PLANNING OUT THE NEW BUCKTOWN

As we wrap up our last unit of this term, Urban Planning, we're thinking about redesign in a new way. We started off the unit by reading part three of Devil in the White City which gave us a better idea of the turn out of the Chicago World's Fair. We got to look into the design process for architects, what they wanted the experience to turn out like, their struggles, etc. This gave us some inspiration for our AP. We also dove into other cities around the world to get their view of urban planning, how they protect their city, and sustainable ways to redesign. We watched TED Talks to look more into the complaints and/or ideas of people from communities all across the U.S. We saw what differentiates the U.S. from all other countries. We were able to take a virtual F.E. to the Chicago World's Fair and understand its history, and where it lies in Chicago today. For our AP, we were asked to redesign a block within our community or take it as far as a block in another city in the world. Look at my slideshow down below to learn more! 

To conclude, I really enjoyed this last AP of my junior year! I think it was a great way to wrap up, and I it got me thinking more about my community and where I lie in it. I think that a lot of changes could be made to my area, and it's all up to me to get those ideas out there. I think that looking into other cities for inspiration got me thinking more about the urban planning in the U.S. and how it could be changed! 

The Key to an Energy Efficient Home

For this unit of our STEAM course, Urban Planning, we took a deeper look into circuits, circuit boards, energy efficient products, Nikola Tesla, and more. We started off by learning about Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison with their participation in the War of the Currents.  We then continued on and learned about direct and alternating currents, created by these two, and understood how the devices we use today are powered by currents like these. We looked into circuit boards and diagrams. The symbols that electricians use make diagrams simple and easy to understand. We learned about these because we would need them in a bit for our action projects. We looked into what electricity is exactly and how it is created. We had a Zoom call with an FE guest, Jaclyn Marcus, an architectural designer. We were able to ask questions from how lighting can affect a person's mood to what inspired them to become a designer, etc. These answers would help us when it came to our AP. For this AP, we had to create a circuit board that would power energy efficient appliances throughout a home that we created. Look through my presentation to learn more!



To conclude, I think this project allowed me to test out how far I could go in regards to creativity and design. I saw myself trying to think of new ways to get my circuit to power more bulbs, and I finally got a hang of it. I think even during these times, using new materials around the house allowed me to explore and test things out. I am glad that this AP allowed me to do that, and I would like to do the same for the next one as well! 

The Popsicle Bridge Challenge!

For Unit 1 of Urban Planning, we looked into bridges and how they can affect a neighborhood or city. We looked into different bridge and what keeps them sturdy. We learn the shape that is the most stable which is the triangle. We began to take a deeper dive into trigonometry and finding different ways to calculate the area of a triangle. For an FE, we had our STEAM teacher head out to Downtown Chicago where he was able to communicate to us via Google Meet chat and talk more about the architectural layout of the city. Get some of the ins and outs of what the city used to be compared to what it is now. We had time to research a bridge from any part of the world and look into how long it's been up for, materials used, etc. For This AP we were asked to build our own bridge solely out of popsicles and glue. This was quite the challenge, but click on my AP to learn more!