Double Decker

     In Design and Engineering, Unit 2, we learned about gear ratios, inertia, power rule, area and volume, and more calculus and trigonometry. We also learned about different types of bikes, and how each part has a job to make it easier for a rider. Going off of that, I learned that smaller wheels help make people go faster but larger wheels make a ride smoother. Then there's the fact that I've also learned how each type of bike has a different way to handle it; road bikes are designed to go fast, however aren't very good relaxing rides. To better understand how bikes work we went to a bike shop, and had Dyson, Divvy, and Alan visit. This gave us a better comprehension on the history of bikes and the process of creating something new. This brought us to our final action project: designing a bike with a partner to fit the needs of an assigned persona. 

     My partner and I received Vanessa, a seventeen year old girl, that lives near the United Center that's 4 miles away from school and has to drop her brother off at daycare every morning before school. Vanessa has to deal with pothole filled roads as she travels on the roads during her regular commute, but since there's not enough space at home, she also has to deal with the struggle of keeping her bike safe from getting stolen. After coming up with a design we had to create an actual 3D model of our bike that would Vanessa's needs for her biking experience. I had a difficult time in constructing the 3D model prototype and making a way for her to travel with her brother. Plus, the idea of adding to what's already invented is fairly difficult, since there have been child-transporting centric bikes before. Though I did like the final product and figuring out the calculations. Please enjoy our design below.

TS & KIS. Sketch. 2015

     Now to start things off, we're going to go into the math and design aspects that most bikes share.
To talk about the tires, our bike's tires would have a diameter of 28in if it were a life-sized model, with our cardboard one being 14 times smaller as the wheels are only 2 inches across. That 28in would give us a circumference of 87.92in, and we get that circumference by multiplying the diameter (28) by pi (π). Using 87.92 inches as a reference point, it would take the life sized bike 2882 wheel rotations to cover the distance of 4 miles that she travels on her route to school. Keeping those 4 miles in mind, it takes Vanessa 23 minutes to actually get to school. Assuming it was a straight distance, Vanessa would be traveling at 10.43mph (miles per hour) or 4.66m/s (meters per second). Going to the gears, they're are obviously essential, making the wheels turn, but depending on how many teeth and how many gears a bike has, that can determine how fast or efficient it is. That's why our bike has the driver gear at 60 teeth and the driven gear, which is in the back, has 30 teeth. This provides a gear ratio that's 2:1 as it takes that driven gear back there on the wheel 2 full rotations to match the single rotation made up front by pedaling that driver gear. Now in general, if we talk about energy, Vanessa would have potential energy right before she's about to go down a slope, as gravity is about to apply going that would pull the bike down the hill. When gravity does begin pulling the bike down, that potential energy will have become kinetic, as it is in motion.

TS & KIS. Double Decker. 2015

TS & KIS. Structure. 2015

TS & KIS. Rear View. 2015 

     This bike has improved on several different aspects. As me and my partner have thought of them, you can see a unique seat in the back designed for younger children or toddlers, as it's a secure, comfortable seat that sports a firm seatbelt, and has a noise reducing, plastic-like, bubble. This is so that any young child in the seat does't have to worry about loud noises, which could possibly scare them, especially since the regular route has to intersect underneath a bridge of railroad tracks. The bubble cover of the seat does indeed have ventilation, and it's also detachable, so it's not permanent. Babies' ears are sensitive, so that's why there's only a bubble around the back seat meant for infants. This was also so the bike didn't seem to much like a car. Our bike also has a basket up front so Vanessa has a place to keep her book bag while riding, as not to interfere with the baby seat behind her. One more thing to note are those mountain bike tires, which are specifically there to make her ride a more comfortable one, since the roads she takes almost every day are filled with potholes. Now if you find a bike that provides protection to babies that may ride in the back while also making a comfortable ride with some convenient options for temporary storage in the front, you've just found our one and only Double Decker!

Survival of the Fittest

In Rhetoric, Unit 3, we learned how to use our voices to gather for a cause. To understand how this is done we studied multiple forms of artwork that expressed messages about different topics. This brought us to our final action project: to create a piece of art that would "break the sound barrier" on an issue that we found important. My issue is war, however I took an uncommon stance on it. I believe in anti-glorification, not anti-war, meaning that we shouldn't hate war, but dislike how its perceived. It was difficult to express everything I wanted in my drawing. It was also quite strenuous to display logos and ethos into an image. Originally I wanted to create a song or poem, but due to last minute personal problems this was not feasible. Despite these setbacks I am very proud of my artistical representation of war. Please enjoy seeing and reading about my piece below.

