Personal Project Catalogue International School of Amsterdam Class of 2013 Coordinator: A. K端ster
Yuri Azuma
Re-modelling a Kimono My goal was to transform a traditional kimono into a western styled dress. However kimonos have some traditional patterns and symbols based on the four seasons, and I had to consider these patterns when I decided to remake a kimono. It is said that normally there are differences between foreign people and Japanese people in terms of how they see colours and patterns. I wanted people to know about the proper symbols in kimonos. So, as a secondary goal, I decided to make a booklet explaining about kimonos and their patterns and symbols. So, my product is a remodelled dress and the booklet. During the whole process I liked the dressmaking the best. I think that my decision to make a full-sized dress motivated me more than making a miniature dress. There was not so much time for sewing the dress but I did my best in the time available and enjoyed my dress making. I began this project because I realized that the kimono is actually not worn in our real lives. I will say that this project was a success, not just in terms of the product. I learned about time management, which will be very important for me in the future. So finally, I think that this project was a good experience for me.
Oliver Baijings
My Maori Roots • The goal of my personal project was to be able to get closer to the Maori side of my family tree by creating a waka (Maori war canoe). The waka acted as a vessel to enter and relate to my ancestors, specifically Te Rauparaha: A famous Maori Ngati Toa chief who I am directly related too. • For the personal project, I created a Maori war canoe or waka. A sacred vessel to the Maori people which I felt helped to bring my research and quest to a much more personal level, as I was creating something that they too felt a strong connection with. This transformed the project from merely being a research project to being a project I really cared about. • The method I used to achieve the goal was research and creation. This is because I first researched my family tree and various aspects of the waka, such as the cultural and social significance of it. I then used my knowledge and new understanding of wakas to build my own whilst still relating it to the research of my family tree. • On the whole I feel that the entire project has turned out to be a success. I created the war canoe to an exceptional standard and managed to trace back my family history to the 1700’s. To conclude, a job well done.
Frederique Beerkens
Positive Psychology for 8th and 9th Graders The goal of my Personal Project is to create a learning program about positive psychology for 8th and 9th graders. My product is a website. This can be reached by going on: www.positivepsychology.yolasite.com. I used several methods to achieve my goal, especially by surfing on the internet, reading books, sending out surveys and having interviews. When I first started doing my Personal Project, I sent out a survey. The survey was filled in by around 80 8th and 9th graders, and made their point of view on school very clear. After that, I read several books on positive psychology, on the history of Positive Psychology and to find out how a learning program is most effectively created, I used a lot of Internet. I also had an interview with Dr. Dunn, the International School Psychologist. He gave me insight in how psychologists and psychiatrists think about Positive Psychology, and what it actually meant. With all the knowledge I gained after a while I was able to make my product. I am very happy with my outcome, when I started my Personal Project I wasn’t sure if I would make it. I saw it as a project that stretched out over too long of a period. I knew I was going to procrastinate. But anyhow, I did start the project in positive state, as I knew the subject it was going to be about, was a subject I liked, and was interested in. It turned out to be great. I learned a lot while doing the project, and it was a valuable learning experience.
James Cavanagh
Designing a social and welcoming skate park The goal of my personal project was to design and create a public skate park for Amsterdam that would be appreciated by the skating community. I have, for a while now, had an enormous intrigue when it comes to skateboarding and the MYP Personal Project has provided me with an opportunity to guide this fascination towards designing my very own skate park. It was hard to decide whether or not to build a miniature physical model, one large poster sketch or a digital model. I decided almost immediately that a poster sketch was out of the question because it would be too boring and lifeless to look at. So it was down to a physical or digital model. By around November my supervisor Jose Femenia had encouraged me to create a digital model. Physical models have been done before and aren’t interactive enough for the audience when it comes to the exhibition. So I had decided on a digital model. With my product completed and my research done I feel a great sense of satisfaction with what I have accomplished, but have I accomplished my goal. Well I have created a public skatepark and it was designed around Amsterdam, now the next step is to find out whether or not the Amsterdam skating community likes my park. This can easily be done through the exhibition. My digital skatepark turned out fantastically, however I feel as if I could have made it bigger if I had had more time to work on it and familiarize myself with the software I was using to create it. I am still very proud of my product though!
Reece Chau
The Revelation of Design Sneakers My goal of this project to design a basketball sneaker using existing technology features and characteristics as well as my own added personal ones. I wanted to design “my own basketball sneaker�, which would meet the characteristics and criteria of the perfect shoe in terms of aesthetic, performance, comfort, breathability, durability, and stability. In order to achieve my goal, there were plenty of methods that I used. Firstly, I started off researching about the history of basketball sneakers and how they evolved through time. Next, I researched the basketball sneaker technology, focusing mainly on the top shoe brands such as: Nike, Adidas and Reebok. With the knowledge of these sneaker technologies, I then analyzed the six pairs of basketball sneakers that I owned and analyzed them in detail according to their performance, durability, breathability, stability and aesthetics. I made sure that I sourced all the books, websites, blogs and forums that I used in order to make my product. Also I sent an online survey to the upper school students at ISA to receive feedback on what they would like to see improved in basketball shoes. With my knowledge of basketball sneakers, I then started designing my own by taking the sneakers that I had a mixing different technologies with different designs and features. In the end after trial and error, I succeeded in making my product and achieving my goal. I am extremely proud of the outcome of my product as it looks like a professional design and there was a lot of preparation in order to achieve it.
