four harmonics. A harmonic is a tone produced on the diddley bow by touching the vibrating string at one of the marked lines.

I calculated the wavelength by dividing the string's frequency by the speed of sound. Then, I calculated the four harmonics with the frequency and wavelength. 

JMP, Harmonics, (2019)

My diddley bow demonstrated many key science principles from our lessons in class. The pitch varies based on the material, tightness, and the length of the string. Amplitude is how tall the wave is, which means it has a high volume. The amplitude depends on the size of my can. My can is the biggest of the class, so I have the highest amplitude; aka the loudest volume to hear my sound. The wavelength is determined by the frequency. If the frequency of my string goes up, the wavelength goes down.

Here is a labeled sketch of my diddley bow. 

JMP, Diddley Bow Sketch, (2019)

When I pluck my string, the sound wave travels to the can, where the sound gets amplified. With my slider, I can vary the pitch to make different sounds. I had to make sure that the string was tight so it would make a richer sound when I would pluck it. It was cool to see my classmates’ finished products because we all ended up with different pitches of sound.

Variables that Changed the Sound 

• Size of hole in can
• Size of can
• Size of plank of wood
• String material
• How tight string was
• Size of battery
• Where battery was placed
• Where slider was moving

I calculated the angles, sides, and area of the space between the nut and resonator. I also calculated the volume of the resonator, because I wanted to know how the amount of space in there affects the sound.

 JMP, Calculations, (2019)

In conclusion, this unit has taught me a lot. It made me conscious of my surroundings and take the moment in. I have been spending less time on social media and more time admiring the sounds and visuals around me. I would love to make another diddley bow with more strings and with frets so I can tune it. For now, I will practice how to make some music on this first version.

Pictures Last Forever

What is light?
I never took time to think about this complicated question until my class, “Light, Sound, and Time”, challenged me to answer it. First, we studied the different parts of the human eye and what they do to process images. We compared that process to a camera, which showed that the two have similar procedures! Then, the class and I delved into the science of light. Light is electromagnetic radiation, which can appear as either waves or particles. The range in frequency of the light waves is categorized in the Electromagnetic spectrum. Our eyes can only see the “visible light” portion of the EM spectrum, which are the colors of the rainbow. Other living things, such as the helmet gecko lizard or mantis shrimp, can see different light waves that humans can’t because of how their eye is formed. The science of diverse eyes amazes me, and it makes me wonder what certain colors I see differently than other organisms.

This unit was very interesting to me because it made me realize the science of my everyday life. It felt personal and important to know how my eyes receive light mathematically and scientifically.

For this Action Project, I built a pinhole camera that could successfully take a picture. It was a very tedious procedure. My pinhole camera was constructed from an empty oatmeal container, aluminum, and black paint. I made my lens by poking a pin through the aluminum. Then, I cut a quarter-sized hole into the container for a space for the lens. I made a shutter for the lens too so I can control how long the film gets exposed to light. I painted the inside of the camera black because that color absorbs stray light that doesn’t hit the film. If it was painted white, any other colors, or not painted at all, the photons of light coming from the pinhole would scatter around and overexpose the image.

JMP, Pinhole Camera (2019)

JMP, Lens, (2019)

The Latin School of Chicago generously gave our class a 90 minute photography lesson on how to take pictures with our pinhole cameras and how to develop the film. A red dinosaur was the main focus of my intended photo. I took off the shutter for three minutes and thirty seconds to let the light photons shine only through the pinhole and imprint an image onto the film in the back of my camera.

Hiu To, Untitled, (2019)

The light bounced off the top of the dinosaur and hit the paper in a straight line toward the bottom of the film. The light that bounced off the bottom of the dinosaur hit the top of the paper. This projected the image upside down on the film inside the camera.

JMP,  Pinhole Image, (2019)

Here is the image that my pinhole camera took. About 75% of the image appears to be underexposed because there isn’t a figure on it. The other 25% has the checkerboard backdrop and the back of the dinosaur. I think only part of the image was successful because my pinhole was too small and the film was not correctly aligned with the pinhole. I am still proud that I was able to get an image of something.

JMP, Projection of Dinosaur, (2019)

My camera does not use reflection or refraction to produce an image; as it is an example of light
behaving like a particle because the paper absorbs the light photons. If the light was behaving like a wave, the waves would reflect off the film and would not produce an image. Since the photons stay in air and not another medium while it hits the film, it does not use refraction. It uses visible light from the electromagnetic spectrum in order to produce the image.

