Blog 8 (Bonus Blog) - My Finished Infographic

Over expeditions, I have now been able to finish my infographic after incorporating feedback that I received! I am really proud of it, and this is what the final product looks like.

Now, the only step left for my Genius Project is finishing up my slides and then giving a presentation to my classmates about my Genius Project!

Blog 7 - Continuing My Inforgraphic

This past week, I have continued to work on infographic. I added a lot of pictures and facts in order to make it interesting, yet I was only able to fully complete the information for Vietnam and America. I am only half way through with completing Spain and Morocco. Here is what I have completed on my infographic.

 

However, I was not able to meet my goal of finishing my infographic since I was busy with school. I will go back on track over expeditions since there will be more time for me to fix and revise my infographic. In addition, I will be revising my blogs to make them more interesting so that I can improve my cognitive skills. Lastly, I will be working on my presentation that will include my reflection about my whole project.

Blog 6 - Making My Infographic

 

This week, I have started to create my infographic and am staying on track with my plan. I have included all the information that I want to include, which is a brief summary of the benefits of traveling, and some of the most interesting facts that I have found about Spain, Morocco, Vietnam, and the United States. However, my infographic is far from done. I have only include one picture yet. Therefore, throughout the next week, I plan to add more colors and visuals to make my infographic more engaging. To do so, I will ask my peers for feedback on how to make it better.

Blog 5 - Research on Vietnam and America

Over the past two weeks, I was able to complete research on the traditions and culture of Vietnam and America. I was super excited to research Vietnam, since it is where my parents are from and I was excited to see if there were some things that I didn't know about Vietnam's traditions. I was also excited to research America because I live in America and it is also easier to travel to different places in the U.S.



Vietnam
For my research on Vietnam, I learned more about my favorite holiday, Tet. Tet is Vietnamese New Year and to my surprise, I was able to learn a lot more about Tet. Besides the typical food like sticky rice cake, parades, and lucky money, I was able to learn some of the decorations used for Tet. The Vietnamese place cay neu, which is a bamboo plant in front of their house.

America

Surprisingly for America, research was a bit hard for me. I learned that since America is such a diverse place, there are many traditions and cultures. However, some of the things that made the United States unique is our love for super bowl commercial and iconic landmarks like Times Square and Hollywood.

                                           

Now, all of my research has been done. My next step is to compile all of the information and create my infographic!

Blog 4 - Research on Morocco

This week, I decided to do research on Morocco, a country in Northern Africa. I was able to learn about the best places to visit, the best dish to eat, and what souvenirs to get.

Some of the best places to visit are the Mosques in Morocco. However, very few are open to non-Muslims. One of the Mosques open to the public is the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca.




For the different foods, there is a spice called cumin which is used in everyday Moroccan cooking. In addition, at the end of festivals like Ramadan, when Muslims fast, they eat couscous.

Lastly, some of the best souvenirs that must be bought in Morocco include the intricate rugs, unique lanterns, and authentic argan oil.       

Reflecting on the past week, I was able to complete my research on Morocco. However, I got a little off track and didn't do my research until yesterday. Therefore, I will use next week, which is spring break in order to learn a bit more about Morocco since I felt that there is still more important things about the country of Morocco. In addition, over spring break, I will continue to do research on another country, Vietnam. I am extremely happy to do research on Vietnam because it is where my parents were from. I hope to learn new things about Vietnam as well as share what I already know about Vietnam's cultures, traditions, and holidays.

Blog 3 - Research on Spain

Plan
In the past week, I was on track with what I wanted to accomplish, so I have been doing doing research about Spain, a country in Europe. I have learned about their culture, traditions, and some of the best things to do while in Spain.





Action
One of the most famous things that Spain is known for is the Running of the Bulls. This event is celebrated in the beginning of July during the fiestas of San Fermin. At eight in the morning bulls are released and then they start to chase the runners for about 825 meters. This whole process usually lasts between three to four minutes.



Spain is also the country that hosts the "World's Biggest Food Fight." This is a tradition that has started since 1945. “One hundred metric tons of overripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets” and 20,000 people participate in the food fight.

- There are two famous soccer teams in Spain, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
- Spain is home to some of the most beautiful buildings as well as beaches in the Mediterranean.
- Spain is known for its dish of paella and recognized for flamenco, "the most famous style of dance and music in Spain."

                         


Reflect
After doing this research, I can't wait to share this information with my peers and see how they react because I was very surprised at what I learned about Spain. I really enjoyed being able to learn more about this country, therefore, I am excited for the upcoming week because I will be able to do research on Morocco!

Blog 2 - Benefits of Traveling

In the past week, I have completed my research about the benefits of traveling. I took notes on this in a google document so that all my notes can be easily accessible. According to the organization, Green Heart Travel, a few main points that I learned about the benefits of traveling are being able to build up confidence, getting out of one's comfort zone, and possibly learning a new language.

                    

Based off of the research I did, I was extremely surprised at one of the sources that I found. There was an article about a study posted on Los Angeles Times, and this study was conducted by the The Global Commission on Aging, Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, and the U.S. Travel Association. They were able to find out several important results of traveling:

"89% of participants saw significant drops in stress." 

"Men who did not take an annual vacation were shown to have a 20% higher risk of death and about a 30% greater risk of death from heart disease." 

What makes this information important is because it will persuade people to travel more so that it can benefit their health. Now, I am excited and looking forward to finally get started on researching the cultures and traditions of Spain!