I bet you’ve never heard of the Halifax Explosion of 1917… Yeah I thought so. Well that’s what we’ve taken a look into recently, and in this post, I’m going to be sharing my experience with this major disaster and an important piece of our Canadian history.
So here’s a short breakdown of the terrible event that took place on the morning of December 6th, 1917:
The Halifax Explosion was the result of two large ships colliding in the harbour of Halifax: The Imo heading out of the port, and the Mont Blanc coming in to dock. The Mont Blanc was carrying tons of ammunitions for the raging war in Europe, and when the two ships hit each other, a mass fire broke out on the ammunitions ship. After around 20 minutes of burning, and after drawing in the attention of onlookers around the harbour, the Mont Blanc exploded and created a 2 kilometre-high cloud, wiping out most of the city. The once busy and buzzing city of Halifax was virtually vaporized and reduced to nothing, leaving thousands of people dead, injured, and homeless.
The Imo shipwrecked in the Halifax Harbour
The Explosion Cloud
So, as well as completing a soldiers diary entry and a keynote presentation, we were asked (well…more like told) to create a news report summarizing the Halifax Explosion. It had to be informative, engaging, and under 3 minutes. We were able to choose our own groups, so naturally I grouped together with Anatolia, Alanah, and Brianna. We first had to read up on our topic, because to be honest I had no idea what the Halifax Explosion was. When we were familiar with this saddening piece of history, we started constructing our script, and who was being who in the video. We decided that Brianna and I were going to be two news room reporters, Anatolia was being the “on-the-scene” reporter, and Alanah was playing the eyewitness/innocent citizen affected by the explosion. At the time, our script didn’t seem too long and after it was finished, it was time for us to actually film.
My group and I decided to base our video in 1917, just days after the explosion, which meant that we had to incorporate costume, green screen, and solemn attitudes into our movie. I actually think we did well on this front. We really fell into character, and tried hard with our backgrounds, making them as lifelike as possible. After we filmed all our footage, and edited all together, we were so relieved and were ready to publish it to Youtube.
So you might be wondering where the actual movie is, and to be honest we are all wondering the same thing. We were trying to publish it from Anatolia’s laptop but it kept failing. So we rebooted her laptop and it never turned back on. So I’m just as lost as you, waiting for my movie to magically turn up on Youtube and my blog. I will be updating this post when we find out what happened to our movie.
So, as seen in my last few posts, we are currently studying WWI. We have now shifted from studying the big picture of the war, to studying life on the home front of Canada during the war. We have also begun looking into how the war contributed to the growing feeling of Canadian Identity, and have been investigating what it meant to be a Canadian during the Great War.
While Ms. Willemse and Mr. Hughes were away with the Grade 8’s, us Grade 11’s were left with 100,000 different projects to complete for the week (not really that many, more like three, but it felt like a lot more). One of these assignments was a research study of one Canadian soldier who served in the First World War. Our task was to research these men, and examine any primary documents we could find. We had to put ourselves in the shoes of our soldier and imagine what their war story was. What happened to them, how they felt, what they learned, and what their ending was. Once we figured this out, we had to write a diary entry as this soldier at some point from their life: Before, after or during the war. PLUS, we were encouraged to include some sort of Canadian Identity.
I began researching a potential soldier to write about on a website that has the records of pretty much any Canadian soldier that enrolled in ANY of the world wars. I first searched up my last name and found a few soldiers that sounded interesting, but didn’t have a huge amount of primary sources apart from their enlistment forms. So, I did some more digging around some other websites and came across a few letters that were written by soldiers in Valcartier. I looked into which Canadian soldiers wrote them, and found a man named Goldwin McCausland Pirie.
It turns out that Goldwin was a 20 year old Bank Clerk from Dundas, Ontario, who enlisted into the First World War August of 1914. He was sent to France, and ended up fighting in the 2nd Battle of Ypres. In the counterattack of the 1st and 4th battalions at Mauser Ridge, he was wounded on the battlefield and left for dead for four days. He was recovered by a medical team and sent to Netley hospital (Royal Victoria Hospital) in Southampton U.K. He ended up passing away two months later due to infections of his wounds.
