First Year IS 2 – Bridge Assignment #1
Research Analysis
The project my partner, Steven Junhan Wang, chose to sample for this Bridge 1 Project is the final project that he made for his first semester’s Sustainable Systems class. In summary, my partners project explored the topic of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and a series of information about the Garbage Patch.
His final project was composed of two parts. The first part was a drawing of the Pacific Ocean, with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch distinctly depicted in its accurate geographical location. On top of the poster, where the ocean area lies, my partner decided to include items that he uses on a daily basis that are commonly found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The list of items found in the Garbage Patch is extremely enormous, therefor, he only stuck items onto the poster that everyone could relate to, such as, a sock, newspaper, glass, milk bottle/carton, candy bag, and plastic bags. He was aiming for a very visual and vivid representation of the real-life Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which was eventually presented to his class.
Secondly, to support his poster, idea and research, he decided to create a system diagram of how the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is generated and able to maintain and grow.
The idea of the project was basically to inform and raise awareness among his fellow classmates on this existing environmental issue, through a visual presentation of the Garbage Patch with the poster and system diagram.
The methods and materials used to achieve the aim of this project were not outside of someones comfort zone, however, it was much more comfortable and supports the fact that awareness of such issues needs to be raised, even through such manageable projects. His methods were straightforward and simple, firstly, he had to conduct research on his chosen topic, were he collected usable and meaningful information from the pool of sources, information, and articles from online resources. Secondly, with the skills he possessed, he drew the posters content (the Pacific Ocean). The materials that he used to complete his project were as follows: the Internet (online sources and articles), coloured markers for the drawings on the poster, daily-used items (e.g. socks and plastic bags), the poster.
From what my partner has told me during our interview, there was no primary data used in his investigation, only the internet was used to find articles and other online sources, therefor, meaning that this project was based only on secondary data. He gathered and learned about the main facts and information about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and also about the diverse items that linger in the Pacific Ocean.
From this project my partner learnt that every citizen has their own responsibility of taking care of the environment by regulating their daily actions positively. He also thinks that everyone could make a difference by raising more awareness through supporting local initiatives and getting involved in local recycling and volunteering.
My partner did not document any action shots or photographs of his project, therefor it is difficult to visual what his project may have looked like, and what exact information and facts it included, which makes it difficult to know what kind of information he was researching on the internet. As a result, I gathered various images from the internet that I thought would represent his project the best and that could also help me build a visual representation of what it could be. This is the link to the images I gathered and the mind map I created that depicts the research processes my partner underwent (https://portfolio.newschool.edu/danmullins/2017/02/01/studio-2-bridge-1-research-analysis/).