Here are my calculations that show the interactions between the light rays, the camera, and the dinosaur.

JMP. Calculations, (2019)

This STEAM Action Project is now my favorite I have done at GCE. I loved my experience in a dark room in my freshman year at another school, and I always wished to use a dark room again. It felt very accomplishing to create a working camera and get an image. The project felt very connected to the math I calculated. The process was very tedious, but I just spent more time to make sure my work is precise.

Driven by Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

My class called "A Nation's Argument" taught me how to formulate an argument. I was tested on the first to day to argue against someone for a topic my teacher knew I was not passionate about. It challenged me to push my opinion aside and create an opposite argument. The class dissected the argument and pointed out that there were reasons made to support the conclusion. The professional term for reasons in an argument are called "premises". We practiced how to create premises after studying examples of arguments. We spent majority of our class time studying the Declaration of Independence. There were many reasons why that declaration became a famous paper that America looks up to. Since we wanted to have a closer look at an executive argument, we went to The Chicago Circuit Courthouse in downtown. There was only little time to visit so we had thirty minutes to study a case. After having thoughtful conversations with my class about what makes a successful argument, I created a Declaration of Study that will meet my unalienable rights as a student and a citizen.

In this Declaration, I am arguing for a course that will fit three unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is important to have these rights met wherever teenagers are: home, outside, or in school. GCE does not offer drivers education, which is an important life skill that teenagers should acquire in high school. I am exercising my right of freedom of speech to tell GCE in a professional manner that I want this new asset to my learning experience as a global citizen.

GCE Lab School is an environment that offers students integrated courses, form relationships with peers, and develop life skills. These skills teach students how to support themselves and become fruitful citizens of the future. High schoolers learn so their open mind can benefit themselves and the people they talk to. If GCE intends to inspire, prepare, and connect students to the world outside of the classroom, then there should be courses that embrace our unalienable rights. I believe that we, the students at GCE Lab School, deserve a drivers ed course. Our unalienable rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Learning how to drive will give us a glimpse of what it means to be at the best possible condition of life. Driving is an independent activity that gives us the liberty to get to places on our own. Most importantly, the pursuit of happiness will be connected. Having a license at an early age will let us pursue a happy life in a safe way. This Declaration takes basic human rights into consideration.

The guiding question for the creation of this course is...

Why is driving an important life skill?

I will now list my premises for the argument. Premises are statements that will justify my argument.

P1. GCE teaches courses that follow their mission of giving their students hands-on learning experiences.

P2. A majority of high schools in the Chicago-land area offer hands-on drivers education classes to students.

P3. GCE's has life skill classes such as cooking, self-defense, and design.

P4.  Learning how to drive is a life skill.

P5. Driver's education class after high school cost hundreds of dollars. 

P6. 50% of GCE's students receive financial aid.

In the Industrial Revolution, an innovative  inventor named Henry Ford invented the automobile. This new invention drastically changed transportation in the world. It gave people the right to go wherever they wanted. Since cars give people the independence to travel freely, I want to follow the trend as early as possible. I have a busy schedule, so relying on public transit can be a disadvantage sometimes.

I will need a couple of resources in order for this class to be successful.

1. A Driver's Education teacher will teach the course material and ensure I know the information
2. In order to take the road test, I will need a car.
3. Informative videos from the state about the safety of driving.
4. Handbook about driving to pass the written test.
5. A guardian to accompany me when I practice driving with a permit.
6. An empty, quiet classroom so I can focus.

In this rigorous course, I will learn about the importance of driving, how to safely drive, and earn a license. I want to be able to pass the road and written test and feel prepared to drive on my own. I will take advantage of this class because I might not be able to afford to after high school. In college, I will need to know how to drive because the skill will make errands and the commute to work more convenient. Some jobs require new hires to have a license, which will place me at a disadvantage if I don't take this class now.

Conclusion: Therefore, drivers education should be one of GCE's life skill courses.

Citations

White, Jesse. “Driver's Handbook – Illinois Rules of The Road 2017.” Drivers Education of America, 14 Feb. 2018, www.driverseducationofamerica.com/illinois/drivers-handbook-illinois-rules-of-the-road-2017/.

