The thinking skill for project one was contextualization.
The topic I chose at first was on spirituality. I realized that spirituality is a very broad subject, so I decided to focus on the paranormal. I have always been interested in ghosts my whole life. Recently, my dad's girlfriend had told me her ghost experiences. I haven't seen a ghost before, but I have felt something that I cannot explain rationally. My questions I have are, "Do ghosts exist? Why do people believe in ghosts?" I believe that I can discover a highly asked question by attempting to talk to a spirit.
"My Ghost Story:" Last winter, I spent over at my Dad's girlfriend's house. I chose to sleep in her younger son's room since he was away for the weekend. It was around 2 am and I was laying on my back, ready to go to sleep, and I had my hand laying part on my hip and on my stomach. I felt a warm hand slide underneath my hand. I looked down at my hand and nothing was there. I didn't think it was a ghost, and I'm still not sure if it was actually a ghost or my half asleep dream state.
Instead of making multiple products for each subject, I made a guidebook to ghosts for children. The target audience is 8-10 year olds.
The first page is a small introduction to the paranormal world. The intro also raises the interest level of the reader. The next few pages introduce the characters of the guidebook. I chose to make a ghost believer, a pastor, and a physics teacher as characters. After that, the book changes from a story book to a guide. |
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History
As a junior, I will be taking self in the modern world instead of civics. Self in the modern world is about your morals and how would you belong in the world outside of school. In my opinion, I think that this class is better for me to take as a junior because I'm trying to figure out what I want to do and what colleges I would like to apply to based on what my values are.
In the beginning of my project, I was very lost. I hadn't decided what aspect of spirituality I wanted to cover. A few days of basic researching, I chose to aim my project towards ghosts and the paranormal.
The first meeting I had with Mr. Wimmer was the most informative. I realized I could go anywhere with this topic, since I'm trying to solve the big question, "Are ghosts real?" After the meeting, I quickly realized that I had to be social for this project. I could get the minimal information by researching, but interviewing mediums, physics teachers, ghost believers, and pastors where my best option to get as much information as I could.
The first meeting I had with Mr. Wimmer was the most informative. I realized I could go anywhere with this topic, since I'm trying to solve the big question, "Are ghosts real?" After the meeting, I quickly realized that I had to be social for this project. I could get the minimal information by researching, but interviewing mediums, physics teachers, ghost believers, and pastors where my best option to get as much information as I could.
Mr. Wimmer recommended that I watched a youtube series called BuzzFeed Unsolved. This series covers unsolved crimes, murders, and ghost stories. The video I have linked on the right is the first video I watched. After watching almost all of their episodes on ghosts, I can say for certain that episode is the most convincing that ghosts are real.
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Are ghosts real? Why do people believe in ghosts? What is the emotional and rational aspect to people's opinion when they answer these questions?
After researching these questions, I received multiple answers. The answers I got were yes and no. Depending on what you believe, your religion, and the amount of scientific knowledge you have, your answer will be different from others.
After researching these questions, I received multiple answers. The answers I got were yes and no. Depending on what you believe, your religion, and the amount of scientific knowledge you have, your answer will be different from others.
English
Throughout my Apollo career, I realized that the english portion of my projects are the most difficult for me. I spent 3-4 days figuring out what I wanted to do for this portion of the project. I decided I wanted to write interview questions for a ghost believer, a pastor, and a physics teacher. Though, that wasn't enough for a product. During the first meeting, Mr. Ward suggested that I write a guidebook or a children's book about ghosts. He also recommended me to research ghost stories to build context of what ghosts are capable of doing. I took in his suggestions and decided I wanted to make a guidebook for children. 8-10 year old would be the target audience and would be the reading level I would be writing in.
The questions I created:
Interview Questions for a Paranormal Believer
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Interview Questions for a Pastor
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After organizing the interview information, I started my guidebook writing. I used a couple of children's books as a reference for the type of vocab used in the books. I also created a glossary at the end of the book.
References:
References:
Art
I admit, it took me quite a while to figure out what I wanted to make for art. I really didn't have anything planned out until I came up with the idea of making a children's guidebook. My end goal was to create interesting illustrations.
My drawings don't really please the younger demographic, so I had to use references. I found an artist influence along the way. She is a digital artist who is known for her whimsical, natural illustrations. Her name is Cynthia Alonso, and I immediately fell in love with her work. I liked the way she layers her colors and the materials she uses. I wan't able to identify the specific tools used for each drawing, but I was able to use the 6B pencil on Procreate to mimic the technique.
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Rough drafts:
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The final pictures:
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In each picture, I wanted it to fit the theme or the context of the page. Example, the intro was about what happens after death. I created a grave and a picture of spirits floating. This helps the reader understand the context of the page. |
Conclusion:
It wasn't until creating this webpage about my project that I realized that I had a long process and I've accomplished more than I thought. When I finished everything and saw my product, I wasn't impressed, but the effort and steps I made to get to the product was impressive. The topic I chose, "Are ghosts real?" was the most thought provoking and "scary" project I have done in my Apollo career.
I thought I was going to get a definitive answer from this project. Sadly, I didn't. Depending on your background, you may or may not believe in ghosts. There hasn't been proof that ghosts are real. Everything that has been "caught on camera" can be faked or can be explained logically.
I thought I was going to get a definitive answer from this project. Sadly, I didn't. Depending on your background, you may or may not believe in ghosts. There hasn't been proof that ghosts are real. Everything that has been "caught on camera" can be faked or can be explained logically.