Intellectual Absolute Zero (Click for Project Description)
Teacher Reflection: Intellectual Absolute Zero was my first attempt at designing and leading a project. The one parameter I was given was Fahrenheit 451, a novel about the what-if scenarios resulting from a lack of intellectual curiosity and color. My professional goals for the project were 1) to design a true integration with Physics/Engineering and 2) to develop an exhibition that contributed to the public dialogue. Early in 2017, I became aware of the danger of insulated opinions. I began to perceive that a lack of civil dialogue could result in intellectual fragility and a declining awareness for others. My goal was to work on a project that activated students in their own civil debates, let them witness characters at various stages of intellectual thinking, let them develop an historical context for censorship and personal restriction, and let them contemplate how it may feel to live in a society that limits free thinking. My personal goals for the project were to 1) take risks with student voice and choice and 2)create a beautiful, thought-provoking exhibition. The components for our exhibition were a self-published zine, kinetic sculpture (stirling engine), phase diagram, and history presentation. We showed our work at an exhibition in the High Tech High commons on May 12th, 2017. As I said, exploring PBL and getting comfortable with the design process was an important part of this project for me. I drew inspiration from news podcasts I’d listen to on the way to work, thinking about the audience of Americans who may lack access to quality, engaging, challenging-yet-understanding dialogues. Students were to address this audience through our exhibition. They produced zines on controversial topics and were prepared to chat with the public who mingled in. Since it was my first go-around, our exhibition was mostly for family and friends of HTH; I think if we did it again, I would situate the exhibition in a more public arena where their ideas would weave into a larger public discussion. As students read through the novel Fahrenheit 451, we had discussions about the different characters: how Mildred never reached out for new information, simply going along with what she always knew; how Montag realized the role of information in cultural and personal power; how Beatty embodied the danger of government regulation over the media. Students made connections to several restrictive regimes that they researched using the internet. We learned about the regimes of Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Stalin, and Mussolini, to name a few. Our Physics/Engineering integration was good on paper, but my original vision for the exhibition didn’t turn out as planned. Studying thermodynamics, students related the phases of cooling matter to they way societies “lose energy” when they lack tolerance for a multitude of views. Students put the concepts to use by building a stirling engine with a spinning dial at the top. Although working through several iterations (or, continuous improvement cycles) the dials never got spinning, which had been part of our original idea to create a disorienting, hypnotizing space. If we were to attempt this project again, it might be a great time to envision another type of engineered sculpture or object.
Student Reflections:
Chloe R.: During this project we read Fahrenheit 451, researched a totalitarian regime, and created zines on controversial topics. I think that each of these products taught me about the important of free think and controversial ideas. In the book we were given a sort of glimpse at ho bland and unfulfilling life could be once we hit that breaking point in which people believed knowledge was not important. Without a controversial idea we would never be able to have that hope that Montag could one day help these people, which connects to our regimes. I studied the Khmer Rouge a four year long regime that existed in Cambodia from 1975 - 1979 that was known for it's extreme violence. Any and all kinds of intellectuals were killed, conversations were not allowed, religion was not allowed, normal schools were shut down, and even relationships with your family was frowned upon. A controversial idea wasn't what ended this regime but the lack of knowledge and freedom that plagued Cambodia is in my opinion the stuff of nightmares. Are third product were zines on controversial topics and my zine was on CRISPR/ Cas9 the genome editing software. I learned a lot about the important of understanding both sides of an opinion with this specific piece. Holding a conversation and fighting for my opinion is really hard when you don't know what your fighting against. I used my Humanities thinking skills during this project to delve deeper into topics, entertain two sides of an argument, and make connections to the world around me.
Matthew M.: In Humanities this project was very abstract when it came to connections between Math/Physics and Humanities, yet it had a very clear question. Do controversial topics need to be discussed as a society? In my opinion I certainly think they do, Fahrenheit 451 and many totalitarian regimes in the pas have showed us if we censor our society our society can't think for themselves.
