Best Basketball Team

For this 82 action project, we had to chose a team and a specific year they played in and why they are so great. The team and year I chose was the 2011-2012 Miami Heat. What I learned was that everyone needs to be fair in there argument and not biased. The purpose of this was to see what team we think is the best and to only base it on stats. Below is the video and why I think the 2011-2012 Miami Heat is the best team.       

                        

Why so great?:

- Came back from huge loss in 2010-11 vs. the Mavericks. Showed how much they wanted to be the best.

- In the season they won 46 games and lost 20 games. (2011 lockout) 66 games.

- They had the “Big Three” Dwyane Wade,  LeBron James, and Chris Bosh.  For the second year in a row, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh were all selected to the NBA All-Star Game, tying the record for the most Heat players in an All-Star game in franchise history.

- LeBron was the top player scoring 672 points in the playoffs. LeBron was made NBA Finals MVP.

- They were fighting to stay in the Eastern Conference. Then once they won in the semifinals,

they went on to a winning streak vs. the Boston Celtics.  

- Great teamwork. They had 1317 assists.

- They won their division for the 9th time and appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals for the 5th time.

Reference:
"2011-12 Miami Heat" n.p. Wikipedia, n.d.
"2011-12 Miami Heat Roster and Stats" n.p. Basketball Reference, n.d

Heart of America

For this bioneers action project everyone had to find a company with a product that can be improved to make it more eco-friendly. The company I chose was Denoyer Geppert and the product I chose was Heart of America. This product is an advanced mold that shows the different parts of the heart. I learned that companies make products that can not decompose at all, because of their materials. The purpose of this was to see how different companies make different products and to see how long will take for one product to decompose.


                              


The company I picked was Denoyer Geppert Science Company, this company makes posters and molds that show different parts of the human body. I interviewed Mary Andros the sales manger who told me everything I wanted to know. I wanted to know the materials, process of how it I made and how the product's process can be improved. The product I studied was the Heart of America which is a mold of a heart. The materials they use are polypropylene and acrylic paint. The plastic is from Illinois and the paint form Maine.The process to make this was first it is roto molded which is when the molder shakes it around making it hard. Then it will be hand pained and next sprayed with a coat that will make it shine. Last numbered to show the different parts and their names. This product is sold for $400 and they make and sell about 450 annually. This product has a life guarantee, meaning it will not decompose at all. It is very poisonous to the ground and air.

The way this company can improve their design is by using wax and an injector molder. The wax is good because when the mold starts to break, the buyer can give it back to company to be melted and re-molded. The injector molder works well with wax making it easier and faster to make it. The company is thinking of new alternatives to make a new eco-friendly heart model. They are thinking of using paper and showing it through a way of origami. Or using another plastic that is not as harmful. They haven't started making new designs because they want to master the technique.

Should The Lakers Stay or Go?

In this 82 action project every one had to create an infographic poster on a team of their chose that would show statistics about that team and the arena or the team, and if the city would benefit from it or be hurt by it. The team I chose was the Los Angeles Lakers and they play at the Staples Center. The purpose of this is to see how a team's arena, brand, and market can benefit or hurt the city, and to say if they should be in the that city at all. I learned many things about how the Lakers do benefit the city in many ways. Also how hard research can be when you are trying to find the really specific information about a big franchise.

 

 

                                                       NVA, "Lakers, Yes or No" 12-3-13, Chicago: GCE


In this infographic poster I show the Lakers team value which is $584 million and from that 21% is Sport, 41% is Market, 24% is Stadium, and 14% is Brand Management. This illustrates all the different areas their value comes from, and how diverse it is. The team value though is never consistent. Then I show the teams salary which slowly goes up, but then drops in 2005 and reaches really high after 8 more years. From the Lakers' players getting more popular there salary jumped which helped make the team more value to the public. In building the Staples Center the city was very much involved, the cost of the construction was $400 million and $70.5 million was taxpayer money (17.6%). The Staples Center Foundation does a lot for there community, they will go to schools and do many services and will donate paint and art supplies to the schools. What kind of services they will do is help the school garden or they clean around. "More than $10 million in grants and in-kind support has been pledged to support several local charities and community-based organizations with a goal of changing lives and saving lives."

Some trends I see are that is that the team value is never consistent because of how popular the team is at times. Also because if a player is drafted to another team or another player joins their team, making it better or worse. An outlier that I also noticed was that coming back from an injury Kobe Bryant scored 47 points for the Lakers making them win.

 In my opinion I think that the Lakers should stay in Los Angeles because they are doing many things to help there community and a lot less money was used to make the stadium from taxpayers. The Lakers aren't hurting the community at all and they should definitely stay.

REFERENCES

 ʺLakersʺ n.p. Forbes, Jan 2013
ʺStaples Centerʺ n.p. Wkipedia 11-14-13
ʺFounding Partnersʺ n.p. Staples Center, n.d.
"1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers Roster and Stats" n.p. Basketball Reference, n.d.
"1995-96 Los Angeles Lakers Roster and Stats" n.p. Basketball Reference, n.d.
"2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers Roster and Stats" n.p. Basketball Reference, n.d.
"2005-06 Los Angeles Lakers Roster and Stats" n.p. Basketball Reference, n.d.
"2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers Roster and Stats" n.p. Basketball Reference, n.d.
ʺStaples Centerʺ n.p.Ticket dogs, n.d.
"Number 1 Los Angeles Lakers" n.p. 12-4-13

