The Ethics and Chemistry of Food and Cooking
In this project, we examined both the ethics and chemistry within foods. In humanities we looked at the ethical side of food, including organic vs. nonorganic, the meat industry, and lots more. We were provided with the book “ The Omnivore's Dilemma”, and a few documentaries about food, to help us to create our own food ethics. In chemistry, we examined and learned about the science behind foods. We did min labs in class, learning how to create the perfect lemonade using citric acid and baking soda. For this project, we were put in groups to make a yummy meal using the chemistry and the food ethics we had developed. For the humanities section of the project we wrote an essay based on our new or old food ethics, and for chemistry we wrote recipe cards for the variable we chose to change. Then these projects we exhibited at the All School Exhibition.
My group decided to make an Italian locally grown themed meal. We each had a course of the meal that we were in charge of making, and everyone’s final product was really good and tasty. All of the food that we made was delicious and it was great to be able to share our food and the ethics behind it with our guests and each other. Over all think it was a good experience, I liked listening to others food ethics and the chemistry behind their food. Although I wish that my group members and I were able to sit at the table and participate in the meal, and conversation. In the end it was great experience and I am really happy with this project.
I liked the combination of the humanities and chemistry classes, the two class combined was a great idea, especially one that revolves around more than one side of food . Over the last few years at Animas I can’t remember doing a project like this one and I wish we had, I really loved being able to take my food ethic and learn the science behind it all at once. Having learned all sides of this topic made this project all the more intriguing and exciting, and it gave me the chance to be more informed than if I had only learned one aspect of food.
My main takeaway from this project was realizing how important it was to me that I participate my own food chain. Which has helped me instilled a connection to what I eat; to the land and its creatures that we derive our food from, along with the energy it takes to produce it your own food. While doing this project I have come to the realization that it is very important that we respect each others food ethics, because people chose to define them by what they eat, and no body should be judged for how they eat.
My group decided to make an Italian locally grown themed meal. We each had a course of the meal that we were in charge of making, and everyone’s final product was really good and tasty. All of the food that we made was delicious and it was great to be able to share our food and the ethics behind it with our guests and each other. Over all think it was a good experience, I liked listening to others food ethics and the chemistry behind their food. Although I wish that my group members and I were able to sit at the table and participate in the meal, and conversation. In the end it was great experience and I am really happy with this project.
I liked the combination of the humanities and chemistry classes, the two class combined was a great idea, especially one that revolves around more than one side of food . Over the last few years at Animas I can’t remember doing a project like this one and I wish we had, I really loved being able to take my food ethic and learn the science behind it all at once. Having learned all sides of this topic made this project all the more intriguing and exciting, and it gave me the chance to be more informed than if I had only learned one aspect of food.
My main takeaway from this project was realizing how important it was to me that I participate my own food chain. Which has helped me instilled a connection to what I eat; to the land and its creatures that we derive our food from, along with the energy it takes to produce it your own food. While doing this project I have come to the realization that it is very important that we respect each others food ethics, because people chose to define them by what they eat, and no body should be judged for how they eat.
Willing to be Disturbed
Project Reflection
For this this project, I decided to write about the debate on the issue of abortion. As a young woman 17 year old woman I have become more interested on the topic of abortion. My interest with this topic made me want to explore more, and so I chose to research both political sides of the debate. After doing all of the research on the political views I decided to write an open letter to young woman, and for the visual part of the project I did a painting. In the letter I wrote to young women I talked about the importance of middle ground on the debate of abortion and the painting that I did supported that by having a silhouette of a pregnant woman with an upside down question mark, showing that she hasn’t made up her mind of what she wants to do with the baby.
Overall I really enjoyed the exhibition, the feeling of knowing that the project was finished was very rewarding. I liked were the exhibition was set up, it stepped up the energy level because there were older people there which made me want to sound smart and impress people. The conversations that I had with parents and other community members, was very indepth and came to be personal with some people.
The seminar part of the exhibition at first, made me a little nervous because there were a lot of adults and strongly opinionated people in the crowd. I also wanted to show people that I well informed after doing this project and I wanted people to see that in the seminar by saying something interesting or outstanding. Although another part of me was terrified to talk, I was thinking that I might say something that doesn’t make sense, stupid, or something that is not on the topic of willing to be distributed. I was afraid of being embarrassed, but then I realized how upset I would be with myself if I didn’t say anything during the seminar. So after my little prep-talk in my head, I decided to not care what anyone thought and just go with what my guts said. I am glad that I had the courage to talk in front of everyone because in the end I had some very strong points that I made on how we should use the Willing to be Disturbed technique to make a change in the world.
After looking at both sides of the debate of abortion more deeply, I have come to the conclusion that my perspective has shifted. When I started to research this issue I believed that I was a pro-choice because I agreed that women have the right to decide on what happens with their body and having an abortion is a personal choice regarding a woman's body. But now I agree with certain things on the pro-life side and the pro-choice side, such as that having an abortion after 20 weeks would be murder. I think a human life begins at conception and abortion is the murder of a human life. I think that women should have the right to abortions before 20 weeks. It is their choice to make, however after 20 weeks, the baby’s nervous system has formed, it can feel pain, so I don’t think abortion after 20 weeks is ethical. I have just began to understand that my values lie on both sides of the argument, and I have come to the realization that it is okay to be in the common ground on the debate of abortion.
