ROSS SCHOOL SENIOR PROJECT2012-2013

I will be your mentor and guide!

What is Senior Project? Senior Project is the culmination of a student’s learning experience at

Ross School. Through execution of the Senior Project, students embody

their passion through a process and product that integrates such Ross

School principles as multiple intelligences, cultural/historical context,

personal reflection, application of technology and pursuit of excellence. Its

main components are the Process Folio, the Final Product, the

Presentation and Archiving. Acting as facilitator, teacher, advisor, editor,

critic, and supporter, the relationship between the student and the Senior

Project Mentor is critical to the evolution and realization of the project. At

the conclusion of the Senior Project, students should have deeper insight

into themselves as learners and producers.

Senior Project Timeline● Preliminary Proposal: Wednesday May 16, 2012● Mentor: Wednesday May 23, 2012● Final Proposal: Wednesday May 30, 2012

● SUMMER ● Formal Proposal: September 14, 2012● Product Rubric : October 12, 2012● Revised Product Rubric: November 2, 2012● Preliminary Approval to Present: November 14, 2012● Formal Approval to Present: January 9, 2013● Presentations: January 21 – February 1, 2013● Archiving: February 13, 2013

Senior Project Preliminaries Important Dates!

●Completion of Preliminary Proposal due Wednesday May 16

● Project Mentor chosen and approved: Wednesday May 23

●Formal Senior Project Proposal due Wednesday May 30

Remember I am here for you!

Senior Project Page - http://seniorproject.ross.org/

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Senior Project Page- http://seniorproject.ross.org/

DUE DATE for the FORMAL PROPOSAL Friday, May 30

Submit this form digitally to the following:

1. your Mentor &2. Dale Scott: dscott@ross.org

Don’t panic- I won’t let you down!

Role and Responsibilities of Mentor

● Encourage, be caring and responsible; you are the guide, critic, supporter, teacher, editor, facilitator, inspiration

● Guide the student in the conception and formulation of the Senior Project, including the Proposal. Help shape the Goals/Outcomes according to Content, Skills, Product.

● Supervise the Research and Development Phase—meet at least one hour weekly. This is a time commitment. identify resources—human and textual—which the student needs to bring the project to fruition.

● Communicate regularly with Dean/s of assessing domain/s and Senior Project Coordinator

● Document the progress of the student and project using the Product, Process Folio and Presentation rubrics as guides

● Coach the student for the Presentation● Assess the Process Folio and Product; participate on Presentation

Panel

Assessment of Product by Domain(s)Include percentages on your Proposal Form

Cultural History

English

Math

Media

Modern Languages

Science

TechnologyVisual Arts

Wellness

Performing Arts

Project Goals/Outcomes“What I intend to accomplish”

Note to Mentor and Student●Please be certain that goals address Content,

Skills/Process and Product. For Skills/Process, please assess what skills the student needs to acquire in order to accomplish project objectives; for Product, clearly define what is to be created

● Product

● Skills/Process

● Content

● Other

Off Campus Work? / Special Materials?● Indicate what, who,

where…

● Will this be done in the Summer and/or in the Fall?

● Schedule (days, hours, frequency)

● Media

● Technology

● Art Equipment

● Art Materials

● Other

Things to Consider

)

Summer Reading Working , researching and reading over the summer will pay off in September.

Please meet with your mentor and ask for summer reading recommendations

Components of Senior Project

Product Assessed by a panel comprising: 1. Mentor 2. Chair of Domains 3. Faculty Grader

Really- you can count on me!

Components of Senior Project

Process Folio and/or BlogAssessed by Mentor 1. Evidence of Learning Process (sketches, written drafts,

ongoing bibliography, storyboard, lab data, journal, rough cuts, etc.) and an ongoing Reflection Log (problems, insights, breakthroughs, work accomplished, revisions, plans, etc.)

2. Evidence of planning/organization/management via creation of a Timeline/Calendar

3. Personal Context4. Cultural/Historical Context

Components of Senior Project

Presentation

The Project Presentation Panel consists of: ● The Project Mentor as a non-grading chair of the panel.

Grading members are: ● A faculty member of the student’s choosing● An academic administrator (Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Head of High School, Head of Middle School, Head of School, Dean of Students, Director of Admissions) ● Senior Project Coordinator

Components of Senior ProjectArchiving Assessed by Senior Project Coordinator -Bibliography/Works Cited/Works Consulted

-minimum of 7 sources -MLA format/APA for Science Projects

● -Digital Copy of your Product

● -Cultural/Historical/Personal Abstract

● -Video of Presentation

Ross Libraries Web Page - http://library.ross.org/

● If you plan on doing research or writing a paper, the Ross Libraries site will be very helpful.

● Available on the site:

● Databases and online Encyclopedias● Online Catalog● MLA Citation Information● Link to the Senior Project Page● NoodleTools! This will make your life so much easier- check it out!

