Blog 11: Mentorship 10 hours Check

1. I am currently doing my mentorship hours at the Arcadia Arboretum.
2. My contact is Ivonne Escobedo and I will email her number to my house teacher.
3. So far I have completed 82 hours of mentorship.
4. Basically, during mentorship, I mail letters to the members of the arboretum such as event schedules, new membership cards, and free subscriptions to Better Homes and Gardens. I also water from time to time. Lately though, Ivonne has taught me to enter "groupons" into the computer to every member so I have been doing that recently.

LINK FOR MEMBERSHIP LOG

Blog 10: Senior Project Update

1. Currently for my independent component I am growing Daliah flowers. They are just starting to bloom.
2. One article that has helped me is called "Composting Yard Waste. This article explains how I can take leaves that fell from trees (since its fall) and make it into soil for my flower garden. Also, since it's made from leaves, it keeps the plants warm for winter. I plan to make my own solid from leaves that fall into my backyard and use if for my garden.
3. The pictures shown above are the plants when I first started planting. I will be taking more pictures soon.

Blog 5B: Science Fair Proposal

1. Horticulture
2. The divine problem behind my experiment is soil salivation, which is called by high levels of salt in soil caused my climate change. This is an issue because it destroys fertility in plants and stunts crop growth.  A quote to prove this is form the website Horticulture for tomorrow and it states, "Soil quality is an issue for horticulture, this includes erosion, compaction, salinisation and other toxic chemicals".
3. Hypothesis: If a grain seed is grown in soil that is salinated then it's height and color will differ compared to a grain seed grown in store bought soil. 
4. I plan to perform this experiment by growing 60 grain seed plants. 30 will be grown in salinated solid and the remainder would be grown in store bought soil. I will plant the seeds in styrofoam cups and water both types of plants 2-3 times a week and record the data in my science journal. After 5 weeks of growth, I will then proceed to examine and compare the plants height and color difference and check if my hypothesis is correct. The tools I will need is styrofoam cups, salinated soil, store bought soil, water, grain seeds, and my science journal.
5. Plant Biology & Physiology

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

1. My working EQ for the 10 minute presentation was: What is the best way to grow a successful garden?
2. I am not going to revise my EQ at this time.
3. Some possible answers to my EQ at this time could be:
• Always plan your garden before starting
• Know which flowers or vegetables grow well with each season
• Test your soil and make sure it's healthy as well
• Use proper tools
• Take a little bit of tim each day to tend to the plants
• Stay motivated

Blog 8: Rough Draft of Presentation 1

10 minute presentation

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

1. For my Independent Component I plan to plant a flower garden. 
2. Growing a flower garden will meet the 30 hour requirement for the independent component because it is very time consuming to plant a garden. Also a garden needs to be tended to constantly to make sure the flowers are growing well. By gardening I will be doing tasks such as watering, weeding, adding vitamins, and removing pests that can harm the plant.
3. My independent component relates to my EQ because it is giving me the hands on opportunity to see the process of growing plants. Of course it helps to read the proper way of growing a garden but actually growing a flower garden for yourself can be more educating.

Blog 6: Second Interview Questions

• Have you always been interested with plants and gardening?
• How did you become the head of the arboretum?
• How long have you been working in this field?
• Did you have to take any courses to become better in this field?
• What part of your career satisfies you the most?
• What is the main issue working at the arboretum? 

Blog 5A: Problem Statement

1. Horticulture

2. A problem in horticulture has to be insects eating and killing plants. Most of the pest killers for plants can harm the environment and even the plant itself.  If I solve this problem I plan to enlighten Tim Philips, the owner of the arboretum that I do my summer mentorships with, in hopes to remove the insects that harms the plants and vegetables there.

3. Another problem with horticulture is soil quality. Soil could be ruined by a number of reasons, and harm the plants. If I find the solutions to this problem I would write an article on the “Horticulture for tomorrow” website. 

Blog 4: Working EQ

1.       .   A positive result that’s come out of what I’ve completed so far is that I have learned more about my topic.  I learned that are sub-units under horticulture that specify to certain things, such as trees or vegetables. Also, I discovered through research that horticulture isn’t just growing plants but selling them as well. Business and trade is part of horticulture too, which I find interesting.
   2.     If I had to pick one piece of research from my interview that helped me understand my topic is when my mentor explained propagation. She explained the science behind multiplying plants in such a way that I understood without getting confused. It was actually fun to hear it from her because she has a great passion for plants.
   3.     So far the interview and research has worked for my senior project. I feel like the interview gave me a better prospective on horticulture and it was interesting hearing about from an expert in the field.  I also like research checks because I learn something new every time.
   4.     My summer mentorship kind of gave me problems because I don’t always get to work with the plants, but it isn’t a huge issue as of right now. Also I am not completely sure if my mentor is 100% reliable.
   5.     Some questions that come to my mind regarding what I’m going to study this year is how I’m going to narrow my topic down because I feel it’s so vast. Overall though my ending goal for my project would be to completely understand horticulture and the business behind it. Lastly I would like to talk to Frank McDonald for my next interview. My mentor suggested to talk to him because he was a plant expert and new about all the topics under horticulture. 

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

       1. I plan to interview Debbie Marrujo. I plan to interview Ms. Marrujio because she has been working in the Arboretum green houses for a couple years now so she has experience working with many different types of plants. Also, not only does she have experience, she has a passion for it as well.

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       2. Besides the five questions I am given to ask her I plan to ask open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are questions that engage the person who is being asked the questions. I plan to ask her what she enjoys about working with plants and if there are any cons to it. Also I plan to ask, what her favorite type of horticulture is, since there is many to chose from. 

Blog 2: topic choice

A.)

                                                                              Topic

The topic that I chose is horticulture, or the art of garden cultivation. My dad was actually the one who suggested the idea of horticulture because he knew the owner of the Arcadia Arboretum.  At first I didn’t want to pick horticulture as my topic because I was never interested in plants or nature because I’ve always viewed it as messy, but the more I researched it, the more I realized it was not messy and in fact beautiful. In the end I stuck and chose horticulture because I want to learn to appreciate nature and plants. Also I think its fascinating how different plants grow and what different things they need to prosper.

  

                                                                                Why

The reason I stuck to and chose this topic is because I want to learn to love plants and the outdoors. I was never one to play outside as a kid because I never really liked plants or dirt. In fact they grossed me out, as horrible as that sounds. But, while working at the arboretum, plants started to grow on me, no pun intended.  I found them more beautiful and interesting as time passed and realized there are so many ways to grow plants. Plus, if you have a “green thumb” you can even grow food.

B.)

As an Ipoly citizen, I plan to use this project to become more open minded.  Being open minded will help me become a better Ipoly citizen because not everything is always the same and sometimes things break routine, and being open-minded will help me be more patient and calm when things happen. Also, I can teach my fellow classmates how to be open-minded as well.

 

As an effective communicator I plan to communicate the beauty in nature. I can communicate this in many ways, whether it’s through art or presentations. I believe communication is a very important skill because it helps share your views to the public and my senior topic will help me do just that.

As an effective learner I plan to learn more about how plants grow and the science behind it. Science was never my strongest point but being able to apply to my senior topic will help me have a better understanding of it.

As an effective user of technology I plan to use visual media to show different types of plants in a new light. I can do this by making videos or power points.