Elena Cinelli
Shall we dance? The goal of my Personal Project is to encourage Middle School students to participate in music and dance related activities at school. To achieve this, I taught two 6th Grade students (who volontueered) a dance which I choreographed. In addition, they sang the song that they were dancing to. Both were recorded to produce a music video showing what they had learned from working with me for a few months. In the video, I included many interviews with people sharing their views on the essential question of “What would the world be like without music?” I approached my project through the lens of Community and Service, as I wanted to investigate how large an impact music has had, has now, and will continue to have on communities and even human beings as a species. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating my product, I think that there are many things I would do differently, for example I would take more care in filming and editing the clips, so that my final video came out looking as professional as possible. Perhaps, I would choose a different product to achieve the same goal, so that the success of the product depended only on me and not on others. I’ve learned many valuable lessons and this project has opened up my eyes to new possibilities in the world of music and dance. New ideas about who I want to inspire now are roaming around in my head….
Alain Corbeau
Make your own rap song The goal of my project was to create a guide to teach interested people how to make their own rap song, by transferring my personal knowledge gained by having made my own original rap song for personal experience. I aimed to accomplish this through my product, which was a relatively short, basic guide to help others in making a rap song. To optimize the information shared in my product, I personally went through the actual experience of making a completely original rap song and recording it. In order to present it in a useful manner, I decided to make a guide which contains helpful tips and information, appropriate for my broad target audience. I am proud of the final outcome, because at the beginning of my project, my path was not very clear to me. Before making my guide, I was aware of several issues which seemed to complicate my project, and distract me from focusing all my attention on the creation of my guide. However, with help from my advisor, I was able to tackle these difficulties and put together an enjoyable guide to aid others who are interested in making their own rap song.
Yomani de Boer
A healthy cookbook for 12th Graders My goal during Personal Project this year was to encourage my brother to have an affordable and health diet that is easy to produce while being at university. During this process I had changed my mind about a lot of things but one this that was certain is that my final product would be a cookbook. I had used lots of methods to help me get to the final step in my personal project, one of my methods were books. They helped me get a lot of my recipes that I had added into my cookbook. Websites and the internet also helped me a lot during my personal project because they helped me get a good idea on how to keep healthy and different kinds of health tips that I could include in my cookbook. Before I finished my product, I thought that it would have looked completely different because I kept having a different idea on how I wanted my cookbook to look. First it was a laminated book, than it was non laminated but in a folder, it just kept changing, but by the end I finally made up my mind and I’m actually very happy with how it came out to look. Now I can probably use my cookbook for years to come because I have it in a folder with sheet protectors. Even though I thought that it would be different, doesn’t mean that I’m not happy with how it became to be because I really am.
Roxane de Jong
Every drop counts My personal project involved creating an online booklet on how to save water in the household. It is meant for young adults who are about to live on their own. It intends to inform them on the importance of rational domestic water use. It explains that it is easy to save water as well as money if they want to. My objective is to raise young adults’ awareness about water saving techniques in their new set-up. This is to their own benefit because their water bills will go down. More important however is the benefit to the global environment. As a result of population growth and increasing fresh water consumption levels per capita, most fresh water resources (rivers, lakes etc.) are being taxed beyond capacity. Sustainable development requires a more sensible approach – one that strikes a balance between natural supply and human demand, otherwise all fresh water sources will soon be depleted beyond repair. The method I have chosen to inform my target audience is to create an online booklet. We live in a period where people use ICT to get their information rather than going to a public library. To access information on the internet saves cost as well as time; both are important to young adults. I am rather content with my e-booklet. I think it provides a lot of useful information for young adults. I wonder how I can attract their attention though - it is still a challenge to reach my target group.
Shelsea Doran
Black and white photo development My personal project goal was to learn how to develop black and white photos in a dark room. It was something that I have wanted to learn for a while, and this project has given me the opportunity to do this. My product are developed black and white photos that I have taken, and they are presented in a photo album. I used methods like the internet, photography books and being taught by my photography teacher to achieve my goal. I was taught by a photography teacher, but sometimes the information that I was taught was too much for me to remember. Therefore I used the internet and books to review the things that I learned in my lessons. The outcome of my photos were great and I am very happy with them now. Because I created and developed my photos myself I was able to achieve my goal and learn developing skills. Overall I am happy with my outcome and the way my photos look now. I was able to learn how to develop photos, but also take photos with an analogue cameral, which I couldn’t before. Because of things I learned during this project I have started to take photos differently. When using a digital camera now I prefer to take photos without using the automatic focus. This allows me to take photos of exactly what I want, without allowing the camera to influence me.
Katja Drovossekova
How to look great on photos The goal of my personal project was to teach teenage girls how to look great on photos, what are effective poses, what clothes make you look good, and what kind of lightning and setting make the best photos. The reason why I want to do this is because I want girls to feel confident about themselves. My aim was to create a product, which was a booklet aimed for girls from age 7 until 18, so it was also educational for me and I learned a lot, like how to work with a camera, how to pose properly, and how to dress to compliment your body. I think I have achieved my goal. I gave my booklet to three girls. The girls I showed it to had different ages: 15, 12 and 10. I think they got a basic idea of what I’m trying to achieve and convince, and to make sure they did I asked for their opinions. They all gave me back mostly positive feedback, which made me sure that I have achieved my goal. I am very pleased with the outcome of my booklet and the project itself. It was a long process but I am still glad that I did it. Mr. Lewin who was my supervisor helped me at all times when needed and together with him, I think I did a very good job. The booklet was almost exactly what I imagined it to be from the start.
Dilruba Eskihoran
Fashion's impact on Women My personal project was based on the wide topic of the fashion industry. My finalized goal was to explore and reflect on fashion´s impact on women through time. I chose this goal because of my interest in the effects of fashion, be it the direct or indirect impact towards women. The Fashion Industry is a wonder, for some it truly is life. In order to achieve my goal detailed research needed to be conducted which would give me enough inspiration and perspective towards the issue im looking at concerning the Fashion Industry. My goal wasnt to only look at negative impacts—it is looking at the overall impact in general, looking at both sides of the argument, the bigger, more significant picture. My product illustrated my research and exploration towards fashion and women. I created a 3 layered canvas with mixed media and drawings. I purposely made it almost dimensional for it to reflect on fashion and its many faces. My canvas also displayed my perception towards my Project and fashion, putting across my message and intention. The outcome was exciting, inspiring and better than I had expected. It showed a collection of all my research on fashion, how it evolved, created oppurtunities, mingled with media and finally how it impacted women. I combined art and fashion in order to achieve my goal. I explored fashion by making a piece of art. This was a Project that gave me the chance to create with no boundaries.
