Personal Project Report

1. Personal Project Report By: Prasanth Kotah

2. Criterion B: Identifying a topic based on Personal Interest • Two areas that I am interested in are the environment and video games. I developed my topic for my personal project based on these two interests. • I will create a environmentally friendly simulated city using a computer program known as Sim City.

3. Criterion B: Identifying an Area of Interaction • My personal project falls under the area of interaction known as environment. • I am attempting to create a city that will help to create a cleaner and healthier environment for everyone and everything. • The four central elements of environment are awareness, responsibility, action and reflection. • Awareness: I am aware of the harmful effects of large cities • Responsibility: I take responsibility for these issues by attempting to derive a solution • Action: I take action by attempting to persuade my mayor and city council to implement my suggestions. • Reflection I show reflection, by reflecting on my city so that I can come up with improvements that can be made to Grosse Pointe Woods.  

4. Criterion B: Outline a Goal • My personal project will have two goals. One being a simulated city using the program Sim City, the other being a letter of improvements that can be made to real cities based off of my simulated city. • The simulated city will be built and simulated forward, so that the effects to the environment can also be simulated. • I will transfer the knowledge that I gained from my simulated city to real life by creating a letter of suggestions that are developed as a direct result of my city. • By using the letter and the city I hope to answer the question, in what ways can cities be designed and what energy sources can be used in order to limit the carbon footprint left by mankind?

5. Criterion B: Design Specifications • Specifications: • The city: • Uses a variety of energy resources • Contains residential areas, commercial areas, and business areas • Provides a clean and nice environment for the residents • The letter has: • Ideas that can be applied to my city • Persuasion techniques that can convince the leaders of my city to use my ideas • A formal and polite mood and tone

6. Criterion C: Selecting and Evaluating Sources • Sources for information about the simulated city. • http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1193833,00.html • http://voices.yahoo.com/the-5-most-eco-friendly-green-cities-america-404523.html • http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=IL • http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/prelim_trends/rea_prereport.html

7. Criterion C: Selecting and Evaluating Sources • Sources for information about the letter • Mrs. Mack’s handout • http://sps.k12.mo.us/pvms/tmmaerke/Webquests/PowerofPersuasion/persuasivetechniques.html

8. Criterion D: Application of Information • In order to create my simulated city I had to utilize the information gained in my research to help make a blueprint of my city before I actually began to build it on the computer. • The information that I gained in my research was applied in order to help make my city more realistic and like it could exist in real life. • I made my city more realistic by using a variety of renewable and non-renewable energy sources, based on the percentages that I received from the Energy Information Administration. • I had to evaluate how realistic my initial city was after researching about the most environmentally friendly cities in the United States. • I came to the conclusion that I would have to restart my city.

9. Criterion E

10. Criterion E: The letter Dear Mayor Novitke, My name is Prasanth Kotha, and I am 15 years old. I am currently a student that attends the International Academy East in Troy, but I live in Grosse Pointe Woods. I am writing this letter as a result of an investigation that I did during school about the different ways that cities can be designed in order to limit the carbon footprint left by mankind?Through my research I used a computer program to simulate a city and the effects that the city had to the environment. I wish to share the findings of my research with you with the hopes that you will utilize this findings and help make Grosse Pointe Woods a more environmentally friendly city. First of all I would like to state that I attempted to create my city as realistic as possible. I attempted to do this by using information that I received from government agencies, such as the Energy Information Administration. Now on the topic of my suggestions that would help make Grosse Pointe Woods more environmentally friendly. As a whole the city of Grosse Pointe Woods utilizes its land effectively, and the city helps in creating a cleaner and healthier world., but some improvements can still be made. One improvement that can be made is the fact that the city of Grosse Pointe Woods can better utilize a variety of energy sources. Granted, I realize that this shift of energy sources would be vastly expensive. But it is necessary, because Grosse Pointe Woods has a geographic advantage over most other cities. By being based on Lake St. Clair the city can utilize hydroelectric power, even though it currently does not and it mostly relies on fossil fuels. The implementation of hydroelectric power can also help to deter further pollution of the Lake, which would also help in improving the environment. Other environmental improvements that can be made to the city include using unused land to plant trees, which would not only help in beautifying the city, but would also help in improving the air quality. As a mayor you may think that there is no room for such trees, but in reality directly across from the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House there is a large area of land that could be used for trees. Another suggestion that I received through my research is the implementation of parks that are readily available to the public, but since the city of Grosse Pointe Woods has multiple parks available to the public, I believe that we should retain these parks and help them implement more environmentally friendly procedures. These environmentally friendly procedures include limiting the usage of water on attractions such as the water slide, fixing leaks at public drinking fountains, and expanding the use of greenery at the parks ( because the majority of the parks is cement). Although I have presented my ideas and my suggestions you may wonder, why should I listen to a 15 year high school student? In my opinion this question is justified, and I would respond to it because I care about our environment, and our future. And as a individual I see myself eventually settling in Grosse Pointe Woods, and I want my kids to eventually grow up with the green environment that I grew up with. As mayor you can make this happen. Currently I know that the budget is tight, and I know how much these changes will effect the budget, and how it will be hard to balance the budget with the spending that these suggestions have, but once again I request that you at least take these suggestions into consideration, because in the city of Grosse Pointe Woods, you alone have the power to make these changes happen and make Grosse Pointe Woods a greener city.

11. Criterion F: Extension of Knowledge Of AOI • Through designing and constructing my city I learned that cities are incredibly complex entities that take a lot of time to plan and construct. • I learned that when building cities, they are usually built around one main road. • I extended my knowledge about the environment, because I realized how much effort is directly needed in order to create a healthier environment in a fully functioning city. • Also I realized that due to current human habits the amount of carbon emissions produced by cities is massive. • The investigation of my topic also helped reveal to me that it is a lot harder to create an environmentally friendly city, than most people expect. • This is because an environmentally city must have a variety of energy sources, parks, commercial areas, business areas, and residential areas.

12. Criterion F: Developing as a Learner • I learned how to plan and manage time and resources. • I developed the skills of how to use Sim City, and how to effectively zone the land in the program in order to divide the city into sections for further development. • For my second goal I learned and used the skills necessary to create a polite mood or tone in a passage. • Also in the letter I learned how to effectively use the persuasive techniques.