A Dual Between Money and Love

Post-production brings pieces of film together. A director may have a lot of good footage, but the footage must be put together in a talented way to be able to tell a story. Sound effects give the video more flavor, and really makes the audience feel like they are involved with the film's space. The art of sound effects intrigued me so much this term. As I practiced making sound effects to lay over a silent film, I discovered its very hard to make the right sounds and place them at the right time. The sound of knocking on a wooden door isn’t the same as banging metal. Walking on sand makes a smoother noise than walking on legos. Getting into the mind of a foley artist opened my mind to think outside the box. Ever since taking this course, I have paid more attention to the details in video production and try to figure out the secrets behind them.

I picked the movie Slumdog Millionaire to study its editing, sound production, cinematography, acting, costume design, and production design, and create a dualist review on it. When I saw this movie as a child, I was confused and did not understand what was happening. Now, since I paid attention to the details the movie artists put into the movie, I gained a better sense of what idea they wanted to put in the film.

Climbing Meow Majesties

Game Changers, my STEAM class for the Elective Term, changed my views on why games are important. We learned about the many different mechanics behind a game, such as player elimination, goals, player interaction, luck vs randomness, and score ranking. Before going into the class, I thought creating a game was simple and could be done in a few days. The game process is much more difficult than brainstorming for a day and acting upon it. The class talked to Eric Garneu, an event organizer for Chicago Playtesting Society, about what makes a game interesting and gave us motivation to make a game of our own. Game creation is now considered a talent and an art to me, as I had empathy for what playtesters and game designers go through in this project. Since the first day that my group decided on what game we were going to create, our game evolved from three different games as you can see in our prototypes. Our first couple of prototypes used cheap materials and ideas scattered all over the place. With a lot of playtesting and feedback, we have come up with our game called Meow Mountains. Meow Mountains is an interactive board game for three to four players. In this game, you are a prince cat trying to gather all of the jewels that fell off of the princess cat’s head and down the pyramid. You can move in any direction, two spaces at a time. When you have collected the most jewels and made it to the princess at the top of the pyramid, you win!

KM, Meow Majesties, (2019)

Bankaroo, a virtual bank for kids, can utilize Meow Mountains by having an interactive, fun lesson on how to budget, save money for goals, and spend money wisely. The jewels in the game can represent real money. Having money may have ups and downs, which is shown through battling other cats, but in the end, the amount of money you have for different wants and needs is dependant on yourself.

At first, the game was going to be about the life as a cat in the city, and by using time management skills, the best scheduled cat would win the game. By letting go of the desired theme and putting more thought into the mechanics and structure of the game, the theme changed according to the rules that were placed. The first playtest made me a little anxious because I felt that the game was not ready. I learned that the point of playtesting was to gather thoughts from outside of team and think about how the game can be improved for the future; that a game wasn’t supposed to be at its final version in the first week. Watching my classmates play the game and have fun without needing any instruction from me or my partners, made us more excited to make the game more user friendly. My partners and I had multiple ideas, but we sat and tested each and every idea and whittled our list down to make the best version possible in the time frame we had. It was interesting to me to see how we were sticking to a 2D game board for the majority of the creation process, but at the last minute we questioned why we put that standard down. We challenged ourselves to make a 3D game board that looks more appealing and nice aesthetic. I was feeling stressed that we would not have a final version by the deadline, but with teamwork and timed goals, we made it happen. 

I am very proud of the amount of work I put into the game. I am generally a more creative, artsy person, but I challenged myself to look at the mechanics part of the game. Being able to come up with a player interaction mechanic was hard, and it was critical to think of one up soon or else the game was no fun. By inserting a triggered battle when a player is by another player, made the game more exciting and have more of a luck side instead of being all strategy. After I put that rule in, playtesting got more exciting and had the players on the edge of their seats. I am glad I overcame that challenge, as it helped the flow of the game a lot. I designed the graphics of the board and measured how big each square should be so the layers would fit perfectly, and it came out to look professional and clean. I came up with the idea of using polymer clay to make some of our props, which came out to be handy because it gave the team more use of their imagination to make something what they really wanted. I also wrote the rules and proofread it many times, as clarity and grammar means a lot 

to new players. The creation of this game changed me as a critical thinker, and made me realize that I am great at a lot of skills, but I have room to improve in other areas. As a move forward as a collaborator, I want to improve in listening to others, creating schedules on what needs to be done by each team member, and every positive and negative piece of feedback important, as outside ideas are just as important as those in my head.

