About Project Utopia:
Project Utopia was a school project that spanned from Term 2 to Term 3. We were tasked to create a perfect society for citizens to live in while making our city fit the standards of our citizens. I thoroughly enjoyed this project as we were always very busy. We always had something to do and there was never a dull moment during this project. There was also a lot of arguing and debating about our decisions as a group, but in the end, we all agreed on an idea. If I could do anything differently I would rehearse our whole presentation together as a group a couple more times. Sometimes we would forget when it was our turn to speak and we would just be standing there looking at the audience awkwardly.
How this all started:
This all started when we were exposed to the novel “The Giver” by Loris Lowry in Term 2. We had to discover the problems with their “utopia” while slightly touching on S.P.I.C.E.S.S (The Geographical Concepts) and the Liveability factors. In science, we had to build a sustainable house which would save energy and water. Combining all these projects would lead to our later discovery of Project Utopia!
UN Global Goals:
The UN Global goals are a group of goals that humanity was set to achieve by 2030. These can include zero hunger, quality education and life on land. We had to find a way that we could solve one of these goals and apply them to our community. I learnt all about the different goals and real-world problems. The Global Goals are very important in sustainability and in the whole project. I also learnt that if we achieve the global goals by 2030 then all our lives would be impacted, and we would have a more sustainable life. They are trying to create a sustainable future for all of us.
Our Constitution:
In our Utopian Society, we had to write a constitution of how our city was going to be governed. I learnt about different types of governing like Dictatorship and a Commonwealth in Humanities. Our constitution was very successful as many parents congratulated us on achieving this level of writing. We were very proud of our progress in writing our constitution. I also learnt about the rights and responsibilities of the citizens in any community, city or country. In the end, our constitution turned out very successful and we are very proud of what we achieved. Down below is the Constitution of Gloposita. Feel free to browse through our constitution.
Public Speaking Skills:
My public speaking skills started a little rocky, but I grew to become a more confident speaker with my body language and posture. I learnt that in the end, the only thing that matters is the audience. They are essentially the people that we are presenting to anyway, so their attention is the most valuable part of the presentation aspect. I also learnt about different expressions and tones while presenting. For example, you could use a convincing tone to try to convince the audience to sideways with your idea. You could also have a firm or hard tone to indicate the important parts of your presentation. This could include your best idea, an important feature or even to grab their attention and make them more interested in what you are talking about.
Resilience (ASC Capability):
Resilience is bouncing back up when things go wrong. This whole project, I had to learn that you should never call it quits before you fail. You should strive forward and achieve what you want. During this project, we as a team had to build our sense of resilience and even if we failed, we had to keep enduring and keep on trying until we succeeded. “Failure is the first step to success” I learnt that the right thing to do when you fail is to try, try and try again until you succeed. I had a lot of troubles during this project but, a few calming breaths and pep talks later I was back on track. Resilience is a very important capability that everyone should have.
Collaboration (ASC Capability):
Collaboration is the definition of working together and teamwork. I had to collaborate with my teammates and make sure that we were all on the same level with our work. We all covered each other’s mistakes and helped each other with our different parts. At the end of the project, I learnt that two heads are better than one and that you can accomplish anything if you collaborate and work with people. Additionally, I found that collaboration is a major aspect of Teamwork and working together. ‘Teamwork Makes the Dream Work’. Everything is a Win-Win situation if we collaborate and watch out for each other.
Showcase Evening:
I loved having the parents come and tell me about their expertise in different jobs. It was also very nerve-wracking when the parents would ask you a question about your Utopia. The question would either relate back to the script or be something about our community. Sometimes the nerves would get to me and I would mess up my script but, thankfully I could pick up where I left off. Some parents would also mispronounce the name which was funny, but irritating at the same time.
My thoughts about Project Utopia:
In conclusion, I loved doing this project as there was always something to do; we were always busy with our work. This was a great learning experience as we had experts to guide us in our thinking. This project taught me many life skills that will benefit me in my later life. These include collaboration, organisation and leadership skills. In the end, this project will stand out in my life as by far the best project I have ever done!