PVU GCE Portfolio

For my first STEAM course of my sophomore year, I am taking a class called population. In this unit we learned about different organisms' characteristics and taxonomy. Taxonomy is how scientist classify organisms. We learned about set theory and Venn diagrams. We then applied set theory, Venn diagrams, and taxonomy to our projects. I chose the Chimpanzee, also known as Pan. I researched its taxonomy and key characteristics. We then made a mosaic art piece of our animal, in this case mine was a Chimpanzee. This was the hardest part of the project for me. I am not good at making mosaics but I pushed through it telling myself I can do it! My motto in life is “I can do all things.” -Paul VU I think at the end the mosaic turned out really nice, and I certainly think this was the best part of my project. Enjoy! Aaron Logon. (January 23, 2006)  Chimp The organism that I chose is the Chimpanzee and its scientific name is Pan. Below you can find a gif that I created. The picture u...

In my final STEAM course for my freshman year, we are learning about GMOs and if they are bad or good for us. We also learned about the mathematics for data calculations. We were instructed to create a debate with both sides of the argument. For the project we researched our side. I chose the side GMOs is bad for us. I created a convincing argument, and collected data to support my claims. I had added a graph that showed the corn yields of NON-GMOs vs. GMOs years in the U.S. I really liked how I wrote my argument, it was super convincing and it also had lots of facts. The one thing that I could have done better was being able to read my argument better. There was a 16.3% increase between the GMO years and NON-GMOs years. The calculations were, 139.2-161.9/139.2=16.3%. I was really happy with everything and I hope people stop using GMOs. Take a look at my video, graph, and argument.   GMO Debate: PVU Argues Against GMOs from GCE Lab School on Vimeo . (PVU, Graph, May 25,...

For my last Action Project for my last term of my freshman year, Food For Thought. In this unit we were studying food reviews. For this Action Project we were instructed to choose a food at a restaurant and a make a home meal. We researched our food We had to find the food, review it and say what we smelled, tasted and felt about the food. We also had to take a picture of our foods. I liked everything about this action project, especially the eating part. I think that I could have made it better. Tiramisu. It’s a condensed, four-syllable word that can seem quite boring, yet it can be one of the most flavorful dishes. Tiramisu is made of long biscuits called “lady fingers” that are dipped in coffee, layered with eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, and finely flavored and plated with cocoa powder. The translation according to Todd Wilbur, author of the Top Secret Recipes says the meaning of the name is, "cheer me up","wake me up." I picked up a slice of tiramisu fr...

I have been fencing for eight and a half years. I have fallen in love this the sport, and it holds a future for me. I started out by not being one of the top kids in the state and country, but I really wanted to do well and I had the drive. I worked for a long time to improve and get better and I finally reached my goal. I was one of the kids who was recognized the moment you walked through the doors. I was that kid that everyone said, “I have to fence Paul!! I’m dead”. I took that motivation to heart, and gave it my all. In the eight and a half years of fencing I have worked hard and set myself up for a future competing in college. I think with what I have concoured in fencing that it helped me realize that “I can do anything”. I embraced this mentality and wrote this quote on my shoes, and anytime I think I can’t do something I look at my shoes and remember, “I can do anything”. I chose to use the fencing hours that I put in every week for my gym credits for school. I recorded over ...

This is my second Action Project for my last term, Food For Thought. In this course we are studying in this unit is to see what a global food system looks like, to understand human and environmental impacts of our world. For this Action Project we had to choose a global issue that is happening in the world. We had to research our issue. We also had to make a fake presentation for the UN. Finally we had to find a way to address and solve the issue we researched. One of the biggest things that I am proud of was coming up with a plan/solution to our water crisis. Something that I struggled with was researching. I had to record my “speech” and in the process I encountered many mistakes, but it all worked out at the end. Watch my video below, and enjoy my speech. Water Crisis in Iraq By PVU Water is something we take for granted in the U.S., while in some countries, people walk many miles to get just half a day's worth of water. Seventy percent of Earth is water but o...

In my last STEAM course of my freshman year food, we learned about leavening agents and what is the best for bread. For this AP, the class was told to bake three different types of breads using three different leavening agents. Two of the breads were to be made with biological leavening agents, yeast and sourdough, and the third bread was made with a chemical leavening agent, baking soda. We learned about fractions when it comes to cooking, solving proportions, and how to convert recipes. We learned how to solve logarithms and how to find the pH of anything. The group I was in was the chemical group. The chemical leavening agent was baking soda. I liked this project overall. I think there were some flaws, but bread we baked was really good. I think that everything I learned from this action project I will be able to take into the real world. When I am on my own, I will need to learn how to do all of this by myself. This action project didn’t just help me in academics, but ...

This is my first Action Project for my last term, Food. In this course we are studying food and where it comes from, history of the food and framing. For this Action Project we had to choose an ingredient and write about it in first person. We had to research a lot about our ingredient and the center origin of it. I liked learning a lot about my family's spice. I had run into a couple problems because my grandparents don't speak the best English. Overall it was a cool project, and I am looking forward to doing it again.