the motor-controlled car I will be constructing is powered by two motors, one on each rear wheel, and connected to the same power source. My power source for the car will be a 9-volt battery, which will be connected to a switch that controls when the car will move, this allows the car to become safer for kids, not having to mess with batteries whenever they are interested to play with the toy, the two wheels at the front will be connected by a metal rod and stuck inside a tube, therefore, it can freely rotate from the force in the rear motors. the main body of my car will be made out of cardboard/wood depending on the weight of everything, the board in the middle stabilizes the car and acts as a core of the whole toy. My clients are little kids, kids who are interested in cars and would like to play with them. This is a more environmentally friendly choice for them due to the low amount of plastic compared to other motor cars.
Carina
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein
what is the purpose of your toy? How does it function and who is your user?
the purpose of this toy is for kids to have fun, targeted kids from 3-12, this can teach them about how electrical energy and transfer into kinetic energy.
What is the environmental impact of your product and is it durable and safe?
it will be environmentally friendly as the car would be made from mostly wood, however, the motor might not be as friendly. It will be safe for children as the motor does not have high force, it would have a switch on the car in order to start and stop the car.
What precedents inspired you? What did you take out from them and how did it inform your choices?
this toy is inspired and adapted from the remote-controlled cars that have been selling all around the world, I took out the remote-controlled part and modified it as a car that would move on its own.
How are you making your product original or using creativity?
the original aspect of my product is the outlook and appearance, unlike other fancy cars it looks very homemade and you could see the hard work that has gone into the car. It is not packaged in plastic or metal but the bare bones are out, it allows children to observe and explore the roots of a car and how is it built. It also leads the car to become more environmentally friendly, without the excessive amount of plastic but replaced with cardboard and wood,
strengths and weaknesses
the strength of my product is that i have finished building all the individual parts of the car, it is well connected and all electrical circuits fit together. The main weakness is that I have yet to finish building the whole product itself, I fell sick for one of the classes and did not have enough time to finish my toy.
Peer feedback
a lot of positive feedback was about my use of materials on the car, the wheels of the car are made from recycled round wood bits. Not using the fancy pre-made rubber/plastic wheels but being eco-friendly and making use of the extra bits from the design center. I feel pretty proud of my thought of the wooden wheels as well, I think it gives the car a more childish sense.
Many constructive comments were towards the fact that I have not finished my product, which I totally agree and think its a bummer I had to miss one of the lessons and couldn’t finish due to the lack of time.
design process
when I first got introduced to this topic, my head immediately jumped to the thought of building a motor-controlled car, maybe it’s because of a lifelong fascination with cars or maybe because I thought it would be an easy product to make. I started out wanting to make a single motor car with rods and screws connecting to rotate the wheels, but then I figured with the limited time it would not have been possible to design and create everything in time so I changed to a double rear motor for the two wheels. I then made the blueprint and started to create the product.
learnings
in this project, I have learned how to properly connect wires, I have learned ways to stabalize down wires and let them contact without moving around. I have also learned that thing don’t always go the way planned, there could be many changes along the way. My initial design was a lot different than what would originally have been produced, measurements were changed and the types of materials were changed, I have learned to be versatile and be able to adapt and correct.
Design specifications
I successfully designed a product that is targeted at kids, and I changed it into a safer and environmentally friendlier product. I believe that I have filled the criteria as my product performs a type of energy transfer. The energy transfer in my product is from electrical to kinetic, the battery is the energy source that connects to the motor. The motor has a wheel attached which makes the wheels spin, forcing the whole car to move, hence, the kinetic energy.
I’m proud of myself for connecting the electrical wires, I was very confused about how to do it at first but I asked for a few teachers’ help and got the hang of what I needed to do. The largest challenge was definitely time for me, it was very unfortunate that I couldn’t finish my product and would need to improve on time management next time around.S
Figure 1Fairtrade farmer working in a farm at Sociedad Agrícola Prieto, Ecuador. Source: Fairtrade
Imagine having to drop out of school at the age of 14 years old because you need to help on your family farm in order to earn your living expenses (Zamora 2013). When after long hours of working below tremendous heat you do not even earn enough to meet the lowest wage. How would you feel? These are the real-life situations of the farmers of poor areas, behind the scrumptious and gorgeous food that people get each day, is the ugly truth of unfair farming trade.
