Zero Landfill Mini Golf Project (Exhibition)
Project Description
For this project, we had to create a mini golf hole inspired by a certain physics concept, which could be derived from any historical or modern physicist who had a revolutionary impact on society. This work was to be displayed on Exhibition night, which is the large showing of all of our progress in the year at HTHNC. This design we were to create for Exhibition also had to involve a certain product that can be TerraCycled, which is an organization that supports the collection of products like Capri Sun packets and Elmer's glue bottles that should not be thrown away but cannot be recycled. This was based off of our previous exploration of waste generation in the Zero Landfill Project in this class earlier in the year, and the Nature & Me project in Humanities. To make their design, groups of 3-5 students were formulated and had a limited budget to make their piece. This was achieved through blueprints, prototypes, and more aspects related to the welfare of the final product. In addition, there was a group of 6-7 students who were in charge of the artwork and logistics of the Exhibition, which is our special display of all of the incredible work we do at High Tech High North County.
The "art group" would design the layout of the room, make a budget for all Exhibition-related costs, create art pieces that were coherent with the Exhibition theme of "Landfill Waste", etc. My responsibilities included designing scorecards for the mini golf Exhibition, planning food costs, and coming up with a room design. All of these aspects were crucial to the success of Exhibition, because our class needed to somehow manage the flow of incoming visitors and have them stop to look at some art or a brochure. These products not only would teach students about the effects of our own habits regarding waste and the options one has when they are done using a certain product, but our class also needed to educate visitors about what they could do to prevent further damage to the environment. In addition to the tasks I mentioned earlier that I had to complete, I wrote a letter to HTHNC visitors to take with them on Exhibition night about the basics of TerraCycle, what it is and how community members can get involved.
You can find all of the documents I used over the course of Exhibition preparation time to help me succeed on the big night, as well as a slideshow detailing the process!
For this project, we had to create a mini golf hole inspired by a certain physics concept, which could be derived from any historical or modern physicist who had a revolutionary impact on society. This work was to be displayed on Exhibition night, which is the large showing of all of our progress in the year at HTHNC. This design we were to create for Exhibition also had to involve a certain product that can be TerraCycled, which is an organization that supports the collection of products like Capri Sun packets and Elmer's glue bottles that should not be thrown away but cannot be recycled. This was based off of our previous exploration of waste generation in the Zero Landfill Project in this class earlier in the year, and the Nature & Me project in Humanities. To make their design, groups of 3-5 students were formulated and had a limited budget to make their piece. This was achieved through blueprints, prototypes, and more aspects related to the welfare of the final product. In addition, there was a group of 6-7 students who were in charge of the artwork and logistics of the Exhibition, which is our special display of all of the incredible work we do at High Tech High North County.
The "art group" would design the layout of the room, make a budget for all Exhibition-related costs, create art pieces that were coherent with the Exhibition theme of "Landfill Waste", etc. My responsibilities included designing scorecards for the mini golf Exhibition, planning food costs, and coming up with a room design. All of these aspects were crucial to the success of Exhibition, because our class needed to somehow manage the flow of incoming visitors and have them stop to look at some art or a brochure. These products not only would teach students about the effects of our own habits regarding waste and the options one has when they are done using a certain product, but our class also needed to educate visitors about what they could do to prevent further damage to the environment. In addition to the tasks I mentioned earlier that I had to complete, I wrote a letter to HTHNC visitors to take with them on Exhibition night about the basics of TerraCycle, what it is and how community members can get involved.
You can find all of the documents I used over the course of Exhibition preparation time to help me succeed on the big night, as well as a slideshow detailing the process!
Project Reflection
Because the Zero Landfill Mini Golf Project was going to be displayed at Exhibition, the mood and the environment in the classroom seemed to be turned up a notch. Exhibition night is when High Tech High North County shows students, parents, visitors what project-based learning is all about. If our school does not represent itself well, families considering HTHNC might be more hesitant to do so since they may not have seen what they wanted to see. With all of this in mind, I was definitely successful in what I wanted to accomplish in this project and I managed my time very well, but I always had to deal with that extra bit of stress and pressure as Exhibition drew nearer.
