Journal

Wednesday, October 13th, As of now, my project is really coming along and I am now beginning to think of my "hands on" section of the project. I recently got in touch with a Fort Washington park ranger, and he approved my project. Hopefully this weekend, my dad and I will visit the state park to find a place that we could potentially fix up. Once we find that place, I have to contact the park ranger. After a meeting with him, we will hopefully be able to start construction!

Tuesday, October 19th, Over the weekend, my dad and I went to Springfield's section of the Fort Washington State Park to look for possible building sites. We tried to stay as local as possible, so we stuck to the area behind the Flourtown Commons doctor's offices. We found two possibilites: both areas contained a very large and steep hill that end up leading to the Wissahickon Creek. Both of these hills lead to fishing sites and trails, however, they would be extremely hard, if not impossible, for older people or those with a disability to naviagate. The only problem was: one of the sites had a hill that lead to a designated fishing spot that we believed could be private. I'll have to get in touch with the park ranger with this information and see what he says. In the meantime, I took pictures while we were out looking for sites: I'll email them to the park ranger and post them here.

Monday, November 1st, This past weekend involved a lot of phone calls and emails. I never recieved a reply email from the park ranger, so I decided to call his office. Finally, early this afternoon, he got back to me. I spoke with Manager Eric Ihlein of the Fort Washington State Park and he said he was in strong support of my project. This Thursday at 3:30, my father and I are going to meet with him at the site of my project to discuss in detail what I plan to do and how I am going to go about building my railing. Along with that, I am also going to have a write a detailed proposal of exactly what I plan to do so the State Park will have my project outline on file in their Volunteer Database.

Thursday, November 11th, So my dad and I found some good rope to use for our project. I've still been in contact with the Park Ranger and he even offered to help chip in for the cost of the building the railing if the need arises. I told him about the rope we found and he seemed to be very happy. My father and I have set a date for the completion of the railing. We are hoping to get it done during the Thanksgiving break. Anytime after that and we risk the possibility of the ground freezing and not being able to dig holes deep enough for the posts. As for my overall project, everything is going good. Right now, I'm working on my first research product. It's actually really hard finding copyright friendly photos for my Animoto. It's challenged me to really think outside the box and to learn different ways of conveying emotion and feelings. I really hope the final product looks good.

Sunday November 19th, So today my dad and I started to build the base of the steps that we will have going down the hill. We got the lumber, and we spent nearly three hours cutting the lumber and drilling holes to make the base. Essentially, it looks like a giant square, but the back and the middle will be covered with dirt so when the project is finished, you will only be able to see the front part sticking out. I'm really excited to build the final product. Now that the bases are built, I can really see this project starting to come together. I never knew building a ramp could be such hard work...we haven't even built the railing yet and I've already spent close to 20 hours just in the planning process. Anyways, I'm still having some problems with my Animoto. It's not coming along the way I'd like it to. Hopefully I'll be able to get it sorted out over the next few days and create a really good final product.

Friday, November 24th, So today, instead of going shopping, my dad and I finally built the ramp. We started at around 7 in the morning...and didn't get done until 2. It was a lot of work! My grandpa is an engineer and wanted to see the final product so he came along to watch my dad and I work...and to yell instructions when necessary. So, here are before and after pictures of my final product. So in these pictures, it's kind of hard to tell how steep the hill really is. But let me tell you, I was falling up and down that hill. I am hoping to put an online photo albulm together with more pictures from the completion process of the project. I will put it under a seperate link for the Wiki. Be sure to check it out once I'm done!
 * Before: || After: ||
 * [[image:IMG_0346.JPG width="341" height="382"]] || [[image:IMG_0382.JPG width="553" height="394"]] ||

Thursday December 9th, So today after school, I went back to the park to meet with the park ranger again. I got a picture with him to use in my project, and we discussed the changes I made with my dad recently. He was very impressed, and was very pleased at the amount of work we did. As for my project, research product #2 is coming along nicely, and I am excited at how it is all coming together.

Thursday December 23rd, Reflection Product Questions: A description of the student’s project: For my project, I designed and built steps and a rope railing that go down a very steep hill in the Fort Washington State Park Area. I spoke with the park manager for that area, and he was in strong support of my project. I ended up with four “steps” going down the hill as well as three posts lodged three feet beneath the surface of the ground with one-inch thick rope connecting the posts.

What goals did the student set? At the beginning of this project, my only goal was to design a product that would help make a public place more accessible for those who might not be able to enjoy the full beauty of the park. I didn’t want to make anything overly-complicated, but rather to bring awareness to the fact that not everyone has the same range of motion as others and may have a more difficult time doing some of the tasks that we take for granted.

How did the student go about achieving these goals? To meet my goals, I drew a detailed plan of exactly what I wanted to do. I spent over an hour scoping out various sites at the Fort Washington State Park, and the site that I choose was one that even I had difficulty moving through. It was a steep hill that lead to a surrounding nature trail. Any child with a disability such as autism, or any older person for that matter, would have enormous difficulty going down that hill, and I’m glad I got the opportunity to change that.

o Specific actions, planning, problem-solving, methods for overcoming problems For the planning process of the railing and steps, I was in frequent contact with the Fort Washington State Park Manager, and had already drawn out a detailed plan of exactly what I wanted to do before I even begun to gather materials. I knew how many posts I would need, and how I would go about building the steps. The only potential problem that I ran into was the fast approaching cold weather. If we waited too long, we could have had the issue of the ground freezing up, making digging deep enough holes for the posts and steps nearly impossible. To solve this problem, my father and I acted fast, and were able to start construction near the end of November.

 Whether the student achieved the goals? I think that overall, I definitely achieved my goals. I built a product better than anything I could have hoped for, and during the completion of the project, I got a lot of complements from joggers and passerby, and it made the project really worthwhile knowing that already people appreciated my work.

 The specific knowledge the student learned about the topic Before starting this project, I barely knew how to use a hammer without killing someone. I also didn’t know a thing about how to build a railing and steps that would withstand many years of wear and tear as well as various environmental factors. With my dad’s help, I learned that it was best to make the steps bigger in that back so that they may better withstand erosion from the hill. Also, before filling in the steps, we lined the front with rocks so that rainwater would have a better chance at escaping. This will keep the wood from rotting right away, and improve the longevity of my product. Lastly, in order to prevent the wooden posts from spitting due to snow and ice, we put plastic caps on the tops of each of the posts. This keeps water from melting snow and ice from getting in the cracks in the wood and splitting it from the inside out.

 The insight the student gained about her/himself Throughout the completion of the project, I learned more about the patience that I have to gather when working with other people. At times, I wanted to rush through various parts of this project and more than once, I was probably too pushy in the way I handled things. Going forward, if I expect help from other people, then I have to learn how to work around their own needs in order for cooperation to exist.

 What will the student take with him/her from this learning experience <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Going forward, I believe the most valuable thing I took from this project was the complete and utter satisfaction at getting a worthwhile job done. Sure it took a lot of work and effort, but the feeling I got having finally completed it was worth every minor hardship I encountered. Putting 30 hours into this project seemed like nothing compared to the final project itself. Thirty hours is also nowhere near the amount of time that the stairs and railing will continue to help people. With a little bit of sweat and hard work, anything is possible.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Monday, December 27th, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">So I'm finally finished my ScrapBlog for my hands-on project! I put it in a section of this Wiki called "My Project". Be sure to check it out!