After completing this project, my knowledge about democracy has expanded very much. Doing this project help me come to realization that, voters in a democracy often are misinformed or uninformed and have no idea what or who they are voting for. In a representative democracy citizens elect representatives to act on their behalf in the government to vote on decisions. These are only a few things that I have learned over the course of this project.
The “willingness to be disturbed” in the democratic society, could help create a more connected and appreciating society. Our willingness to have our beliefs and ideas challenged by what others think, is the key to a successful change within the next generation. If we go into our daily lives not thinking that we are right all time, then you have the chance to really hear what someone has to say. So there is no miscommunication in a heated or difficult conversation. We need to be willing to be disturbed, and question our beliefs and ideas. I know one day, our generation will make a great changes in the world.
For this this project, I decided to write about the debate on the issue of abortion. As a young woman 17 year old woman I have become more interested on the topic of abortion. My interest with this topic made me want to explore more, and so I chose to research both political sides of the debate. After doing all of the research on the political views I decided to write an open letter to young woman, and for the visual part of the project I did a painting. In the letter I wrote to young women I talked about the importance of middle ground on the debate of abortion and the painting that I did supported that by having a silhouette of a pregnant woman with an upside down question mark, showing that she hasn’t made up her mind of what she wants to do with the baby.
Overall I really enjoyed the exhibition, the feeling of knowing that the project was finished was very rewarding. I liked were the exhibition was set up, it stepped up the energy level because there were older people there which made me want to sound smart and impress people. The conversations that I had with parents and other community members, was very indepth and came to be personal with some people.
The seminar part of the exhibition at first, made me a little nervous because there were a lot of adults and strongly opinionated people in the crowd. I also wanted to show people that I well informed after doing this project and I wanted people to see that in the seminar by saying something interesting or outstanding. Although another part of me was terrified to talk, I was thinking that I might say something that doesn’t make sense, stupid, or something that is not on the topic of willing to be distributed. I was afraid of being embarrassed, but then I realized how upset I would be with myself if I didn’t say anything during the seminar. So after my little prep-talk in my head, I decided to not care what anyone thought and just go with what my guts said. I am glad that I had the courage to talk in front of everyone because in the end I had some very strong points that I made on how we should use the Willing to be Disturbed technique to make a change in the world.
After looking at both sides of the debate of abortion more deeply, I have come to the conclusion that my perspective has shifted. When I started to research this issue I believed that I was a pro-choice because I agreed that women have the right to decide on what happens with their body and having an abortion is a personal choice regarding a woman's body. But now I agree with certain things on the pro-life side and the pro-choice side, such as that having an abortion after 20 weeks would be murder. I think a human life begins at conception and abortion is the murder of a human life. I think that women should have the right to abortions before 20 weeks. It is their choice to make, however after 20 weeks, the baby’s nervous system has formed, it can feel pain, so I don’t think abortion after 20 weeks is ethical. I have just began to understand that my values lie on both sides of the argument, and I have come to the realization that it is okay to be in the common ground on the debate of abortion.
After completing this project, my knowledge about democracy has expanded very much. Doing this project help me come to realization that, voters in a democracy often are misinformed or uninformed and have no idea what or who they are voting for. In a representative democracy citizens elect representatives to act on their behalf in the government to vote on decisions. These are only a few things that I have learned over the course of this project.
The “willingness to be disturbed” in the democratic society, could help create a more connected and appreciating society. Our willingness to have our beliefs and ideas challenged by what others think, is the key to a successful change within the next generation. If we go into our daily lives not thinking that we are right all time, then you have the chance to really hear what someone has to say. So there is no miscommunication in a heated or difficult conversation. We need to be willing to be disturbed, and question our beliefs and ideas. I know one day, our generation will make a great changes in the world.
Visual Presentation
Personal Essay
Abortion
My parents chit chat about things that happen in the world, and they like to keep up with the news. As many children do, I can’t help but overhear them. They usually have an opinion about what’s going on in the world. My parents share information with me which makes me think for myself, be more aware, and pay more attention to the news. In a family with three daughters, women's rights is an issue that they feel strongly about, one of these rights that I have embraced is abortion.
My mom likes to make sure that my sisters and I are informed about things such as rape, because we are woman, and we need to be aware about these things. My mother keeps us informed because they only way to keep us safe is to know what's going around the world. She gives us the details of what happens around the four corners area, so we can know what to watch out for, and know what not to do when we feel threatened. When I hear that a 10 year old or 14 year old had been kidnaped raped and killed, I feel so sick to my stomach and most of all scared to death. My mother heard about this in the local news about a year ago, and informed my sisters and I about it so we would be aware of the potential danger. Growing up in Maui, in a small community we were sheltered from harmful experiences. We kind of lived in a bubble, being innocent and naive can be dangerous and my mother thinks as we are growing up that we need to know what's going on around us.
