Connectopod™

Can they investigate? You betcha! But can the team also spin a good auditory campfire story? You double betcha!  We took a break from our  Hydro Logic Series for some holiday fun.  The team's assignment was to take home our portable "reporter in a box" studio kits, come up with a spooky story and send it to me via dropbox so I could add some sound effects and produce the show. They sure entertained me! So here, for some Halloween Happy, we give you Ghosts, Witches and Owls, Oh My!

 

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahha!

Last episode, Daniela Catalan, Angelica Benitez, Victoria Benitez and Cuicani Lopez explored water issues facing their generation. Now the team heads out to St. Euphrasia School in Granada Hills to learn how other kids are tackling the water issues.(Hint-big brains!) The Incredibots are competing in the First Lego League national competition. They must come up with and present a water solution for a water issue of their choosing and build lego robots to compete. ROBOTS!!! 

In addition to furthering our exploration of the issue, this was a first for the Connectopod team in that they were interviewing other kids. Shy at first, the team quickly hit their stride. 

Good luck, Incredibots!!!

Tune in next week for our final episode in this serial as we interview Stella Hernandez, Industrial Designer and professor of desogn at USC and Art Center college of design in Pasadena. Connectopod will interview Stella about her work with water issues on an international level. 

 

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While  the Carribbean, Florida and Houston are underwater, water scarcity plagues places like Yemen and Australia. Yet places like Flint thirst (and Houston, Puerto Rico, San Joaquin) for non-toxic water. With so many water issues swirling around us, the team has decided to take a closer look. This is the first of a three part series we are calling: 

Hydrologic.

Part 1. Evaporate or Precipitate.

Connectopod explores the water issues we face of too much or too little and what we might do about it. 

Part 2. The Condensation of Ideas.

The connectopod team interviews Mrs. Gonzales' 6th grade "Incredibots"  team competing in the national Lego Robotics Competition. They must design a solution for a water issue. Using robots!!! 

Part 3: Collection.

Designer Stella Hernandez created Safe Agua with fellow students at the Arts Center in Pasadena. Three years later, their design of  a water collection system is in use in economically challenged communities in Colombia, Peru and Central California. She teaches the design at USC. Safe Agua has been exhibited at the Museum of Natural History in NY and the Smithsonian in Washington DC. And Connectopod gets to interview her!

Connectopod met for the first day of the new season on Tuesday. Donald Trump rescinded DACA the same day. Our team of Angelica Benitez, Victoria Benitez and Daniela Catalan use their voices to respond. Not with anger but facts. So this is a special edition of reporting from those close to the story. (Because we barely had  enough time to research, record and edit the segments in our session, I recorded the the intro and outro later.)

I used the picture above because you can't keep a good reporter down. It is a moment where Vicky, as usual, made everyone laugh.

Connectopod sits down (in a yurt!!) with Jessica Jewell, Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications at Tree People. Reporters Angelica Benitez, Daniela Catalan and Victoria Benitez, dig for details as Jessica shares how she tends the new shoots of social media for an organization that took root 40 years ago in Los Angeles. We also learned the many branches of Tree People: tree planting, education, conservation, and more.  Are you ready for one more pun? The reporters synthesised the sunny disposition of Jessica as we learned of her inspiration. Too sappy?

We have way more info than we could fit into our 7 minute episode so watch www.connectopod.net for some follow up in the coming weeks!

The reporters ended the day with a personalized Jessica Jewell Tour of Tree People. Nothing like the beauty of nature to inspire the green heart.

Thank you Jessica. Thank you Tree People.

Connectopod reporters take  a mouselook at Video Games. Newcomer Andre Devancens takes a speed run at the possibilities of gaming. Victoria Benitez needs a health potion. Laz Meiman examines the social value of an Open-world. Daniela Catalan is on a quest to de-stress. And Angelica Benitez rates the ratings system.

Here, for your ear joy, is a 100% original show from the 100% unique minds of Connectopod Summer Project podcasters week 2: The Fabulous Benitez Sisters- Angelica and Victoria, The Distinctive Daniela Catalan, the Riveting Reeve Bennett and first time podcasting Force to Be Reckoned With, Cuicani Lopez!

 

Original music created by Daniela Catalan for 'The Prankster Chef'

Guitar stylings for the group creation of the Connectopod 'theme song' by Reeve Bennett

Sound effect hunt led by Angelica Benitez

Check out our blog for all the insider info!