Death Penalty Fact Sheet

Death Penalty Information Center

Death Penalty is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. The Fact Sheet linked above contains, graphs, charts, and facts about the death penalty. I was surprised and engaged by the information provided, and I now feel more educated about the topic.

Graphs and Pie Charts

3 Pieces of Interesting Information: 

Innocence in Death Row

• Since 1973, more than 155 people have been released from death row with evidence of innocence.
•  In Louisiana, the odds of a death sentence were 97% higher for those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was black.
• The South had the highest murder rates and accounts for over 80% of executions. 

Conclusions:

The death penalty has not proved to be very successful at lowering and preventing murder, "According to a survey of the former and present presidents of the country's top academic criminological societies, 88% of these experts reject the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent for murder. (Radelet & Larrock, 2009). America's top experts reject the idea that the death penalty will solve and prevent murder cases from occurring. Executions have not lowered the murder rates and therefore have not hindered any crimes.

White victims in murder cases are more likely to result in the execution of the defendant than any other race. Odd were 97% higher for those whose victim was white than for those victim was black, and those who are convicted of killing a white person are 3 times more likely to receive the death penalty. Based on this information it seems to be evident that race has a very strong tie to the decisions the court makes regarding whether or not the defendant should be executed

Questions:

• If the death penalty has been proven to not act as a deterrent for murder, why is it still used?
• Why does it take so long for someone who has been put on death row to actually be executed? 

Third Most Popular Ted Talks

Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

     In this Ted Talk, Simon Sinek an ethnographer/ author describes what he calls the "golden circle," a way to think, act and communicate in a completely different way than everyone else. Simon starts his presentation by asking why, "Why is Apple so innovative year after year after year... they are just another computer company... Why is it that Martin Luther King led the Civil Rights Movement? And why is it that the Wright brother were able to figure out control powered manned flight when there were certainly other teams who were better qualified and funded...?" (Sinek, Simon). He later answers these questions by stating that all of the most inspired leaders and organizations think, act, and communicate from the inside out. 

Ted Ideas Worth Spreading. 2014. Ted Talk, n.p. By HsuUnited.

I believe that this is one of the most popular Ted Talks because the Simon Sinek speaks so confidently, and he seems to be very certain about the ideas he is presenting.While watching the video one can tell how passionate he is about his thoughts and ideas just by listening to his tone of voice and how good he was at maintaining eye contact. Simon provides a very compelling argument about starting your sales presentation by asking, "Why?" I think the audience and all viewers notice and realize that what he is saying  is absolutely true and can be applied to anything in life. Overall, his Ted Talk was very inspiring and I can understand why it is the third most popular in the world.

Unit 3: Environment

Unit 3: Environment Reflective Assessment

        Arne Duncan, the secretary of the US Department of Education, speaks about the importance of environmental education,  "Meeting the needs of our global citizenry- ecologically, economically, culturally, spiritually, and more- requires understanding and creative problem solving. Environmental education equips learners with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to address complex environmental challenges..." (Duncan). For the last eight weeks our entire curriculum has been based on the environment. The reading and annotating of The Sixth Extinction, my environmental research paper, and my unit project, have all contributed to my journey to better understand the environment and the risk factors that are affecting the balance of ecosystems across the globe. 

       The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, is a non-fiction book written by Elizabeth Kolbert, a journalist form The New Yorker. The book informs that Earth is in the middle of a current, man-made sixth extinction. Kolbert chronicles mass extinction events that have already taken place in the past, and how wide spread and accelerated extinctions of our present time. Our class only read and annotated the last seven chapters of the book because they highlighted the modern day sixth extinction. Ocean acidification, coral bleeching, deforestation, global warming and continental drift are all contributing to the sixth extinction. This book really educated me about how the environment is being impacted and the major affects that us human have on the planet. Learning about how dangerous and widespread these issues are, has motivated me to make a difference in the world. 

       One major part of our environmental unit project was to write a research paper on the any environmental issue we would further like to learn and educate others about. I chose the issue of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification occurs when human-generated carbon dioxide is emitted into Earth's atmosphere and absorbed by oceans. Since the beginning of industrialization the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased immensely. Ocean acidification is a huge problem and is changing ocean chemistry as we know it. Before this unit I had never even heard of ocean acidification, but now if someone asked me what it was I would be able to speak about for at least an hour. I have realized that humans can mostly be blamed for the mass risks that are affecting the balance of all life. If it was not for this unit I would continue being ignorant about these major problems, that are contributing to what might be the biggest mass extinction the world has ever experienced. 

       After writing our research papers we had to come up with a solution for whatever environmental issue that we wrote about, so in my case I had to come up with a solution for ocean acidification. We contacted various experts so that we would be able to come up with a solution that would actually impact and reduce the affects of ocean acidification. Based on the information we received from the emails, my partner Makenzie and I decided to make a solution centered around a plant called eelgrass. Our solution for ocean acidification was a floating device that contains eelgrass, that would have solar panels on the top that power a fluorescent white lights that would keep the eelgrass photosynthesizing constantly. We built a model of the solution and tested it and the results proved that if this device was made with the correct materials, then it would actually reduce ocean acidity and increase pH levels. It felt incredible to create a solution that could actually have a positive impact on the world. I am so happy that I was able to be apart of such an interesting and eye-opening project.

       Overall, this entire unit has proven to be extremely influential. I have learned so much and many of these concepts have really impacted my education regarding the environment. The balance of all life is being affected negatively at such a rapid pace, and many people are still ignorant about the mass environmental issues that are occurring right now. All living organisms depend on other life forms to survive and flourish, so if the life forms we depend on become extinct, much like the domino effect we will all begin to fall.

                                   pH levels of ocean water before and after solution was applied

                                                           

                                                           Model of our solution

                               

                              Examples of some of my sketchnotes from The Sixth Extinction

       

Environmental Unit Project

                                     Ocean Acidification 

Ocean acidification is an increasingly dangerous environmental issue, that affects ocean life and ocean chemistry all together.  Ocean acidity has increased immensely since the industrial revolution because human-generated co2 is being absorbed into the atmosphere and then absorbed by oceans. With the help of various experts and a great amount of research, Makenzie and I developed what we think could be a possible solution for ocean acidification. Our solution is a floating device containing eelgrass, that would have solar panels that would power a fluorescent white light. It has been found that eelgrass increases pH levels, however it does not photosynthesize at night, so the fluorescent white light would turn on during night by using the energy from the solar panels, and then continue the process of photosynthesis.

What we first imagined our solution would look like.

Deeper Learning Dive

                                    Deeper Learning Dive 

Public Speaking Presentation Skills:

My presentation skills are decent, but they are not what I want them to be. I get really nervous during public speaking and I let that affect my attitude and the overall presentation. When I get nervous I start to stutter and fidget, which ends up resulting in a loss of attention from the audience and a huge amount of embarrassment on my end. I think with the help of the video my presentation skills will improve. 

I believe this video is credible because the whole You Tube page is dedicated to public speaking and is titled, Rule The Room Public Speaking. As I was reading the comments I noticed that all of the comments were positive and many people stated that the video helped them improve their speaking skills immensely. To summarize, the 5 steps that the video says are the formula to deliver a killer presentation are, to give a confident introduction, give your credentials, deliver your hook, introduce your agenda, and give a credible statement. The man in the video was very informative and was really confident in the 5 steps he was giving. I honestly think that if I follow these steps I will have no reason to get nervous and overthink everything I am doing.