My entry, written in Goldwin McCausland Pirie’s perspective, was based in the month after he was wounded, during the period of time where he believed he would survive.
*Warning: This post is probably the longest on my blog. You might want to find a seat because you’ll be reading for a while*
The Manhattan Project. When anyone hears this phrase, the top secret Atomic Bomb WWII operation conducted by the United States, usually comes to mind. And if it doesn’t I strongly suggest you click here to read up on it, because this post is all about my experience with this alarmingly complex project that a nation kept secret from… well… itself and the rest of the world.
Pretty much, in the beginning of the school year, we were introduced to a new unit; The Manhattan Project². The main purpose of the unit was to fully understand what the project was, who was involved, and the set-up and work that went into it. We were then introduced to a video project as a way to go more in-depth into the topic. We were to work in groups of 5, and focus in on one of the sites of The Manhattan Project: The Hanford Site. We had to come up with one main topic, along with 5 sub-topics, and format it similar to the video series History In 5.
As well as creating an interesting documentary of our topic choice, we were told our film had to use the historical thinking concept of historical perspectives to frame our story. In order to understand the different settings that shaped the lives of people in the past, we had to really think hard, and pretty much transport ourselves into the 1940’s. We wrote letters as if we were those who lived on site at Hanford, and we created character cards, documenting the lives of those who worked on the project in the 1940’s.
My Character Card
Once we really had a good grip on the time period and the main events that took place during the Manhattan Project, it was time for a field study! Duh! But, before our trip, we were supposed to have planned out exactly what our movie was going to be based on, and how we were going to use historical perspective to help tell our story. PLUS, we had to have our whole script written and be ready to begin filming. My group, Anatolia, Chloe, Mike, Nolan, and I, had our topic finalized, as well as our subtopics. Our movie was going to be all about the Secrecy and Security at Hanford and how it ultimately played a part in the success of the Manhattan Project, my sub-topic being how the war would have been very different without the project.
Secrecy Sign from WWII
I researched a whole bunch of different military plans that were created by the United States, before the Manhattan Project even existed, and how very important secrecy was when the project was introduced. I found an interesting invasion plan, named Operation Downfall(that’s kinda intense if I’m being honest). The plan was for the U.S. to invade Japan, but it was predicted that there would be a loss of hundreds of thousands of military troops during the invasion, and potentially thousands more depending on how long the raid were to last. The idea to create the atomic bomb as a weapon was justified by the fact that there would be a smaller casualty and fatality rate among American troops and allies if there were to be a bomb, rather than an invasion. Because of the effort that was put in place to cover up the plans for the Manhattan Project, the United States guaranteed themselves a smooth ending to the war, and saved many American and allied casualties that alternate plans would have caused.
So anyways, back to the best part…. the actual trip! The HPC 11 class was the first cohort to travel this year, and I was super excited as the days rolled closer to our departure. At the end of September, we finally made our way down to Portland, Oregon, and Richland, Washington, on our good old Seycove bus, to investigate further into what the Hanford Site was and gather all the information and primary sources we could for our documentaries. We spent four days abroad, visiting many Manhattan project exhibits in museums, such as the REACH Museum, interviewed many knowledgeable people, some of whom took part in the project, and took a few bus tours to historical landmarks like the B-Reactor at Hanford.
HPC 11 With The B-Reactor At Hanford
On Our Way To Portland
Our Class at The REACH Museum
Every time our class goes on a field study, we get along so well, and bond as a cohort more and more. I had a very enjoyable and memorable experience learning first hand about how this technological endeavour helped to shape a nation, and changed the course of history. My group used these four days full of primary sources and firsthand accounts from the Manhattan Project quite well, gathering as much information as we could, as well as video and pictures to add into our movie. Unfortunately, we didn’t end up filming any clips of us talking on the trip, because we hadn’t finished our scripts beforehand, which resulted in us being behind from the get-go.
