Driving Question: How can I use the logic of building up a garment using the right techniques to build up a dress from scratch?

Module Overview: For this project, my goal was to create a summer dress that meets my goals and purpose. My goal was to do a dress that is trendy, comfortable, and that suits me well. I did all the process from making the pattern, cutting the fabric, sewing it, assembling it, and adjusting it to fit me best. I didn’t know anything about sewing, so I had to learn the basics to then sew my dress. The final product is a photoshoot of the dress showing it from different angles.

Project Reflection: “This project was challenging and exciting at the same time. I knew nothing about sewing, so I had to learn everything from the basics. The dress that I wanted to do was so complex that I would get frustrated at some points and didn’t know how to continue. After tons of work, I am proud and surprised by the final product; I wasn’t expecting to do such a pretty dress with so little experience.”

Driving Question: How can I learn about music theory and teach others by analyzing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata?

Module Overview: For this project, Diego learned about music theory by researching chords, scales, and sheet music elements like clefs, staff, accidentals, and dynamic markings. Diego then analyzed and played Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata to identify the elements used in this song.

Project Reflection: “I didn’t feel this project was work. I thought it more like a hobby, just one more day doing what I like. I learned many things that I didn’t know about the theory, even though I have been playing the piano for several years now. It is the first time that I have shown many people what I can do or play, and that’s really exciting to finally share.”

Driving Question: How can I apply my knowledge of emergent behaviors in a visual program to find the most efficient rule sets for species’ environments?

Module Overview: Throughout the course of this project, Seb learned how to program in C# and Java alongside learning how to create a polished simulation of emergent behaviors in species using the Unity 3D-processing software. Emergent behaviors refer to when individual parts come together to work as a whole, in this case, the flocking behavior of birds. 

Seb started by looking at birds as they are the most heavily documented species in emergent behaviors. He gathered data about the best rule sets. Based on this data, he determined which of the birds’ flocking patterns, including separation, alignment, and cohesion, were the most effective. 

Project Reflection: “I learned a lot in all aspects of the product: data synthesis, graphing, programming, and more. The bit I enjoyed most was by far the data analysis, as I got some actual feasible results, all from my computer simulation.”