Matthew A.: In Humanities we learned we read Fahrenheit 451 throughout the project. The book was very interesting it displayed a totalitarian regime, the government controlled certain things in your life. In this project we also were assigned a totalitarian regime, from this we went in deep research. With this we connect the regime to three examples of a totalitarian regime, for example we found evidence that connected it to a Single Unchallenged Ruler, Police Terror and Freedom of Thought Speech. We also learned how to create a zine which is debating about a controversial topic that adults argue about. From this I learned how to argue both sides of a topic and look at each side. I could use what I learned in Humanities to look deeper and look at all sides of the story or topic. I also improved my researching skills and finding trustworthy information.
Elena S.: During this project we studied a lot of interesting things in humanities. One of the most important things to take away from this project was that controversy exists for a reason. It's really important to get both sides of the story and take the opinions of other people to form your own. This is where Fahrenheit 451 became a really good example. In this novel set in a dystopian society, people only rely on what their government tells them. Basically, the can't form any opinions of their own and they are forced to believe that everything is as perfect as the little world they live in. This eventually leads to their demise which ultimately proves that we need conflicting sides and opinions. This was seen in real life and modern day when we did our regime presentations. We had to explain the same concepts and find them throughout history. Being able to make connections, a skill learned in humanities, made this project a lot lot easier.
Chloe R.: During this project we read Fahrenheit 451, researched a totalitarian regime, and created zines on controversial topics. I think that each of these products taught me about the important of free think and controversial ideas. In the book we were given a sort of glimpse at ho bland and unfulfilling life could be once we hit that breaking point in which people believed knowledge was not important. Without a controversial idea we would never be able to have that hope that Montag could one day help these people, which connects to our regimes. I studied the Khmer Rouge a four year long regime that existed in Cambodia from 1975 - 1979 that was known for it's extreme violence. Any and all kinds of intellectuals were killed, conversations were not allowed, religion was not allowed, normal schools were shut down, and even relationships with your family was frowned upon. A controversial idea wasn't what ended this regime but the lack of knowledge and freedom that plagued Cambodia is in my opinion the stuff of nightmares. Are third product were zines on controversial topics and my zine was on CRISPR/ Cas9 the genome editing software. I learned a lot about the important of understanding both sides of an opinion with this specific piece. Holding a conversation and fighting for my opinion is really hard when you don't know what your fighting against. I used my Humanities thinking skills during this project to delve deeper into topics, entertain two sides of an argument, and make connections to the world around me.
Matthew M.: In Humanities this project was very abstract when it came to connections between Math/Physics and Humanities, yet it had a very clear question. Do controversial topics need to be discussed as a society? In my opinion I certainly think they do, Fahrenheit 451 and many totalitarian regimes in the pas have showed us if we censor our society our society can't think for themselves.
Matthew A.: In Humanities we learned we read Fahrenheit 451 throughout the project. The book was very interesting it displayed a totalitarian regime, the government controlled certain things in your life. In this project we also were assigned a totalitarian regime, from this we went in deep research. With this we connect the regime to three examples of a totalitarian regime, for example we found evidence that connected it to a Single Unchallenged Ruler, Police Terror and Freedom of Thought Speech. We also learned how to create a zine which is debating about a controversial topic that adults argue about. From this I learned how to argue both sides of a topic and look at each side. I could use what I learned in Humanities to look deeper and look at all sides of the story or topic. I also improved my researching skills and finding trustworthy information.
Elena S.: During this project we studied a lot of interesting things in humanities. One of the most important things to take away from this project was that controversy exists for a reason. It's really important to get both sides of the story and take the opinions of other people to form your own. This is where Fahrenheit 451 became a really good example. In this novel set in a dystopian society, people only rely on what their government tells them. Basically, the can't form any opinions of their own and they are forced to believe that everything is as perfect as the little world they live in. This eventually leads to their demise which ultimately proves that we need conflicting sides and opinions. This was seen in real life and modern day when we did our regime presentations. We had to explain the same concepts and find them throughout history. Being able to make connections, a skill learned in humanities, made this project a lot lot easier.