● http://www.noodletools.com/login.php?group=12199&code=2586

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Seriously, I can help you!

Portfolio

BlogSamantha Busiello 2010-2011 Senior Project Blogs can be accessed at:http://wp.ross.org/seniorproject/2011-12-senior-blogs/And Presentation videos at:http://vimeo.com/album/1516625

Portfolio

Fundraiser as a Senior Project

Lucy Reyer Art Installation

Taxidermy

Lillian McCarthy

Ji Eun Kim - Textile Design

Design of Japanese Armor

Fuhito Yoshida

On The Neurological State During Dreaming and SleepingYiYing Zhu

Ross School, East Hampton, N.Y.

Abstract The human brain will return to an “ancestral state” when we sleep or dream. In the “ancestral state,” only the mammalian brain (the limbic system) is active, while the rest of the human brain “shuts down” or

becomes less functional. This brain state is very similar to an undeveloped brain. This hypothesis is tested through a literature review. There are similarities and differences in mental states when humans are conscious and when they are unconscious. A conscious mental state is

when humans are awake; the unconscious refers to the mental state during dreaming and sleeping. The mental state of an unconscious brain

turns out to be more complex than an undeveloped brain. Emotions, memory, daily experiences, and unconscious cognition all play important

roles during sleep.

BackgroundVisual perception, in general, is the neurological process within the brain that integrates and

interprets the external visual stimuli received from the eyes. However, in the situation of dreaming, in which external visual stimuli are lacking, images are somehow still perceived.

This situation seems to be a paradox. Nevertheless, images derived from dreams are neither imaginations nor a result of visual perception as when we are conscious or awake. A

plausible reason is that many parts of the brain become less alert compared to the conscious brain.

Anatomy of the

Visual Pathways of the Conscious

Brain

Neurological Activities during Sleeping

According Stickgold and Ellenbogen (2008), during sleep, our brain engages in data analysis, from strengthening memories to solving problems. While we are sleeping, our

brain processes the daily information we received and improves and strengthens memory. Extraneous information is filtered out, while the essential facts remain. In 1994,

neurologists Avi Karni and Dov Sagi demonstrated how rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (Figure 1) improves memory. They depicted the REM sleep as a “permissive state.” This state allows changes to occur, such as altering memories developed during the daytime

or those already stored in the hippocampus a long time ago. Stickgold (2000) expanded on this theory, proposeing that sleep—in all its phases—does something to improve memory that being awake does not do. In 2007, Ellenbogen was able to show that our brain learns

during sleep. Memory processing appears to be the only function that requires sleep. This unconscious cognition seems to demand a complete block out of the external

environment. There cannot be any neuronal activities related to processing incoming sensory signals. Sleep seems to be the perfect condition, since all external stimuli are

blocked out.

Conclusion

During sleep, many parts of the brain, such as the limbic system, work in similar ways as when we are conscious. However, this is not the

only part of the brain that is functioning. Many parts of the brain, such as the cerebrum, do not “shut down” at all, but merely work differently than when we are conscious. Part of the cerebral cortex that registers emotions is still effective, while other parts of the cortex are engaged

mainly in memory processing. Nevertheless, the limbic system, a more ancestral part of our brain, is rather prevalent when we sleep. During

sleep, functions of the mammalian brain are heightened, and the cortex turns to an unconscious state, mainly devoted to unconscious cognition. The fundamental and biochemical mechanisms underlying unconscious cognition still remain unclear. These questions need to

be further investigated.

The Process of Generating EmotionsEmotions are cerebral responses generated in the limbic system. One theory (Bower, 1990)

describes dreaming mainly as an unconscious emotional release, which is restrained in the day. Cerebral activity that is responsible for registering emotions is present during dreaming. There

are two pathways for generating emotions.

Superior Colliculus The Visual

Cortex

Temporal LobeThe What

Pathway

Optic Nerve

Retina

Parietal LobeThe Where

Pathway

The How Pathway

Neurological State during Dreaming

Evolutionary History of the

Brain

Born BlindPeople who are born blind have

no visual imagery in their dreams, since they are not able

to experience any visual imagery in waking life. Their dreams are often associated

with other senses, such as hearing and touch. People who become blind before the age of

4 show a general trend of a lack of visual imagery in their

dreams. People who become blind after that may still hold

remnants of visual imagery in their dreams. This pattern shows that dreaming is a

gradual cognitive achievement, in which visual, spatial and

other imagistic abilities need to be evolved. In other words, the

parts of the brain that are involved with those imagistic

abilities must be developed for dreaming (Kerr & Domhoff,

2004 ).

Emotional stimuli→Amygdala→Frontal Cortex

OR

Emotional stimuli → Amygdala →

Hypothalamus → Rest of the body → Physical responses → Somatosensory

cortex → Frontal cortex

Literature CitedCarter, R. 1998. Mapping the Mind. (CA):University of California Press . p. 16-17, 32-33, 82, 161, 194.

