How to I.D. HIV

This is my first action project for my Disease class. The unit called “Body” was about the different kinds of body systems in the human body and diseases that affect us. For this action project I found a person that I know who has a disease and made a patient profile for them. Then I created a body outline and highlighted the specific parts of the body that are affected by the disease. My favorite part of making this action project was doing the research because disease is an interesting topic to me. For example I don’t normally enjoy researching information in my STEAM classes because it’s hard to remember information in that way, but since this action project was interesting the research came easily. Even though I had fun, the biggest problem I had while making this project was doing the body outline.The problem I had was that it was hard for me to stay still while I was being traced which made me end up having to do multiple outlines, but then I realized that it might be that my partner might be the problem. I switched out my partner with someone who had done this project before and the rest went smoothly from there.

My friend Timothy is a teenager who is well known in school and has a loving family. About a year ago he was infected with HIV. He was used to having a lot of friends and being lucky so he couldn’t imagine anything happening to his life. Before he knew he had HIV, he had already started to experience some of the symptoms of having it. He started coughing a lot and he had multiple high fevers. He already had an idea of what he had so he went to get tested and to see if he had HIV. When he found out he was infected he got really scared because he had gotten it through doing drugs with dirty needles. He didn’t want to tell his parents because he knew that he would get in trouble. When I asked how his parents reacted when they found out he had it he told me,"My parents were extremely mad because I actually told them that I got it from having sex."

After taking doses of a drug called Zidovudine to help lessen the symptoms of HIV, he is able to move on from being infected to his old routine of hanging out with friends and family. The dose he was supposed to take was 300 mg orally every 12 hours or 200 mg orally every 8 hours. Zidovudine is not the only way you can fight HIV/AIDS though. There are numerous other drugs and methods that can help reverse the infection. The best way to prevent it though is through protection during intercourse like condoms. Of course another way to help prevent it is by making sure when taking drugs the needle is always a clean new needle. Those are the best ways to prevent any risk factors.

HIV/AIDS

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is a disease that can ruin your immune system by causing multiple symptoms at the same time. AIDS is a symptom from another disease called HIV human immunodeficiency virus. HIV is a disease that also weakens your immune system, but the difference between AIDS and HIV, is that HIV is normally a cause for people infected with it to become infected with numerous other diseases like AIDS. Both of these diseases can be caused in three different ways. The first and most well known way is through sexual intercourse. The second way is through blood to blood contact The final and least known way is through being born with it after the parents had it. Both HIV and AIDS are infectious diseases but they could also be genetic diseases as well.

For my friend his symptoms started in the Respiratory System. At first it was just coughing, but next was hard breathing. His main problem was the coughing because at first he was trying to hide the fact that he was sick, and it was really tough for him to do.

Next was the integumentary system where he got Molluscum contagiosum. Molluscum contagiosum is a symptom that appears on the skin as bumps. For my friend they appeared on his arm, but they could appear anywhere on the body.

It is even possible for AIDS to affect the nervous system. It can cause HIV-associated dementia or AIDS dementia complex which seriously hurt your cognitive skills. They could also impair the memory.

MJF(2017)"HIV"

MJF(2017)"HIV"

MJF(2017)"HIV"

Works Cited

"24 Effects of HIV on the Body." Healthline. Healthline, 22 Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.

idovudine Dosage Guide with Precautions." Guide with Precautions - Drugs.com. Drugs.com, 6 Aug. 16. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.

"The Effects of HIV/AIDS on Different Systems of the Body." LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 24 June 2015. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.

Dreamcatcher

This is my final action project for my “Who Am I?” class. This unit was about dreams a very important philosopher named Sigmund Freud. For this action project I created a dreamcatcher based off of a dream that I once had using color and what I decided to put in the middle. I used sued string and a wood loop to make the outside edge to my dream catcher and used wool to do the web of the dreamcatcher. My favorite part of this project was seeing how other people in my class represented their dreams using just color size and materials. I had two problems while making this project. The first was that my computer stop working so I had to finish it on my phone. The second was that I started my hoop too big so my AP took way longer than I wanted it too. I eventually got a new computer, and besides that this AP was pretty fun.

