Get the Crud out of Your Blood

Sadly, this is my last Unit in my favorite class, Cure. In this last unit, we learned about prevention of diseases. We didn't have very much time to complete this unit, so we did some math concepts like probability, to relate to the probability of contracting diseases and medications working. We also created a family tree for ourselves to look t any diseases that are present in our family. I liked this activity because I got to learn more about my family and what they were affected by. For our field experiences, we had a certified Yoga Nidra instructor come in and guide us through a meditation session. This was to show us alternative ways of healing other than medication or surgery which we covered in our previous unit. I thought this session was relaxing, although, I couldn't really get into the meditation but I enjoyed seeing ways of healing that I am unaware of. For this action project, we combined pretty much everything we learned in Disease and Cure. We were essentially playing doctor. We had to create a patient profile for a fictional person, that could be based on someone real. For my purposes, I chose someone fake. In this profile, we had to discuss their history, their main concerns and the reason for a consultation. We had to make recommendations to the patient about their lifestyle, their diet, and other therapies we wanted them to do. I chose to create someone with a risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolisms (PE) because I am very interested in vascular surgery.

In the end, I am very sad that this class is over, as it was my favorite I have ever taken at GCE, and probably will ever take. I am so grateful I got to participate and share my knowledge. I really liked this action project because it was a very nice closure to both Disease and Cure. It incorporated most things and really had us show off what we learned in these classes. I had some trouble with making up a person for this project because the original person was based off a real person who had a rare syndrome but it didn't really affect his life so it would have been hard to do. I am very sad that this class is over, but I toughly enjoyed it, and I am very proud of all the work I have done.

Feminism Throughout Time

In our last humanities class for sophomore year, Drama, we read Henrick Ibsen's "A Dolls House." We read this in the same format as we did with Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." We would read an act or a scene and then have a quiz on the play. Once we were finished with the play, we watched the movie version of "A Dolls House." I really liked the movie and thought it stayed very true to the play. It was almost word for word. I enjoyed "A Dolls House" a lot. It was shorter than "The Taming of the Shrew," and the language was much easier to understand. I thought maybe we should have read "A Dolls House" First to get used to reading scripts, and then gone onto "The Taming of the Shrew" which was more difficult to read."A Doll's House" takes place in the late 1800s in Norway. It is about a woman who is controlled by her husband and keeps a secret from him. He then finds out the secret and is upset, but after learning it would be ok, he forgives her. This causes her to see how badly he treats her and she leaves him. For this unit, we went to the Goodman Theater in Chicago to get a tour of their stage, and then to work on our plays with some of their staff. I thought these field experiences were helpful, but not very fun. For this action project, we were randomly paired up. I was paired with IF and ZG. You can see their blogs here and here. We had to write a script discussing feminism throughout different times. This was a daunting task, but with 2 other people, it was fairly straightforward. We then filmed up acting out the play.

In the end, I liked this project. It was very daunting at first, but with partners, it was fairly easy to split up the work so we were not overwhelmed. I liked the creative process of writing the play, and it was also very fun to act out the play. The most difficult part was to get good lighting and audio in the video. I am happy with how this turned out, and I really liked the action projects in Drama.

Put Pain in its Place

For our second unit in our STEAM class Cure, we learned about different treatments and medicines. We studied how different drugs affect the body and how medicines are different from medicaments. Medicaments refer to just the drug that is taken, but medicine can refer to the whole practice. We learned about the different categories of medicaments and how they work inside the body.

For one of our field experience days, we did a miracle berry lab. This is when we took miracle berry capsules and tried different foods. The miracle berry is a berry that blocks the sour taste receptors in your tongue, so sour food can taste sweet. We did this to study the lock and key mechanism. The berry's molecular structure fits right into the tongue's sour receptors. This helped us better understand how medicaments work, and to experience it in our own body. We tried different food like salt and vinegar chips, pickles, and even hot sauce with and without the miracle berry to compare the taste. They worked a lot better than I thought they would, and it was a very fun experience.

 For this action project, we had to choose a symptom to study. I chose post-surgical pain because I am very interested in surgery. We then had to research three treatments for the symptom, one prescription, one over the counter, and one remedy or behavior. I chose Oxycodone, Tylenol, and Bromelain. We then had to create a medicine box to show our research. We created drug facts for each of the treatments and made a comparison of the three. I really liked this action project because I got to learn more about surgical pain management which is something I have not studied very much. I love to study surgery, but this project opened my eyes to the recovery process.