Merel Eusman
Welcome in Amsterdam The goal of my product was to create a guide for teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18. I decided to make a booklet that offered interesting places to visit and basic information about the city. Topics I covered included museums, restaurants and shopping areas. I used a combination of photography and text to make my booklet look appealing and have a lot of information at the same time. I took pictures of places that I mentioned in the texts and I also included pictures of places that I passed while walking around Amsterdam. I researched using tourist guides and websites to learn about Amsterdam. I also created an online survey that was sent to the upper school of ISA to see what interests the teenagers that go to this school and who probably know Amsterdam better than me. I am pleased with the way that my booklet turned out and the amount of information in it, however, since it is a booklet, it doesn’t reach as many people as it could have if it had been an internet site.
Jordan Finger
Global Corosion - Rap Album The goal of my project was to expose problems in modern society to high school students at the International School of Amsterdam by medium of rap music. The album would be categorized as a musical product I suppose, with the Area of Interaction, Human Ingenuity, kept in mind. To make this rap album, I researched rap music and the hip hop culture. Some of the research I did was: listening to music, watching rap documentaries, participating in a play, and interviewing a local rapper. I used all this research and my skilled lyrical writing together to write a rap album. But then, I had to get the music. Once the music was ready, it was time to record vocals. I then mixed the vocals and the music together to create my final product. The outcome was an okay product. I did what I had to do so that I could write an essay about it. I wasn’t aiming for expert quality, but at the same time I did not want my album to sound too amateur. This combination of expectations created what I wanted; a rap album. I was very excited to create this product and I am happy that I did so. Weather I will continue writing is a mystery as of now, but writing an album was an adventure I was sure happy to embark in.
Lucas Gade
Consequences of the Serengeti Highway The Personal Project goal that I set myself at the beginning of the process was to raise awareness of the conflicts between the Environment and Human Development. I used a specific example to investigate as my project developed- “The Serengeti Highway”. The Serengeti Highway is planned to be constructed in 2012, and will be a large commercial highway passing through a remote location of the Serengeti- Tanzania’s largest National Park. Obviously, this has aroused a great deal of arguments between wildlife preservation activists and the Tanzanian Government. What I did in my project was look at both the potential benefits the Highway could pose for Tanzania’s economy, as well as the potential consequences for the Natural Environment. It was clear to me that I wanted to focus on an environmental issue from the beginning of the Personal Project. It care about the natural environment, and wanted to raise awareness of some of the problems it faces. Having lived in Tanzania for five years, I was very interested in the Serengeti Highway issue, and decided to focus on it for my project. I have been to the Serengeti a few times, and seen the migration of wildebeest and zebra. I wouldn’t want the beauty of it to be destroyed because of a highway, but through investigating the project I also learned of the potential economical benefits that the highway could pose. Throughout the Personal Project I followed the issue, gathering information from both sides. As well as creating my product- a website illustrating the pros and cons of the highway- I learned a lot about environmental issues worldwide- and that here isn’t always an easy solution.
Thomas Gils
Short story on the effect of cocaine on a teenager's social life The product the product that I created during the personal product is a short story entitled Powder. I would like to write a short story that has tries to tell teenagers about the dangers of drug abuse the people that this story is aimed at are teenagers both boys and girls. This story will either be used during Substance Awareness Week or during a 9th Grade English Class. The AOI that I have chosen for this topic is Health and Social Education. The methods that I used to achieve my goal were an interview, studying writing styles and multiple drafts of my story. The outcome of the personal project in my eyes was really success because I created a story that I think actually connects to the students at school and helps them understand the dangers of substance abuse.
Alexander Goddijn
Java Programming for Beginners In my personal project my goal was to provide easy access to tutorials on programming in Java for beginners. This was a simple enough goal and I achieved it using a video tutorial as my final product. There were many methods used to achieve my goal. My research alone consisted of many books on Java, a summer course in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on programming in Java, and YouTube videos of other tutorials on Java. This research gave me the basic knowledge of required for Java programming and the main content of my tutorials came from here. I also used several pieces of software to both create my videos and to create the programs used in the videos. I personally believe the outcome was good, as I made the videos for beginners using a beginner’s perspective to create the videos. Looking back on the product I believe my presentation was clear, concise and easy to follow and I also believe the content had a good link to the AoI which was approaches to learning. Because learning Java is like learning a whole new language, and also a very logical language which requires a logical, mathematical mind set, it was quite difficult to find a way to teach Java despite these things. I believe that by teaching the skill from a beginner’s perspective, I was able to hold the audience in mind and therefore make a tutorial more specific to them.
Jonathan Gray
A Judo Guide for Beginners My project goal was to create an online guide to some basic Judo moves that could be accessed by any ISA student. This guide was supposed to include videos of me showing each of the Judo moves with written steps as a supplement underneath. As both of these were included on the website, this was also completed as a part of the goal. Therefore my goal was successfully completed, because I did actually make a website which had a guide to 9 different Judo moves. It is on the ISA website and is therefore available to all ISA students. I achieved this goal by using the programme called IWeb to create the website using the help of Mr Harwell and Mr Goedkoop to get it finally put onto the ISA website. I hope that my website will help to not only teach Judo throws but also to encourage people to try out Judo as a sport.
