Capstone Project Proposal Draft

Name of student: Eva Marques

Date: 09/10/23
Teacher: Ms. Lacroix
Capstone strand I have chosen is Product
Proposed title for my project: Penelope’s Great Adventure

What is your inquiry question that interests you for further research? It should be a question that
connects with a purpose, passion or personalized area of interest for you. This is a question that
you cannot just google an answer for. Please see examples from your Capstone booklet.
My inquiry question is:

How can we expose the severity of climate change to younger generations to help prevent
future complications triggering global warming?

Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question. Explain WHY you are
choosing to investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry connect
to your passion(s), purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

I decided to choose this inquiry question because i think that climate change is a global issue
that is not being taught enough. As a former elementary student, i never learned about climate
change and what was happening to the world that i lived on. I want to ensure that the younger
generations get the opportunity to learn about climate change since they are the ones that will
help the future of our world. Since starting IB geography, i have grown an interest towrds
climate change and reseraching different aspects that can be done to help prevent/stop it from
getting worse. People around the world dont fully undertsnad teh severity of climate chnage
and the repercussions the environment is facing. An example that truly makes me sad is the
ice in the artic melting at a significant rate. The polar bears are losing their habitats and are at
risk of extinction. This is why i believe students should be learning about climate chnage at a
young age as solutions can be thought of and applied quicker.

Background: What background knowledge/connections/prior learning do you have in this

area of inquiry?

In my IB geograpghy class, we have been researching and discussing the topic of climate
change. As a class, we have brainstromed and supported ideas that can potentially help the
severity of climate change to decrease.

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Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What
connections does this inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals?

The topic of my capstone project, does not connect to what i wish to study post secondary,
however this is something that i strongly believe in and am motivated to ackomplish. My
dream job is to become an marketing executive for a comapny and be resondsible for
marketing and advertising their product by expressing my creativity.

Interdisciplinary and core competencies connections: What subject areas and core
competencies will be connected with your project? Outline and explain the connections.

Personal awareness and responsibility

Strengths:

1. “I can express my needs and seek help when needed.”

Since elementary school, I have never been scared to ask for help with an assignment or lesson that I
did not understand fully. Having the confidence in yourself to not be scared or feel judged to ask for
help is something extremely important and should be developed quickly at a young go to further carry
that habit as you grow up. Currently, I believe that I am able to effectively ask questions that will
benefit my learning and increase my success within the class.

2. “I understand that learning takes patience and time.”

During the last couple of months of grade 11, I decided that I was going to take pre-calculus 11 in
summer school since I realized that I was going to need it for post secondary. Since starting high
school, I have had a difficult time in my math classes as it took me longer than others to understand a
concept, this was a huge insecurity for me. Because of this I felt that I was never able to do higher
level math and so that is the reason for me taking foundations 11 in my grade 11 year. However, I
decided to challenge myself and do pre calculus 11 since I felt that if I put my 100% effort, I was able
to do it. While in summer school I encountered many obstacles and I wanted to give up, yet with the
help of my teacher I was able to get past the challenges and receive a good mark in the class. Now I
recognize that patience is a key factor to success and without it you won’t receive the outcome you
deserve.

Weakness:

1. “I use a variety of strategies to manage my personal well being.”

Since a young age, I have always experienced anxiety when I comes to my academics. I get extremely
hard on myself and at times become easily overwhelmed. I need to start brainstorming and
incorporating healthy strategies that will help manage my personal well being. With being in the IB
program and it being my senior year of high school, there is a huge workload from all classes that I
have to organize. Additionally with the pressure of making sure that I get amazing grades in all of my
classes in order to get into the universities that I want my mental health becomes extremely
vulnerable and I lose faith in myself. This is why I need to strategize and plan my days where I have
time for my studies but also time for myself.

Social Responsibility

Strengths

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 1. “I value diversity, defend human rights, advocate for others, and act ethically in all my
interactions, including online.”
With being raised in a multicultural environment, the matter of diversity and human rights is a topic
commonly talked about. I believe that I am able to identify and discuss this topic in public settings,
defending my beliefs and the perspectives of others effectively and respectfully. Both for school
assignments and in social environments, I consistently take into consideration people’s feelings,
perspectives and beliefs making sure that everyone is felt seen and heard.

