In the photo above the things I contributed to were churning the dirt, moving and creating the rock beds, and weed waking the grass.
Sustainable Design Project
During this project the main habit of heart and mind that I improved on was adaptability. This was the case because once we started to jump into working we realized that creating wooden fences wasn't going to be an option, we then had to problem solve and adapt to the idea of creating rock beds. We also had to use initiative to get up and get going on our work when we could have just spent time to slack off and do nothing.
The main skill that I need to work on is critical thinking and independent research. I feel that these are the main skills that I needed to work on because through this project there was a couple of time when we cam to standstills and instead of trying to persevere and move forward we just gave up. We also came up with the problem of figuring out how to get water in an easy way. I could have chosen to use my own time to research what I could do to get water to our garden I chose to do other things.
One of the main things that we did to solve a problem was when one of our group members decided to start ditching school and then ended up getting pulled out of school by her father. Once we realized that she wasn't going to show up we had to find a solution to losing some helping hands. In the end, it ended up not being as much of a problem as we originally anticipated. Once we realized that we were going to all have to take on little more work we were okay with the loss.
During this project, there was never a time when we came up to a problem that we were unable to solve. Although we came up against many different problems like losing a group member, not being able to afford materials, and not being able to create our original plan we were able to move past all of these issues.
I think when we came up with our idea to create a garden our original plan was what I would have qualified as successful. Although we weren't able to create our original plan of a 25 by 25-foot garden the smaller beds that we created I am proud of for now. I have the hope that through my next four years I will have the opportunity to complete more beds and a more professional garden.
The main advice I would give to freshman about to start this project would be ready to have to problem solve and use their time wisely. I saw many groups that started out with good plans but ended up slacking off and getting nothing done. The other advice I would give is that if you're going to be buying materials to buy local. I say this because I saw a group that decided to buy materials online that never ended showing up.
The main skill that I need to work on is critical thinking and independent research. I feel that these are the main skills that I needed to work on because through this project there was a couple of time when we cam to standstills and instead of trying to persevere and move forward we just gave up. We also came up with the problem of figuring out how to get water in an easy way. I could have chosen to use my own time to research what I could do to get water to our garden I chose to do other things.
One of the main things that we did to solve a problem was when one of our group members decided to start ditching school and then ended up getting pulled out of school by her father. Once we realized that she wasn't going to show up we had to find a solution to losing some helping hands. In the end, it ended up not being as much of a problem as we originally anticipated. Once we realized that we were going to all have to take on little more work we were okay with the loss.
During this project, there was never a time when we came up to a problem that we were unable to solve. Although we came up against many different problems like losing a group member, not being able to afford materials, and not being able to create our original plan we were able to move past all of these issues.
I think when we came up with our idea to create a garden our original plan was what I would have qualified as successful. Although we weren't able to create our original plan of a 25 by 25-foot garden the smaller beds that we created I am proud of for now. I have the hope that through my next four years I will have the opportunity to complete more beds and a more professional garden.
The main advice I would give to freshman about to start this project would be ready to have to problem solve and use their time wisely. I saw many groups that started out with good plans but ended up slacking off and getting nothing done. The other advice I would give is that if you're going to be buying materials to buy local. I say this because I saw a group that decided to buy materials online that never ended showing up.
We first started by going out to different people of grades and teachers and interviewed them with the aim figuring out what things they could use to make this school a more comfortable place. The main theme that I got was that people enjoyed the outdoors and wished to spend more time in it. So my original aim was an outdoor learning space that could hold classes and create a space that got people outside. I decided that this goal was a little too much in the time allotted so I ended up switching my focus to a garden. The values I aimed to meet were a space that people could participate in. I also wanted to be able to help beautify our school and grow products that people can eat. I feel that this was a smarter choice because resources were scarce and I noticed that most of the other groups that wanted to build an outdoor structure never did.
Our brainstorm started fairly concentrated on a couple of ideas. We started our brainstorm by taking sticky notes and putting one idea per sticky note. The main goal of this first brainstorm was to get the most ideas down. We then took ideas that wouldn't work and narrowed down our ideas to owns that could possibly work. We then decided on a certain idea and went with it until we realized we couldn’t afford any material so we had to use rocks from nearby. Once we narrowed down certain ideas that wouldn't work out we decided on trying to create a garden with wooden fences around it. We tried to make money by creating a Go Fund Me which failed epically. Once we realized we couldn't afford wood we were at a standstill until Sara one of the humanities teachers gave us another idea. She noticed we were at a standstill so she got rocks and created a rock bed that gave us the boost that we needed.
Once we realized that we were going to be unable to buy wood to create a fence we had to create a alternate solution. Sara then used rocks to create a bed in the area we had started to use. We then used Sara and her truck to collect more rocks from nearby areas and use them to create more beds. We had to transfer to rocks from the front of the building to the back using a little red wagon. We then placed the rocks in half circular formations to create bed type structures. During this time it rained one of the days which was optimal because it loosened up the soil so the next day we were able to go out and churn all of the soil.
Our brainstorm started fairly concentrated on a couple of ideas. We started our brainstorm by taking sticky notes and putting one idea per sticky note. The main goal of this first brainstorm was to get the most ideas down. We then took ideas that wouldn't work and narrowed down our ideas to owns that could possibly work. We then decided on a certain idea and went with it until we realized we couldn’t afford any material so we had to use rocks from nearby. Once we narrowed down certain ideas that wouldn't work out we decided on trying to create a garden with wooden fences around it. We tried to make money by creating a Go Fund Me which failed epically. Once we realized we couldn't afford wood we were at a standstill until Sara one of the humanities teachers gave us another idea. She noticed we were at a standstill so she got rocks and created a rock bed that gave us the boost that we needed.
Once we realized that we were going to be unable to buy wood to create a fence we had to create a alternate solution. Sara then used rocks to create a bed in the area we had started to use. We then used Sara and her truck to collect more rocks from nearby areas and use them to create more beds. We had to transfer to rocks from the front of the building to the back using a little red wagon. We then placed the rocks in half circular formations to create bed type structures. During this time it rained one of the days which was optimal because it loosened up the soil so the next day we were able to go out and churn all of the soil.
When we first jumped into the sustainable design project I was a little unsure of the final goal or how productive it would be. One of the groups that I was really surprised with was the mini ramp group. They didn't have their materials until almost the end of the project but they were still able to help other groups and then when the time came they banged out a large amount of work. I felt that having the amount of time that we did for the freshman grade to have off all morning would either not be enough or create to much time for people to slack off. Once the project got underway I was surprised to see the amount of effort that certain groups put into their projects. I did see certain people lose their “fire” and begin to slack. This even happened to our project near the end so we ended up going off and helping other groups.
I was gone during this part of the project and wasn't able to go on field trips or talk to speakers.
At the beginning of the project we were asked to memorize this sustainability definition. “the physical development and institutional operating practices that meet the needs of present users without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” If I were to think about what sustainable design means to me the “definition” I would use would be along the lines of, a Sustainable design is the creation of stuff that will benefit people of the present and the future.
I was gone during this part of the project and wasn't able to go on field trips or talk to speakers.
At the beginning of the project we were asked to memorize this sustainability definition. “the physical development and institutional operating practices that meet the needs of present users without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” If I were to think about what sustainable design means to me the “definition” I would use would be along the lines of, a Sustainable design is the creation of stuff that will benefit people of the present and the future.