GearHeads - South DocuDrama

This is one of our two semester long projects in this class. In this project we made a movie to show at a presentation on December 9th. We worked in the same groups as we did for the Vocab Video. Our video was modeled after the Discovery Channel show "Sons of Guns" which is about fixing and building guns. Our show is an explanation on fixing different motors, from a small outboard to a truck motor. Nothing really went poorly for us. Nothing was broken, no boats were swamped or flipped and every motor ended up better after we had worked on it than before. Here is our trailer and our full length movie imbedded.

Trailer:

Full Length Feature:

I – Creativity and Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
d. identify trends and forecast possibilitiesII – Communication and CollaborationStudents use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures
d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems

VI – Technology Operations and ConceptsStudents demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:

a. understand and use technology systems
b. select and use applications effectively and productively
c. troubleshoot systems and applications
d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

Comparison & Contrast (vocab video)

This is the vocab video I made in a group with Tucker, Kevin, Jeremy and Calvin. We were assigned to define a list of words using video as examples of the words definition. We downloaded YouTube videos and used clips from them to compile our own movies. We each defined two words then compiled them all at the end. I did not have many problems with making the movie. The only thing that was a problem was how time consuming it was finding and downloading the videos before they could be used. Due to the time restraints ours isn't as good as the original we watched as an example. Ours isn't as fast paced with 20 second clips instead of the 5 second ones in the original. It would have taken forever to download enough clips to make a video with a bunch of 5 second segments. Here is the video imbedded.

This product meets:

I – Creativity and Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Students:

a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
d. identify trends and forecast possibilitiesII – Communication and CollaborationStudents use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance,
to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments
and media
b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures
d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems

Cause and Effect (Photography Unit)

In this project we had to take 10 pictures to fill 10 different categories. We had to edit these photos and give a before and after photo with a write up about what we did to the picture to get it to its final state. Here are my 10 photos for the Cause and Effect unit.

This product meets:

I – Creativity and Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities VI – Technology Operations and Concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
a. understand and use technology systems
b. select and use applications effectively and productively
c. troubleshoot systems and applications
d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

Argument

In this unit we had to find a problem in our society, figure out how it could be improved, and write a grant for the technology needed to help get this problem solved. We had some problems such as having many things to edit after it being revised and then needing so much money for our grant.

Mine, Tucker's and Kevin's grant;

Many teenagers lack the driving experience needed to become good drivers right away. They need more experience to handle all the different driving conditions and situations an average driver encounters. Having a driver’s education class at South would prevent many injuries, accidents and deaths on our roads. “More driver training could help reduce the more than 3,000 deaths a year of teen drivers.” (USA Today). South is a high school with around 1,700 students. With about one third of the student population driving, this is a very high concentration of a lot of teen drivers. Coupled with the extreme driving conditions found on Alaskan mountains, South Anchorage students need more driving training and instruction.

Fatal motor vehicle accidents are three times more likely to happen to 16 year olds than the average of all other drivers (Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association). To help fix this problem, a driver’s education elective could be made at South. This would teach students to be better drivers by teaching them how to handle different conditions and show how to drive on different intersections. South students need the driver’s education class because they drive in more difficult conditions than most of the other schools in the state. Not only do south students contend with the icy roads and long dark winters of Alaska, they also go to school on the side of a mountain, driving to school on the dark icy roads every morning. Furthermore, there are more round-abouts near South High than any other high schools in Anchorage.

Students would learn what is expected of them while driving in traffic around other people. We would also work with local insurance companies to give incentives like insurance discounts to students who do good in the class. Students would have to study forms of intersections and traffic patterns so students know the rules of the road and how to follow them. We will use simulators so students can practice driving without worrying about causing accidents. The driver’s education class is being taken care of by the Anchorage School District, but we need the money for the simulators before the class can be offered to students. These simulators are somewhat like driving in a video game. There is a seat, with break and gas pedals and a steering wheel, and you steer your car on the screen. The screen shows common city street scenarios, highway scenarios, difficult driving conditions and many other driving factors. In the class, students would practice and be tested on proper turns, driving in round-abouts, and driving in difficult conditions such as in the dark and on ice, which is a common driving condition in Alaska.

This class will help students become better drivers. If students never get the training needed to become better drivers, in time our streets will be filled with horrible drivers. For some people practice is not all they need to succeed, they need a sturdy base of knowledge to practice on. We will know this class is doing good for our community when teenage accident rates begin to decline. The community should support this because it will make everyone safer on the road.

The simulators will cost about $40,000-$60,000 each, and we need at least two simulators in the class.

This project meets:

III – Research and Information Fluency

Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
a. plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and
media
c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. process data and report results

IV – Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make
informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:
a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
d. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions

V – Digital Citizenship

Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical
behavior. Students:
a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology
b. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity
c. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning
d. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship

VI – Technology Operations and Concepts

Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
a. understand and use technology systems
b. select and use applications effectively and productively
c. troubleshoot systems and applications
d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

Personal

In this project we had to make a blog in BlogSpot. But BlogSpot wouldn't work for me, so I had to use Blogger. We have to make ourselves a digital portfolio of all our work on this blog. You have been reading this project.

This meets standard:

III – Research and Information Fluency

Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
a. plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and
media
c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. process data and report results

IV – Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make
informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:
a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
d. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions

Definition

In this project we had to make our own resumes. One had to be a traditional resume and the other had to be a media resume. The media resume is supposed to give us a creative edge against other people competing for the same job. I used Pages to create both. The Media resume was a bit difficult to make the fly rod, I used the draw feature in Pages and also used the different shapes. It was fun to do but there was a lot of trial and error.

This product meets:

ISTE Standard I – Creativity and Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes
using technology. Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities

ISTE Standard IV – Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make
informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:
a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
d. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions

C.R.A.V.E.

Next we started our C.R.A.V.E. Project. This is our second semester long project. We chose a issue in society and researched it to hope to solve it. I chose drunk driving as my research topic. We started with research and making an annotated bibliography. Then we used that bibliography to write a paper on what the problem is, why its a problem, and how we should solve it. Then we used our research paper to create a website about our CRAVE topic. Everything I did was somewhat tough to do because it is a full semester project but I got it done. There is nothing I can remember that was difficult enough for me to remember.

Here is a screenshot of the home page of my website. We have difficulties getting our websites online so a screen shot of the home page will have to do.