2. “I have positive peer and intergenerational relationships.”

This is something that I believe comes easy for me. I was raised and emersed into my Portuguese
culture since a young age where I was taught to treat everyone with kindness and respect no matter
who they are or how old they might be. In Portuguese culture respecting your elders and having a
maturity level to depict and navigate either stressful situations or environments that need to be
handled with immense amount of responsibility is something exposed quickly. This is why I can have a
mature conversation with people of any age. I am able to confidently express my thoughts and
perspectives while maintaining respect and maturity towards others.

Weaknesses

1. “I am aware of my community and environment and work independently and

collaboratively for the benefit of others”
I agree with this statement to a certain extent. I think that I can work independently, however at times
I can get distracted easily and don’t use my time effectively. When I am doing an assignment that I am
not fully interested in it takes me a lot longer to finish rather than an assignment that I am interested
in. I still get the assignment done to the best of my ability, but it takes me 1 hour instead if 20
minutes. This is something that I am working on as I recognize that not all things in life I am going to
enjoy. Some things will be mandatory and will have to get done one way or another. If I train my
mindset and change my perspective on this, then I can easily apply this skill into my everyday life
further into the future.

Critical thinking

Strengths

1. “I can analyze and make defensible judgements, draw conclusions and consider a
variety of perspectives.”
With being in the IB program, teachers are consistently asking us to collaborate and brainstorm ideas
connecting to a certain topic. Having multiple personalities and voices contributing to the same
assignment all at once can become overwhelming and easily chaotic, yet over time we have all
developed collaboration skills that allow us to consider and include a variety of perspectives within
discussion. Growing up I have always been a quiet student, keeping my thoughts and opinions to
myself and rarely sharing. At times I still feel like this however I have noticed that since being involved
with IB the ability for me to open up and work with others has expanded. My confidence with public
speaking has gone up tremendously and I am able now to generate ideas clearly in a collaborative
setting.

2. “I can ask good quality questions, gather relevant information, and come up with well-
developed conclusions.”
As a student I am very committed to making sure I hand in something that I am proud of. Over the
years I have overcome my fear of asking questions and now make sure that if I don’t understand a
concept or what the assignment is asking to ask my teacher or peers. Before any assignment. I
organize and plan how I want the outcome of the assignment to be. If secondary research is needed, I

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prioritize gathering relevant information that will help me complete the assignment before anything.
Additionally, I take my time to ideate my conclusions for assignments. Strategically articulating and
connecting ideas to be relevant to the assignment.

Weaknesses

1. “I can assess my progress.”

One thing that I am working on when it comes to my assignments is recognizing my academic
progress. At times, I rely on teacher feedback in order to assess how I am doing in a class. This may be
because I value immensely my teacher’s opinion and want to know directly what I must do to grow as
a student. However, I am working on trying to recognize my strengths and weaknesses and knowing
how I can improve them for my benefit. If you can’t identify what your struggles are yourself, then you
can never open up to new possibilities; this is why I want to strengthen being able to assess my own
progress in class whilst having teacher feedback in the process.

Creative thinking

Strengths

1. “I can create new and unique ideas that may provide new perspectives that influence
how people think about topics.”
Through collaborative discussions and creative writes, I am able to effectively express my thoughts
and opinions on certain topics while contributing to one’s perspective. At a very young age, I quickly
recognized my admiration towards creative and critical writing. If I wasn’t able to verbally express
myself, I successfully did it on paper. One thing that I love currently is having open and intricate
discussions with peers on a topic in class. Not only am I able to articulate what I am thinking, I am able
to hear and understand someone else opinions further strengthening my own knowledge on a topic. I
think this is something that I can do easily as I have gained the confidence over the years to clearly
provide ideations that can benefit everyone around me.

