Project-MOONSHOT ACADEMY

Distant Voice

Disciplines/Subjects: History, Political Sciences, Economics Key Themes: Afghanistan, Women, Rights, Empathy At the Same Time, in Different Spaces, How Do Different Lives Unfold? While our children sit in classrooms diligently studying high school courses and completing assignments, what educational and material challenges are Afghan girls of the same age facing just next door, in Afghanistan? As our children dream, plan, and choose their paths for the future, what hopes and disappointments are these Afghan girls experiencing? Without the right to control their destinies, what aspirations do they hold for the future, and what resistance can they muster? Amidst so many inequalities, these girls yearn to be seen and heard. Understanding and seeing their struggles not only illuminates their darkened world but also broadens our hearts and minds. In this project, you will research information about Afghanistan to understand the current living conditions and stories of Afghan women. Your task is to create a storybook about Afghanistan and organize an exhibition on Afghan women. Through these two efforts, you aim to achieve the following goals: Highlight the political, economic, and cultural background of Afghanistan. Present the challenges and struggles faced by Afghan women through their personal stories, offering profound insights through seemingly small narratives, and amplifying their voices. Inspire readers and attendees to take concrete actions and participate in initiatives to support Afghan women. Sell the storybook and donate all proceeds to an online English school for Afghan women.

Adolescent Intervention

Disciplines/Subjects: Pyschology Key Themes: Adolescent, Well-being, peer support Welcome to the revitalization of our school's counseling center, a project spearheaded by a team of learners aimed at transforming an underutilized space into a vibrant hub for student well-being. The project goal is to create an inviting environment that encourages more frequent use by understanding and addressing the needs of our high school peers. Through a comprehensive process that includes needs assessment, design, implementation, promotion, and evaluation, the team will introduce interactive projects, educational posters, relevant books, and stress-relief equipment to make the counseling center a place where learners feel comfortable seeking support and spending time. This initiative not only promises to enhance the physical space but also to foster a sense of community and belonging among our learners, ultimately contributing to their overall mental health and academic success. Learner Task: A product design implemented and feedback gathered from the direct audience. You can choose the format of the final product. However, written or recorded rationale needs to be provided to showcase your thinking process.

Decolonizing Psychometrics: Artifacts on Intelligence and Eugenics

Disciplines/Subjects: History of Psychology Key Themes：Psychometrics; Intelligence; Eugenics; History of Science; Primary Source Analysis The British Museum is planning an exhibition that showcases archival research on the topic of WWII eugenic movements and the role that psychologists and neurologists played in perpetuating systemic violence and discrimination. You are a novice historian of psychology who conducts archival research on relevant topics. You are tasked to identify, arrange, and interpret primary sources to put up a display that chronicles the above topic. Your work needs to engage a large, public, and global audience informing them about the history of how science is used to perpetrate racism. You will also connect the role of psychologists in intelligence research by showing how early psychologists have been complicit in creating and advancing eugenic claims and practices. Your goal is to construct a research-based, engaging narrative that brings your audience close to the archival evidence on your chosen topic/focus area.

Construction of decision-making mechanism based on Houses

Disciplines/Subjects: Political science Key Themes: Chinese politics, democratic centralism, and parliamentary system The report of the 20th CPC National Congress has determined the development of full-process people's democracy as an important content of China's modernization, making comprehensive deployment and putting forward clear requirements for "developing full-process people's democracy and ensuring people's mastery of the country". In the first unit, we discussed what democracy is, explored the diverse views of democracy in the world today, and examined the specific embodiment of democratic centralism. As citizens of the People's Republic of China, we have diverse rights and duties, as well as equal political power, regardless of our roles in society. Reasonably, using the power we have to participate in social affairs is a duty that every citizen should fulfill. The house is one of the basic units in the lunar exploration community where learners can participate in the management of school affairs through a reasonable decision-making mechanism. Learners are divided into four academies without regard to grade or gender, and each academy has its unique personality. When learners participate in the decision-making process of community affairs through the basic unit of the academy, a clear and reasonable decision-making mechanism can make the decision more efficient and transparent. In the world today, different countries will choose different decision-making mechanisms based on their national conditions, political systems, and systems of government. For example, China's People's congress system and the two-party system in the United States can provide suitable decision-making processes for their respective countries. We will take these two decision-making mechanisms as references and try to design a decision-making mechanism for the lunar exploration community based on the academy as the basic unit. Learner Task: Write a report of at least 800 words; at the same time, learners need to form groups and complete the interview task.

Exploration of China and the World, Closure and Openness, and Their Impacts

Since ancient times, the interaction between China and the outside world has never truly been severed. In the process of Sino-foreign interaction, on one hand, the Chinese nation has participated in the advancement and development of world civilization; on the other hand, the external world has profoundly influenced the rise and fall of Chinese civilization. Therefore, the interaction between China and the world is a question worth exploring. This project is based on the course of China and the world, focusing on the theme of Sino-foreign exchange and interaction, particularly examining the relationship between China and the outside world during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It aims to guide learners to explore the consequences of China's closure and openness towards the outside world, ultimately generating a scholarly argumentative essay.

The Fall of the Ming: A Case Study of Causation in History

Disciplines/Subjects: Advanced World History Key Themes: In this unit, we discuss issues regarding the rise and fall of political systems and the role that individuals, structures, and political, economic, social, and environmental factors can play in this process. The topic is embedded within our larger unit of land empires in the 1450 - 1750 period and represents a good opportunity for a deep dive into historiographical skills and some local Beijing history. We start with a survey of how historians can present explanations for how and why "events happen" and the implications these hold in terms of our understanding of human agency and historical determinism. From there, we explore issues in late Ming history such as corruption, the "Little Ice Age", rebellions, and geopolitical challenges. In the end, learners need to make a sophisticated argument that balances their new historical thinking skills and use of historical sources. The summative assessment for the unit is for learners to write an academic essay that can expertly analyze and evaluate the causes of the event in the case study.

The Science behind Well-Being

Disciplines/Subjects: AP Psychology Key Themes: Adolescent development, subjective well-being, family relationship, social-emotional learning Being embedded in the chapter of Developmental Psychology in the AP Psychology class, this project focuses on promoting both learners’ understanding of well-being and their research skills. Currently, in the most formative phase of their lives, learners often find themselves confused by changes in both their bodies and the environment around them. By connecting their subject well-being to one other variable of their own choice, learners are expected to deepen their understanding of their well-being in the context of adolescent social-emotional development through scientific lenses as well as certain psychological research methods.

People on the move

Disciplines/Subjects: Education, Sociology Key Themes: migrant population, charity, city exploration According to the seventh census, there will be 504 million people separated from households in 2021, including 385 million floating people, an increase of 9 million over 2020. In 2020, the number of children of China's migrant population is about 130 million, more than 40 percent of the total number of children in China, including 71.09 million migrant children, an average of one out of every four children. Behind such a series of shocking figures and the knowledge, we have learned on paper in the past, countless floating people are constantly facing various difficulties while still striving to live. How is the migrant population enjoying basic public services such as housing and education? What other challenges do they face and how do they deal with them? What role do public welfare organizations and other organizations play in supporting a better life for migrants? This project will focus on migrant women workers and migrant children. Through a series of field studies and visits, participants will have the opportunity to see the living conditions of migrant people and understand the challenges and difficulties they face. At the same time, participants can also learn how various organizations such as public welfare organizations provide services to them in many different scenarios. Pay attention to and respect the floating population, starting from our side.

Project

Real-world projects creating positive impacts for self, others, communities, and the planet.