Posted on March 2, 2018
Disruption!
Everything around us is a disruption. It may not be disrupting you but everything is disrupting something. The main focus of our current unit in PLP is disruption. We have learned the definition of disruption and different types of disruptions. When I first heard the word disruption I immediately thought it was something negative. Disruptions can be negative but they can also be positive. A disruption is a disturbance or problem that interrupts an event, activity, or process. For this unit we traveled to California to dive deeper into the topic of disruption. You can read more about the trip to California Here. Of course while we were in California we had a project to do.
Before we went to California we had to pick a place that we were going to and research how it is a disruption. We had to gather information while we were there and then turn it into a project. The project could be a video, podcast, photo essay, game, or puppet show. It was a partner project and I was partners with Ruby. We decided to do a podcast. Sadly no one decided to do a puppet show. There were many places we could choose from including the USS Midway and High Tech High. We decided to do the San Diego Safari Park. Before we left for California we did lots of research on how it is a disruption and we made a solid plan for our podcast. We decided to focus on how it is disrupting wildlife because it is sometimes safer for animals to be there than in the wild.
When we arrived at the park we got to go on an educational tour. It was led by an amazing tour guide who gave us tons of information on our topic. We got extremely lucky on our tour and we were able to go into the elephant habitat, while the elephants were in a separate pen, and watch a training session. The elephant keeper who was talking to us gave lots of information on why it is better for the elephants to be there than in the wild.
After the educational tour we got to explore the park on our own. Ruby and I went around and saw all of the animals. We asked tons of questions and we got a couple of really good interviews for our podcast. I love being able to do projects on places we visit because they are way more fun and the final project is always really good.
When we returned from California we evaluated all of the information we collected and started creating our podcast. We had tons of amazing information and interviews so it was a little challenging to decide what we were going to put in our podcast. We narrowed it down to a specific topic that we both had interest in. We decided that we wanted our main focus to be tigers because it is very dangerous for them in the wild and there is a great program for them at the Safari Park. We wrote our script, recorded it, and edited it using ferrite. The hard part was adding in the interview because we had to place them so they followed the story and made it more interesting. We handed it in and got ready for some critique. The teachers did a class critique where they just critiqued a couple in front of the class so everyone knows the expectations. I don’t like these because I much prefer to get specific critique so I know exactly what to change.
I am so happy that Ruby and I chose to do the San Diego Safari Park. It was a topic that I really care about which made this project so much more fun. I love doing projects like this because there is lots of freedom to be creative. Ruby and I both put lots of effort into this project and I feel that it turned out really well.
A couple of weeks after California to wrap up our unit we had to write a synthesis essay. We had been preparing for this essay since the beginning of our unit. A synthesis essay is an essay that draws on at least one or two different sources. For our essays one of the sources had to be a book we read at the beginning of this unit, Little Brother. We also had to include two other sources of our choosing. The topic of our essay was how technology has been a disruption through out history. Everyone got to choose how they wanted to answer the topic so there was some freedom in the essay. We did lots of practice work in class to prepare for the essay. We also had to make a full outline which really helped me write even though we couldn’t use it while we wrote. The outline was really helpful in helping me figure out how to start and organizing our ideas.
We had two classes to write and proof read our essay. I am a pretty fast writer so I was done writing about halfway through the second class which meant I had tons of time to proof read. I made sure my essay was organized and grammatically correct then I handed it in. Here is my essay.
Synthesis Essay
This whole unit was really cool. I defiantly feel like I learned a ton of information in this unit. I liked this unit because the topic was interesting and I felt that I learned information that could be helpful in my future. I have warmed up to the idea that disruptions can be positive. This was also my favourite unit project wise. I loved all of the projects in this unit because they had a lot of freedom. I hope the next unit is as good as this one.