In year 9 science we were tasked with creating a structure out of pasta and blue-tac that would withstand a hypothetical earthquake. The project required us to research, design, build, test and modify our structure so that it would withstand S waves and P waves.

The first step of the project was to research. We found that the best way to build was with a triangular shape as this is one of the strongest shapes. We also found that if we had cross-bracing then it would stop bending in the main structure.

Our final design was very different from our original idea as it was stronger and more efficient on materials. The building process was quite difficult as it required all hands-on. There were many challenges such as trying to build without overspending. Another challenge we faced was pasta snapping. This meant we had to build slower and with caution about every piece on the model. Our final design was a triangular base with triangular sides going to the 60 cm minimum limit. The base was also larger than the top as this made it more stable. We also used double or triple supports on the weaker pieces to make them stronger and reduce bending from the pieces.

The final step was testing. During this part of the process, we put our design on a shake table and tested it with S waves and P waves. Our design worked well with S waves but struggled with P waves. Our model broke during and we had to rebuild it with modifications. Our modification was we put double supports on the structure as this reduced bending.

This project is connected to the real world as major cities face earthquakes often or are at risk of facing a major earthquake. Buildings in risk areas have to build earthquake-proof otherwise the city puts more people at risk of injury or death. In poorer countries such as Nepal, Major earthquakes such as the April 2015 Earthquake can cause a catastrophe if buildings aren’t earthquake-proof. Earthquake-proof buildings reduce cleanup and rubble as well.

There are multiple principles of justice that are aimed to be followed by courts and tribunals. The seven main principles are everyone is equal before the law, everyone has the right to a fair hearing, the judiciary is impartial and independent, the right to an appeal, the right to silence, the presumption of innocence and high-quality evidence. All these principles must be followed in court and if they are not, then there is a higher chance that someone may be wrongfully charged. An example of when a case where some of these principles were not followed was the Andrew Mallard case. Andrew Mallard was accused of a murder that occurred in 1994. Andrew Mallard spent 12 years in prison and was finally released after a journalist, a politician and high-profile lawyers proved he did not commit the murder. Some of the principles of justice that have failed to be followed include the right to silence, inequality before the law and a lack of high-quality evidence. Andrew Mallard experienced injustice before the law as he had mental illness and he was not provided with assistance, and it is thought that he was fed information to by the police. The judiciary was impartial as they were heavily influenced by the media. There was a lack of high-quality evidence as some evidence was withheld from the court that would have proved his innocence. Andrew Mallard was convicted because of a failure to follow the principles of justice.

The first principle of justice that was compromised in the Andrew Mallard case was the right to silence. The right to silence means that a suspect does not have to answer any questions except their name and address in an interrogation. Andrew’s right to silence was compromised in this case as an undercover followed Andrew for multiple days after he exited a mental hospital and acted as his friend to try and get force evidence from him. The undercover officer gave alcohol, hotel rooms, meals and cannabis. Andrew Mallard was also questioned in the hospital without a mental health nurse so he might not have understood that he did not have to answer the questions. Finally, Andrew Mallard had a behavioural issue of being a people pleaser and with this behaviour, he felt obligated to accept the police statements and answer questions the way they wanted him to. Andrew later denied all his statements because he did not agree with them and realized that he could possibly go to jail for a crime that he did not commit. Andrew Mallard’s right to silence in this case was compromised due to manipulation, and behavioural and mental issues.

Another principle that was compromised in the Andrew Mallard case was the lack of high-quality evidence. This was possibly the most compromised. The principle of high-quality justice means that enough evidence should be provided to prove that there is beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty or not guilty. The first issue in this case regarding high-quality evidence was Andrew’s statements and alibies were not accepted by the police so this led to Andrew’s opinion and account not being taken into the investigation. When Andrew was first questioned, he was in a psychotic state meaning that he was having trouble understanding the world and he did not have assistance from a mental health nurse. The only solid evidence for his conviction of Andrew was his acceptance that he committed the murder and an image of a wrench that was thought to have been drawn by Andrew in an un-filmed interview. Withheld evidence was found 12 years later that proved that the wrench could not have caused the injuries suffered by Pamela Lawrence. High-quality evidence was not provided throughout Andrews’s initial trial which led to his 12 yearlong incarceration.

The last principle of justice that I will discuss is equality before the law. Equality before the law means that everyone no matter their race, sex, sexuality, culture, language background or mental capacity is treated the same. This means that people who cannot understand the legal system can get support to help them in a case. This principle was compromised throughout Andrew Mallard’s case. Andrew was first questioned in a mental hospital while in a psychotic state and did not have a mental health nurse or legal aid to help him. This could have given false information to the police which would have helped to have enough information for his arrest. Andrew had a behavioural issue of being a people pleaser. Throughout many hours of interrogation, Andrew accepted many of the statements and answered the questions to make the police satisfied. This was not his actual opinion and statement and later in the interrogation, he denied all that he first agreed with. Years later, it was found that Andrew was stripped naked and beaten in order to get information. Police brutality is illegal in most countries but is often used due to corruption. Andrew Mallard was treated unequally by the police so equality before the law was compromised.

