September | 2015 | Our connected world

#DoNow: Women in Stem – New Possibilities, New Openings, New Adventures to Embark On

Posted on September 28, 2015 by bremedios16

It is interesting to think about how far in technology our society has advanced. People went from producing black and white movies to now producing movies with 3D and CGI. Also, medicine, has taken a revolutionary turn and offered people opportunities to cope with certain diseases and has even given people cures; for example, there are vaccines for polio and influenza, two diseases that thousands of people suffered and died from in the past. But now technology has persevered and advanced so much, that thousands of people in the world are familiar with technological advances and even use a tech device. I use my cell-phone and computer so heavily that I would not be able to imagine a life without technology.

http://turningpoint6.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Cell-Phones-Smartphones-2.jpg >> Found on Free Images on Bing

So if technology has become so important, a necessity even, then lets take a look at the fields of tech careers. From the #DoNowTechCareers, I learned that to qualify for a tech career, one has to be knowledgeable about arithmetic and computers and most importantly have determination. There is so much knowledge that goes into creating programs like Microsoft Word that we consider simple today. In addition, tech careers being heavily male dominated, it is hard for women and minorities to really branch out and be involved in the new growing ages of technology. As a result, I believe that true determination and having a strong motivation to attain these tech careers is essential for these circumstances.

When we talk about women and minorities in tech careers, I think it is really helpful to paint a picture in mind of what is going on. The #DoNowTechCareers website said that even though 57% of the tech workforce has women, only 25% of those careers involve computers. It is commendable to how far America has come in terms of giving women the opportunity to pursue an education and take up positions in innovative and new fields. However, there are still many tech fields that women have not been given the motivation or opportunities to pursue. I believe that in the years to come, just as women were allowed into the workforce, women will be given the resources and opportunities to have tech careers and pursue something that is new, that is changing, and that is essential to our lives today.

Regarding minorities in tech fields. The #DoNowTechCareers website claimed that Google last year had women as 17% of its workforce and from that 17%, only 5% were black or Latino. Yes, it is difficult to hear this information, but we have to take into account of how far we have come just to get to a position where minorities were finally given respect and equal treatment as their counterparts.. Therefore, it will take some time for us to reach a point where we can accept minorities into tech fields and also give them the resources and opportunities to pursue these fields.

From the #DoNowTechCareers, I learned the true essential problem of women and minorities not pursuing tech careers. It is that many high schools do not have programs or support for girls and minority students to pursue computer-related fields. However, there is clear hope that this is changing today. Groups like Girls Who Code and Bay Area Video Coalition are after-school and outside of school programs that give women and minority students those resources to pursue tech careers. They programs are giving us hope and are giving women and minorities new possibilities, new openings, and new adventures to embark on.

http://sf4tay.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/BAVC_sliderimage.jpg >> Found on Free Images on Bing

http://www.cdkglobaldigitalmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/girlswhocodethumb.jpg >> Found on Free Images on Bing

Jurassic World Adventure, We Made It Out Alive and Curious!!!!

Posted on September 24, 2015 by bremedios16

https://biancar16apbioblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/758c5-brachiosaurus33mg.jpg >> Found on Free Images From Bing

John Hammond once said, “But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn’t an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit” [Jurassic Park (1993), 1:26:36].

And you know what? The artists at ILM video presentation in Lucasfilm studios in Presidio, CA were truly able to bring the Jurassic World to life from John Hammond’s inspiration through their use of technology and their creativity. This presentation focused on how the details and effects of Jurassic World were constructed and much of the art that was presented was rooted in the biological life sciences. What do I mean by this? I mean that many of the details of the environment and dinosaurs were rooted in science.

http://miriadna.com/desctopwalls/images/max/Landscape-with-calm-river.jpg >> Found on Free Images From Bing

For environment, the artists had to consider the landscape as well as where to place dinosaurs and how light would affect the appearance of the dinosaurs. The artists used an actual street to film the main center of Jurassic World, but they CGIed the buildings as well as the landscape using references from real mountainous areas. They also had to CGI certain plants where the dinosaurs had motion because they had to show the effects of the dinosaurs’ motion on the plants. In addition, the artists had to use new apps to picture exactly where dinosaurs would be in the wild so they could film accurately. They also created dinosaur heads and would put them under the sunlight and move them around to see where the light would create shadows and reflect off certain parts of the head to give them an idea of how to place the dinosaur to create the most appealing image.

