Bias and stereotypes are like disguised weapons, slowing and hugely affecting our perceptions towards certain objects, events, or people – but where do they exist? In this unit, we studied bias in media by annotating different types of public media. This unit affected me greatly not only in the knowledge I gained but also my perception towards everyday life. This post will present my annotations for news articles, advertisements, TV shows, songs, and finally a project I made that expresses my own views towards bias.
What were your contributions to the success of your group’s lesson presentation? Be specific. What parts did you research, what parts of the experiment did you have responsibility for, what were your responsibilities for the lesson preparation and presentation?Our presentation is divided into five sections, the background information, the lab investigation, the materials and procedures, the data results, and the conclusion. In this project, I contributed to the background information, the question, the hypothesis, and the data results and analysis.
Describe one part of this project that was a challenge? How did you respond to this challenge? One challenge of the project was calculating the distance the load has traveled when we are elevating it to 10 centimeters. Since it was a curved distance, it couldn’t be measured by the ruler. As a result, I figured out a method to solve the problem using trigonometry.
Describe what you most enjoyed about the project? What part are you most proud of–that you say “WE DID GREAT”? I think we did great in summarizing our knowledge about the lever into the presentation. We had good organizational structures and it helped a lot when we were working on the presentation.
Long after this project has ended, what parts of the experience will you remember? I will remember the time when I had trouble figuring out the distance when I suddenly thought of the equation to calculate the data to the most precise value. I felt it was a good thing to apply something I just learned to an experiment.
In this I&S unit, we explored different aspects of the Renaissance period and wrote a research paper about our topic. The topic of my research paper was how significant was the Golden Ratio during the sixteenth century. I chose this topic because the Golden Ratio fascinated me not just because of the beauty and balance it brought to nature and our world, but also because of the significant connection between mathematics and arts, the past and the present.
The process of this investigation has allowed me to use a variety of research methods to experience some of the challenges that face historians. I also learned many professional ways of organizing and formatting my research paper during class time.
Please leave a comment below for any thoughts, questions, or things you would like to share!
In this unit, we chose a topic to address from the book we are reading (The Defense of Thaddeus A. Ledbetter by John Gosselink) I chose ADHD as my topic since the main character Thaddeus has the disorder and had to experience all sorts of injustice throughout the book. From this topic, I made a PSA that advocated this issue to inspire change to our views towards those with ADHD. Through this video, I hope people can start to accept those around them with ADHD, and treat them not only with equality, but with equity.
Video:
In this unit, we also had a deeper understanding of how to write a good TIEA. Below is my TIEA on standing up for others and being brave to follow what they believe is right despite other people’s influences on their thoughts.
TIEA:
In the text “The Defense of Thaddeus A. Ledbetter”, John Gosselink demonstrated the idea of standing up for others to ensure everyone has equity and equality when Mr. Cooper stood up for Thaddeus to prevent Thaddeus from experiencing further injustice.In response to the document of inconsequential offenses Mrs. Dixon wrote to put Thaddeus back in ISS, Mr. Cooper replied“Let’s give him a chance. And Jane, with all due respect, maybe you should listen to some of his suggestions.” (228)Mr. Cooper’s change in character throughout the story resulted in learning to stand up for those who need additional support in life. As Mr. Cooper came to understand the intentions and thoughts of others, he began the realize the importance of treating others with equity and equality. He grew braver to stand on the side he thinks is right though he started off as a circumspect person who was afraid to be on Thaddeus’ side. People should not be afraid of saying what they believe is right no matter how unpopular it may be, especially when it comes to defending the rights of others. In fact, standing up for the rights of others is more powerful than standing up for one’s own rights in some ways. When people try to gain rights for those in need, those who remain quiet may as well become the victims of injustice. Even though standing up to injustice may also mean losing friends and gaining enemies, it is more important to know that as the people around in need are finally treated with equity and equality, the world would become a stronger and more comfortable place for everyone, even for those who need additional support, to live in.
MLA citation: Gosselink, John. Defense of Thaddeus A. Ledbetter. Amulet Books, 2010.
Another part of this unit was discussions. Discussions allow us to think critically about the events that happened in the book, analyze the style of the text, and communicate our thoughts with each other. Below is a video of our group’s discussion on The Defense of Thaddeus A. Ledbetter.
