Decision Making...Watching

There are so many possible topics to choose from, but I have narrowed down my choices to the following:

Laser Eye Surgery:

This is an important topic to me because I wear contacts and glasses. I have numerous friends that have had this surgery and love not having to worry about anything anymore. I typed laser eye surgery into Google and found the FDA website: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/. This is a great website to look into if considering laser eye surgery due to what LASIK is, the risks associated, and how to determine if it is the right path for me. After reading more about this topic, I decided that since I am still in my early 20s and wanting to have children in the future, this is not the best topic for me to research now.

The Trail of Tears:

I am looking into this particular topic because I am partially Cherokee on my mother's side. I have always been fascinated with Native Americans and their ways and I recently found out that I am part Cherokee. When completing TrailBlazer 1, I found a lesson about The Trail of Tears. I began reading and realized that this was inflicted upon the Cherokee Nation. It became important to me to learn more about this historical event, so I considered this as part of my Inquiry Project options. I have discovered lots of books in my local library and a lot of website resources that pertain to it. This is definitely a topic worth exploring.

Lent:

People are always talking about what they are giving up for Lent and I thought where does this come from all of a sudden? I have never learned about this particular event in my religious studies or raised in that religious aspect. I thought that this subject would be worth exploring to learn more about how this event was founded and carried out each year. As I thought more about it and searched for information, I found that this was not the best topic for myself at the moment.

Hanukkah:

The Hanukkah holiday has always fascinated me, the same as with Lent. Since I have always celebrated Christmas, I thought it would be good to explore another holiday. Once again, as I began researching for information, I found that it would be better worth my time to search another topic.

Blood Pressure:

Recently in my family there have been a lot of health problems. My grandfather has had a heart attack, my mother a stroke, and my cousin a blood clot. Ever since this has occurred, I felt it is important to watch what I eat, exercise, and check my body health. High blood pressure runs in my family and I am trying hard to keep it at a healthy level. I began looking into the topic and learned that in order to explore this topic, I need to have my blood pressure checked and see a doctor. I definitely want to maintain a healthy body, this might be a great inquiry project.

The 50 States:

One of my life goals is to travel to all 50 states. In order to achieve this goal, I not only have to actually go there, but research and learn about the states. I remember learning about the states in 5th grade, but it was just more of a memorization. After looking into what the project would entail, I think there would be too much to cover with all of the states, instead of just one of the states. Therefore, I do not think that this is going to be the right topic for this project.

Children's Author:

One of my favorite hobbies is to read children's books. When I read these books, I sit and think that I would like to write books, maybe even a series of books. When I first began researching on writing books, I realized that there is a lot more involved than just writing and becoming an author. It takes a lot of time, effort and energy to become a published author. Although this is a life-long dream I also think that this goal will need to be spent more in-depth and more time alloted than just a few weeks. I will continue to pursue this subject, but explore another idea this time.

Africa:

Not only is traveling to all 50 states a goal, but visiting every continent as well. I have a lot of friends that have studied abroad and traveling on vacation to other places in the world and they tell me how magnificent it all is. Since I am interested in traveling to Africa, I know there is a lot that I need to learn before I go there. There is such a rich heritage of tribes and animals that research needs to be conducted before traveling to that part of the world. Since this again contains a lot of information, I feel that it is not my best choice for this product. However, this is something that I can pursue in the future.