In the center of my dream catcher I have a second dream catcher. A second dream catcher was my choice to put in the center of my dream catcher because I wanted to show how complex my mind is. I want feelings of reassurance to pass through my dreamcatcher since I can feel anxious during the school year. While I sleep the dreams I am have are being controlled by my id , and I don't want my dreams to be filled with messages that I don't want. I chose the colors of white and gold because I wanted to convey mystery so it was a slight reference to a dress that was created recently which was also white and gold but could look black and blue. This element contributed to the dream that I analyzed, which I want those to be filtered by my dream catcher. I made my second dream catcher that I put in the center of first out of green thread because green is favorite color meaning that I'll feel comfortable sleeping with it over my bed.

The dream that I chose that has really affected me was a nightmare when I had it. Here is the story: I woke up on a single mattress in the middle of a room filled with candles. As I was looking around the room I had on thought in mind, “Where are my parents?”. Suddenly I was in a hallway from the house that I was in when I was having this dream. I wandered around the house for a little bit until I found my parents bedroom. When I got in there I saw that my parents were sleeping. I felt an urge to wake them up, and when I did they said good morning in perfect unison. When they said it I noticed something funny, their voices had switched. This made me want to look at them closer and when I did I noticed that their torsos switched as well. When I had this dream I was 9 so this was the point where I started freaking out. I ran to my bed and forced myself to go back to sleep.

If I could go back to that dream, then I would never have gotten out of bed so I wouldn't be traumatized. This dream really changed me because I assumed that it all had to mean something. If this dream was sending me a message or lesson it would be that people in my life are changing.

MJF Dreamcatcher (2016)

Aquilegia Canadensis

In this class we learn how we use plants to help solve human problems. For my first action project I was told to choose a problem in the world that relates to me and find a plant that solves that problem. My problem was that I sometimes get too hot or too cold at night. To fix this problem I designed a sleeping bag after the Aquilegia Canadensis (Eastern Red Columbine). I think I designed my sleeping bag pretty well to solve my problem as well as making a connection with my plant. When we first started our projects I could find a plant that has the same problem that I have. Luckily, through a lot of research I was able able to find the perfect plant. When I found my plant I was pretty excited because there was actually a lot of background information about my plant that had to do with native americans. Please enjoy my slideshow below.

Water Filter

For my second action project in my water class I was told to create a water filter. My filter had to get rid of contaminants and particulates, as well as changing the pH level of the water to a 7. To figure out the pH level of the water I used a digital pH reader. To show my proccess and results I took pictures and showed the change in the pH level of the water. It was't hard to build the filter and it worked pretty well. The only thing I had a problem with was getting materials, but I solved that problem pretty easily by going to Pet Smart and getting them.

I wanted everything in my filter to be completley snaitized which is why I bought all my materials. I believed that if I found all my materials then my results wouldn't work as well as store bought materials.

The filter will work since it is the same proccess the earth that filters ground water. Larger gaps will filter larger particles and smaller gaps will filter smaller particles. I layered my materials so that the largest gaps are at the top and the smallest are at the bottom. The water slowly trickled through the filter, the natural strainer left the particlulates behind.

Materials List:

• A plastic bottle
• A knife
• A coffee filter
• Activated charcoal
• Sand
• Gravel
• A container for the water 
• A digital pH reader

Steps:

1. First cut the bottom of the plastic bottle so there is a hole to pour your materials into.
2. Place the coffee filter between the the cap of the bottle and the bottle.
3. Poke some holes in the cap to let water drip through when you use the filter.
4. Make sure the the side of the water bottle with the cap is facing downwards and add a layer of Activated Charcoal into the bottle that fills about a third of the bottle.
5. Add a thick layer of sand 
6. Add the final layer of gravel

I tested my water filter three times. 

1. The first time I filtered it the water was translucent from the side (almost transparent), clear with slight grey color, cloudy, and no odor.
2. The water was transparent,clear, no odor.
3. The last time I tested it the water was transparent,clear, no odor.

Before I tested the waterit was Nasty, Dark Brown, had particulates and smelled like coffee.

Works Cited

• "How to Make a Water Filter." WikiHow. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.