This is the video I made for my grade 8 Capstone Project. I think I did a good job: I’m rather new to editing but I think I edited decently on this. I also think I used the right footage and got the point across well.
Anyways, enjoy!
Geoffrey
"The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
Category: Humanities (page 1 of 2)
Energy is an important topic. Image Source
Humans have been using energy for a long time now. From fire to nuclear, the amount of energy humans can generate has risen quickly. Unfortunately, consideration of the consequences of energy production has come later than the consequences themselves. Nowadays, we are faced with a fast-warming climate, a polluted environment, and around 789 million people are still being forced to rely on primitive and unhealthy fire and old-fashioned energy (“Ensure Access”). This situation is what the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal #7 attempts to resolve. SDG 7 aims to ” ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services” by 2030. It is important to improve energy, as nearly everything modern is built off of it. To reach this goal, we need to see the problems energy production currently has, think about why these problems matter to us, and figure out solutions to these problems.
Problems with Energy
Modern energy production has many flaws. One issue is the harm dealt to the environment: fossil fuels release greenhouse gases that damage the environment and climate of the Earth. In fact, energy production is responsible for about 60% of all greenhouse gases emitted by human activity (“Ensure Access”)! The negative effects of energy production on the environment will surely become more and more significant as global energy requirements continue to rise. Also, while cleaner energy has a much smaller environmental impact compared to traditional energy, these forms of energy are simply not cheap enough currently to support the economy. In fact, Europe’s recent attempt at switching over to clean energy has indirectly caused food prices in many countries to reach their highest in ten years (“The Consequences”). Another problem is clean energy’s reliability. Many clean generation methods rely on the weather: for example, solar energy depends on the sun not being covered by clouds, and wind energy depends on the weather being windy (Darwall). Currently, energy just has too many issues that need to be resolved.
Why does energy matter?
Energy has massive impacts on the lives of everyone, and there are many reasons why energy needs to become more accessible and cleaner. For one, it is used for pretty much all aspects of modern life. According to the United Nations, energy impacts everything “from businesses, medicine and education to agriculture, infrastructure, communications and high-technology” (“Ensure Access”). The more expensive energy is, the harder it is for poorer people to have any of that in their lives. Statistics from the United Nations also say that currently, 13 percent of the global population lacks access to modern electricity (“Ensure Access”). Affordable energy would allow more people to access electricity. Clean energy would also help reduce pollution and harmful emissions, which has “harmful impacts on people’s well-being and the environment” (“Ensure Access”). Clean energy directly affects your health in this way. Finally, clean and cheap energy would provide more job opportunities, create better facilities and supply more resources (Leahy). Jobs, better facilities and resources influence everyone. Non-polluting and cheap energy is a subject of top importance, and all these reasons show that.
Solutions to the problems
There are many ways to improve energy and energy production. One thing that can be done by everyone is simply to use less energy. According to the United Nations, you can save electricity by “turning devices off when they are not used” (“Ensure Access”). Another way to help improve energy is for investors, companies and governments to invest in the development of better energy sources such as clean energy (“Ensure Access”). As energy generation methods are researched, energy will become cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable. The transition away from fossil fuels and towards more renewable and sustainable forms of energy is also an important step, since our reliance on traditional energy sources is one major roadblock in fixing today’s climate issues (Ramirez). Businesses can support this change by aiming to meet their energy requirements entirely with sustainable energy (“Ensure Access”). There are lots of ways individuals and groups can help make clean, cheap and reliable energy both a possible and feasible future.
It is important to understand the issues with energy, realize the consequences of these issues, and fix these issues. We have realized the faults of energy too late and allowed the consequences of energy to occur, but better late than never.
Works Cited
“The Consequences of an Ill-Considered Green Strategy.” Indian Express, 27 Jan. 2022. SIRS Issues Researcher, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2637764941?accountid=4047.
Darwall, Rupert. “Obama’s Renewable-Energy Fantasy.” Wall Street Journal, 06 Jul 2015. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2262478434?accountid=4047.
“Goal 7: Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy.” United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/. Accessed 17 May 2022.
Leahy, Stephen. “World Lags on Clean Energy Goals.” SIRS Issues Researcher, 14 May 2017, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265797170?accountid=4047.
Ramirez, Rachel. “5 Alternative Energy Sources to Speed Our Transition Away from Fossil Fuels.” CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Oct. 2021, edition.cnn.com/2021/10/07/us/renewable-energy-options-climate/index.html. Accessed 15 May 2022.
Bob Andrews, his name was. Fought in the American revolutionary war, they said, and for the wrong side. People judged him because he was a Tory, but that’s alright. Even Tories had stories to tell. Bob Andrews had his journal: three entries, spanning multiple years, which gives a peek into what his tale was.
Was the War Worth Fighting?
The American Revolution changed a lot, for many people. One of the most important changes was the fact that after the revolution, it was possible for anyone to rise in social status if they worked hard enough. This contrasts strongly with how it was before the revolution: before, if a person was born a status they would stay with that status. Another change was the method of governance. The revolution abolished the monarchy and instead replaced it with a Republic. There is still a person in charge of the country, but he is restrained by several others: the members of the congress. Average citizens also now have a say in the governance of the country through the new voting system.
Not everything changed, however. There was still one central government with power. People who faced oppression such as women, Native Americans, and African Americans were still mistreated like they were before the war even though many had helped the Patriots win the revolutionary war.
While the war did not bring freedom and equality for all, it did allow for much better social mobility. The American Revolution also removed a central figure who has the potential to become tyrannous. Overall, the American Revolution was definitely worth it in the end.