Katrina Harple
Streetstyle Photography: from Past to Present I’ve always had a personal interest in the arts, and a big connection to self expression through fashion. I took the personal project as an opportunity to explore my hobbies in a more in-depth manner. I initially looked at the areas of fashion that I was interested in, specifically fashion photography, which I spent a lot of time looking at on the internet and through collecting books. I’ve personally been photographed and have met streetstyle photographers, and I took the personal project as an opportunity to become one myself. My goal was to study streetstyle photography from past to present, using this knowledge to develop my own photography style. My product was a book of my photographs, as well as explanation of the history and photography of streetstyle. I was able to photograph in the cities of Amsterdam, London, and New York and compare the types of people I found in each city. In this way I think my product was very successful, as a timepiece to show streetstyle of 2010 through the lens of my camera. The personal project was a motivator for me to pursue my hobbies and turn them into passions, so it was a very positive experience for me.
Willem Hilbers
Learning about the skills and materials to build an Alpine Ski The goal of my project was to learn about the production of skis and the history of skis. I wanted to further understand skis and how they became what they are today. I did this by researching the history of the production of skis, the current production of skis and how to design a ski. With this knowledge I produced my own ski. This ski was designed and made to suit my needs for a ski. Making the ski would prove that I have learned how to do so from my research and it would also give me experience and further knowledge of making skis. The product came out quite well although far from perfect. There were two main flaws in the ski and many small imperfections. The main flaws I was able to learn from and I have changed my method for creating skis so that later skis will be of higher quality. The smaller flaws are things that I will learn to fix with more experience. The project was mainly a success and a great experience. I really enjoyed it and feel I know much more about skis now than I did when I started.
Joseph Human
South African Football After the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the interest in South African football has risen massively. The entire audience of football has been expanded, and suddenly the entire country is interested in the beautiful game. My goal in this project was to create a product which would help educate the growing fan base of football, and also show them the impact that football has had on society in South Africa. I achieved this goal by creating a website. On my website I talked about the clubs, players and matches important to South African football. I also looked at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as the social impact that football has had on South African society. To create my website, and achieve this goal, I had to do a lot of research. I got information from books, newspapers, magazines and websites. I also had to learn how to create a website, and get it onto Google, Yahoo and other search engines. I am really pleased with my product, as I managed to create a website with all of the important information related to South African football. My product is easily accessible, and anybody who would want to learn more about South African football could really use it well.
Jordan Jimenez
Healthy Meals for Volleyball Players The Personal Project has really been quite the experience. Its a long process that all starts with a goal statement. My goal was to make a cookbook that would help volleyball players improve their performance by the things they eat. I wanted to research exactly how food affects your body, and how your diet is reflected in your athletic performance. In order to do this, I made my product a cook book with six different recipes that are main courses. I investigated what kind of vitamins are needed, and in which food they are in. In order to achieve my goal, I did quite a bit of research. I thought this would be important because I wanted my product to be valid. I wanted to make sure that all the information was correct, and that it was not filled with things that I was not sure about. I am content with my outcome, as it looks professional and I feel like it has been done to the best of my ability. I put in lots of time to complete my essay and my product and I feel like I have also personally benefitted from my personal project.
Henny Keltsh
The basics of Investing. A simple and easy guide. Throughout the Personal Project my goal was to create an easy to understand, entertaining manual to inspire teenagers about financial investing. The goal was to both educate the basics of what financial investments is all about, but also teach the students the importance of investing at a young age. Breaking the barrier of financial investment being a form of investment designed for adults was one of my larger goals; this enticed me to embark on my project and outline my target audience fairly quickly. The compounding affect from investment can become crucial to allow individuals a head start financially; in short I wanted to get the ball rolling. My project included some basics as to the forms of financial investment (Bonds, Stocks, Currency and Goods), how money can work for itself, and how investment shaped how companies grow. The Areas of Interaction (AOI’s) gave a structure to my work, Approaches to learning specifically. I devoted a lot of my research to discover how people learn best in order for my presentation to be effective; questioning the method my project should be displayed in, the duration and the content of the presentation. In the end I settled with a Prezi presentation, a unique program which allowed me to present my work visually, in an untraditional manner which kept things interesting. Overall this project has been a great success, as I’ve learnt a great deal and hopefully got others to think about the option of investing themselves.
Yechan Kim
Streetball tutorial video My first goal was to introduce the sport Street Basketball to people, especially to the people who are coming to the exhibition. My second goal was to show the sport to people, gaining interest and teach them how to play the sport. The main goal is to show and teach a sport that they might not be familiar with. I chose a video tutorial as my product as it will grab people’s attention. My tutorial contains street basketball skills and briefly introduces what the sport is. I thought it was the best method to achieve my goal because a tutorial video can introduce the sport, show the sport but also teach the sport at a same time. The video first shows some clips of real outdoor street ball played by people. Then I added a brief introduction of the sport so that the audience will know about the sport and learn what it is, where it is played, who enjoys it, etc. Then I added the tutorial video that my friends and I made. It is divided into parts so that people can learn according to their skills. I’m very happy about my outcome and think that my product helped me achieve my goal well and even though it was my first try for creating something that I’ve never done.
Kento Kinugawa
The factor that changes stock prices The goal of my personal project was to create a report which promotes the understanding of what causes change in stock prices, and how the stock system works. My objective was to create a report aimed at ninth and tenth grade students at ISA, while gaining more understanding about the factors that change stock prices resulting in creating my own theory about this. I created a number of research questions to guide me through the process: 1. Which factor has changed stock prices? 2. What are business models of companies? 3. What are total sales of three selected companies? 4. What are business and weather connections? 5. What is the central bank interest rate? Through the research, I wanted to have accurate information and prepare for writing the report. Through the personal project is not only gained a greater understanding of the factors affecting stock prices but also an insight into the importance of good time management.
