Never Enough

I thought it would at least be a little later in this trimester before I started breaking down, but I guess I was wrong. I've actually been working my but off this whole time just to get told that it's not enough. Especially considering how hard it is for me to make decisions and accept that whatever I'm working on is ok enough to turn in.

I've been working on notes, my outline, fixing my works cited, working on my website, figuring out what to say to the children's museum, working out the kinks in my action plan, and atempting to organize my thoughts in here. I've been working. That's actually rare for me when it comes to things like this.

I was trying to do the outline without actual notes.... Do we need a certain number of notes? That's..... Grrr.

Turns out we do. Yay. What fun.

Website

I've moved onto working on my website a bit. I find it kind of funny how I decided to calm down by switching to my website, thinking I would have things more under control with that. Well, remembering how to work with dreamweaver is almost as bad as the paper work I have been doing.

I can't remember how to change text colors. I know I knew how to do that before, because I made a very colorful website for tech class once.

At least I have a basic idea of how I'm planning to make it look though. I'm thinking rainbow background with a black centered.... table? that serves as the main portion where I type... thing.... Yeah, you would have to see it I guess.

Outline....

So, I'm working on my outline. It's coming along nicely, and it's not that hard to do it seems. My main problem is that I'm not sure how I'm going to do my second paragraph. My second paragraph is basically what I've found websites had to say about colors and what they represent/what emotions they cause. There are at least six sources per color. What do I do?

Do I list all of the colors and sources like (ex) :
Red (Color, color wheel, Mood)
Orange (Color, color wheel, Mood)
Yellow(Color, color wheel, Mood)
So on and so forth?

In my paper though, I guess it would have to be like (ex):
Red can cause increased heart rate (Color), and represents anger (color wheel),.... (So on and so forth)?

I fixed up my works cited to have the sites I'm pretty sure I will use (it now has the sites I just found). The problem is, I forget when I originally accessed them, so they all say I accessed them today....

I'm still having problems finding some last minute sources on some of my foundation questions though. I based all of my questions on the things I wanted to test, not things about colors and emotions that I wanted to research. There is very little on the actual affects of colors on people and how things like gender and age play into it. There is, however things about what colors they seem to prefer, but that's not exactly what I was hoping for...

In other news, I have the numbers I need to contact the Children's Museum, I just need to throw together a rough outline of what I'm going to say (and maybe some interview questions if they decide to jump into my interview idea too). So, I've been working on what to say while trying to build the courage to call.

Lastly, there is my website. I'm waiting on Mr. Mayes for that though.

New Findings (Sorting out my thoughts)

I'm starting to wonder what I even did last year. I mean, I know I did work, and I found a lot of things out, but it just doesn't seem to be enough. It doesn't help that every day I seem to learn something new that throws my thought process way off track again.

First, I'm not exactly sure of how to site one of my sources (I will probably ask someone later, after I've fried my brain over it)
The source: http://www.leadered.com/pdf/Color%20white%20paper.pdf
This is where most of my notes on color and learning come in.

Now, my second dilemma also has to do with sources I suppose. All of my research on what colors cause what emotions are from different sources. Does that mean that every time in my paper when I say what color causes what emotion I have to site it a ton of times?

For example: Red causes increased heart rate (source one), excitement (source six) and represents love (source three), Passion (source five) and fire (source five) ?

I mean, some of the color meanings and emotions that I've found correspond, but some don't...

Moving along...
I found another person who tested colors and emotions...

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/nsfall99/FinalArticles/Final1.HowColorAffectsMoo.html

They just did a bunch of surveys on different colors of paper it seems.

I have bookmarked a lot of what may be useful sites. My main goal today was gathering sources so I can do all (if not most) of the notes at once. (I'm still wondering why I didn't get notes on certain things)

Apparently color affects emotions because it affects our nervous system
http://cognitive-psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_colors_affect_emotional_physical_health

I agree most with the statement that it is in association.
http://www.cis.rit.edu/fairchild/WhyIsColor/shortAs.html

"Q: Why do colors affect people's moods? What is it that makes minds react differently to different colors?
A: Colors and moods are of great interest and also the subject of a lot of misunderstanding. It seems that colors do not affect moods in any consistent and intrinsic way. Instead we learn associations and those associations can have huge effects on our emotions and moods. For example, we might learn to associate red with danger and then later on viewing a red color in any context might evoke those feelings of fear, excitement, or anxiety associated with danger. Some of these associations are learned through our society and some are learned through individual experiences. The main thing to remember is that color can have a large affect on our emotions, but it is not the same for every person and the same colors don't affect different people in the same way. There is still much about this topic that is not understood, but it is never as simple as those who like to associate a single color with a single emotion would make you think."

Now I'm trying to work out how to E-Mail the children's museum.

What Others have Done.

http://www.jgroshek.com/342/color%20and%20emotion.pdf
Page 3, there is a procedure.
Basically, this study does what I wasn't so sure about. They sat people in front of computors (in separate office cubicles) and had them look at colors.

Questions they asked-
What emotional response do you associate with this color?
How does the color make you feel ?
And, why do you feel that way?

I guess I can't say they are wrong, but I've been thinking more on a larger scale I guess. I don't think it covers enough.
I'm confused with how they categorize it.

NOTE-- This is basically what I did in seventh grade for science. It didn't work so well.

Interview?

Well, right after I emailed Mrs. Savido about my problems finding someone to interview, I stumbled upon some interesting information (ah, the power of rewording in search engines).

What I searched- Colors and emotions Pittsburgh
What I found-
http://www.pittsburghkids.org/Templates/CMP_Level3_List.aspx?CID=410&SECID=2&MENUID=256

Specifically-

"Color My World
$9.00 per person
Preschool - Grade 2
(PA Standards: 1.6, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4)
Introduce children to an appreciation of color theory by mixing and creating colors using the three primary colors - red, blue and yellow. Then explore the relationship between color and emotions."

So, now I know there is a field trip for really young kids that has something to do with this. Perhaps I could interview one of the people involved in this program?

The website has contact information (at the very, very bottom of the left side bar), but I'm not sure which one to contact. Youth Programs? Camp-Ins and Workshops? Is it right to contact the people of reservations about an interview? Should I just visit the Children's Museum? The information was under the "visit the Museum" section, in "Field trips and reservations"... If that helps...

They are on facebook apparently.

Starting Off (Again---> Action Plan!)

(I post a lot because this helps me work out my thoughts. Is that bad?)

I'm not sure if I am more behind than I thought, or if I have things more together than I thought I did. This week I am looking through my old notes, gathering a few more perhaps, finding a person to interview, and I'm going to try getting the teacher to give me minor feedback on my possible action. It would be nice if whoever I interview could give me feedback on the project before completion, but I doubt I have time for that.

ACTION PLAN (In the works)
----> I'm thinking about getting science presentation poster boards that are already different colors, or I will paint them. Either way, I plan to have at least one for every basic color (black, white, red, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink)and I will have them set up on tables. Then, whoever I manage to get to participate (hopefully a decent amount of people) will sit in front of them and fill out some sort of paper.

It would be nice to look at things like reaction, heart rate and what not, but that is just me over complicating things... Maybe. (I have found that red apparently increases heart rate)

I'm also concerned with lighting. Lighting makes a big difference in color. (Maybe I should look into that too)

Possible interviews/just people to think about talking to--

• Mr. Kap (he knows this art wise I suppose)
• Psychologists (The category it most fits with)
• Decorators (Colors and emotions at home)
• Teachers (color and learning)

Now to find specific people...