The issue of unfair trade leads to several different problems, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, also known as SDGs, such as decent work and economic growth, good health and well-being and clean water and sanitation all links to the central topic of unfair trade. These problems have not been fully resolved yet; the United Nations is working hard towards it to eliminate them.
Unfair trade
Banana farmers
As the demand for food is always on the rise, businesses are always looking for more opportunities to earn money. Bananas have a remarkably high global export value of an estimate of 7 billion dollars (about $22 per person in the US) per year (Banana Price Crunch), making it a stay as an economic bedrock for several countries. Behind all the fresh and tasty bananas there are the banana producers, which generally all work hard in banana fields each day, facing all kinds of natural disasters and risking their lives harvesting, planting and more. The farmers can only gain around one to three percent of the banana’s retail price, only around $3 dollars, the other ninety seven percent goes to export and other businesses (Peeling Back Truth).
Figure 2 Supermarket in Australia drops banana price to $1 per kilogram Source: Honan Kim, ABC
The fight for low prices
The fight for low prices in different businesses are threatening banana farmers, with the price of fertilizers and exports increasing, the price of bananas stays the same or increases by barely anything. The global prices of bananas are pushed down as retailers keep on competing and pushing the prices down, trying to attract customers by loss-leader strategy (Banana Price Crunch), which is when the product is being sold at a price lower than its market price, it helps attract new customers and is often used by new businesses (Banton 2021). When consumers are enjoying low price products and the business are earning new customers, the farmers are suffering on the other hand due to the low pay. The low price sold in supermarkets leads the retailers needing a lower supply source, and it is barely enough for the farmer’s production and export fees. There are at least 800,000 families across Latin America and the Caribbean working on banana fields and depending on the low pay to survive (Banana Price Crunch). The competition of low prices might lead to the farmers losing their land and jobs when there honestly are not a lot of alternatives to them.
Unfair trade and wages dragging farmers into poverty
Except from bananas, other farmers around the world such as Ghana, west Africa, the Caribbean… also experience unfair pay the richest nations such as have drove them into poverty. The richer countries were not trying to help the developing countries and on the controversial is using their old ways to try to take out as much money from the developing counties as possible. They pick on weaker countries that basically could not defend themselves and “extract the maximum possible concessions” (The Irish Times). The farmers in poorer countries often find themselves stuck in poverty more than farmers in richer countries as they are lacking basic education, healthcare and housing. The farmers in poorer areas use cheap medicines and lack clean water and sanitation. The stronger countries trying to pull out money from developing countries make it harder and harder for them to build up, forming a corrupt cycle that drags developing countries into poverty.
Living and working conditions of farmers
The living conditions of farmers
The farmers need to live in precarious conditions despite the low pay. In Central America, several coffee farms have farmers living in warehouses where 40-60 farmers need to live together (Zamora 2013). The warehouses lack security, protection, and basic privacy needs. Intruders could easily break into the warehouses and steal the extremely limited amount of money they have. The farmers have very constrained access to clean water and needless to say zero electricity or WI-FI. The farmers also have insufficient sanitation, they have limited toilets and sometimes need to use coffee fields as bathrooms. Showers are often not found, and the farmers need to wash themselves at the nearby lakes (roast magazine). Showing how unsanitary their housing is, this could possibly lead to deadly germs and viruses infecting the farmers, affecting their body conditions because of the shortage of medical support.
Figure 3 up to 60 farmers need to live together in warehouses that lack privacy. Source: Zamora Miguel, roast magazine.
Working conditions of farmers
Farmers who work on farms work 10 hours per day and up half of the workers exceed 14-hours per day (Grodman 2020), standing below the boiling sun, the environments are suffering. The coffee farmers in Guatemala can possibly be required to harvest up to 45 kilograms of coffee beans per day. The environment that farmers work in is also highly hazarded, with the consistent high amount of exposure to agrochemicals and shortage of protective equipment for different productions (Grodman 2020). Some farmers try to use banana leaves to cover themselves in order to protect their skin from agrochemicals such as pesticides, which increases the risk of cancer. The farmers face danger by working in the fields each day, due to the of the lack of protective equipment, some experience symptoms including “headaches, fever, dizziness, red eyes, stomach aches, nausea, vomiting, trembling, shaking, itching, burning nostrils, fatigue, and aching bones.” (Food Empowerment Project)
Young age farmers
It is estimated that around 30% of the coffee bean farmers are below the age of 15, a shockingly sizable percentage of people. With more than 60% of children at the age of 14 needing to quit school in order to work in fields, and children starting to farm at the early age of 8. “All over the world in coffee countries, the occurrence of children working on the farm during harvest is unfortunately common” (Zamora 2013). As the children have extraordinarily little power to fight back, the farm owners take advantage of them by giving them very little wage. Using them as a source of cheap labor as they cannot defend themselves. “As farmers need to meet a daily production mass, some of the farmers are imposed to take their children to work with them” (Zamora 2013). Children in the fields also reported that they were being sexually harassed, according to Food Empowerment Project’s report.