Ami Kobayashi
Japanese Flower Arrangement: Ikebana The main goal of my personal project is to promote the creation and appreciation of Ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement at ISA. Specifically, I researched about the history and types of Ikebana by using different sources like books, the internet, and taught what I find to other students, parents as well as teachers at ISA. A booklet is the product of my personal project. I have included introductions for each type of Ikebana, instructions of them in text, some pictures that I found from the internet and some detailed diagrams that I actually drew. I have achieved my goal for my personal project. I succeeded in creating a booklet and a lot of people asked me to see the booklet. From this, I understand that the awareness of Ikebana has been raised. I had problems with the language. English is not my mother tongue, so writing correct and appealing English was difficult. However, my supervisor helped me with the English. Since the booklet was for beginners, I needed to create it with simple, brief and concise explanations and directions. I know I succeeded with this, because I have showed my completed product to some people who do not know the way to arrange Ikebana and they told me the booklet is great. I have worked hard to achieve my goal through the project. I enjoyed making the booklet and actually arranging my Ikebanas.
Miriam Kรถhler Rรถnnberg
Body Painting The topic I choose for my Personal Project was body painting. My goal was to learn about this topic as much as I could. I choose body paintings from three different cultural backgrounds: African, Aboriginal and Indian. I specified my research on these different tribes. I wanted to know about the history of body art, about the tradition in different cultures and what constitutes beauty in body painting. I found out that in addition to cultural differences, gender and age also has a significant influence on the design of the body art. My product was painting different self made patterns on human bodies. That is the part I enjoyed doing the most. And I am glad to experienced painting in that way as it really helped me to empathize with the cultures I researched.
Lara Kok
Combined Music, Photography and Poetry The goal of my personal project was to create a combined photography, music and poetry album to help communicate emotions for adolescents; creating a new form of communication for emotions, which is more efficacious than the current means. My product is a combined music, photography and poetry album. In which there is a physical photo album where I have pasted the poems, the emotion, the song title and the photograph. Along with the album is a CD which has all of the songs implemented in the project as a “hard copy”. Along with the wonted and important meetings with my personal project advisor (Ms. Lopez), I had to significantly plan out my steps. Not only for my research, also for the actual making of my product. Through the duration of personal project time tends to play with you a lot, suddenly a deadline will be looming for next week and you haven’t the faintest idea how you got there so fast. It was pivotal for me to make good and effective use of my time, especially because my personal project incorporated so many different aspects (the multiple intelligence theory, psychology, poetry, photography, adolescence etc.) I have learnt immensely from the personal project, whether it is about myself or about the actual subject matter I was grappling studying. I am happy to have had an experience where I can fully delve into my own personal interests, and create something I am passionate about.
James Loewenthal
Food and ADHD My project goal was to a teaching tool for ADHD sufferers and their carers that could help them strengthen their understanding of how food can contribute to as well as reduce ADHD symptoms. My product consists of my parts. Included is a booklet, a leaflet as well as a webpage. My product is aimed to teach rather than instruct as I find it more important to give ideas rather than push for acceptance. To achieve my goal I had to draw upon my perseverance, as well as my strength, to achieve my goal. I started my work by brainstorming my options, which included; a booklet, a leaflet, a web page, a brochure and a PowerPoint however I knew I would have to refine my ideas to finish on time. I am happy with the outcome of this project because I feel as if I achieved my goal, if not exceeded it. I feel as if I have been able to give this project a good chance and I believe that I was able to give it justice.
Lauren Lutter
Surfer's Guide to Holland The goal of my project, is to educate surfers new to the country about how dense the surf population is here in Holland. During my process I had to change around my goal and idea around but in the end my final product came out to be a surfing guide of Holland. Which is a basic booklet or guide full of information on surfing such as where to go? What time of year to go? Where to buy equipment? What are the dangers? The basic question everyone needs to start surfing in a new country. The main method I used to achieve my goal was trying to get people interested, to show people who don’t really know much or care much for the sport can see the true feelings that comes behind it.. The methods I used to find all this information was mainly websites, and my basic understanding, I also used movies like Step into liquid and books like Surfers Guide. Resources like that are what helped me most when finding all my knowledge of surfing in Holland. In the end I was pretty satisfied with my outcome, my older brother who is a new surfer to Holland found great use in my booklet. Although the outcome was good i would have like to create a project more on the culture and art of surfing instead of the basic knowledge of surfing, but overall I’m very happy with the turn out.
Sergio Maspons
Sergio's personal guide book to Ice Hockey The goal for my Personal Project was to be able to create a guide book for the sport of Ice Hockey. The type of product for my Personal Project was book because I realized that a book would be the best way to show my information. For me to achieve this goal I had to research information on the internet about the sport, and I also used my six years of experience playing the sport for information too. I used the internet to be able to make sure that I did not forget to include any of the rules or pieces of equipment. I was able to use my experience to help create the warm-up exercises that I included in the last section of my book. As a general overview I believe that my project went well. I was able enjoy the process with my supervisor. I feel that I completed my original goal and this project helped me with my planning my time and organizational skills.
Michelle Oh
Eco-friendly winding lamp The goal of this project was to create an environmentally friendly lamp. The product was a lamp with an environmental friendly focus. It is made out of recycled materials, and it generates its own energy and saves the energy generated into the battery when some force (a person, preferably) winds the handle sticking out from the lamp. To succeed this goal, I researched of some facts that I thought would be helpful to my making of the product, and then I designed many designs. Then, after choosing one design, I started to make my product. Although the making did not go exactly the way I planned it to be, the outcome was satisfactory. The lamp looked better than the way I thought it would look, but the strength of the light was a little weaker than what I’ve expected.