In the Andrew Mallard case, the principles of justice were poorly followed by the courts, police, and investigators. The main principles that affected were compromised in this case were the principles of high-quality evidence, equality before the law and the right to silence. The principle of high-quality evidence was compromised by the court system, the police, and investigators. If this principle was followed, a more just decision would have been possible as the court would have had the evidence to prove that Andrew Mallard did not commit the crime. If the right to silence would have been followed, then Andrew Mallard would not have had to go through hours of interrogation due to the state of his mental health. Finally, if Andrew was treated equally before the law, he would not have experienced the police brutality and would have had legal aid to help him at the start of the process to help prove his innocence and reinforce that he was innocent. Andrew Mallard was punished due to a compromise of most of the main principles of justice.

In InnovatED this term I did STEM and Sport. In STEM and Sport, I worked on a project that involved teachings in the Kimberly to play cricket and donate equipment to them. We started the project in week 4 and designed a website, took videos and presented the project in week 9.

For our product, we used the design thinking process to help us make our product. The first step of this process was to empathise. We empathised by coming up with problems that people have with sport and wellbeing. The problem we identified was there are not many people coming from northwest Australia that play cricket. The second step of the process is define. We defined by figuring out our target audience. Our target audience was people interested in cricket in remote communities. The next step of the process was to ideate. We ideated by coming up with ideas for our product. Our product was a cricket website that included batting, bowling and fielding videos. The next step was to create a prototype. We created the videos and the website. We had then finished our product and tested it by doing the showcase. We would judge ourselves on this by looking at the feedback and seeing if it was positive.

The first step of our process was to brainstorm ideas of what we could do in our class. In this process, we came up with the idea of a cricket website with videos for a demonstration. we also came up with the idea that we should donate items. The second step of our process was to create a plan for our website and our videos. We wrote scripts and decided what software to use to create the websites. We wrote up a text for the website and applied it. The third step of our process was to take videos and build our website. We went down to the oval and took videos of our bowling, batting and fielding. We then added the videos to the website and did the final touches. Then our project was complete and we were ready for the showcase. We thought the showcase was a success because we had positive feedback and said they liked our product.

We thought we had a good product but there were also some things we could have improved on. Something that went well was our videos were descriptive and well filmed. We could have had better audio but if we had more time we could have fixed this and added more videos but I think we did the best we could. Another thing we did well was our website design. We had designed pages that were clear and easy to use. Something we could have improved on was we could have made a page that could tell people why they should join cricket. It is hard to teach people to play something if they have little to no interest in what they are doing. Something else we could have improved on was our presentation. We could have prepared more and made a longer speech for what we were going to say.

This product was a success and I believe that I worked well in my group. The best skill we had was we were organised. We had a good plan and followed our schedule. Something that was also helpful was we chose something that we knew about. Overall, I enjoyed doing STEM and Sport.

https://ayushsarin4.wixsite.com/cricketco

In term 1 in 2020, we started doing a project called project utopia. Although We may not have known it, we first started learning about utopias and dystopias very early on. During the project, we have learnt about the Global Goals, liveability factors, Sustainability, Geographical concepts and much more. Project Utopia has taken us through three terms across many subjects.

Humanities were one of the major subjects that we focussed on during project utopia. In humanities, we learnt about the liveability which taught us how to design our community by incorporating things such as the Climate, environmental quality, infrastructure and more. We also learnt about water and how we must have a good supply and access to it. The final thing we did in humanities was we wrote a constitution for rules to follow for our community. I feel I learnt the most from the liveability factors because they have taught me that for examples cities with bad infrastructure do not run smoothly and often have heavy poverty. Humanities have been one of the most important subjects for me throughout the utopia project.

Science also helped me learn about sustainability. In science, we made a sustainable house to make our utopia use less non-renewable resources that hurt the environment.  We built our sustainable houses in partners. First, we started by researching sustainable house features and behaviours we can use to be more energy and water-efficient. We then built a physical model and presented to the class what we had been doing. This subject taught me about sustainability and how we would have to have our houses built to save non-renewable resources from being used.

In English we read the giver which was the first step of our utopia although we did not know it. The giver taught us about dystopian communities where people have limited decisions. In English we also learnt about public speaking so we would be more confident at the presentation talking and answering questions. I learnt the most from the giver because, it was a book, I had time to think about all the different complications. I also had time to reflect on what I had read. I think that I learnt the most from reading the Giver.

Innovat-ED was the time we had to build and put our other subjects together to create our utopia. At the start of project utopia, we learnt about the global goals. The global goals helped us understand what we needed in our community. We got accreditations for these goals if we understood and had features that would help us reach these goals. We made a drawing of our prototype utopia, so we knew what we were going to create. After that we then created our physical model. I do not think I worked very well with my group and we could have worked much better. I learnt the most from finding out about the global goals because they taught me about many major problems in the world.

In conclusion, I have learnt many things about society and the way cities have been planned to be more sustainable, liveable, and reliable. I have also learned that it is not only features but behaviours that help make a city more liveable and sustainable. I have learnt lot’s from this project that I hope will be able to help me in the future.