So, once we returned to Vancouver (Canada, not Washington. Just in case you hadn’t figured that out), we officially began constructing our movies. Let’s just say my group had to work extra hard to finish within the deadline. We had to fish out all of the rich information that we gathered on our trip, turn that into a script, actually film our parts, put it altogether, and hand it in. The worst part of all of this was that it was only the first draft (I’m just kidding, being able to make and hand in multiple drafts and receive critique is one of the best parts of PLP). We formatted our video sort of similar to the History In 5 example that we watched earlier in the year: We shot ourselves speaking in front of a green screen, then added pictures and videos to break up our clips. We thought it was ok for a first draft. It was a really really rough cut, but it was still something.
So then, after handing our new draft in, and hearing Mr. Hughes and Ms. Willemse’s constructive feedback, we started the same cycle for our second draft. We ended up shortening our movie length from 15 minutes long, to 9 and a half minutes long, as there was a large amount of “extra” information that was taking away from the core message. We had quite a lot of trouble with our audio because we realized the space we were using was echoey and…well it just had really bad sound for our iPads to pick up. But we ended up borrowing a microphone from Willemse and Hughes, so our audio problem was fixed…For the most part. By the time the second draft was due, our video still had a sort of rough feeling to it, not something you typically want in a second draft. But we still wanted to hand it in to receive more critique and feedback.
After playing around with the last few things to fix in our movie, it was suddenly time to hand our third and final draft in. My group was pretty nervous, as these videos weren’t just being put on our blogs, but they are being shown to our tour guides at the Hanford Site, and I mean these people know everything about anything Manhattan Project. So to say we were a tad intimidated was an understatement. But we handed it in regardless of our nervousness, and ended up being pretty proud of our creation. After days of filming and re-filming clips, fiddling with pairing up audio and visuals, long nights spent at Anatolia’s house with the group working on completing our movie, and a whole bunch research, we finally had handed in what seemed like a lifetime’s worth of work. To say I was relieved is an understatement.
But even when you hand work in when you are a part of PLP, you always pick out things in the project that could have gone differently, better, or not gone on at all. Now, one of the problems I had with this History In 5 movie, was that I somehow thought it was a good idea to not complete my prior research and planning of my script and movie, which turns out to be the most important part! I’m not going to lie, I knew that I was making a mistake, but I thought all would work out by the end. And it did, but only by the skin of my teeth. I know that for the next project like this one (because we always expect this sort of thing in PLP), I need to work harder on my organization and preparation skills. I know that if I had just prepared a bit more in the beginning, I wouldn’t have had to work so hard near the end to complete our Secrecy and Security At Hanford video.
So that’s all I have to say about this crazy, historical perspective-y, Manhattan Project² performance task, I hope you somewhat enjoyed this extremely long blog post (hey don’t say I didn’t warn you in the beginning), and if you are reading this I am proud that you made it this far. You’ll hear from me next time in our upcoming WWI blog post (thanks Ms. Willemse).
I’m sure everyone has heard about how WWI began in 1914. How the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, of Austria-Hungary, was the trigger that shot Europe’s nations into chaos and war. But there are many, many other theories out there, about the underlying causes that lead to the beginning of this horrific Great War. My theory is that Germany was constantly causing a great disruption to the nations of Europe, which started with the Franco-Prussian war. This war created instability, which was the main cause of the formation of the two main alliances, the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, and ultimately lead to the beginning of WWI.
The Franco-Prussian War was between the Second French Empire Of Napoleon III and the German States of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia, and lasted from 1870 to 1871. The main causes of the conflict were the determination of the Prussian statesman, Otto von Bismarck, to unify the North and South of Germany under the control of Prussia, as well as being able to eliminate the influence of France over Germany. Over in France, Napoleon III, emperor of France from 1852 to 1870, was threatened by Prussia’s military strength, as demonstrated in the Austro Prussian War in 1866, and the French feared the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded their goal of the unification of Germany.
France was certain that they would be able to defeat Prussia and Germany in a war, and on July 19, 1870, Napoleon III was declared the beginning of the Franco-Prussian war, mainly because of the confidence he was receiving from his military advisers. France soon realized that Germany had the greater manpower, and as Otto von Bismarck had hoped, the southern states of Germany had decided that France was a threat and sided with Prussia.