Two Thumbs Up

As you watch a movie, you take in the story, unforgettable characters, and powerful dialogue. My Ollywood class watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next and A Christmas Carol, and studied how the camera angles, framing, and lighting influenced the audience's experience. After identifying these techniques in the movies, me and my group created a nano-cinema of a school shooting for a test. My group and I were challenged to tell a story in our short clip, without making the setting too obvious. This helped us learn how to use these techniques hands on and experience being a cinematographer. My partner and I took our critiquing skills to the test by watching Cry Freedom, a powerful movie made in 1989. At first, this movie did not interest me, as it is a very long movie at a whopping 2 hours and 39 minutes. I sat down and watched the movie one night, while pausing it and taking notes. This movie changed me and really opened my eyes to what is beyond my city, state, and country.

Cross my Heart

In my first unit in my class named Ollywood, the students and I had the mindset as a screenwriter and a production designer for famous films. Instead of watching movies for fun, we had a notebook out and critiqued movies to see if they were successful. Some examples of movies and clips that we watched are Jaws, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Life of Pi. We looked for dynamic characters, if the backgrounds fit the subject, foreshadowing, and character's dialogue. It was interesting to watch a movie to fit certain requirements instead to have it serve as entertainment. We also went on a Field Experience to Lower Wacker Drive to act as location scouts. Location scouts are the people who find the location for a movie to be filmed at. There is a lot of thought to find the perfect place for a movie to be set at, but once you find the right place, it is rewarding to see it in action. For this Action Project, I critiqued a movie called Rushmore. I watched the movie twice. In the first watch, I paid more attention to the acting and context of the film. During the second viewing, I paid more attention to the dialogue. Enjoy the critique!

Rushmore by Wes Anderson is a dramatic and comedic masterpiece released in 1998 that beautifully depicts the art of production design.The movie immerses the audience on a love quest journey, making unexpected turns throughout the way.

Jason Schwartzman plays Max Fischer, the protagonist, who is an ambitious 15-year-old student at Rushmore Academy. He is the president of the French Club, manager of the Calligraphy Club, Co-Founder of the Kite Flying Society, and in lead of many other activities. Despite being a determined leader in more than fifteen clubs, he is flunking out of school. Max confesses his social struggle to his father on a walk home, wondering, “Maybe I'm spending too much of my time starting up clubs and putting on plays. I should probably be trying harder to score chicks. That's the only thing anybody really cares about. But, its not my forte, unfortunately.” Since Max doesn’t have a welcoming friend group at Rushmore, he gets along with his older comadres better. Bill Murray plays Max’s antagonist, Herman Blume, who is one of Rushmore’s biggest donors. Both Max and Herman fall in love with one of the new teachers, Miss Cross, played by Olivia Williams. Herman admits, “She’s my Rushmore”, making an analogy to how the school is Max’s whole life is similar to how Miss Cross has become his love of his life. Herman is smart with his words and uses it against Max to come out as the stronger, older man. The two men have the same desire to make Miss Cross theirs. The situation becomes hectic once they know each other’s plans to get closer with her, and try to foil each of their attempts. They both have their strengths and weaknesses to gain Miss Cross’ heart, but she ultimately doesn’t want any love relations with either of the two. This resolves Max and Herman’s friendship.