Solutions to unfair trade
Figure 4 using the Fairtrade premium, the rice farmers used some of the money to construct a crafts and sewing centre for women and girls. Source: Didier Gentilhomme, Fairtrade
Fair trade label
The Fairtrade label focuses on helping farmers gain fair pay through fair prices that they deserve and try to ensure their human rights. Around 2 million farmers worldwide are involved in Fairtrade, and more a hundred countries partake in the Fairtrade program with the minimum of 30,000 products that are having the Fairtrade label (Fairtrade website). Products include coffee beans, bananas, herbs, ice-cream, cacao chocolate, honey, nuts and many more. Fairtrade finds the core component first which is the minimum price, ensuring the farmers that send their products through Fairtrade will at least gain the lowest price. The farmers are gathered together, and Fairtrade gives them an additional amount of money that farmers can use to invest, they could use it for more sustainable farming, reinvest to themselves by constructing wells to provide them clean water or even build hospitals to cure them from sicknesses. Fairtrade labels also guarantee the quality of products to the consumers, it also gives a more positive perception of brands to the consumers when they buy products that carry it.
Trade laws
Countries have abolished laws to help and prevent unfair trade, the European Parliament have set new trade rules such as setting the “minimum protection standards prohibiting specific unfair practices and applying to companies with a turnover below €350 million” (European Parliament 2019). This rule will ban all refusals of written contracts, last-minute cancellations, unilateral or retroactive changes to contracts etc… (European Parliament 2019). The World Trade Organization also helps farmers by launching agriculture agreements, which includes domestic support that will raise or guarantee farmgate prices and farmers’ incomes. This helps the farmers have a steady income which will help their lives a lot, however, a handful of farmers from developing areas are not benefited as their countries have not set rules yet.
Figure 5 A local wet market in Hong Kong. Source: Ho Sally, Green Queen
How can we help?
Excluding the support from Fairtrade labels and trade laws, the most important building blocks for farmers to gain equal pay are the people, the consumers that would go and buy products from farmers (Sustain). To help the farmer consumers could go to local stores rather than large supermarkets. In China there are local wet markets that the public could buy a wide variety of ingredients. Going to local shops helps farmers as they can set their own price and are not forced to pay export fees and need less packaging, leading to the farmers to receive better pay.
The problem of unfair trade is truly existing, from the scarce pay farmers and their families rely on to the extreme living hazards that they must go through each day when working. With several important SDGs connected to this issue such as decent work and economic growth, good health and well-being and clean water and sanitation, the problem must be solved. The issues of unfair trade do not only affect the farmers, controversially, it has a profound impact on the world a very significant number of humans. Food is our main source of energy, without it we could not work, sustain, or live, as it is one of the most important parts of people’s lives. People should pay more attention to unfair trade, for the farmers, for the people, and for the world.
Works Cited
Barrett, Bill. “Fair Trade a Fair Shake for Farmers.” Guelph Mercury, 23 Aug 2008. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2267889386?accountid=4047.
Bizfluent. Barbara Bean-Mellinger, bizfluent.com/facts-7631166-fair-trade-farmers.html.
Borden Magezine. 12 Nov. 2020, www.borgenmagazine.com/labor-abuse-and-exploitation-the-dark-side-of-ecuadors-banana-industry/.
European Parliament [Europe]. 11 Mar. 2019, www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20190307STO30717/protecting-farmers-and-small-firms-from-unfair-trading-practices.
Fairtrade. 26 Jan. 2022, www.fairtrade.net/news/a-banana-price-crunch-is-hitting-banana-farmers-and-workers-hard-fairtrades-silvia-campos-explains-why. Accessed 18 May 2022.