The reason I am a liberal on abortion is primarily because of the sad fact of rape and sexual assault. I couldn’t even imagine a women having their rapist's child and having to live with the child and seeing in their child’s face the man that raped her. If I got raped or sexual assulted, then I would want to have an abortion. I wouldn’t want to deal with the pain and the constant reminder of getting raped. Abortion is not a painless or easy process for woman. Certainly everyone woman who has ever has to have an abortion felt waves of guilt, and sadness. In an article called Did Abortion Legalization Reduce the Number Of Unwanted Children? The author Marianne Bitler states, "conclusions that abortion legalization led to a reduction in the number of "unwanted" children; such a reduction may have improved average infant health and children's living conditions.” Legalized abortions would cause an increase in sexual activity and reducing the amount of abortions, and women would have the right to do what they want with their bodies.
I believe that a women should be able to make the choice of what they can do with their bodies. I do think that there needs to be a certain point in a pregnancy where you can not have an abortion, because the baby is too developed making it a human being. In an article called When Does A Fetus Feel Pain?, author Elise Kleeman states “ fetuses cannot feel pain until at least the 28th week of gestation because they haven't formed the necessary nerve pathways,.... although fetuses start forming pain receptors eight weeks into development, the thalamus, the part of the brain that routes information to other areas, doesn't form for 20 more weeks.” I would say it is safe to have an abortion around 15 weeks into the pregnancy, so you are not harming the fetus. Some liberals on the right side would agree that you should be allowed to have an abortion at any time in the pregnancy, but it is proven that a fetus is actually alive before it’s born which makes it murder if you have an abortion 28 weeks into the pregnancy.
The Colorado state law is one of the few states where a late abortion can be obtained, outpatient abortion is available up to 26 weeks. The law also says that it is your right to have a safe and legal abortion, although 87% of Colorado counties do not have an abortion provider. There is not mandatory waiting period before being able to obtain an abortion, and a woman may obtain an abortion without permission from her spouse.
Abortion
My parents chit chat about things that happen in the world, and they like to keep up with the news. As many children do, I can’t help but overhear them. They usually have an opinion about what’s going on in the world. My parents share information with me which makes me think for myself, be more aware, and pay more attention to the news. In a family with three daughters, women's rights is an issue that they feel strongly about, one of these rights that I have embraced is abortion.
My mom likes to make sure that my sisters and I are informed about things such as rape, because we are woman, and we need to be aware about these things. My mother keeps us informed because they only way to keep us safe is to know what's going around the world. She gives us the details of what happens around the four corners area, so we can know what to watch out for, and know what not to do when we feel threatened. When I hear that a 10 year old or 14 year old had been kidnaped raped and killed, I feel so sick to my stomach and most of all scared to death. My mother heard about this in the local news about a year ago, and informed my sisters and I about it so we would be aware of the potential danger. Growing up in Maui, in a small community we were sheltered from harmful experiences. We kind of lived in a bubble, being innocent and naive can be dangerous and my mother thinks as we are growing up that we need to know what's going on around us.
The reason I am a liberal on abortion is primarily because of the sad fact of rape and sexual assault. I couldn’t even imagine a women having their rapist's child and having to live with the child and seeing in their child’s face the man that raped her. If I got raped or sexual assulted, then I would want to have an abortion. I wouldn’t want to deal with the pain and the constant reminder of getting raped. Abortion is not a painless or easy process for woman. Certainly everyone woman who has ever has to have an abortion felt waves of guilt, and sadness. In an article called Did Abortion Legalization Reduce the Number Of Unwanted Children? The author Marianne Bitler states, "conclusions that abortion legalization led to a reduction in the number of "unwanted" children; such a reduction may have improved average infant health and children's living conditions.” Legalized abortions would cause an increase in sexual activity and reducing the amount of abortions, and women would have the right to do what they want with their bodies.
I believe that a women should be able to make the choice of what they can do with their bodies. I do think that there needs to be a certain point in a pregnancy where you can not have an abortion, because the baby is too developed making it a human being. In an article called When Does A Fetus Feel Pain?, author Elise Kleeman states “ fetuses cannot feel pain until at least the 28th week of gestation because they haven't formed the necessary nerve pathways,.... although fetuses start forming pain receptors eight weeks into development, the thalamus, the part of the brain that routes information to other areas, doesn't form for 20 more weeks.” I would say it is safe to have an abortion around 15 weeks into the pregnancy, so you are not harming the fetus. Some liberals on the right side would agree that you should be allowed to have an abortion at any time in the pregnancy, but it is proven that a fetus is actually alive before it’s born which makes it murder if you have an abortion 28 weeks into the pregnancy.
The Colorado state law is one of the few states where a late abortion can be obtained, outpatient abortion is available up to 26 weeks. The law also says that it is your right to have a safe and legal abortion, although 87% of Colorado counties do not have an abortion provider. There is not mandatory waiting period before being able to obtain an abortion, and a woman may obtain an abortion without permission from her spouse.