2. “I can take my ideas evaluate, develop and refine them and make something productive
out of them.”
Similar to the previous statement, I am able to identify and separate my ideas, supporting them with
secondary relevant information that can help the audience illustrate and comprehend the idea
themselves. Individually, I have a very fast mindset that is continuously thinking of new ideas and
opinions, especially during an assignment. With my ideas, I am able to branch out into other topics
connecting each strand to each other, further incorporating that idea into an assignment or interest
that I have.

Weaknesses

1. “I can persevere, and understand, that failure can be productive.

This is something that I am working on each day. When I am in stressful situations or am put into an
overwhelming environment, at times I try to hide away and avoid any of my obstacles rather than
overcoming challenges. This isn’t because I am scared of challenges, this is not the case at all. In fact, I
think that suce4ss comes after challenges and that if you don’t encounter any obstacles, you have not
pushed yourself to your greatest self. I am scared that by acknowledging the challenge it will make the
situation worse and not help my situation. I am a sensitive and emotional person and so my emotions
can take over my mental well being that affects my academic abilities. This is a weakness that I
continuously recognize and ma working at slowly. I understand that in the future there will be even
harder challenges that will come at me, and I will need to be able to know how to overcome them.

Communication

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Strengths

1. “I can listen, learn to contribute meaningfully to discussion and debate, consider

different perspectives and build consensus.”
In multiple of my classes, I am always applying my collaborative skills into lessons. Having the ability to
properly discuss and comprehend a topic is extremely important, as it will help you expand your
knowledge. During these discussions, I am able to easily breakdown each statement and gather
information that will benefit me in the future. Knowing how to consider others’ opinions and
perspectives in a professional setting is a skill everyone should have as in future job settings you are
constantly being introduced to new topics and are asked to work with people you have never worked
with. An example of this is in my geo class. At times, my teacher will give us a statement to agree with
or disagree with. We all pick a corner in the classroom (strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree and
disagree), and debate with each other on why we believe what we believe. We must provide relevant
information that supports our statement but as well listen and considers other opinion that are
coming from the different corners.

2. “I can work with other students to plan, inquire, and solve problems.
I believe that I easily collaborate with other students, working together to make sure we do what is
asked. I think that when you are asked a problem-solving question, having multiple opinions and
perspectives being included in discussion will allow new possibilities to be brainstormed. This will
further expand the definition of what is being asked and will make sure that everyone’s voice is being
heard.

Weaknesses

1. “I can reflect on the processes of learning and share what I have learned.”
Something that I struggle with at times is sharing my learning. I am a very conservative and private
person and so I don’t like people knowing or hearing about my private life. However, in social and
academic environments being able to open up and express your achievements is something that
should be normalized as our achievements are things that we are proud of. In class I am trying to be
more vocal and say what my positives and negatives are during my learning.

Personal and cultural identity

Strengths

1. “ I understand how what I value has and will shape my choices.”

I believe that the way I was raised has influenced my opinions and perspectives on certain topics. The
environment we are introduced to at a young age affects us very quickly since it is one of the first
things we are exposed to as a child. A main aspect of this is my Portuguese heritage. Since I was born,
my family has always followed the Portuguese culture. My grandma is extremely catholic and with
being raised with her I was exposed to the catholic religion at an early age. This has influenced my
perspective on religion has my family and i consider ourselves Catholics. Additionally, with being apart
of a big family, the importance of loyalty and respect has always been the number one thing to
consider during every moment of my life. During social events I am always polite and respectful to
those around me, being understanding to the environment around me.

2. “I know my strengths and what makes me unique.”

Everyone is unique in their own way. Whether that be appearance, personality, cultural beliefs, and
values or simply what their favourite food is. Being unique is a beautiful thing that should be
normalized within modern society and that is what differentiates people. In my day-to-day life I am
able to identify my strengths both personally and academically, applying them to my benefit. For
example, academically I know that I am able to quickly annotate a poem with detail. I use that to my

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 benefit during assignments as I can manage mt time and know which parts I need to spend more time
with.

Weaknesses

1. “I understand how to use my strengths and abilities to my advantage, and I can explain
how I use them to contribute to my community.”
With being a private person, I never really express what I feel my strengths are as I am afraid to be
judged. This is something I want to change because I want to be able to publicly help my community
and contribute my ideas to the benefit of the community.

