Amber Band Declarations

All of the proposed Amber Band project declarations have been approved! Throughout the exploration phase of the By Land Arc, we took a closer look at human migration. We researched traditions local to San Francisco, and traced those traditions back to their origins in Mexico; mapped how our school’s neighborhood, the Mission, has changed over time; designed vehicles that mimic systems from nature in a way that might allow them to cross borders; tracked movement by experimenting with mark-making techniques; and researched forced migration through the close observation of personally meaningful objects. Now in the third week of the expression phase, students are building on what they learned in the exploration phase through their own expression project. Last week students shared declarations with Gever and Liz for final approval, and here's what was proposed:AudreyI am proposing to build on a project that I did previously in the seed arc where I figured out what you would have to do to plant something on Mars, or I learned how to terraform Mars in other words. I want to do this by building on the plant aspect of this project and researching plants that live in extreme environments. My guiding question will be: How do plants survive in extreme environments on Earth? How will they do the same thing with the environment on Mars? I want to research these plants because they could easily be fit to be the first plants on Mars. Two of the biggest problems with trying to plant things on Mars are dust storms and radiation. During this arc, we have mostly focused on how humans move by land, well, plants do it too!! I want to learn how plants in extreme environments got there.DeclanI want my final product to be a small, safe, portable steam engine that could be used for educational and recreational purposes. It should also be easily put together and taken apart safely, or could simply fit in a 12” x 12” box. You are probably wondering what makes this steam engine educational. Well, I am going to paint the steam engine different colors to indicate what is doing what. For example I would paint the airways that the steam is escaping from the piston blue to indicate this steam has been used and is not going to be powering the engine anymore.ElijahThe end goal is to have a wooden ladder on wheels that can be stowed when not used. It should have a foam landing pad to accompany it which will help for safer and easier transportation of the barrels and whatever else is up there. I may need help from someone else for construction due to my inexperience building and to help speed up the project, especially if I want to paint it. This is challenging because of my lack of knowledge about building. I will have to research the best ways to use wood in order to create a safe ladder. This will be a great opportunity to learn and develop new skills like design and engineering, while building a product that will benefit the school.Norabelle, Khalia, and EllaWe will build a Rube Goldberg machine that will follow transportation on land through the years. At the beginning of the Arc Megan said we could make a Rube Goldberg Machine, but we had to do it in 45 minutes. We tried, but it didn’t work. So I, Norabelle, decided that I wanted to do it for my project so that I could actually get it to work. Ella and Khalia wanted to join because they liked making Rube Goldberg machines too. This project would be challenging because we’ve never really done many mechanical engineering projects, so it will be fun to see the chain reactions all leading to the end.FelixThis project is based around the question “Can thirty minutes of meditation calm you down?” In order to find the answer to this question I’m going to practice walking meditation thirty minutes a day. While walking I will be listening to a calming meditation tape. In order to see the effect of this meditation I’m going to track my heart rate in the morning, before I go on my walk and after I go on my walk. I’ll then take my heart rate and put it into a chart listing the average heart beats a minute a day.  I’m also going to write a reflection at the end of each day that talks about how I’m feeling. When I’m all done if my heart rate has slowed down the question will be answered yes. If it stays the same or beats faster the question will be answered no.OscarI will build a wagon add-on that will transport LARPing weapons to and from park. The desired product will make bringing the LARPing weapons to park much easier and more efficient by holding all of the LARPing weapons in a safe and efficient manner, and dividing the weight of the LARPing weapons throughout the wagon. By researching how weapons have been transported, I will be able to see how others have transported weapons, and incorporate other’s designs into my final design. This project is a challenge for me because it will exercise my building skills, my programing skills, and my reading and writing skills. It will exercise my building skills because I will be building a cart add-on to hold LARPing weapons and armor. It will exercise my programming skills because I will be programing an Arduino to track RFID chips. It will exercise my reading and writing skills because I will be writing a research paper about how weapons were transported from one place to another throughout time. Right now we use a barrel on a wagon to transport the LARPing weapons to park. I think that making a wagon that is designed to carry LARPing weapons will be more efficient, and easier to carry, therefore making the entire experience more enjoyable.RhoneFor my project I will make two drift trikes one out of wood and one out of metal and drive it down Bernal Hill to see if there are any problems and how I can fix them. I think that this project will be challenging because  it will involve welding and physics. I think that it is worth five weeks because it’s something that I am interested in and will not only get to explore the world of welding and drift karts, but also get to meet people in the BYOBW (Bring Your Own Big Wheel) community. I will talk about the BYOBW community and the people I got to meet in my presentation.