Hurovitz, C., Dunn, S., Domhoff, G. W., Fiss, H. 1999. The dreams of blind men and women: A replication and extension of previous findings. Dreaming, 9, 183-193.

Kerr, N., Domhoff, G.W. 2004. Do the Blind Literally “See” in Their Dreams? A critique of a recent claim that they do. Dreaming, 14, 230-233

Gibson, J.J. On the Relation Between Hallucination and Perception [Internet]. Leonardo. Pergamon Press; 1970 [cited 2008 December 15]. Available from: http://library.ross.org

Ramachandran, V.S., Ramachandran, D.R. 2008. I See, But I Don’t Know. Scientific American Mind 19(6):20-22. Stickgold R., Ellenbogen, J.M. 2008. Quiet! Sleeping Brain at Work. Scientific American Mind 19(4): 23-29.

Gray, Peter. 2007. Psychology. (NY): Worth Publishers. p. 201-209 Watakabe, A. 2007. What is Neocortex? BraInSitu [Internet]. [cited 2008 December 16]; 9:19. Available from: http:

//www.nibb.ac.jp/brish/Gallery/cortexE.html Welker, W., Johnson, J.I., Noe, A. Comparative Mammalian Brain Collections. Major National Resources For Study of

Brain Anatomy [Internet]. [cited 2008 December 16]; 9:40. Available from: http://www.brainmuseum.org/index.html Miejan, J. 1998. The EDGE Interview with Bill Harris of Centerpointe Research Institute. Trans4mind [Internet]. [cited

2008 December 16]; 9:53. Available from: http://www.trans4mind.com/holosync/EDGE.html Bower, B. 1990. A Thoughtful Angle on Dreaming. Science News 137(22): 348

Fong, L. 2006. It’s Not All in the Eyes. Seed [Internet]. [cited 2008 December 16]; 10:10. Available from:http://seedmagazine.com/news/2006/07/its_not_all_in_the_eyes.php

Swaminathan, N. 2005. Disconnections During Sleep. Seed [Internet]. [cited 2008 December 16]; 10:13. Available from: http://seedmagazine.com/news/2005/10/disconnection_during_sleep.php

Andreasen, N.C. 2005. The Creating Brain. New York (NY): Dana Press p. 18-23. Hobson, J. Allan, Pace-Schott, E. and Stickgold, R. (2000), DREAMING and the BRAIN: Toward a Cognitive

Neuroscience of Conscious States, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6)Blakeslee, S. 1993. Seeing and Imagining: Clues to the Workings of the Mind’s Eye. Wade, N. The New York Times

Book of The Brian. Guilford (CT): The Globe Pequot Press. p. 19-24.Blakeslee, S. 1994. Clues to the Irrational Nature of Dreams. Wade, N. The New York Times Book of The Brian.

Guilford (CT): The Globe Pequot Press. p. 226-231.

Percept and Mental ImagesWhile we are dreaming, the brain functions differently than when we are awake. Thus, the

images we construct in our dreams are different from the percept—images we perceive when we are awake. In the waking state, the where pathway that allows orientation,

exploration and adjustment, is constantly interacting with the what and how pathways that projects to the visual cortex or the occipital lobe in the back of the brain. However, in

sleep, the inputs of the optic nerves are missing, since our eyes are closed, and there are no external visual stimuli to be received and processed. As a result, the how and what

pathways of the perceptual system are running free. Those two pathways are more spontaneous and dynamic during sleep. The rapid-eye-movements (REM), see Figure 1, in

dreams can be explained (Gibson, 1970) as frustrated efforts of the perceptual system to perceive. “The dreamer is trying to look.” Dream images are a result of the internal

perceptive system. Since our eyes are closed during sleeping and dreaming, these images are different from conscious sense-percepts because there is no external stimuli.

Figure 1

The Evolutionary Sequence of the Visual Pathways (Ramachandran, 2008)

1st: The Where Pathway2nd : The How and What Pathways

Lateral Geniculate

Nucleus

REMA prevalent theory today describes

dreams as side effects resulting from physiological changes during REM

sleep (Figure 1, Hobson, 2000). Electrical activities in the motor and visual areas of the brain during REM

sleep engender dreamlike hallucinations. The brain is still

involved in thought processes, but to a lesser degree. Thought processes

connect one hallucination with another in order to decipher them (Gray, 2007).

The series of hallucinations becomes what is known as a dream. The

irrational nature of the dream can be explained by the reduction in mental

capacity during sleep.

Reptilian Brain

Mammalian BrainHuman

Local HistoryLocal Portraits

The Wall

Green Furniture Design

Illumination of Music

Talking Back… Identity and Representation

The Healing Power of Horses

I’m looking forward to

working with you!

Have a wonderful summer.

Please feel free to email me or stop by my desk in the Senior Library if you have any questions, or need advice. dscott@ross.org