The screenwriters illustrated Max’s dynamic character of evolving from a powerful, mature friend to a vulnerable, lovesick teenager properly in the dinner scene with Max, Herman, Miss Cross, and Dr. John. After Max’s play, Miss Cross introduced Dr. John to Max. Although Dr. John compliments Max’s hard work, he is not happy to see a man with his crush. He expected to see Miss Cross alone, but this expectation is overthrown. Max tries to hide his feelings by talking smart and not showing any friendliness towards Dr. John. As the dinner scene starts, the drunk Max immediately begins to belittle Dr. John by commenting on his “nurse’s” uniform.” Dr. John defends himself and says,“They are O.R. scrubs.” Max smirks and hastily asks “Oh, are they?”. Herman laughs suddenly and wine goes up his nose, while Miss Cross is silently displeased. Herman realizes that he shouldn’t encourage the drunk behavior and tells Max to watch himself. Miss Cross angrily blames Max’s drunk, blunt remarks on Herman and says that he is the one who ordered the wine. Max continues to call Dr. John by pet names until Miss Cross calls him out on it. Max yells, “You hurt my feelings. This night was important to me!” Herman and Dr. John awkwardly stay silent and observe from the side. Confused, Miss Cross asks, “How did I hurt your feelings?”. Max screams, “Oh my god! I wrote a hit play!” The yelling causes a scene in the quiet restaurant. Max calms down and breathes out, showing his frustration. He looks into Miss Cross’ eyes and says, “ I’m in love with you.” John looks to Miss Cross. She is at a loss of words. Herman awkwardly looks to the distance. Max looks drunk and dejected. All in a span of a minute and forty-five seconds, this scene makes the audience grip the edge of their seat to see what happens next. Max’s feelings are depicted in an realistic and relatable effective way. When people see their crush with someone else, they instantly feel jealous and only want attention from the one they love. These feelings of expectations not going the way they were planned out to be in his mind erupts, making us wonder what will happen to make Max feel okay again.

Besides the wild story Rushmore tells, there is another layer of context that is not talked about by the characters. Wes Anderson’s films exist mostly in a white people environment. As Rushmore is very expensive, it is expected to see a lot of preppy kids rule the school. Max has a talk with the principal about how he gained a scholarship to attend Rushmore in second grade by writing an impressive play. He appreciates the opportunity to be able to go to a nice school without the worry of paying high tuition. He is violently bullied for being ambitious and outgoing, but that doesn’t stop him for doing what he loves. This nice world crashes down when Max has to transfer to a public school because of his slack in studies and harassment at Miss Cross. At the new school, his new love interest is Asian-American. Since he only saw white people at Rushmore, going to a public school was an eye opener for him that there are so many different people out there. Max comes from a working-class background, unlike his peers at Rushmore. He lies to everyone that his father is a brain surgeon, but he is actually a barber. He also deals with the loss of his mother, which we feel sorry for when he sits next to her grave when he is sad. The two different economic schools are realistic to how students feel when they attend schools that are in a higher class neighborhood than their own. The audience empathizes with Max’s two different personas at home and at school.

The production design of the movie has a lot of thought put into it and tells its own story by connecting the subject and the background. Rushmore is set in Houston, Texas. This is where Wes Anderson grew up as a child. Sunny, hot Texas is a beautiful place for the movie to set place. The location for the school is very green, pretty, and well kept. It looks more like a fancy college than a high school. The chapel is extremely elegant and fits the catholic school atmosphere. Miss Cross’ classroom looks very realistic, but also rich because of the many aquariums she has in there. All of Max’s clubs has props that fit the context of them. In beekeeping club, there are actual bees. In the racing club, there are carts. In the chess club, there are many chess boards. This makes the audience believe that the clubs are well taken care of and lead well by Max. At the end of the movie, we catch a glimpse inside of Miss Cross’ husband’s room. It has all of his old things in there, such as hanging planes, posters, and bed set. The props really wraps up how the husband’s personality was even though we never met him in the film. Being able to depict someone’s life with their bedroom is personal and lets the audience imagine the history of the room and its owner.

The costumes portrayed the characters successfully. In the student body, Max is the only student that wears a black, sleek Rushmore blazer everyday. Wearing this blazer everywhere is what keeps him prideful of being a Rushmore student. It is a surprise when he is not wearing it. The Rushmore students all wear light blue collared shirts and khakis, which makes them all look the same. This makes Max stand out. Although he transfers to a public school with no uniform policy, he wears it there too. This is similar to someone wearing their favorite sweater or hat all the time, as it keeps them sane and content. Miss Cross always wears something simple but professional, which goes along with her calm and quiet character. Herman is a very rich person, so we see him in a suit for most of the film. He starts to dress in more casual clothing once he is split from his wife, because he lost a lot to the divorce. We start to feel more sorry for Herman once we see the shabby side of his apparel because he doesn’t have to impress anyone with preppy clothing. The costumes are consistent to make us recognize the character’s style easily.

Although Rushmore is successful for its dynamic characters, costumes, props, and background, it fails at the production design and context connecting as a whole. The use of one race and same social class plays a huge role in the movie, and it could’ve been empathized to relate to real world problems.