Social Media Unit Reflection

In my most recent unit in NEW Core, the Social Media Unit, I have perfected the process of attempting to solve a problem through a proper amount of ethical research using certain research and problem solving techniques. I applied these skills for problem solving in my Unit Project, The Truth About Electric Cars

in which I formed my own lab based on my own research. Some of the skills I perfected included the finding of truly credible information, the best way to conduct ethical research, the forming of a lab, and how to raise awareness for an issue.  

When I started my research for The Truth About Electric Cars I was trying to find the answer to the question “Do electric cars emit more or less CO2 than gas cars?”. I knew that the subject was very sensitive to some, so I tried to make the project as politically neutral as possible. The way I went about discovering and answering the question was, as it always should be, without a definitive answer in my head. I did not have a preferred outcome of my results, and therefore I can say that I really did conduct my research ethically. I also explained the meaning of my data (of which I will explain how I collected in the next paragraph) in my website and why my conclusion is not some unbacked falsity spread to the masses with videos like this:

This is one of the the many skills that I applied for my project concerning the ethical presentation of problem solutions to controversial topics, of which I also needed to include the the gathering of data in the same manner.

When I gathered my data for this project, I used a researching technique that also ensured ethical data be found. My raw data came from sources in which could be cross referenced and was undeniable, such as “What is the megajoule content of a kilogram of coal?”, which every site concluded together that it was about a 28-33 megajoule output for each kilogram of coal.  I combined several of these factors together including power loss from fuel through power plants, the loss of potential energy within a gas engine, the loss of energy from an electric car batter to the wheels, the loss of energy through the drivetrain of a car, etc. etc. These calculations were all jotted down on a paper, seen below, and done in a calculator.

 

Not only was my data gathered sort of self-made, but in my lab I ran I attempted to gather raw data from a mock power plant I created.

With the volt meter I could read the amount of electricity being produced at one time for how long, and therefore I could calculate the amount of energy lost between the potential energy residing in the fuel and the amount used to turn this generator on a turbine:

This way of gathering data, I believe, is superior than trusting some politically fueled sites who indeed had a preferred outcome to the question asked, and therefore I think it is a beneficial skill to posses.

Previously I had mentioned my website raising awareness about my project, The Truth About Electric Cars, which I designed using another one of my skills I needed to create this project. With a substantial claim, I knew I needed substantial evidence and reasoning behind it to back it up. The videos I used to explain my data, as I showed before, were the follow-up to the initial blast of facts on my homepage that hooked the reader, also shown previously. My social media outreach did not stop there though, I went on to design a twitter page as well with the hopes of being recognized. My homepage, seen here,

I believe looks professional and may attract some serious attention if I stayed consistent with my posts and content. The skill of creating attractive works for public sharing, I think, I have improved on exponentially since I first started to design websites and the like.

In this Social Media Unit, I have not only learned how to research, collect data and explain my findings, but I have learned to exploit these findings publically, and ethically. I will be able to use these skills for the rest of my life, not only for the benefit of myself, but maybe even for the benefit of my community, my county, my state, my country, and maybe even the world. This unit has taught me to dream big when it comes to problem solving, and I believe I have only just begun.