Capstone Project Proposal Draft

Name of student: Sammi To Date: Oct 15, 2021

Teacher: Ms. Lacroix Block: A

The Capstone strand I have chosen is Research/Experiment

Proposed title for my Project Proposal: (write the proposed title for your Capstone Project in one
clear sentence): The effects yoga has on sleep patterns.

What is your inquiry question that interests you for further research? It should be a question that
connects with a purpose, passion or personalized area of interest for you. This is a question that
you cannot just google an answer for. Please see examples from your Capstone booklet.
My inquiry question is:

How does yoga help you sleep better?

Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question. Explain WHY you are
choosing to investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry connect
to your passion(s), purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

I chose this question because my sister has a hard time sleeping and I would like to find a way
to improve her sleeping habits and mental health.

Background: What background knowledge/connections/prior learning do you have in this

area of inquiry?

Last year, in psychology, I learned about sleep patterns in teens and adults and the
differences. It helped me become interested in the psychological side to many situations.

Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What
connections does this inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals?

I am aiming towards going into business at SFU or UBC. This project helps me understand
the psychological side of peoples actions and emotions.

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Interdisciplinary and core competencies connections: What subject areas and core
competencies will be connected with your project? Outline and explain the connections.

Personal Awareness and Responsibility:

Strengths -
1. "I can set goals, regulate my emotions and persevere in difficult situations."
When I was doing gymnastics and competing I was under a lot of pressure. During
these experiences I would need to calm myself down in order to keep a clear mind and
concentrate on my routine. I would often calm my nerves by breathing in and out three
times before every routine and visualizing my routines in my head before I compete.
This helped me focus and calm down so I can concentrate on my goals. Even when
things don't go my way it is not because of the nerves it is because mistakes happen.
2. "I understand learning takes patience and time."
I have never been the kid that just gets something after they have heard it once at
school. I learned that I have to put in extra effort and time if I want to do well
academically. I always compared my learning style to others, but I learned that
everyone has different ways of learning and it doesn't make any less than the other. I
would study for math almost every day because i knew I would have a tough time in
class the next day if I didn't. Especially last year, in the quarter systems, because
everything was squished into ten weeks I knew that not studying would make my life
harder in the future.

Areas of Improvement -
1. "I can express my needs and seek help when needed."
When I am with my family or close friends I have no problem telling them what I need,
but when it comes to asking anyone for help I am incredibly stubborn. When I was in
Grade nine I would make dinner for family five days a week every week. I would always
do it completely alone and even when they offered to help I would tell them to get out
of my kitchen. I find it hard to let others help me even if I seem stressed and
overwhelmed. Letting others help me makes me feel like I have failed or half finished
the job. As I grew older I learned that I can't do everything myself and that it is okay to
let others help lighten the load. Over the next few years I have tried to ask others to do
it for me if I was busy, but I have not been able to let someone help me while I am in
the middle of the task.

Social Responsibility:
Strengths -
1. "I have positive peer and intergenerational relationships."
I try to connect with everyone who is open to it, but many think I am cold and mean
just from looking at my face. Although, through other activities, such as gymnastics, I
have built strong relationships with everyone around me. I have good relationships
with all my coaches and I am able to communicate all my needs. I am still in contact
with a lot of my friends from gymnastics. From the experiences that I went through

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with all these people I am positive that I can stay connected with them in the future.
2. "I can identify and appreciate different perspectives on issues and use and evaluate
strategies to resolve problems."
When I am in a group project or small group discussion I make sure that everyone feels
included and heard. When two people have opposing ideas I try my best to include
both ideas so it seems fair. For example, I was in a group in English last year and
someone wanted to say a specific part, but someone else wrote it. The person that
wrote it did not mind sharing the paragraph, so I just said that they should split it in half
that way everyone gets somewhat what they wanted.
Areas of Improvement
1." I am aware of my community and environment and work independently and
collaboratively for the benefit of others."
I do not usually work or confide in other people if I am not forced tot do so. For
instance, I will only work in a group at school or if my family needs something,
otherwise I would rather stay by myself. As for my community; I do not participate in a
lot of social events because it makes me feel uncomfortable. I am slowly learning that it
is okay for me to step outside my comfort zone once in a while.