Jae Woo Park
Studying in South Korean My goal is to give information about South Korean education system to aimed audiences, who are the teachers at the ISA, who are interested in. Most teachers at the ISA are western teachers so they are not familiar with South Korean education system, one of Asian country’ education systems. The aimed audiences may find this Project interesting because they can indirectly experience the totally different kind of education system. This goal is the main goal for the Project and I have another goal that I could get more information related to Korean education system in detail. I’m interested in education system especially South Korean’s because I want to be a teacher in Korea. To achieve my goal, I created a booklet that is a product for my project so I could inform the interesting Korean education system to my audiences. I used lots of visual data so that the readers may not get bored and can easily understand the contents. I think the booklet was quite successful. I put my most effort on the cover of the booklet because I think the cover of a book is the most important to attract audiences. The booklet was created with lots of resources that are mainly gathered from internet and my own experience. Although I didn’t use any other kind of resource than internet, I am satisfied with my outcome. I hope readers enjoy my booklet!
Maddy Pauchet
Establishing a relationship with Robin Age I knew what I wanted to do for my personal project. My goal grew from a very natural dual source: a passion for writing and a family friend’s suggestion. Gulnar Pruisken knows the owners of a children’s weekly newspaper in India, RobinAge, and she gave me their email addresses. On reflection, it was quite impudent of me to propose my help: after all, my CV is limited and the newspaper is a very successful one. At first, I thought they would dismiss my proposition, and I sat, anguishing for hours by the computer, repeatedly hitting the “refresh” button. I eventually received a response, but it simply urged me to hold for an answer, prolonging my angst. In the end, RobinAge accepted that I write for them. This was very exciting, but I did not want to stop there. I wanted to structure my participation as both a reporter and an editor, sourcing articles from my peers. This progression evolved from a deeprooted desire to share my interest with my friends. In addition to my monthly column, two people have seen themselves in print (Dilruba Eskihoran and Yotam Sagiv). I intend in continuing the relationship I have established in RobinAge. Although I have not signed a formal contract, it is my understanding that from now onwards, I will be writing and providing articles for RobinAge on a monthly basis. This is tremendously exciting, and I can safely say my personal project was a success.
Migs Perez
6 Strings My goal is to teach others how to play the guitar from the website I created which is easily accessible and has different information about the guitar. My product is a simple website with different information about the guitar and how to properly play it. I used the AOI: Approaches to learning where I followed all the desired steps to achieve my goal and I had helped with others to further explain the meaning of Approaches to learning. The outcome is reliable especially for beginners and that it has an eye catching design that could attract audience, although the things that are in the website may not be relevant to my goal but it’s things that could help beginners some different characteristics about the guitar and the some guitarists that are known for their masterpiece with the guitar.
Yotam Sagiv
Evoking Emotion: Studying the Texas Blues My goal in this personal project is to learn how to write a good Texas Blues song. By good, I mean a song that will get the feet moving, the heart pumping, and essentially make the listener want to go crazy and break out into random dance. My product logically then has to be a song of my own creation, in the Texas Blues style, composed and played only by me. To achieve this goal, I went through many processes, as this goal is multi-layered, as well as very open-ended. First was the “theory research” stage. I had to look up the theory behind the Texas Blues, find the basic structures such as the 12-Bar Blues, find out about its root in major 3rd and 6th intervals, etc. After that, came the preparation stage. In this stage, I listened to songs by famous Texas blues artists, such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, to see how exactly these types of songs are meant to be played. The reason I did this is that, despite knowing the theory, ultimately the “feel” of the style can only be deduced by listening to existing songs. And so I listened to some old favourites, and took what I could from them, such as speed, melody style, and other things. After that, all that was left was to create the song. The song, in my opinion, was an excellent success. I had a lot of fun writing, performing, and recording the song (and naming it, though “In The Studio Blues” is perhaps not the most creative name ever), not to mention that I found the song very entertaining. Of course, it will never quite go down as a masterpiece, but I am still extremely proud of it, and consider it an excellent first try.
Christoph Schmidt
Improving traffic light control systems The goal of this project was to analyze and improve the Dutch traffic light control system, to reduce the general fuel consumption as well as CO2 emissions. The actual product of the personal project assignment will be a written concept and additionally the analysis of the traffic light control systems. To achieve this goal, to reduce he general fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, I fist off all looked for a cross road which would be considerable for my survey that I created earlier. This survey helped me to analysis all the possible ways a car could cross a cross road, to first off all get some data on which my concept was the later based. However After I did take the data I analyzed it, which basically means compare, find anomalies etc. In the end I concluded everything and with this information I could then start to figure out how to solve certain problems. The final outcome was basically the concept in a written form. However this form was then send to the Amsterdam Community, to a traffic engineer.
Naoki Shiba
Whaling - is it as bad as it seems? The goal of my personal project was “To challenge the ISA 10th graders’ perceptions on whaling�. The choice of this goal came from the difference between the anti-whaling views of the documentaries that I watched and the pro-whaling views of my Japanese parents; the difference had interested me to investigate further into the arguments for and against whaling. The product that I created to achieve this goal was a PowerPoint Presentation and a survey. The choice of this product was that a PowerPoint presentation would engage the audience in the topic of whaling, and the survey would display the impact of the presentation. The area of interaction that I chose was Environments; I focussed on Environments as rather than focussing on how I present my findings, I wished to focus on the content of my findings instead. The content of my findings connected to Environments as it related to whether whales are a resource that we need or want. The method I used to create the product was through research attained from printed and online sources. I believe that my personal project achieved the goal through how my product had made the audience listen carefully to my presentation, and the survey had made the audience reflect on what they had listened to. Evidence of this was seen through the responses from the survey that illustrated that some of the audience will one view on whaling had began to consider the other side of the argument.