The Jesus Christ Lizard

NVA, "Basilisk Lizard Collage" Nov 21, 2013 Chicago 

In this Bioneers unit we had to research an animal that has a special feature, that humans can go off of to make a new design. The animal I researched was the Basilisk Lizard, this lizard can run on water. The way it can do this is because it is light weight, can run really fast (5 miles) , and it has flaps in between its feet that make air pockets so it can keep up on the water. The reason humans cant run that fast and stay on the water is because that we are to heavy and the lizard is only 7 ounces. It lives in the lower part of Mexico to the top of South America. I chose this animal, because not many animals can walk on water and I never heard of any humans making a product that can help us walk on water. The design I created was a "Water Board", it is a board that has three propellers (two on the sides and one in the back). It also has two tubes on the sides that blow air upwards to create air pockets. The propellers will help make the board go fast to support are weight and the tubes will keep the board afloat. I was going to make a flipper that can help us walk on water, but in my research I found a design that was very similar to that. One of the Basilisk Lizard's nicknames is the Jesus Christ Lizard, because Jesus can walk on water and this lizard can run on it. The best part of this project was making my own design going off of this lizard, because not many people have made a design that can help people walk on water.

"Green Basilisk Lizard" n.p. National Geographic News, n.d.

"Basiliscus (genus)" n.p. Wikipedia, Nov 12, 2013

"How "Jesus Lizards" Walk On Water" John Roach, National Geographic News, 11-16-2004.



The Water Runner!

The Basilisk Lizard-

- It can walk on water but how?
   - It can walk on water because it is very light weight, has special flaps between their toes that make air pockets, and it is very fast moving (5 mph).

- The challenge that humans face is that they can't walk on water, they cant run as fast as the lizard, because if we did we would sink. We need to have something that is can make a human 3x faster and a part that can make air pockets to help us last longer. What we could make is a "Water Board" with three propeller under the water, one at the end and two in the front on the sides. Then another thing could be two tubes that can blow air down to keep it afloat.



"Basiliscus (genus)" n.p. Wikipedia, n.d.
"How "Jesus Lizards" Walk On Water" John Roach, National Geographic News, 11-16-2004.

Basketball Over The Years

The course I'm taking is called 82, in the course I am studying how basketball can reflect on society. For this project I had to create a presentation on how basketball has changed society over the years it, every student had to pick a topic to make this presentation. The topic I chose was, what can three different player salaries and endorsements tell you about society. What I learned was that popularity has changed many things, like endorsement deals, if a player is popular he/she will get more offers. The purpose of this was to see if basketball has changed society and if society has changed basketball.

The Plant That Mimics an Animal!

The course I'm taking is called Bioneers 101, where we learn on how plants and animals give so much to humans, and that we aren't as evolved as plants or animals. We had find a plant and research it and see the cool features that humans don't have built in their DNA. The purpose of this was to find the Fibonacci sequence and see how we could take the design of the plant and see what we could do or make from that design. I'm proud of my plant that I chose was, because it is a very interesting plant that is not known by many people, it is called the "Hedgehog Cactus". I learned that this amazing plant does not use the Fibonacci sequence it uses the opposite of that, it's called the Lucas number sequence.

                                 Daveynin "Hedgehog Cactus In Bloom" April 10, 2013, California U.S

The cactus I'm researching is called the Hedgehog cactus, which gets its name from the hedgehog because it resembles the spiny stems. There are many different different types of hedgehog cactus, the one I am researching is called Echinocereus engelmannii. This cactus has long spikes that are skinny, unlike many which have short spikes. This cactus can be found in the southwestern US, usually near or against rock formations. This cactus has a flower and can grow berry like fruit, the flower can change colors depending on if the berry or fruit is ripe or not. It also has a wax coat to protect it from the sun, so that the water that collected is not dried up from the heat. On cooler days the cactus opens up its pores to do a oxygen and carbon dioxide "exchange". Also instead of a normal plant using the Fibonacci sequence (0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55...) it uses the opposite, its called the Lucas number sequence (2,1,3,4,7,11,18,29,47,76,123...), which instead of going outwards it goes inward to keep itself safe from the heat.

 

 

 

                                                   NVA, "Hedgehog Cactus Top View", 11-11-13, Chicago, IL


From these different feature humans can learn a lot and can use these ideas to make new things without using so many resources. One thing we can learn is different ways to protect are selves from harsh weather and use that to collect more water. What I mean is that the cactus protects itself from the body being in the ground more it can collects more when it rains. Also the wax protects it from the water evaporating really fast on hot days, which could help us keep something safe and cool. Going off of what I said about the Lucas numbers we could use that sequence to protect resources that are low and protect them from going away and getting worn out.

What we could do from these ideas is make new things, what we could do is make a more natural way of a refrigerator like putting taking a metal garbage can and put it in the ground half way and put ice in it to make it cool, this way when it is really hot on summer days and the electricity goes out we have a way to keep the food and drinks cool and safe, also putting a wax coat on it so the sun cant effect the temperature as much. Or if that doesn't work, what we could do from these is make a water new rain water collector, but one that can make the water go to a faucet to use. We could also use the Lucas number sequence to make a small/closed in so it something can stay warm in the day or night, something like an igloo but one that is made of brick or mud that can store heat better.

In conclusion, we can learn a lot from not just this plant itself but many other plants. Nature is always ahead of us and we need to learn how she makes these plants and what features can help us make different ideas to create new and better inventions.

REFERENCES:

"Characteristics of the Hedgehog Cactus" Tamiya King, Ehow, 2013
"Characteristics of the Hedgehog Cactus" Kent Page McGroaty, SFGate, n.d.
"Hedgehog Cactus" Drue Tibbits, SFGate, n.d.
"Lucas Number" n.p. Wikipedia, n.d.
"Echinocereus Engelmannii" n.p. Wikipedia, April 3, 2013
"Cactus Type Category" n.p. Cactusbylin, n.d.