When the war began, it was made clear that the France was the weaker side of the fight, and Napoleon III soon was forced to surrender to the enemy, on August 2nd 1870. French resistance was carried on against desperate odds by a new government of national defence, which began in Paris on September 4, 1870. Then, on September 19th, Germans attempted to surround and invade Paris. Foreign Minister in the new French Government, Jules Favre, attempted to negotiate with Bismarck, but the discussions were halted when he found that Germany was demanding the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine. Léon Gambetta, the leading figure in the provisional government, organized new French armies which fought German troops, but did not win against them. Paris was taken over by the German side, and Germany then annexed Alsace and Lorraine. France ended up having to pay 5 billion francs as compensation and cover the costs of the German occupation of France’s northern provinces until this compensation was paid.
So really, this war meant that France wanted revenge against Germany, and a determination to recover Alsace and Lorraine kept the two nations constantly prepared for war. Their strong hostility towards each other, was the start of instability caused across European nations.
In 1882, Otto von Bismarck realized that in order to continue to industrialize Germany and make it stronger, he had to supported a security policy to keep peace throughout Europe, and prevent France and Russia from forming an alliance. He soon formed the Triple Alliance, where Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary and Italy. In case a war were to break out, these countries promised to support each other. But in 1888, the choice to concentrate more on a global cause, instead of a cautious security policy set in, when the German Emperor Wilhelmina II came into power. With this change, the Triple Alliance was reformed and renewed, and Russia was quick to align with France.
In 1904, Germany attempted to gain favour in Morocco, but this move sent England, who feared the growth of the German’s fleet, to the arms of Russia and France, which marked the beginning of the Triple Entente.
For the next ten years, the two alliances needed little to provoke a war between them. There was an enormous amount of tension throughout the divided continent, and when the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand took place, it was the perfect spark to infinite the immense hatred between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, and to begin World War I.
Ok so that was A LOT of information to process! I knew that I had to give you the reasons and evidence to support my thesis, but I honestly didn’t anticipate this much writing was going to be involved. So to give you a clearer, and less wordy picture of how I think WWI was ignited, I have decided to create a visual representation of my thoughts, sort of like a brainstorm in picture form. I used the App Paper, my favourite drawing App, and I split the Franco-Prussian War apart from the other events that support my thoughts, because it had way too much information for just a small box. I chose to label it and separate the drawings with boxes, so that my ideas weren’t too messy on the page, I hope you can learn a bit more, in a bit of a less brain clogging way, about the beginning of WWI!
Hey look, I’m back with a new school-based blog post for the first time this year and recently in class, we have been looking into Canada’s pre-WW1 position and what our nation’s role was in the war. For this blog post, we were asked to look into one fragment of pre-war life in Canada, after getting a glimpse into the our country’s timeline leading up to the war.
I knew the moment that we learned about the Social Gospel, that I wanted to base my research on the Protestant Reform group. But this, in itself, was quite a broad topic, so I needed to focus my topic down to a single question. I decided to ask “What was The Social Gospel and how did they affect the Canadian quality of life? Did the Social Gospel’s legacy carry on into and impact modern day Canada?” (That’s sort of two questions but oh well). I have decided to create an Explain Everything, to dig deeper into what the Social Gospel was and how it was formed, and also how it impacted the quality of life for Canadians, or if it even did. But first here’s a bit of a backstory and an introduction to the time period.
The Backstory:
So, in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s, before the stirrings of WW1, Canada was evolving through the means of technology, industry, and immigration. But with all of the change came the good and the bad, the bad being the struggle to maintain a good quality of life.
In this era of change and growth, there was hardly any thought going into healthcare, worker exploitation, poverty, and crime, let alone any effort to fix these problems. Since nothing was being done to prevent this way of life, living and working conditions continued to worsen for those impoverished in Canada.
The Prime Minister of the time, Wilfrid Laurier, was a man of compromise and balance, who wanted to keep the peace between French Canadians and British Canadians. But his “take no immediate action” way of government did little to remedy all the problems that arose as the Canadian Industrial Revolution continued. Since the Prime Minister would do nothing to aid quality of life in Canada, social reform movements, such as the Social Gospel, were born, to bring disease, poverty, and crime into perspective and attempt to mend the Canadian lifestyle.