Ryan Sirk
That thing on your face: What does it mean? The goal of this project was to educate the tenth grade of ISA on the health and social implications of facial hair, in the context of the Netherlands in the 20th and 21st century; this level of specification provided a grounding context that gave the project scope. The product itself came in the form of a book which comprised pieces of A4 sized paper, gold-painted card dividers, and a white plastic twice-folded binding – the pages themselves were hole-punched and placed in plastic sleeves of an A5 size; these were attached to the metal rings of the white ring binder. On these pages, words were typed that detailed both beards’ effects on the wearer, and vice versa – also mentioned was the history of facial hair in the Netherlands. The techniques used in this project involved utilising search engines, and other resources, in order to gather information – this stage of the project was called research. Upon attaining this information, it was analysed and new thoughts synthesised – these actions comprised the writing portion of the project. The outcome was pretty good, if I do say so myself, but not quite as good as it could have been; upon reading the product, I hope that the target audience will have realised the powerful niche this product occupies.
Reece Smith
Inner workings of bullying My name is Reece Smith and my personal project is a documentary on bullying titled: It Matters To Me. The goal of my project is to create a source of information that educates, inspires and enlightens my audience into creating an empathetic community and empowering those who have been isolated and disconnected from that same community. This documentary contains voice recordings of myself as the main speaker talking about bullying and the forms it can take. Recent statistics about bullying and it effects are also given along with excerpts of celebrities speaking out about their personal experiences and what we as the community should do to stop this. It also contains photographs of what the celebrities looked like when they were younger and what they look like now. These photos were to show that even the ‘rich and famous’ were also subjected to bullying. My hope is that after watching this documentary it provides a new outlook on what bullying is and how prevent it.
Tigmika Srivastava
Comparison between ancient and modern architecture The goal of my Personal Project was to compare and contrast two different monuments indicative of two different eras in history. In this project I have compared the Colosseum to three modern day sport stadiums, primarily the AJAX Arena in Amsterdam. Through my project, I hope to gain a much greater and better understanding of the history of the two eras through these specific monuments. The goal of the project is a comparison, and through this project I have tried to not only explore the architectural similarities and differences, but also look at the social aspects and how we differ or are similar to the Ancient era. My choice of product was that of a written report representing my research and reflection, I found the option of a report to be the most viable one, because through it I could analyse and study the information I gathered much better, through a report I could more effectively make comparisons in other areas rather than just architectural. Through this project I have gained a much better understanding of the two eras, ancient and modern both socially and architecturally. Find out what, we as a society have retained from the Classical era and what we have left behind.
Bela Stamenkovits
3D Animation for the Green Team The goal of my Personal project was to promote the green team at ISA, using a 3D animation. I decided to do a 3D animation because I really enjoy working with computers. I have done several courses in video game design, and other 3D modelling type of courses. Then I Discovered Autodesk Maya, I started creating a video using this program, where I promoted the eco-code of the ISA green team. I choose to do two out of the six points in the eco-code; the two points I choose were about saving energy and recycling. What I did was show how the situation is now, including relevant facts, and then how we should be doing it. I got the relevant facts from some earlier research I did before I started creating this video. I researched how much energy we wasted, and how many products we throw away in the trash rather than recycle them properly. I am pretty pleased with the outcome of this project. I came to know a lot of new facts about the environment and all the areas related to this. I have been amazed by the information I have found and am happy to be able to communicate it through my video. The final video was longer than I thought it would have been which pleased me a lot. I have enjoyed working on this project; however it was very stressful as well.
Piotr Starzec
Website for Tourists in Amsterdam My goal was to learn how to make a website (in a little bit advanced way then last time I made) and create one. The website is about Amsterdam, for tourists who visit the capital city of Netherlands. To achieve my goal I use different kind of methods, like searching things and information in the internet, asking expert who knows about websites, reading guide books about Amsterdam, asking other people about attractions and asking my supervisor. I think my product is finished well. I think I can made it better. I even think that the report is better than the product, but however I compare them. I am happy to see my finished Personal Project.
Alexandra Steele
British Politics for Teenagers When I was first informed that in tenth grade the Personal Project was a requirement for the MYP my first reaction was that it was a unique opportunity for me to expand on my interest in British politics. Despite my keen interest in the opinions of British politicians, I would often struggle with how the system in parliament worked. Politics is essential in the modern world therefore it should be a necessity that the younger generations have a basic idea of how some of the biggest politically active countries operate – such as Britain. With both of these thoughts in mind, I came to the conclusion that I should create an online booklet that would hopefully give ninth and tenth graders a basic idea of how the British political system works. I chose to aim my booklet at ninth and tenth graders because both my sister and I are in ninth and tenth grade therefore even without doing a survey I would be able to understand my target audience because I was in it. When I started the project I intended to create a paper booklet and my Area of Interaction was Health and Social Education. However as my project evolved I began to research the styles in which my target audience would best respond to my booklet. As a result of this research I my Area of Interaction changed to Approaches to Learning and my paper booklet evolved into an online booklet located on Issuu. Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Personal Project, I have had the opportunity to learn new things and learn more about the Area of Interactions.
Maiko Taka
Picture book for children Whether this is through school or my own, reading picture books has always been an important aspect of my life. I created a picture book that gives us good effects. I wanted to create something good for children because children can improve through them and become good people. The consequence of making a picture book is to educate children and make children enjoy reading.
Aiko Ueda
Healthy cooking For my product I chose to create a recipe book of Healthy cooking. The methods used to achieve goal is that I made a recipe book. To achieve my goal, I used internet, asking people and reading books to complete my product. Then, I wrote some healthy recipes in my book to help others achieve a healthy diet. I have enjoyed making a recipe book very much. That is my strength of product. I thought there was enough information about healthy cooking and my readers could see different national styles of cooking. I was enthusiastic because this subject interests me a lot and because of my health scare I can relate this to the reader, how important healthy eating.