For dinosaurs, there were two aspects to consider, behavior and design (in appearance/structure). It was interesting because the one of the artists worked on making the behavior of the dinosaurs appear realistic used references from other living animals today and he called these references, “visual anchors”. For example, he used clips of rhinoceros movement and created a CGI triceratops to replicate that movement which gave the triceratops a realistic and familiar view to people. He emphasized that “form follows function” and focused on allowing the dinosaurs to have realistic movement. He also incorporated the personality of various animals as an added element of being realistic. For example, the little changes in a baby rhino running were something he added to the movement of a CGI baby triceratops and helped to show the childish behavior of the animals still learning to walk on their feet. There was another artist who worked on design and she used something called “rigging” to help transcribe the skeletal and muscle system of the CGI dinosaurs and worked to create realistic muscle flexes and joint movement to enhance the realistic features portrayed in the dinosaurs. From the presentation, all the artists said that their main goal in creating the dinosaurs was to make the dinosaurs appear realistic more than accurate because they wanted more people to believe what they saw and make the movie enjoyable for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjRkhB1lpnY (From VisitstheWild where a southern white rhino calf runs around)

I believe this trip was worth it because I learned so much about what goes into making movies like Jurassic World that incorporate massive amounts of technology and how much effort is needed to just make things seem realistic to appeal to audiences. I never considered that Jurassic World and other movies took that much effort and now I really appreciate all the work that these artists do. They are able to express their creativity in way that touches the audience and makes the audience feel like they are living the movie.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Takabisha_roller_coaster.jpg >> Found on Free Images From Bing

In addition, I learned about the paths that all these artists took to get where they are today, working at LHS. I thought it was fascinating that their life stories in terms of careers and interests was like a twisted rollercoaster. All these people had different roots in what they wanted to do, were declined some opportunities, and through all their maneuvers and decisions in life found out something they truly loved and enjoyed. I always used to believe that people generally had one path or mindset when they were teenagers and strayed occasionally into adulthood, but always pursued the same path once it was set. But in this case, these people really lived. They took turns here and there to find out what they loved and even with the risk of shifting goals and paths, they were able to expose themselves to more opportunities the world has to offer and they were able to choose a career that was fun and always left them feeling good at the end of the day.

I truly enjoyed this experience and now I am interested in the many ways science impacts film as well as other parts of our everyday society and culture.

Star Wars Memorabilia From Gallery at Lucasfilm Campus in Presidio, CA

Questions to think about and comment on:

What are other ways that science is implemented into our daily lives?
How do you feel about movies portraying science and art to make films appear realistic as opposed to actually true?
What are other little details in films that make scenes or objects more significant similar to how the sunlight affected how the dinosaurs would appear and where they would create shadows?

Splash, splash! Behind the Scenes With Water and Earth’s Marine Life!

Posted on September 7, 2015 by bremedios16

Hey everyone, check out this link to Big Blue Live, a live-air show of marine mammals in the Monterey Bay, that aired a couple of days ago: http://www.pbs.org/big-blue-live/home/ Check it out and show your support for marine life! You can also take a quiz and find out which animal you are, I am a sea otter!

To be honest, I loved this show. I knew about marine animals, but I did not take a closer look on their characteristics or on what they contribute to the bay. It was awesome to see how enthusiastic the reporters were on these animals and it was intriguing to hear how species that we, humans, almost eradicated from the bay were able to come back with some care and many years and help restore the bay which allowed the species to thrive and also allowed the seawater itself to retain its purity once again.

From the live-air show, I became really interested in blue whales. I did not know they were the biggest animals ever on the planet, even bigger than the dinosaurs and it was interesting to hear that they can communicate to one another from opposite ends of an ocean just with the flap of their enormous tail!! In addition, I never knew that generally orcas do not try to attack full-grown whales and only hunt after the babies. I also did not know that sea otters fed on urchins and by controlling the urchin population, seaweed is able to grow at a normal pace and give haven to some fish from predators as well as make the ocean healthy again.