War - a state of armed conflict between two groups. War - used to build up an audience in movies. War - a term we've grown up with and have seen in theaters. We sit in our seats shocked at the graphic scenes oh-ing and ah-ing, then leave to talk about how "wicked that was", or how "that was so cool", or "there should have been more bloodshed". People don't seem to realize that, despite being raised around war and violence, war is actually, literally and completely real. This means that real, living, breathing people die in pointless conflicts everyday. Government officials sit back and watch as their twisted chess game come to life. They are not afraid to start a war because they remain safe while others go out to die for their WANTS. For example when President Bush started a war with Iraq for oil. There were 4,475 American soldiers that died and 32,220 were wounded (Wihbey)because one man behind a desk desired oil. People all around the world must realize that war is not some game or event on a movie screen.

We must pay attention to how war affects not only our countries, but also the families of those who were lost. When I say "lost" I don't just mean physically - I mean mentally. There are many soldiers who come back from war with no physical alterations; however, their minds are never the same. I have a grandfather who served two terms in the Vietnam War for the Navy. He left fine,but came home with a severe case of PTSD. Almost 31% of Vietnam veterans have PTSD and this can be from multiple different stressors - the most predominate was being shot at and seeing dead bodies("PTSD: A Growing Epidemic" 10-14).

Soldiers with PTSD would often become alcoholics, abusive, and suffer from high anxiety(Price, Jennifer L., PhD. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD."); my grandad was a veteran affected by this. His disorder destroyed my family, forcing my mom and aunt to grow up with basically no parents, since my grandmother had to work three jobs to support them. This is why I chose to sound off artistically on war - it tears apart families causing pain and sadness. My goal is to have people understand that even though war happens - it's human nature - but we shouldn't glorify it. Humans fight for survival and status like any animal it's instinct and we can't help it. Though it is when we desensitize war through glorification that we, as a species, have crossed the line.

The medium i chose to express my viewpoint on war was a drawing. There are two things in this world everyone understands - music and pictures. You have the ability to show others how you feel without words. This image depicts three points of view - the family, the soldier, and the world. The family is seen as gray shadows standing at a funeral watching their loved one being buried. The soldier is being lowered in his casket into a battlefield where he took his dying breath. While all this tragedy and sadness goes on, the world is watching it all play out, seeing every moment the soldier had and every moment the family spent without him.

My piece expresses strong pathos because it shows the death of a soldier and the pain of those attending the funeral. Death is a very sensitive topic that makes people feel an intense turmoil of emotions. You can see an allusion to a war, no specific one, below the casket. Ethos is prevalent since I am the granddaughter of a Navy veteran and close friends with a Marine veteran. I have extensive knowledge on what war is really like due to conversations I've had with these two men. The logos of my piece is unwavering for this is an accurate representation of a battlefield. War happens all the time and people do die because of it. It will be difficult to disagree on anti-glorification of war after seeing these facts.

I want this piece to be posted and painted on sides of buildings all around the city of Chicago. In the age of social media, people will take pictures and post my image causing it to spread like wildfire around the nation and, hopefully, the globe. This way the general public will finally be aware of the reality of war, not some Hollywood version of it that they can walk away from when the movie ends.

Materials:

• iPad
• Drawing App
• Stylist

Works Cited:

"PTSD: A Growing Epidemic." NIH Medline Plus Winter 2009: 10-14. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Wihbey, John. "U.S. Military Casualties and the Costs of War: Iraq, Afghanistan and Post-9/11 Conflicts - Journalist's Resource." Journalists Resource. N.p., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Price, Jennifer L., PhD. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD." Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study -. N.p., 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Responsible or Not?

In Rhetoric, Unit 2, we learned how language changes everything. When the Europeans started to come to the Americas and colonize native land there was a huge divide between these two groups. The divide grew as Europeans started to enslave natives during this age of ‘discovery’. The Pope, at the time, wrote this document called the Doctrine of Discovery, basically claiming all native land and turning them into slaves. We also learned more rhetorical devices including antithesis, chiasmus, hypophora, and meiosis; some of which were used in the doctrine. This brought us to our second action project, analyzing a speech challenging an injustice in the world; we could decide whether we agreed with the person or not. I decided to disagree with Barbara Hewson on the topic of rape and the victim’s role in it. Even though her facts were great and I fully agree with them, the final conclusion of ‘rape victims are morally responsible’ I highly disagree with. It was challenging to find my preferred person and speech because I wanted to have points with which I both agreed and disagreed. However, I am proud of my prezi and the way it was formatted. This project taught me how to critically analyze a speech or text, but to also see from another person's perspective. Please enjoy my presentation in the link below.