Capstone Presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to
present your project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once
completed. You may use a combination of mediums.
o Electronic portfolio: Prezi or PPT
o Physical portfolio
o Website
o imovie presentation
o YouTube channel

Along with a physical copy, i will be creating an electronic portfolio to share my process and
journey. I will create a powerpoint that highlights my progress from the beginning with my
mindmap to the end with the finished product.
Outline
1. Introductory slide; introducing the product and explain its purpose
2. Second slide; show mindmap and sicuss brainstorming process
3. Third slide; rough drafts
4. Fourth slide; obstacles that i encountered
5. Fifth slide;Show process of choosing illustration strategies
6. Sixth slide; Rough draft of illustrations
7. Seventh slide;Rough draft of entire book
8. Eighth slide;Final product
9. Ninth slide;Strenghs and weaknesses of project
10. Tenth slide;What i learned about myself
11. Eleventh slide;What i would do differently
12. Twelveth slide;Future plans and what this project has taught me

Description of my Capstone project. Specific Project Details of the Capstone Project: what
will you research, create, study, produce, solve, investigate? What product will be produced
at the end of this project for evaluation. Write a one-page description outlining your

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proposal.

For my capstone project i will begin with research about different global warming issues. From
this i will decided on which area of global warming i want to focus on. I as well will research
different techniques from childrens authors on how to structure a childrens book; how many
pages, if i should go interactive or more informative, ways to illustrate the novel etc. After
all ,my research is done, a rough draft of each page of my book will be created, including the
contexts for each page and a rough outline of the format. I as well wil organize my thoughts
into categories so that it will be easier for me to contruct the pages of my book. When the
rough draft for my ideas is done, i will then make a rough copy of the book that show what
each page will say and the illustrations added to compliment the theme of the page. The
illustration process will be one of the l;ongest for me to figure out, and so many rough drafts
will be created to ensure i get an accurate presentation of my creativity. Before creating the
lines for each page, i will make sure that i do enough background research on global warming
on order to support my ideas. it is hard to gain the attenion of a child in elementary school,
and so i have to plan a layout for my book in which it becomes interesting and interactive for
the student. This way the child will be intriged in ;earning about the topic rather than bored
and not pay attention. In the end i want to create a succesful copy of the childrens book that
expresses my interest i this topic in a creative way. My vision for this project is to feel
ackomplished and proud of my final product.

Resources/ Technology/Skills: Make an assessment of the resources, technology and

skills you will need to be able to complete this project. What is your plan to be able to
access/learn all of the resources necessary to achieve completion of this project? Detail
your plans.

In order to complete this project i will most definately need my laptop to organize and keep
track my progress throughout the journey. With this i will need to know basic and advanced
technology skills, such as excel and word. I as well will need to install a program such as
adobe to create the final pages of my book. Another option is to do everything by hand,
however i belive that the program will help it look more professional.

Mentors/Community Connections: What types of mentor(s)/community connections will

you need to help you complete your capstone project? How will your mentor(s) help you?
What is your plan to access the mentorship/community connections necessary for this
project?

I am going to reach out to children’s authors such as ronald dahl or robert munch with
questions to help me plan each page in my book. If they do not reply, my other option is to ask
the school liberian for feedback and advice, as they specialize and have an interest in books
and literature.

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Project limitations: What are some project limitations and potential obstacles that you foresee
that might affect progress with your Capstone Project?

One obstacle that i might encounter is having the authors i email, not reply back. This could
set me back because i would then have to find a different soultion for feedback and advice.
Another obstacle is the illustration aspect and deciding on the images.

Other considerations: List and detail any other related information/ considerations about
your project that you feel should be included in your project proposal.

References:

Attach a REFERENCE LIST. Your list should be written using correct APA formatting.
An example is provided on page 21 of your Capstone booklet.

Stirling, I., & Derocher, A. E. (1993). Possible impacts of climatic warming on polar bears. Arctic, 240-245.
Possible Impacts of Climatic Warming on Polar Bears on JSTOR

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