Marine animals are interesting, yes they are, but without water, they would not be able to exist, so let’s talk about water!

http://wallpoper.com/images/00/35/10/26/water-abstract_00351026.jpg >> From Free Images Found on Bing

https://biancar16apbioblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/5dada-bottledwater.jpg >> From Free Images Found on Bing

Water is an interesting topic, believe it or not. It is one of our most precious resources and will not be here for long, yet most people in first-world countries do not think twice about it. I know I didn’t until now. Before watching F.L.O.W. (For the love of water), I did not think much of water; I knew water was a polar molecule composed of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms and that 70% of our bodies are made of water so it is essential for our survival, but I never really thought about it more than that. I knew water came from the tap which most likely came from the ice melted off of mountains or rivers, but I never really considered where it came from. After watching F.L.O.W., I realized there were so many controversial issues regarding water like “Who owns water?” and “What is bottled water truly composed of?”. This documentary really opened my eyes to that water was a similar resource to gold and wealth in the sense that the powerful obtain it and fight over its distribution, while the poor salvage what they can and try to get by.

I thought the filmmaker was trying to raise awareness of this unfair distribution as well as to the detrimental effects that taking water has on the environment. This film surprised me because I learned that around $100 million worldwide is spent a year on bottled water and that bottled water is more dangerous than tap water because the contents of bottled water are not even regulated. Yet, it only costs around $30 million a year to have safe drinking water for the entire world. It is crazy to think we spend so much money on water that has chemicals and is dangerous when if take a small percentage of what we spend on bottled water, the entire world could be taken care of. I was also surprised to realize that certain rivers such as the Colorado River and the Yellow River in China do not even flow out to the ocean anymore due to dams and reservoirs we, humans, create. I found out that the reservoirs take water away from certain regions of land causing the land to create methane gas which contributes to greenhouse gases which is damaging our whole planet! In addition, I found out that reservoirs displace thousands of people and force them to live in worse living conditions and not have access to clean water like they used too. This is just shocking, but alas, these reservoirs do help boost the economies of the countries that they are made in which is also important.

So who is behind the distribution of water? The main boss behind the water industry is the World Food Bank who has legal immunity and cannot be charged for any misuse of water. In addition, one of the major companies of the water industry is Nestle. It is difficult to create an opinion on these two major players, they are harmful to the environment and poor, yet beneficial to the economies of nations. The documentary mentioned that the water industry spends around $1 million on one area to obtain water when if they spent only $1000 in many areas, they could help all people get access to clean water.

So now what? What do we do from here? The only answer is community mobilization. We need to come together to work out a solution to these issues regarding water. With basic necessities, there will be civil disorder. A solution mentioned in the documentary to clean water and make it accessible was to shine UV rays on the water. The UV Rays are adept at killing bacteria and if they kill the bacteria in the water, then those who have access to dirty water will now have access to that same water but it will be clean and safe. I believe we should take other measures too, for example, consider rain-water harvesting as an option. I know it is currently illegal in parts of the world, but why can’t people just take the water that falls on their property and on them. They are not depriving anyone else of water because the rain is falling on them, on them. In addition, I think we should consider recycling urine. I know that sounds disgusting but that is just a mindset our society has created. So many things were illegal or impossible or deemed unworthy, but then society changed, people changed. People started to accept women in the workforce, LGBTs, different body types. We have come so far as a society that if we push we can also save water by recycling urine which will save water, lives, money, time, and the environment.

In addition to cleaning water, we need to set restrictions on water through politics. Water is a resource that is running out and we need to ensure it will be there for future generations. We can do this, we can save lives and our environment.

https://biancar16apbioblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/65917-water-save-earth.jpg >> From Free Images Found on Bing

Should Project Based Learning be Implemented in Schools?

Posted on September 7, 2015 by bremedios16

I think Project Based Learning is an innovative and interesting new method of learning. I really like how this method is hands-on because it allows student to really understand and dive into concepts as opposed to just hearing the teacher lecture all the time. I also like how Project Based Learning makes real-world connections, for example, in the video we watched in class on PBL, a geometry class was making a blueprint of a city and constructing the plan for the architecture. I believe this really motivates students to learn and exposes them to concepts in a new way which gives them ideas of what maybe they want to pursue as a major.

Even though, I think that project based learning is a good method to learn and retain information better, I understand that it is hard to implement in schools and am not really sure whether to support the idea. Many schools and universities require students to have standardized testing and it is harder to prepare students who participate in project based learning as opposed to preparing those who participate in regular learning methods. In addition, many teachers who are hired to work at schools that are starting to implement project based learning have to alter their teaching methods in a very short span of time before teaching during the new year; as a result, some teachers have had to improvise how to teach curriculum in this style throughout the year. If project based learning is going to take off as a successful learning method, then majority of schools in a region have to be on board and universities are going to have to comply with their standards.