CM "Surgical Pain." (2018)

CM "Oxycodone" (2018)

CM "Tylenol" (2018)

CM "Bromelain" (2018)

CM "Comparison" (2018)

CM "Ingredients" (2018)

The reason I chose to put the pictures of the molecular structure of the medicaments is to help explain the "lock and key" mechanism. The lock and key mechanism shows how well medicaments work based on their molecular structure. If a medicament has a molecular structure that fits into the body's molecular structure nicely, like a key fits into a lock, then usually, the medicament will work better. An example would be Advil, which is a pain reliever. Advil blocks the pain receptors by sending itself into the receptors and blocking their signals, stopping the body from receiving pain signals, and reducing pain.

In the end, I liked this project as it was more hands-on than most projects. I actually got to make something rather than make a digital slideshow or video like normal. I liked researching these medicaments, but it could be challenging to find good information. It was also a little challenging calculating the price per dose, as doses can be different than the price of the bottle. I am very proud of how the box came out, and I am very sad to be ending this class soon, as it was easily my favorite class of all time.

Works Cited:

“Bromelain.” Health Line.com. Health Line Media. N.d. https://www.healthline.com/health/bromelain

Cintron, Lynn M.D. M.S. “Persistent Postsurgical Pain.” Practical Pain Management.com. Vertical Heath. 19, June 2017. https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/persistent-postsurgical-pain?page=0,1

Erikson, Kim. “Natural Healing After Surgery.” Mother Earth Living.com. Ogden Publications Inc. January, 2003. https://www.motherearthliving.com/Health-and-Wellness/Operation-Recovery

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Pain Medication After Surgery.” Mayo Clinic.org. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 30, June 2017. https://www.mayoclinic.org/pain-medications/art-20046452

“Oxycontin.” Good Rx.com. Good Rx Inc. 2018. https://www.goodrx.com/oxycontin

“Oxycontin.” RxList.com. Rxlist Inc. 6, January 2017. https://www.rxlist.com/oxycontin-drug.htm#clinpharm

“Regular Strength Tylenol.” Tylenol.com. Johnson & Johnson Inc. n.d. https://www.tylenol.com/products/tylenol-regular-strength-tablets#directions

“Tylenol.” Rxlist.com. Rxlist Inc. 4, December 2017. https://www.rxlist.com/tylenol-side-effects-drug-center.htm

Is Kate Really a Shrew?

In Drama, our 3rd sophomore humanities class, we read Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." I have never read this play, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. We read an online version and all picked out parts and read each act and scene. After each scene, we took a test. I liked this format of picking the roles and reading the play. We discussed the gender roles of the play and the patriarchal society at the time, as the play takes place in Italy in the 1500's. We were asked to write down words that we do not recognize throughout the play. We then would define them and put them into our glossary. For this AP, we had to write a sonnet about a character. We looked at different sonnets that Shakespeare wrote. A sonnet is a kind of poem that follows these specific guidelines: It has to have 14 lines, 10 syllables for each line and has 3 quartets or stanzas of 4 lines, and a rhyming couplet at the end, which is 2 lines that rhyme at the end. A sonnet also follows the iambic pentameter or a rhyme scheme. This says that either every other line rhymes or the 2 in the middle and the 2 on the ends rhyme. I chose to do it the second way, mostly because that was how my first lines came out, and you have to stick with the same rhyme scheme through the whole sonnet. I decided to write to Kate, one of the main characters in the play who is being tamed by her husband. I wanted to tell her that she should not let him push her around and that she was fine the way she was behaving.I thought that it was wrong that Petruchio (Kate's husband) was manipulating Kate and telling her that she was wrong about everything. This just shows how much of a patriarchal society everyone was living in.

Here is a video of me performing my Sonnet

Here is the sonnet. The bold words are my vocabulary words. The quote is one I found in the play.

Dearest Kate, I have heard of your story.

I understand your situation well.

You were a shrewish wench straight out of hell.

Being sassy, you were in your glory.

Petruchio is not a gentleman.

There was nothing wrong with the way you talked.

You were so strong and sure, everyone gawked.

He only wants you to be feminine.

You should not have let him be a rudesby.

He only wants to manipulate you.

You should not have let him take your mind too 

"By this reck’ning, he is more shrew than she.”

Prithee, do not let him beguile you too.

For Petruchio wants to tame a shrew.

In the end, I liked this action project. I was very unsure about poetry, as I am usually not very good, but I found this kind of poetry to be fun and fairly simple. I liked having to find words that rhyme, and also having to use our own vocabulary words. I think my biggest challenge was starting to write the sonnet. This was because I doubted myself in what I could do, but once I got the first few lines, I was able to do the rest pretty easily. I am most proud of how the poem came out, and how I tied in all the words to make it sound nice.