Ok so, you may not know, but school has officially started up once again for the 2016/2017 year. And transitioning from a two-month carefree and relaxing summer break, to the craziness of the Seycove Secondary School halls is a big deal. I am seriously sleep deprived and it’s only the the second week back… As I said it’s a pretty big change.
There is pretty much only one thing that keeps me alive and sane during the never ending days at school, apart from a good lunch, and that’s music. I don’t think there is a point in the day where you won’t find me with a pair of headphones and a phone blasting music into my head. Music gives me an outlet for when I’m feeling stressed or down, it can bring me back to normal in a matter of the few first seconds of a favourite song. And these favourite songs are always changing and being replaced with new and old ones.
One of the best feelings is when you hear a song that you haven’t heard in years and know all the words because it used to be a favourite, and then you have flashbacks of where you first heard it and with whom, and soon it goes and takes back its place as one of the new “old favourites”. I am probably rambling on and sounding a bit obsessive, so I’ll carry on with the whole point of this post; to show you a few of my favourite songs that get me through the school days.
She Moves In Her Own Way – The Kooks
Ok so this is a song that I first heard in, like, 2007. It pretty much went through one ear and out the other. But I recently heard it at work, and I fell in love with it completely. I feel like it could be played during a montage of two people falling in love with each other during a rom-com movie, or something like that. But I don’t know, it’s upbeat, and sweet, and makes you want to do a little dance, so it works for me.
Favourite Lyrics: But you don’t pull my strings ’cause I’m a better man / moving onto better things
Walking On A Dream – Empire Of The Sun
Similar to ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’, I first heard this song years ago but it just didn’t stick with me. It’s one of those songs that has been on my iPod for, like, six years, and I just recently listened to it fully. Immediately I was caught up in the dreamy synthesizers and vocals. Most of the time when I listen to ‘Walking On A Dream’, I have no clue what is actually being said, but I don’t really mind, because it’s just that good.
Favourite Lyrics: Never looking down / I’m just in awe of what’s in front of me
Don’t Be A Fool – Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes’ sound has progressed from innocent guitar riffs accompanied by a young voice as a one man show, to electric guitars and backup bands and a more mature and evolved voice. ‘Don’t Be A Fool’ recently came out, and I love everything about it. I love how he sings about a someone who deserves better than him, and how it has a smooth and soulful sound.
Favourite Lyrics: And don’t be a fool / and wait on me darling
Only Love – Ben Howard
Ok so I’m sort of obsessed with Ben Howard; his music lets me close my eyes and float away into a different place. When a piece of music can take me somewhere other than reality, that’s when I know that its powerful. I’m cannot stop listening to the beautiful lyrics for an old lover, and the mesmerizing beat of ‘Only Love’. I feel like Ben Howard will be on my favourites list for quite a while.
Favourite Lyrics: And I’ll be yours to keep / a wind in the shadow a whale song in the deep
Send My Love (To Your New Lover) – Adele
OMG Adele… This song is so different to what you usually hear from her, which is mostly sad love songs and ballads. This is one of my favourites from her new album, it’s got a faster and a more catchy beat to it, and I love how she used the guitar, instead of her iconic sound of the piano. And I also love it ’cause I’m actually (sort of) able to stay in key when I sing along.
Favourite Lyrics: I was running, you were walking / you couldn’t keep up, you were falling down
The Age Of Worry – John Mayer
Ah, John Mayor, I love love love his voice. I love how almost all of his songs that I listen to, transport me to a dreamland (geez I guess dreaminess is the song theme). This song is no exception. I recently rediscovered John Mayor and began listening to playlist upon playlist of his different songs. And still, ‘The Age Of Worry’ came out on top.
Favourite Lyrics: Dream your dreams but don’t pretend / make friends with what you are
Runaway – Ed Sheeran
An essential music list isn’t one without an Ed Sheeran song. There are many of his songs that I listen to, but I especially like ‘Runaway’ because of the smooth sound and Ed Sheehan’s voice; his voice is all I need to hear to make it a favourite song. Runaway just has a little something that makes my heart tingle when I hear it (I can’t believe I said that for the world to see).
