As an integral part of the project, students will need to journal and reflect on their experiences as they engage in their pursuits.  Below is a list of things to consider and help guide you while reflecting. 

Assuming that happiness is something that can only be created or achieved indirectly, some action will be required to gain happiness.  In the upcoming 6 weeks of the project, students will undertake a pursuit with the purpose of better understanding the condition of happiness.  To help us grasp the conditions or avenues that contribute to happiness, students have reflected on previous experiences that they are happy to have had and pulled elements from them to create an outline that can be used to prepare a new pursuit of happiness.  Below is a sheet that details those elements.

Use the above sheet to craft your pursuit of happiness.  It doesn't need to be long, but it should address the following aspects:

1. What is the pursuit that you are going to undertake?
   
2. Why do you want to undertake this pursuit?
   
3. What conditions or characteristics of happy experiences are involved (cite above sheet)?
   
4. Can you pursue this at least 10 times in the next 6 weeks?
   
5. Do you have access to the materials or resources necessary to undertake this pursuit?
   

When this is completed, print out a copy, fill out the sheet below and attach it to the front.

The Pursuit of Happiness


In a broader scope, we are studying the human condition.  Our premise is that, as Thomas Jefferson put it, governments are established to uphold and secure aspects of the human condition.  Listed, they are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The one part of this that is seemingly elusive to science is happiness.  

Can we scientifically understand something like happiness, or is it beyond the capabilities of scientific understanding?

Let us investigate and find out!

Below is the cover sheet to our project as well as the details for the first part of the investigation - creating metrics to measure happiness.

I urge students to visit this blog often to keep updated with our latest work, upcoming deadlines, and materials.