Critical Thinking:
Strengths -
1. "I can analyze and make defensible judgements, draw conclusions and consider a
variety of perspectives."
In a lot of my essays I give detailed examples to justify my argument. For instance, last
year I wrote an essay about Hitler journey to enact the enabling act. The enabling
allowed Hitler to make all the decisions without the German Reichstag, which is the
government in Germany. I analyzed Hitler's speech and gave many examples from the
text of how he manipulated and influenced the German Reichstag. Every point had a
example that helped justify my view and opinion.
2. "I can analyze and critique my work and my learning."
For the essay on Hitler, I must have rewrote it at least five times and even after that I
could still find things I wanted to change about it, but I had run out of time and needed
to turn it in. Even this year when I go back and read it as reference I find minor details I
would want to change. I learned that there is always a better way to word things.
Areas of Improvement -
1. " I can explore and create new ways to represent my learning around a variety of
problems, events, issues, and needs."
When it comes to projects I prefer to keep it simple by writing an essay or power point.
It may seem boring, but it is the easiest way to show my learning. For example, the
capstone project, I decided to do an experiment and write a report on it because I don't
know how to express my learning in another way that is effective.

Creative Thinking:
Strengths -

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1. "I can persevere, and understand that failure can be productive."
When doing gymnastics failure is mandatory, you will not be good at something when
you first try it. One of my coaches always said "Do it one hundred times, you'll be
good. Do it one thousand times and you'll master it." In a physically demanding sport
failure is natural. By failing you can learn what to change when you do it the next time.
Sometime we would video ourselves doing the skill so we can see where we went
wrong and fix it.
2. "I can take my ideas evaluate, develop, and refine them and make something
productive out of them."
When I was learning to cut hair I had no idea where to start. I have an aunt who does it
for a living, but I didn't want to bother her. I started by watching videos and perfecting
techniques. Soon I started practicing on my sister and it saved us multiple trips to the
hair salon.
Areas of Improvement -
1. "I can create new and unique ideas that may provide new perspectives that influence
how people think about topics."
I find it hard for me to generate new ideas from people round me. It feels like it is too
similar to their idea. For instance, sitting at a table group and we are talking and just
sharing ideas. I listen to their ideas and I think that is a really good idea, then I sit there
struggling to think of a new way to present my work.

Communication:
Strengths -
1. "I can work with other students to plan, inquire, and solve problems."
When I was in math one year my teacher split us into groups of three or four and she
gave us equations we needed to solve. Every person in my group contributed to the
best of their abilities. Some questions were harder, but we managed to figure it out by
listening to each other and being open to everyone's perspective.
2. "I can reflect on the processes of learning and share what I have learned."
One of my friends missed class one day and needed me to tell her what she had
missed. For physics, even though I didn't fully understand the concepts myself I was
able to translate the lesson from my basic knowledge of what I had already learned. If
you can teach it to someone else it means you have a deeper understanding of that
topic.
Areas of Improvement -
1. "I can engage in deep and meaningful inquiry for a variety of purposes and
audiences."
When it comes to speaking in big groups or in front of audiences I get anxiety. It has
gotten better since I was a kid, but every time someone calls on me or I have a big
presentation my heart starts beating super-fast and I feel like I want to die. When I was
little I would get nervous breakdowns and start crying. When performing gymnastics I
am able to calm my nerves down because I know that I am good at it, but when it
comes to my knowledge and opinions I always wonder if they are just dumb questions.

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 Personal and Cultural Identity:
Strengths -
1. "I understand what is important to me."
When I was thinking about Christmas gifts for my entire family I set a budget of fifty
dollars. I also got everyone a card and hand wrote something different in each one.
When me and my sister were shopping for gifts I never stressed out because Christmas
was not just about gifts. It was the opportunity for me to let my family know how
much I care for them as I often don't express my emotion. Knowing that my family is
aware of how I really feel is the most important thing to me.
2. "I understand how what I value has and will shape my choices."
I value loyalty and responsibility because my sister has had many friends who have
neither of those and I would not want to see that in my life again. It is incredibly painful
to realize that the respect and loyalty you give a person means nothing to them.
Knowing this I am very particular about the people I let into my life because I don't
want to experience that pain. This decision could help me in the future as it dictates
who I surround myself with and what environment I want to grow in.
Areas of Improvement -
1. "I can define myself in terms of my relationship to others and to the world."
When it comes to guiding or giving advice to others I am very easy to talk to. I can
analyze the situation and provide alternative insights before they make their decisions.
When it comes to defining my own problems or relationships it becomes harder for me
to connect with myself on that level. I never like to put labels or specify the
relationship because I could be wrong and it gets too serious.

Capstone Presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to
present your project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once
completed. You may use a combination of mediums.
o Electronic portfolio: Prezi or PPT
o Physical portfolio
o Website
o imovie presentation
o YouTube channel

I will make a power point presentation, adding very few talking points on each slide.

