Helping 2013

Dominic Zavala (North)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012. 4th Block.

(1) What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

• Cheerleading, Environmental Engineering, and Boxing: I'm part of a cheerleading team and can easily establish service learning since I know practically everyone there. I'm very interested in Environmental Engineering. My dad works in that field. Boxing is right next to the cheerleading place.
• I told him that he should check out Melvin R.'s senior presentation for environmental architecture and Joshua N.'s senior presentation for boxing.

(2) What do you plan to do to complete the 10 hours of service learning (working with an expert) which is due prior to senior year starting?  Note: They also have to complete the 50 hours during the school year.

• I have been part of a cheerleading team, and by continuing over summer, I can get them done quick.
• Not to do over 140 community service hours that aren't senior topic related.

(3) What do you hope to see or expect to see when watching the class of 2012 present their two hour presentations?

• I expect to see things that interest me or things that meet my interests.
• Refer back to when I suggested to view Melvin and Joshua's senior presentations. Unsure about a cheerleading one. 

(4) What questions do they have about senior project?  What additional recommendations would you give the 2013 student about senior project?  Be specific and note what you told them.

• "What is the best advice you could give me going to senior year?"
• Make sure you catch up on all your work before the month of February because that's the month where you will be bombarded by several projects at once with no break in between. Also, NC Rules comes back this year so be careful with that. In terms of independent component, just do an extra 60 hours of service learning since you have a lot of access to two of your senior topic of choice.

Independent Component 1

Saul Gonzalez

North House

Independent Component

Baking at Home: Log

Date	Hours	Content
12/24-12/31	5	Baked some treats for both Christmas and New Year’s Eve. My sister helped since I was just a beginner.
02/13	3	Made a strawberry cake for Valentine’s Day. Took me a while to get it done correctly.
02/18	2	Decided to make a practice bread the weekend after my 20-minute presentation. I feared it was a little off.
02/19	2	I was bored so I made a cake-styled bread. I used bake mix instead of the traditional flour recipes.
02/23-02/24	4	Baked cookies for the first time both of these days. Took a lot of time and effort to get them right the first few times.
02/06-02/24	7	Working on the science experiment. It was baking. Did five trials and each trial took over an hour.
02/25	7	Baked a bread that used the fermentation of yeast process which took about five hours and then baked for about an hour.

Independent Component 2 Plan Approval

1. My plan for the independent component is to bake my bread, cakes, and other pastries. I may also plan on selling these pastries to people.

2. My plan will reach the 30 hour requirement as long as I log in how many hours I have been baking. Every time I bake it usually take around 2 hours, if I bake at least twice a week during weekends, I should be able to meet the 30 hour requirement in under 2 months. I'd take pictures of the process every now and then.

3. This independent component will help me with my essential question by actually putting me into the position of actually being able to determine what recipes sell the most and what kind of breads people like. Makes me seem like a baker myself.

Blog 13: Senior Project 2-Hour House Meeting #1

1. My first answer for my essential question (What is most important in owning a successful bakery?) is having a variety in baked goods in your bakery.

2. Most consumers get "bored" of the same type of bread and other baked goods, such as the ones that appear at supermarket bakeries. The baked goods found in these bakeries are rushed, and poorly baked, and barely any variety in them.

3. One of my sources for this is this website: http://www.bakeryguidebook.com/ I found it amazing, it has so much information in what you need and suggest more sources to check it. It's a Guide Book told in a few paragraphs, and state many key facts and tips.

Blog 11

Questions for 3rd Interview:
1. Do you need to get into some culinary arts school to become a professional baker?
2. What do you think is most important when it comes to baking?
3. Do you enjoy baking?
4. Is the competition in the baking business taken seriously?
5. Are certain brands of ingredients matter when it comes to baking?
6. Is it stressful to be baking during the holidays?
7. What do you think is most important in owning a successful bakery?
8. What are the skills a person should have to be a baker?
9. In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about being a baker?
10. Why did you choose baking over anything else you might have gone in to?

Blog No. 10: Self-Reflection

1. I think right now, I'm at an AP level because I still have many things to catch up on since my change in topic.


2. I have probably gotten better at baking as I study the science of it. Breads and cakes I'd bake no longer come out as flat as they used to. ;)


3. One thing I would like to improve on is to better time baking things, because either a bread turns out too stiff, burnt, stale, etc. Also, I would probably like to bet=tter time the projects out in my schedule.

Blog No. 9: Science Proposal

1. My hypothesis is: if you use a certain type of yeast in bread making, then the bread will have a higher volume when it is baked.

2. The independent variable will be the type of yeast that will be used in the batter. The dependent variable will be the volume of the bread after it is baked all under the same conditions. The control variables are all the ingredients that remain constant, as well as the recipe procedure.

3. I believe that the connection with my science experiment and my EQ is that if I use instant yeast and if it has the better results, it may attract more people to purchase baked goods.

4. I will perform my science experiment using my very own kitchen tools and in my kitchen with an undisturbed condition. I will need a writing utensil, my science journal, both types of yeast, sugar, flour, large bowl, mixing machine, water, measuring cups, eggs, and other cooking materials. I will measure the volume of the bread by setting a sample in each cup cake tray with different batter and measure how high they each rise with a standard ruler. I will use this data to determine the best bread making method.

5. This science experiment might fall under the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.