This page is about our big project, if you want to go look at the skills I learned in Physics click the button below, thank you!
THE TINY HOME PROJECT
1. Building the Team
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We went through a process of being picked into groups by two students. Each one of us (that wasn't a student picking their group) wrote on an index card what they would bring to their group. The cards were shown to the students and they would pick which ones they want in their group. In the end we had 7 groups for each class, totaling to 14. Some of the groups that were formed the students had already worked with one another or were friends, for my group I had a friend and a student I never talked to. We were challenge to learn each others working/group strategies and how we all learn differently.
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I think that towards the end of the project my group really did come together and helped eachother to get through it. Although we did have some struggles throughout the project but were easily overcame and we got right back on task. What I would do differently is really create a bond with each group member so that I would understand them even if a conflict come up. By creating a strong bond with your teammates you are able to get through the project easier and much quicker than it would have been than not having that bond.
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2. Learning to live Tiny
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On the first day of school the walls of our classrooms where open. In the center there was a square marked with blue tape. Our teachers directed us to try to make sense of what the square could possibly symbolizes. There were multiply suggestions from us as a team bonding, friendship, going to high school etc. Than someone suggested if we could live in the space. More than half said no way and how is that possible. We then had a mini project of making a scaled model of a tiny house. Throughout the whole project we learned how to down size, how to make a tiny house, price wise, the benefits of living tiny and so on. I feel that the more we talk about going tiny to others the more we learn from people's inputs.
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Learning to live tiny was sort of a struggle to me. I learned both the pros and cons and still have a mixed feeling of living tiny. Personally I would not go tiny anytime soon but maybe in the future that could change. Going tiny isn't a "everyone can do this" type of deal. Some people do need a lot of space but others can ask if that is all this space really necessary to live. Of course I want a huge house when I grow up and lots of room but it might be overwhelming after a while and too much. I think that when I find the right space no matter how big or small I can slowly "go tiny" by minimizing the stuff I hold onto.
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3. Learning to build a park:
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Our first project that we partnered up with Space 4 Art we were building a part in Logan Heights. This is the first time we were using power tools as a class. Throughout the total of 9 to 10 days at the park we did various tasks such as shoveling mulch, standing drilling and putting up the frames of the tree house. These are all skills to learn to build a tiny house. Some of us knew how to use the power tools yet all of us furthered our understanding and learning new tips and tricks.
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Building the park was fun yet stressful. The reason why it was fun was because I got to try different new power tools and learn new skills. It was stressful or frustrating because some of the jobs I was assigned to wasn't particularly what I I enjoyed. I still managed to push through and get done on time. What I would do differently is not complete it and suck it up so I can get it done faster.
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4. Team banner/logo
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Our first step was coming up with our team name. There were multiple ideas yet the final two were the bad asses and Sempiternal. We thought that our first option was a little too much so we decided on Team Sempiternal. To come up with the logo we were drawing out our ideas and at the end we combined two, a tree and a clock.
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After I got use to the name that I didn't really like at first I learned to love it. Sempiternal means eternal. What my 9th grade team has done this year was making something that will help something stay here for hopefully a long time close to eternity. I realized that the name doesn't matter. It's what we make of the name and how we choose how people see us when they hear it. We proved our self as 9th grade students that we can handle a big task of building a tiny home.
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5. Interviewing & Designing with the artists
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First we learned about the roles of an interviewer and an interviewee. We also conducted a mock interview with a classmate. Then we prepared for our interview by coming up with starting questions with our tiny house group. The day of our interview we were assigned our artist in the morning and had a short amount of time to research to have some background information. My groups interviewee wasn't going to live in her tiny home but rather use it as a work studio. After we met our artist, Siobhan Arnold, we asked her about what she wants in her house and started designing.
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Two things that I wish that I would have done differently was find out my artist before we came up with our interview questions. I feel that if we did that we would be able to personalize to questions for our artist. Another thing I wish that I would have done differently is during the interview to start to draw blueprints. Then my artist could have seen and helped design it so that we can design to her preference while she was with us.
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6. Presenting Blueprints, layout pages and SketchUp models to the artist
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For our first presentation of learning, POL, we went to Space 4 Art to present our blueprints, layout pages and SketchUp designs to our artist. WE got positive feedback from our artist saying that our designs met our artist's needs. After our POL we went back and made little changes to our SketchUp designs to match our blueprints perfectly.
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Overall I am very pleased with my presentation. I was able to explain my designs thoroughly that at the end during question time I just went further into detail. One thing that I would change is to go back on my SketchUp and make the blueprints match exactly. If I did that it would have been easier to go back to do the other revisions.
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7. Fundraising
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During this part of the project we started a fundraiser to reach our goal of $18,000 to do this we created a kick starter account and asked for donations. Depending on the size of the donation we gave prizes to. For example we gave a photo of our team with a wooden frame, a t-shirt with our company logo on it or a copy of our book that we created. We ended up reaching our goal within the last few hours.
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What I wish that we have done differently is start the fundraising earlier. We had 30 days to raise $18,000 and we barely reached the amount right at the end by calling out to people. If we had start that process earlier of reaching to companies/other people I feel tat we could of possible reached our goal sooner and maybe even more than $18,000.
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8. A building company is born
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After all of our preparation to build a tiny house we finally got to go to Space 4 Art to start our build days. As we started to build we learned a new skills with power tools and with building and we also made a close bond with our adult helpers and teachers. We came together not as a team but as a building company. We worked with people that we don't normally work with and we had to overcome the struggles with those people as well. A challenge was to go off of what the other class finish building and continue the process without knowing what's already been done.
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Overall after the entire process of learning what a tiny house and the history behind them including the movement I feel like burning the information was key before we started building. One thing that I personally wish that I did differently was tried to get more hands on with the building. I was more on the creative piece more working with the mosaics and creating banners but I wish that I have worked with power tools besides me doing sanding. This project makes me wish to do more building projects in the future. Also comparing my project as a team this year to all of the other projects in past years this one will probably be most memorable because I had a lot of learning experiences throughout the project and it was really hands on.
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9. Exhibition
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At our exhibition we had specific stations set up. When you enter on the right is consultation stations. There we had our tiny house groups at a table and we interviewed a visitor and within 30 minutes we designed a tiny house for them on SketchUp and by blueprint. Next was our process board. On the board we designed it by being inspired by our artist. We included pictures and had our tiny house model next to it along with our blueprints. Then the tiny house was set up and next to was our book selling station.
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One thing that I wish we did differently was instead of having people stand at each station to explain our work also to addition to that have tour guides go throughout the exhibition and guide people through it. I feel like if we did that we could be able to get out our message about the tiny house movement even quicker and along with some other interesting fun facts. A challenge to me during the exhibition was probably trying to get people over to my station when I'm working there. Once I got people to come over and got to talk to me and explain what they are thinking then it ran much smoother but then there are those audience members that wouldn't share their opinions and would rather hear us talk which is also good but hard.
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