Bob van Gelder
Understanding the Power of innovative social marketing The goal of my was to learn of rising marketing trends, how companies exploit them, and how it affects those around us—even in my own social setting (in particular, my school environment). I created an online presentation to potentially present my message effectively and easily. To achieve my goal I did lengthy research into innovative marketing and even interviewed a professional in the field. I also ran a marketing campaign within ISA, managing to affect students and encourage them to partake in the buying of a specified product. I believe I managed to reach my goal and through this project received an understanding of the benefits of innovative marketing. I urge all that have a company to harness such methods I used. I even managed to raise overall schools in ISA for a specified week (only a slight inclination was seen, suggesting I was successful!)
Katie Wan
Screenplay writing as a career? My goal for Personal Project was to write a full length, original screenplay in order to determine if screenplay writing is a career I would be interested in pursuing in the future. Therefore, my product is a bound, full length, original screenplay totalling 83 pages on Microsoft Word. To write this screenplay, I first researched the proper structure of movie screenplays, and the typical “formula� used to structure the story around. I then researched the particulars about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and spy movies in general. I thoroughly pre-wrote and brainstormed, even creating a lengthy outline for each scene of my movie. The actual writing sporadically took place in the space of two weeks. After revising it, I sent it out to be bound, resulting in the current product. I think that the outcome of this project was successful in the aspect that I wrote a full length original screenplay, and the activity piqued my interest. However, I was not completely convinced that the screenplay writing as a full time job would be in my best interests. It will definitely stick with me as a hobby, though.
Hector White
Recording my thoughts The goal of my project was to create a my own music and record it in the form of an album. My product was therefore an album of my own music. I have been interested in music since I was five when I started with the guitar. Just before i was informed of the Personal Project, I began be properly interested in music and the way in which it is created. This is why I chose this type of product, and I try to use a variety of method to create my product. I utilised the piano and guitar for my songs but also tried to sing for the first time. Writing lyrics was another new method that i had to try and utilise. These new method all turned out well and helped me in the creation of my product but I also decided to ask my sisters to sing in my songs for me. Overall, my goal was achieved, and I was happy with what I had ended up with as a product. The songs were obviously not perfect but they are definitely an improvement to everything I did before.
Hiroki Yamamoto
How to be an effective student My Personal Project “How to be an effective student� was designed to help students who were in need of learning support. I chose to focus only on Upper students in particular, as Lower school students would not need much help in studying. My product was a pamphlet. This pamphlet included 11 factors which ISA teachers and I considered were important in order to become an effective student. The information was gathered through a survey which was sent to all the Upper school teachers. I chose not to use the information I got from the Internet on purpose, because my object was to create a community that improves the potential of ISA students. Therefore, it would not make sense to use the information that was collected out of the ISA community. The planned method at the beginning of the year was to get ideas from ISA teachers by surveys, publish the information on a document, and to post this on the school website so that anyone who needs learning support could have an access to my pamphlet. After I finished all these processes, I sent an email asking students if the pamphlet was whether useful for them or not. However, the outcome of this project was not completely successful. Many people said that the pamphlet was partly useful. This was probably because some of the factors on the pamphlet were obvious. I could have developed my result further more by making the pamphlet more concise, excluding the unnecessary parts.
Wataru Yamazaki
Helping newbie and advanced users My goal was to raise awareness about how a PC is made and to clarify the inside of the blackbox about the PC. The product is a home built PC and a guidebook for ‘newbie’ about how to use a PC. I created my own computer to learn about a PC, so that I can teach ‘newbie’ how to use a computer effectively. I got some live feedback from a real ‘newbie’ so the product should be good. I included some pictures from the web and from my computer which I took during the completion of my PC. I think the outcome is good to the level that have enough possibility of satisfying the goal. My computer is working fine and could be used for my homework and the guide is pretty easy to understand for ‘newbie’ with useful things in it. I hope this products will help advanced users like me and the real ‘newbie’ in ISA community.
Ryota Yoshikawa
How I ran a marathon My goal is that I will train marathon and run half marathon until 2hours. Also, I will research how can we get trainings which is easy way to train for it. My products are journal and booklets . Booklet is explain about how do we have to train for marathon. For example, for beginner how do they have to make schedule and how do they have to train for marathon. Also, explaining about what is marathon for example, how many kind of marathon in the world. Researching about the method of training such a inside and outside training and using them to get goal. I researched them from my friends and books which my friend recommends to me and Mostly I use them because some friend had experience of running and they know which way is good or bad. From books or internet I did not use all of things because some of them are difficult. So, I talked my friend and discuss which is good way for running. Also, I made running schedule from books and try to make it without physical difficulties. I was successful in achieving my goal. I finished about 20 minutes earlier than my goal so, I could run so well. However, I could not follow my schedule well because sometimes I got tired or feeling lazy. Also, I have so many home works. If I consider these problems, I could run faster.
Leor Zmigrod
The Pursuit What is happiness? That is not a question we ask ourselves every day, yet seeing as so many people dedicate their lives to being happy, perhaps we should. The goal of my project was to understand how adolescents view their life goals and happiness, and the sacrifices that they are willing to make in order to achieve these. My objective was to discover the meaning behind our lifetime pursuits and the desire to accomplish goals that will “make us happy”, and essentially, what these reflect on us as human beings. Through creating a documentary based around interviews of my peers about their opinions and thoughts, I found similarities and differences between the ideals that guide us every day. My classmates answered complex questions about what they want to achieve in life, why, and how. The Area of Interaction that steered me through the process was Health and Social Education, as I learnt what constitutes well-being, and how people think and act. I also found truth in what Anne Frank said, “we’re all alive, but we don’t know why or what for; we’re all searching for happiness; we’re all leading lives that are different and yet the same”. Perhaps we are all searching for meaning in our lives, and accomplishing a certain goal helps add significance to our existence. With almost seven billion people on this planet, maybe we need to feel like we made a difference in the world somehow; whether it is for one person or society as a whole. Maybe this never-ending quest for significance is our Pursuit.
Sophie Bak
Naomi Roba
Thank you to our wonderful librarians: Donna and Nathalie