Favourite Lyrics: It’s been a long day / thumb on side of the roadway
The Sound – The 1975
I first heard of The 1975 about two years ago and fell in love with their first album. Then when they came out with their recent album ‘I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it’, I fell deeper in love with the dewy and nostalgic 80’s sound. ‘The Sound’ is my favourite because it has a thumping beat and lyrics that describe a rockstar relationship.
Favourite Lyrics: She said “I’ve got a problem with your shoes and you tunes / but I might move in
Mercy – Shawn Mendes
Having had discovered Shawn Mendes way back when he came out with his very first single, I have been following the release of his first album, and his very recent album. Mercy is my new favourite, which came out August 18th. I love all of it. Enough said.
Favourite Lyrics: I’m not asking for a lot / just that your honest with me
So that’s it. These are the core songs that get me through the days (for now). They will probably be different next week, and then the week after that, and that… Well you get the idea. Anyways, I totally recommend all of these songs, so give them a listen! I’m thinking of showing you a different group of songs each month, but I think I’ll be making each post shorter, so you don’t get too tired of reading.
Hey there, welcome back to my (not based on anything) blog! I haven’t been very consistent with my updates and how often I post, but I’m trying to get on top of that. I kind of wanna transform my blog into a school/other stuff blog, because I don’t know anyone who just wants to read about what I’m doing in school. I know quite a bit of the stuff we do in PLP is pretty cool, but I actually do other things apart from school work and projects (believe it or not)!
So to start off my (sort of) new theme, I want to share some of my recent summer adventures. This summer didn’t really start to feel like actual summer until it was almost over, because of exams and my SLC, a week after school ended. When I think back to what I did during my two-and-a-something months of break, I find it hard to remember anything. It rained for a week, it was sunny for a week, and the rest was kinda cloudy. I read a couple of books, went on a few road trips, and saw a couple baseball games. It’s almost like a blur, it went way too quickly. I do have a couple of notable trips that I took and places that I went. Like I took a train down to Portland, Oregon, for a week. That was fun! Oh, and I went tubing on Lake Cowichan, on Vancouver island. Ok so my summer wasn’t all a blur, but I knew there had to be a better way to hold onto it all.
Well, it’s the end of the year and you know what that means… Time for another Student Led Conference! In this post I will be sharing the work that I am most proud of, the work that I can improve on, and how I have displayed growth through my learning.
So during the year, there were quite a few different projects and pieces of work that I think displayed great amounts of effort and growth. But, for this last part of the year, I think my Blue Sky Design Project was a good example of performance work. Overall, I really think I displayed growth through the development of my ideas and my design process. I revised my idea multiple times to get my product to a good standard and came out with a project that I was proud to share with the world.
When I think of my Civil Rights Little Big story, I think that it was a good project that I am proud of, but one that could definitely be improved on. Even though it was full of good information, my Little Big Story was jam-packed with 60 years worth of info from the Civil Rights Movement, and could’ve been done earlier if it weren’t for the fact that I procrastinated.
Overall, this year has been a crazy roller coaster ride, from me being super proud of fully completed work, to me practically pretending that some projects didn’t really exist until the night before it was due. Since my last SLC, there are a few things that have changed, and some things that have stayed consistent. During the year, there are a few things that I have been working hard on to improve my attitude towards my work and learning.
I think through all the rough patches in my learning I think I have continued to maintain a Growth Mindset, and the ability to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I knew that I didn’t want to continue to feel hate towards my work, and I knew I had to change my mindset in order for the situation to change. And I think I succeeded, in that I feel much better about the work that I produce.
During the year I have been working hard to be able to recognize where I can improve and grow as a learner with my work. Sometimes it is hard for me to accept critique and feedback, whether it’s good or bad, but I have been reminding myself that it is alright to make mistakes because it’s all part of the learning process and it makes you a stronger person when you are able to bounce back with new and brighter ideas.
Bonjour everyone, and welcome to another Blue Sky Project, the very last one that there will be (pretend I’m pretending to sulk). This time around it was a bit different, instead of creating something kinda random and not relevant to everyday life, we focussed on problems or dilemmas that we find ourselves facing on a daily basis.
