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.   

"Students Learn Through Self-Evaluation and Creating Their Own Goals and Expectations" Bob Hugland

Self- Evaluation Questions 

(Ask yourself while evaluating)

Are you satisfied with your learning? 

• Are you satisfied that you demonstrated your knowledge and skill? 

• How does your work compare to the expectations on the rubric? 

• With which parts of the assignment (project, performance, etc.) were you most satisfied? 

• How closely does your work on this assignment (project, performance, etc.) reflect your learning? 

• Why do you think this assignment worked for you? 

• Were there any parts that didn’t work? 

• How did you do the assignment/project? Be specific. 

• Were the strategies that you used effective in helping you reach your goals? o What learning strategies were helpful? Explain. o What would you have to add to learn more, do better, etc.? 

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your effort? 

• Did the amount of time, effort and strategies used help you reach your goal? 

• If you were to do this over, how could it be improved? 

• As a teacher, what can I do to help you? 

• What can I do to increase the value of this assignment/project, etc.?

Unit 2: Mental Health-Reflective Assessment

                       Unit 2: Mental Health Assessment 

Michelle Obama speaks about the stigma that surrounds mental health,  “At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg, or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there should be no distinction.” Our previous unit regarding physical and nutritional health proved to be extremely useful, by educating us on the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but our most recent unit proved to be just as useful as the last. Over the course of eight weeks we have been studying mental health in core and using subjects such as,  Science, English, and Technology to really educate,  ourselves, our peers, and our parents on the importance of mental health. By incorporating mental health into many of our projects such as Romeo and Juliet, our DNA Lab, and the unit project, I was able to really develop an understanding of mental disorders.

For almost five weeks we performed and analyzed the play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare. The goal for this lesson was to choose any character and write an argumentative essay proving why you believed they suffered from a mental disability. I chose to write my essay about how the main protagonist, Juliet Capulet had developed depression in her childhood which ultimately lead to her suicide. With the help of articles such as “Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development” as well as presentations from “Project Success” and “Alcoholics Anonymous” I was really able to develop and understanding of depression and where it stems from.

The webinar, “Understanding Depression in Teens” by Doctor Stringaris explained that most mental disorders are passed on through genetics. To be able to more fully understand how genetics work we completed the Romeo and Juliet DNA lab. Every person has their own genetic code, and because each person’s genetic makeup is different some people are more prone to mental illnesses than others. It is also  very likely for someone to develop the same  mental illness that one or both of their parents may have suffered from. Chromosomes carry hereditary, genetic information in long strings of DNA called genes. Humans have 22 numbered pairs of chromosomes and a single pair of sex chromosomes,  each chromosome pair includes one inherited from the father and one from the mother.

As someone who suffers from anxiety, it is very easy for me to express my thoughts and emotions through art and for the unit project I did just that. I painted three canvases for this project, one canvas was meant to portray social anxiety, one was OCD, and my final painting was generalized anxiety disorder. With the help of research and inspiration, I was able to complete the project. I shared the results on all of my social media pages. Many people ended up messaging me saying that the paintings really portrayed what anxiety was and how it feels to suffer from this disability. The unit project really goes to show that sharing and educating others about mental health is as equally important as the education of physical and nutritional health.

This unit was extremely memorable, and I believe that what I learned can never be unlearned. The education of mental health is crucial. People need to know that having a mental disorder is not something to be ashamed of, some of the most successful and happy people were once victims of mental disabilities. If all schools provided mental health education the world would be a much more peaceful place.