Description of my Capstone project. Specific Project Details of the Capstone Project: what
will you research, create, study, produce, solve, investigate? What product will be produced
at the end of this project for evaluation. Write a one-page description outlining your

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proposal.

I have researched the psychological components of sleep patterns in teens, which will help
me understand this topic on a deeper level. I found some coping mechanisms that can help
me pin point key ideas and help me choose yoga videos that focus on those ideas. The
subject will wear a Fitbit when they are sleeping and it will track the sleep patterns that I will
record in my data table. The objective of my project is to improve sleep and energy levels
through yoga and stretching. The subject will do yoga for at least 30min every morning and
will record the progress. I will write a research paper focusing on the psychological component
that teens face when under the huge amounts of pressure from school and social media
standards. As the experiment goes on I will need to show the data in a graph or a chart. I have
already found three yoga videos focusing on three different areas, relaxation, stretching and
workouts. These three are proven to result in the most change through a shorter period of
time. This experiment will happen through 7-8 weeks. I have two people who will be subjects
in the experiments, my sister and a friend. My sister initially wakes up in the middle of the
night at least 5 times a night and my other friend is a lighter sleeper, but only wakes up once
or twice a night. Some of the subtopics in my research paper will be reasons why teens have
trouble sleeping, why it is better if schools start later, the effects of social media on sleep
patterns and the effects yoga has on sleep patterns. I initially came up with this idea because
my sister has been struggling with this and I want to help make her life easier and enforce
regular changes. As much as I am doing this for her it is also for me as it affects everyone in
her environment and their moods and behavior. I may want to add more people in to the
experiment to make it more consistent, but I am having trouble finding people that have
inconsistent sleep patterns and has a device that tracks sleep pattern. Although it may be
more accurate to have multiple subjects my personal objective is to learn and become more
educated so I can help and teach others. The experiment only helps me get a deeper
understanding for this topic. I need to be extremely diligent and stay focused because falling
behind will cause me stress that could have been avoided and it will only make me frustrated
with myself. Therefore, through my time management and interest the chosen topic I will gain
a deeper understanding and knowledge that I can use to help others in the future.

Resources/ Technology/Skills: Make an assessment of the resources, technology and

skills you will need to be able to complete this project. What is your plan to be able to
access/learn all of the resources necessary to achieve completion of this project? Detail
your plans.

I need a device that will track your sleep patterns to accurately record the data. This will allow
me to consistently track progress and slowly see the difference. I need to research basic
information on sleep and its effect on brain development.

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Mentors/Community Connections: What types of mentor(s)/community connections will
you need to help you complete your capstone project? How will your mentor(s) help you?
What is your plan to access the mentorship/community connections necessary for this
project?

I do not need a mentor to complete this project, but I can reach out to a yoga studio and ask to
talk to them about their views on the topic. This will allow me to see different perspective,
which I can incorporate in my project.

Project limitations: What are some project limitations and potential obstacles that you foresee
that might affect progress with your Capstone Project?

I am worried that I will not be able to collect the most accurate data as I only have two
subjects participating in my experiment.

Other considerations: List and detail any other related information/ considerations about
your project that you feel should be included in your project proposal.

If I were to take this project to the next level I would like to measure the different sleep
patterns in adults, teens and kids. This way I will be able to see the range of sleep patterns.

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References: Provide a literature review of 5-10 PEER REVIEWED ACADEMIC references:
research, videos, etc. that offer some preliminary research you have done for your project
that shows you are able to access the key information that you will need to be able to
complete this project/work. Your list should be written using correct APA formatting.

Hartfiel, N., Havenhand, J., Khalsa, S. B., Clarke, G., & Krayer, A. (2011). The effectiveness of
yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace.
Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 37(1), 70–76.

Maume, D. J. (2013). Social Ties and Adolescent Sleep Disruption. Journal of Health and
Social Behavior, 54(4), 498–515.

Robson, S., & Salcedo, N. (2014). Sleep. In Behavioral Fitness and Resilience: A Review of
Relevant Constructs, Measures, and Links to Well-Being (pp. 7–12). RAND
Corporation.

Spicoluk, J.S & M.S, Boho Beautiful Yoga, (2020, Jul 28), Yoga workout for full body results |
The only 15 minute workout you’ll need [Video], YouTube.

Wahlstrom, K. L. (2016). Later start time for teens improves grades, mood, and safety. The
Phi Delta Kappan, 98(4), 8–14.

Wolfson, A. R., & Carskadon, M. A. (1998). Sleep Schedules and Daytime Functioning in
Adolescents. Child Development, 69(4), 875–887

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