Fairtrade. Https://www.fairtrade.org.uk.
FairTrade. 10 Apr. 2022, www.fairtradeamerica.org/news-insights/unfair-trade-is-at-the-root-of-poverty/.
“Farmworkers Left Behind: The Human Cost of Coffee Production.” Roastmagazine, dailycoffeenews.com/2013/07/17/farmworkers-left-behind-the-human-cost-of-coffee-production/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20coffee%20pickers%2C%20migrant%20workers%20and%20farmworkers,widespread%20labor%20violations%20in%20coffee%20farms%20in%20Hawaii.
“Five Ways to Support Our Farmers in the Time of Covid-19.” Sustain, Vicki Hird, 24 Mar. 2020, www.sustainweb.org/blogs/mar20_five_ways_to_help_farmers/.
Food Empowerment Project. foodispower.org/our-food-choices/bananas/.
Investopedia. 27 May 2021, www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lossleader.asp.
The Irish Times. 12 Dec. 2005, www.irishtimes.com/opinion/unfair-trade-keeps-developing-farmers-in-poverty-1.1286621.
Johnson, Gale. “Agriculture Economics.” Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/agricultural-economics/Government-intervention.
World Bank. 12 Nov. 2014, www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2014/11/12/for-up-to-800-million-rural-poor-a-strong-world-bank-commitment-to-agriculture.
WorldBankBlogs. 18 Sept. 2015, blogs.worldbank.org/psd/should-governments-support-development-agricultural-insurance-markets#:~:text=1%20Improve%20farmers%E2%80%99%20creditworthiness%20and%20open%20the%20door,who%20are%20typically%20hit%20hardest%20by%20natural%20disasters.
There were things that became better after the revolution, women’s rights were improved, they had more opportunities. Some women were soldiers during the revolution joining Zapata’s army. Many women became fantastic writers and politicians as they got better rights slowly. After years and years of inequalities and oppression, the Mexicans have finally gained back the freedom they deserved. Land was given back to the indigenous and worker had more stable pay with better working conditions. Mexico finally had a stable government by the rule of Obregon, ending the years of wars and giving freedom to the Mexicans.
Hi! this is a video about the Mexican Revolution, this was a revolution that lasted for ten years, it was filled of bloodshed and war, it was a revolution for the people, specifically the lower class workers and slaves to gain more rights and freedom. Mexico went through 5 presidents during the ten years including Porfirio Diaz, Francisco Madero, Victoriano Huerta, Venustiano Carranza and Álvaro Obregón. There were lots of twists and turns during the ten year span, lots of lives were taken but they had found peace at the end. If you would like to learn more about the Mexican revolution click the video below!
The Borden Murders is a book based on the real event of the brutal murder of Lizzie Borden’s stepmother and father, they were both killed by an axe, the savage murderer chopped them until their face was unrecognizable and skull chipped. Lizzie was the main suspect of the case and was soon arrested. This trial was also known as the “trial of the century” as it was very intense and took thirteen days long. This book takes you thought the process of detective work and the whole thirteen day trial. It brings out major social issues during the 1890s and show how people were mistreated.
I found this book very interesting to read and I also noticed multiple central ideas the author was trying to bring out.
As soon as I got through the first few chapters of the book, I saw that one of main theme in the book was women were being judged by their appearance, people at that time thought that there was a certain way for women to act.
As I went through the book, I noticed several central ideas presented in the book, including the main idea sexism and two other hidden ideas which were racism and classism. The Portuguese were suspected first even though the detectives have not investigated on anything yet, showing that their first thought about crime and murder was the Portuguese.
I noticed that the idea repeating again and again in the book was sexism, there were a lot of evidence in the book leading up to it and it all connects to a point that sexism was so normalised that everyone thought there was only one was for every woman to act.
I read further in the book and I saw another idea, society is judging women at first sight and people usually make assumptions before getting to know them
thanks for reading
This book is called the impossible knife of memory, about a girl named Hayley. She has a dad who was an ex-solider and has PTSD and been traumatized by his past memories. Hayley is trying to help his father with his PTSD and meanwhile going through things with a bay named Finn. Finn and Hayley are both interested in each other and trying going into a relationship. This novel is mainly talking about Hayley’s life.
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