The American Revolution is a revolution that occurred over the span of twenty years. It was sparked by the Parliament’s decision to tax the colonists, and ultimately resulted in the separation of the colonies from Britain and the creation of a new country. What are the causes of the American Revolution? What are the aftermaths? This video answers these questions and also explains the key events of the American Revolution.
Image source:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Key Facts of the American Revolution”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Oct. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Key-Facts-of-the-American-Revolution
Introduction
For the Stranger Than Fiction Unit in Humanities, I read the book The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century by Sarah Miller while managing to not die from boredom. The book is about a murder case that occurred in the city of Fall River during the late 19th century. Specifically, the murders of Andrew Borden and Abby Borden. The book talks about the murder itself, information collected on the case such as the testimonies given by key people, the legal processes of the case, and additional pieces of information. This book focuses especially on Lizzie Borden, the daughter of Andrew Borden and the main suspect of the crime.
My Notebook Pages
During the book club, I had to keep track of my thinking in my notebook. Here are some of my pages.
In this page, I compiled my evidence to support my claim that the enforcers of the law were very unprofessional during the Borden Murders. This page is the longest page I have, because the author seemed to really want to get that point across.
In this page, I focused on the other side of the story: the pieces of evidence that makes Lizzie Borden look suspicious. The central idea of this page is “Lizzie Borden was suspicious”, and I found lots of evidence to support that.
In this page, I looked at the information related to the newspapers, since the newspapers played a huge role by influencing the public’s opinion on the case. This notebook page is short because most information related to the newspapers of Fall River are presented as Fun Facts in the book.
Conclusion
I found this book rather repetitive and kind of boring, especially in the law-related sections of the book since not much happens in court. I would mostly recommend this book for research instead of casual reading, since it contains lots of information but does not feel interesting. Well, thanks for making it to the end of the post!
The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian is a book about Josh Swensen, a teenage prodigy, who posted blog posts on anti-consumerism under the name “Larry”. When Larry becomes famous, Josh has to deal with the repercussion of fame. The theme “Be yourself” is commonly repeated throughout the book with Josh questioning who he is allowing others to see him as.
In my opinion, this book is one of the worst books I have ever read. There is no action, no drama, or anything interesting at all. The characters are hard to relate to while also lacking in detail. The author’s style is also awfully boring: the book is basically a description of a sequence of events.
Is Geoffrey A Humanist? by geoffrey.liu
This found poem came from page one of the short story “Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes. This found poem shows the events that happened between a boy, who is the protagonist of the poem, and a woman, who is the antagonist. The found poem depicts a Character Versus Character conflict: the boy attempts to steal the woman’s purse but fails, and instead of obtaining a stolen purse, he gets caught by the woman. The woman then proceeds to interrogate the boy about his actions.
Made with Canva
Original image from Unsplash by Tetiana Padurets. Image modifications by me.
This is an reflection for the argumentative essay I wrote for Humanities.
Two things I did well:
• I feel like my arguments were logical and well-structured.
• I feel like I used the right arguments and evidence for the purpose of persuading others.
Two things I can improve on:
• I feel like I can improve on the introduction because they weren’t as detailed
• I think my conclusion were too short and weren’t very thought-inducing
I feel like this essay was a nice essay. Perhaps a bit rushed, but still good. Some evidence were not cited because they were never planned to be part of the essay, or I just forgot to add the citations to my planning document. Some places were a bit too short, others too long. Some places were hard to understand. Some places were too concise and didn’t contain enough emotions. But still good, because my arguments were good and persuasive, and it sounded good.
What does it feel like to have ADHD? Percy Jackson from The Lightning Thief have ADHD, and his choices are influenced heavily by it. Some ways he is influenced by ADHD are his study habits and self-control, but those areas can be improved.
Percy’s study habits are impacted by his ADHD, although it can be improved if his interests are mentioned. On page 2 of the book, Percy described Mr. Brunner as “the only teacher whose class didn’t put him to sleep”. According to Neurodiversity: A Different View of ADHD, one of the symptoms of ADHD is not listening most of the time. This proves that one of the reasons he doesn’t do well in school is his ADHD. Another piece of evidence is on page 17 of the book, when his grades slipped “from Ds to Fs”. Again, the author of the article wrote that “Getting easily distracted… Are also symptoms”. Getting easily distracted might be a reason why his grades fell. Both reasons of his inefficiency to studying is caused by a lack of focus. Therefore, a solution to his ADHD would be to give him something to focus on. According to Neurodiversity, people with ADHD can be very focused when something interests them, so a solution could be to mention something he is interested in, such as Greek mythology. That way, he could be focused in school and learn supported and better.
Another way Percy is influenced by ADHD is when he tries to control himself. Self-control shouldn’t be a problem, however, if he thinks before he acts. One example of him not thinking before he acts is on page 5, in the museum tour, where he tells Nancy Bobofit to shut up. According to Neurodiversity, blurting out is a symptom of ADHD, which means that ADHD is one reason he told Nancy to shut up. Another example of when ADHD controls Percy is when he snapped and called Mr. Nicoll, his English teacher, an old sot. He was annoyed, frustrated, and therefore did not think before he talked. This led to him being expelled from Yancy Academy. One way with which Percy could better control himself is to think before he acts, and not let his ADHD and temper control him.
In conclusion, Percy Jackson’s ADHD influences his study habits and choice-making. However, both problems can be solved by giving his something to focus on and if he thinks before he acts.
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