Journalism plays an influential role in people’s opinions on a certain topic. In this unit, our class explored the key elements of a newspaper article by annotating good examples from the Scholastic News and Times magazine. During this unit, we learned the 5W’s and H, the point of views, and tone of writing the newspaper articles. After that, we wrote our own news article and put it together with other articles with different topics as our final project.
Below is my group news article, compare and contrast paragraphs of two articles, and annotations of two articles on the same topic.
Compare
Both “Texas Faces Massive Flooding” and “Catastrophe in the Gulf” are about the same topic. Their main purpose is to inform readers about the situation Hurricane Harvey caused at Texas. To reach their purpose, both articles used images, statistics, and estimations to give the audience a better idea about this issue. They used images retrieved from the actual place to let people have a better idea of what is actually happening. Statistics were provided from weather reports and scientific research. They also used quotes from important people such as Donald Trump and the Texas governor to let us know how the government is taking action. In their report, both articles start with a short sentence or paragraph about the main idea of their whole writing. It gives the 5Ws and H from the first part of the article, so people can get interested in their story to read on. Also, the audience both articles are aimed towards are kids. They provide definitions for terminologies and used easier word choices so the reader can understand. I also noticed that both articles ended with a quote about a hopeful thought from someone. I think this can reach the person of letting people become hopeful of what would happen next.
Contrast
Even though both articles are about the same topic, they wrote it in different ways. For the organization, the “Texas Faces Massive Flooding” used subtitles to organize their paragraphs into categories. This doesn’t only make it easier for readers to read, but also prevents the writer from jumping around topics in their writing. Both articles retrieved quotes from the Texas governor Greg Abbott and US president Donald Trump, but the “Catastrophe in the Gulf” kept the whole quote on the article, while the “Texas Faces Massive Flooding” cut out parts of the quote to only show the keywords. Only showing the keywords made their meaning more precise and prevented too much biased sources. Speaking of bias, “Catastrophe in the Gulf” specially mentioned a CNN reporter helping the people into safety, when there were so many helping cases to talk about. Even though the reporter didn’t mean to be biased, it made me think that this article is slightly biased towards the CNN.
In our swimming unit, we didn’t only spend time in the swimming pool, but we also learned about the names of muscles and bones, as well as the body movements. In this video, I incorporated the knowledge I learned in and out of the swimming pool during class by describing the muscle and bone movements for my freestyle arm stroke.
Below is a graph showing the population trends of Delphinapterus leucas (also as known as beluga whales) from 1994 to 2009 in the Alaskan Area. Since the reproductive cycle of a beluga is seasonal, in which female whales give birth every 3 years, the graph rises and dips in 3-year or 4-year cycles. However, our existence is causing other animals to lose the beautiful habitat they once had. Below are 4 main reasons that is causing the death of belugas to outnumber the newborn.
Why are beluga populations decreasing? 1. Frequent oil spills release toxic chemicals to the sea and can drastically damage the immune system of the belugas, and make them vulnerable to diseases such as pneumonia, ulcers, tumors, and bacterial infection.
2. Industrial development (especially in oil and gas) causes ships traveling among sensitive areas, producing noise that can hinder communications for Arctic marine species, including beluga whales. This negatively affects whales’ ability to prey, mate, navigate, avoid predators, and also increases the possibility of collisions with animals, especially whales, who use sound to communicate. Leading into the cycle, collisions with marine animals will increase the frequency of oil spills and contaminate the ocean in a faster rate.
3. Overexploitation of beluga whales is another factor of the decline of beluga population. Beluga whales live in the North where Eskimos live. The Eskimos hunt beluga whales for food and other needs. For example, Eskimos hunt beluga whale’s blubber for lipstick production. Beluga whales also have skin thick enough for people to produce leather.
4. Like polar bears, the beluga depends on sea ice for its existence and can be directly impacted by climate change. Arctic species have come here from a long way of evolution in order to adapt to the life around sea ice. Because of climate change, ice covers has been changing rapidly in area and thickness and shrinking far too quickly for these species to adapt. With ice, beluga whales lose a place to feed, take refuge, and hide from predators like orcas.
Citation: Beluga | Whales |Species | WWF. (2017). World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/beluga
Speegle, J. (2017). NOAA Fisheries Issues Recovery Plan for Cook Inlet beluga whales. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/node/55458