As I stated in my project description (above), our class had to create a mini golf course that displayed the thinking or famous concept of a well-known physicist that impacted our world, and each hole needed to incorporate a TerraCycle product, which is an item that cannot be disposed of through the trash or recycling, and should be "upcycled", or transformed for a different purpose. In addition, there was a group that worked on more of the aesthetics, which included creating artwork, room signs, brochures, and Exhibition posters and logistical tasks such as budgets, setup, etc. My responsibilities were varied, but my main two focus areas were making an Exhibition brochure and an interactive game for visitors that they could play to learn more about TerraCycle. For the brochure, I spent quite a bit of time measuring and editing it, and it took me about two weeks to finish. Nine lengthy and tiring drafts later, I had my final copy, and I was ready to print. Noting that there were going to be a lot of parents, kids, relatives, staff members and community members joining us on Exhibition night, I had to make hundreds of copies of the brochure. However, I faced a problem. During the printing stage, I only had four days until Exhibition. My daily printing allowance was $2.00, which meant that I could only print 10 brochures a day (.10 per page), so I had just enough financially to print 80 brochures. Now this might be good for a low-key display for a project, but definitely not Exhibition. I was a little stressed about this whole ordeal when I received more allowance from a teacher, and I was able to print as many brochures as I needed to because of that. If it was not for that teacher, I would have had to ask multiple classmates to print out brochures on their own time, and that would get messy really quickly.
With this in mind, the HOHAM I feel I used best over the course of this project was self-advocacy, because I had to be in charge of my own project as an independent student. If I had not asked a teacher for a little more financially via our printing system, I would never have been able to print as many brochures as I did. That was a crucial part in my learning about how to manage yourself and your own tasks without someone looking over your shoulder; if you want something, you have to speak up or no one will ever know what your needs are.
As far as my group went, I could not have asked for more diligent and focused partners. Even though we were working on separate tasks that did not always relate, there were minimal times if any that I saw anyone in the art group off task. A group of students worked on the mural, a student worked on the Exhibition website, a group of students researched possible food options to sell at Exhibition, and I worked on technical assignments such as the brochure, the scorecard, and designing an educational TerraCycle game for the visitors to play. We were a well-oiled machine, and there were very little bumps in the road for us to get over. In fact, I was actually surprised at how smoothly our operations went considering that we were preparing for Exhibition. I was also happy with how all of our final products turned out, and in all it was a very successful showcase of our work in the first semester.
Because the Zero Landfill Mini Golf Project was going to be displayed at Exhibition, the mood and the environment in the classroom seemed to be turned up a notch. Exhibition night is when High Tech High North County shows students, parents, visitors what project-based learning is all about. If our school does not represent itself well, families considering HTHNC might be more hesitant to do so since they may not have seen what they wanted to see. With all of this in mind, I was definitely successful in what I wanted to accomplish in this project and I managed my time very well, but I always had to deal with that extra bit of stress and pressure as Exhibition drew nearer.
As I stated in my project description (above), our class had to create a mini golf course that displayed the thinking or famous concept of a well-known physicist that impacted our world, and each hole needed to incorporate a TerraCycle product, which is an item that cannot be disposed of through the trash or recycling, and should be "upcycled", or transformed for a different purpose. In addition, there was a group that worked on more of the aesthetics, which included creating artwork, room signs, brochures, and Exhibition posters and logistical tasks such as budgets, setup, etc. My responsibilities were varied, but my main two focus areas were making an Exhibition brochure and an interactive game for visitors that they could play to learn more about TerraCycle. For the brochure, I spent quite a bit of time measuring and editing it, and it took me about two weeks to finish. Nine lengthy and tiring drafts later, I had my final copy, and I was ready to print. Noting that there were going to be a lot of parents, kids, relatives, staff members and community members joining us on Exhibition night, I had to make hundreds of copies of the brochure. However, I faced a problem. During the printing stage, I only had four days until Exhibition. My daily printing allowance was $2.00, which meant that I could only print 10 brochures a day (.10 per page), so I had just enough financially to print 80 brochures. Now this might be good for a low-key display for a project, but definitely not Exhibition. I was a little stressed about this whole ordeal when I received more allowance from a teacher, and I was able to print as many brochures as I needed to because of that. If it was not for that teacher, I would have had to ask multiple classmates to print out brochures on their own time, and that would get messy really quickly.
With this in mind, the HOHAM I feel I used best over the course of this project was self-advocacy, because I had to be in charge of my own project as an independent student. If I had not asked a teacher for a little more financially via our printing system, I would never have been able to print as many brochures as I did. That was a crucial part in my learning about how to manage yourself and your own tasks without someone looking over your shoulder; if you want something, you have to speak up or no one will ever know what your needs are.
As far as my group went, I could not have asked for more diligent and focused partners. Even though we were working on separate tasks that did not always relate, there were minimal times if any that I saw anyone in the art group off task. A group of students worked on the mural, a student worked on the Exhibition website, a group of students researched possible food options to sell at Exhibition, and I worked on technical assignments such as the brochure, the scorecard, and designing an educational TerraCycle game for the visitors to play. We were a well-oiled machine, and there were very little bumps in the road for us to get over. In fact, I was actually surprised at how smoothly our operations went considering that we were preparing for Exhibition. I was also happy with how all of our final products turned out, and in all it was a very successful showcase of our work in the first semester.
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