For me, this problem was that whenever it starts to rain when I go hiking, golfing, etc, I always get annoyingly uncomfortable, wet shoes, and then my outdoor experience is drained into the gutter. I decided that I wanted to find a solution, and come up with a product that keeps your shoes dry and comfortable.
“The Ugly Duckling” was my first attempt at creating a shoe protector that was lightweight, easy to put on and take off, and was dynamic for hiking and golfing. I got the idea from existing shoe cover designs, and an old canvas bag that I found.
Then I needed to think of a way to support the bag-like structure around the shoe. I used rubber snowshoe attachments, which I attached to the cover, to stabilize it. When it was complete, it was a good idea and gave great coverage for your shoe, but it was very bulky and wasn’t really what I wanted my product to look like.
After “The Ugly Duckling” prototype, I had to revise my plans and design, and alter it to become my a better version of the product. This is when I created “The Muddy Duck”.
“The Muddy Duck” is my final prototype of my shoe cover and protector. As you can see, it’s name was inspired by the name and shape of duck bill, and the fact that it will unavoidably get muddy as it protects your shoes from moisture and dirt.
The canvas material is waterproof and will keep your shoes and socks rain free, while the duck bill at the back will keep the back of your legs free of dirt flicking up from the back of your shoes. The Muddy Duck is pretty easy to put on and take off, and is a lightweight option to keep your shoes comfortable while you enjoy your outdoor activities, rain or shine.
If I were to change something about the product itself, I would attempt to make the area around the ankle more waterproof by adding a rubber attachment of some sort. I think I could have worked on getting started on the whole process earlier, as near the deadline, I was rushing to make sure everything about my project was finished and ready to go for the exhibition.
Overall, this Blue Sky Design Project was an enjoyable one, full of shoes, laughter, popcorn machines, and rain… lots of rain.
Hello again, to whomever is reading today, I’m back. In this post, I am introducing our class “Great Big Story” projects (that later transitioned into “Little Big Stories”), and what I could’ve done differently in my project to make it a whole lot better.
Before heading down to the southern states of America for 10 days with my classmates, we were introduced to a chain of short and snappy videos about pretty much anything in the world, called a “Great Big Story”. (You can click on the name to check out the website.) Branching off of CNN’s idea, we were told we would be creating our own short, snappy, and interesting movies, given the name “Little Big Stories”.
So when we went down south, I knew my plan for my “Little Big Story” to do with the Civil Rights Movement was more or less settled. I wanted to focus on the Selma to Montgomery Marches in 1965, as we would be visiting Selma, Montgomery, and some amazing history makers of the civil rights movement, who took part in the marches. But, already, I had made the mistake of not having my script written, or even a storyboard completed, so I didn’t have any questions prepared to ask when I met these influential people.
When we returned home, that’s when I started my script and planning of how I wanted my movie to look… veeery, veeery sloooowly. I based my story on one person’s experience in the marches, including Bloody Sunday and Turnaround Tuesday, and how they went on to continue with Civil Rights work. I focussed on a woman who was just a child during the movement, Lynda Lowery. Her story was fascinating and terrifying all at once, and when I listened to her talk first-hand I was captivated and reduced to tears.
Anyways, It took me quite a while to finally begin recording my movie and gather clips and footage. I was relieved when I could say that I was happy with my Little Big Story, and when I handed it in, I was glad I had finished. But, of course, that wasn’t the end of our friend the not-so-little Little Big Story, because I had received feedback!
I was told that I had tried too hard to fit 60 years of Civil Rights into my Little Big Story, and I had opposed the point of the project, as it wasn’t so little. No… It was about 4 minutes and 50 seconds! Usually the “Great Big Stories” are about 1-2 minutes… YIKES! I think that if I could have handed it in sooner rather than later, I would’ve gotten feedback earlier, and could have fixed it. I know that I procrastinated on this project, and this slowed down the whole process. Despite this flaw, I was ultimately proud of my final Little Big Story, and I know that I worked hard to get it done.
