Team

CodyChico Sr. High, CA, United States

YouOroville High, CA, United States

VictorChico Sr. High, CA, United States

ChongPleasant Valley High, CA, United States

Age Range

19 & under

Coaches

Cesar AlvarezCalifornia State University - Chico, United States

Eriberto RomanCA, United States

Category

Science & Technology

Audience

Ages 12 and up

Language

English

Site Features

Online Activity / Game

Quiz

Photo Gallery

Video / Sound

Team Collaboration

When groups were being formed each participant expressed what they could contribute for a team. Chong said that he was an excellent writer and had won a major writing competition as well as having good research skills. Team member You said that he had experience in dreamweaver and fireworks. Cody had the worked in multimedia and research and was willing to learn how to use new programs. Victor had experience in making charts and basic computers skills. This team got together right away and sat down and talked about a topic. Cody and Victor had an idea about alternative fuels. The team researched and found an interesting topic on algae bio-diesel. With the topic decided on the basic outline of the website started to be developed, soon after the work was divided amongst the team members. Chong was in charge of doing research and writing, Victor and Cody started in experiments and pictures, You started on the website layout, site and file maintenance. The second week Chong was getting info and writing the text for the web page, Victor and Cody continued on experiments and going down to the local creek to get algae samples. They developed a simple method to try to extract oil for algae that had been collected for the creek. After their experiments concluded their focus changed into adding interactive material for the website. You continued with the web layout, designing headers, buttons and a navigations scheme. Chong worked on the content and was on the computers for what seemed for hours. Victor had finished the crossword puzzle and had started to learn how to use flash and was constructing a gas pump. Cody developed a car simulation game that represented the amount of gas that would be used in different types of cars and the cost of the gas. They finally got to the point when they had to choose the colors for the web pages, and that’s when all hell broke lose. Cody and Chong got into arguments about what colors looked better. Chong and Cody had their differences and always got into arguments about the smallest things. This time Chong and Cody were at a huge disagreement that it almost got physical but You and Victor were able to calm them down. From that point on Chong and Cody were separated so that they would not confront each other and completed their tasks at opposite sides of the room. This really disrupted the team atmosphere and motivation that was needed to complete such a huge task. Through it all, all members put aside their differences to come together in the final week and have that final push to complete the website.

Team Diversity

It is easy to say that this team embodies the word Diversity. Victor comes form a Mexican family and has lived in the U.S all his life. He is Catholic and has worked as a mechanic and works at his parent’s restaurant. Spanish is his first language as most of his family speaks only Spanish. He had some computer skills but mostly in PC’s but he learned how to use Mac’s fast. He was new to most of the applications but learned how to use what he needed to complete his tasks. Cody, he is something, he had a different look on the world. He comes form a very sheltered life. He continuously made comments that sometimes offended the other teammates. To Cody everything was a certain way and he didn’t think about how it made other people feel. As time passed he grew a lot as a person and he learned how to be a great member of a team. Cody is Caucasian Christian, non denominational. He did stock car races at the fairgrounds and ran ethanol fuel on one of his racing cars. Team member You is Hmong and is also a shaman, he has worked with most of the applications that were needed to complete this website. He has the experience the team needed and used what he knew to improve the project. He was a big influence in the team. Chong is also Hmong and like You he comes from a group of self-sufficient people from the high mountains of Laos. He is a hard worker that never gives up and has good morale’s. He is very knowledgeable in writing and is skilled in research. The diversity of the group gave them different points of view and different ways of thinking. It helped in ways that provided different viewpoints on this topic and how it affected the global picture. It also offered the team members the opportunity to really see and understand how other people viewed and thought about alternative fuel options.