Hello world,

I’ve started a new project in Scimatics called “Chemistry coding”. This project was all about coding an interactive matter game or simulation (I made a simulation). This simulation was meant to showcase the behaviour of matter throughout the kinetic molecular and atomic theory. This was also the foundation of the driving question fro this project, “How can the behaviour of matter be explained by the kinetic molecular theory and the atomic theory”. To answer this driving question I had to work through many milestones (but I’ll only deeply describe 4 of 6). These milestones include a variety of curricular competencies that I reached to extend on. The curricular competencies were…

“Questioning and Predicting” (which meant demonstrating a constant curiosity in a scientific topic); Scientific communication (the communication of thoughts about solutions); “Reasoning and Analyzing” (the use of logic and patterns). These curricular competencies were the foundation of my learning and my evidence within milestones. 

Firstly, I came in contact with milestone one “Project Start Mind Map”. This milestone was about developing questions about this project. The way I developed these question were by taking inspiration off of other peers questions, on QFT boards, and making them suit my needs of questioning behind this project.

I feel this milestone best described my use of the curricular competencies “Questioning and Predicting”. The point in this milestone where I felt I demonstrated an ongoing curiosity about the kinetic molecular theory and the atomic theory. The area I showed this was through my certain questions that connected to the overall project. Some areas within this milestone, where I could’ve improved on was with the predicting portion of this competency. I think overall I completed this milestone with an extending opportunity. 

Secondly, I created milestone two, which was the start of the creation of my simulation. This milestone was called “Atomic Models”. This milestone was about creating models of a substance, that would be displayed within my simulation. To gain the knowledge about what an atomic model was I completed many steppingstones. 

The steppingstone that I feel is most relevant is the science workbooks. The reason I think this steppingstone is so important is because it was the foundation of the knowledge that I’ve gained. The information throughout the workbook gave me a better insight on what the kinetic molecular theory is, and how it can be displayed.

In addition, the workbook helped me move on to the milestone two. After the knowledge I gained about the people who developed a representation of an atom, I was ready to make my own. To construct a model I researched many different substances/molecules and decided to do sugar. The way I showed multiple models of sugar I deconstructed the elements within it. These atoms were hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and together they could make sugar. When I understood the process of atom models creating I moved on to the creation of the sugar molecule (which consists of 22 hydrogen, 12 carbon, and 11 oxygen atoms).

This milestone really showcase my demonstration of the curricular competency called “Scientific Communication”. The point in this milestone were I showed a communication of ideas, findings, and representations was within the actual displaying portion of the model. The reason I think this is because I clearly showed an aurora of different scientific findings within a idea based design. I could have improved on my use of problem solving throughout a concluding statement of an atom. An overall demonstration of this curricular competency was clearly represented throughout this milestone. 

Thirdly, I did milestone three “Atomic theory test”. This was a quicker milestone for the teacher to collect our (me and my classes) knowledge about what the kinetic molecular theory is. Once we were certain about our correct knowledge we were ready to move on to the planning stage of coding our final product. 

 

Fourthly, I made milestone four, “Programming Plan”. This milestone was about developing a foundation of what our coding simulation would look like. The process that I went through to plan my stimulation was to think of different ways of how the kinetic molecular could be visually represented. Since I was in the planning phases I thought of many different ideas, but I settled on one. The idea I was set on is one of the key point of what the kinetic molecular theory is. This key point is called change of state, which means the altering form of a certain substance. To incorporate this into a simulation I decided it would be best to have the molecules/atoms undergo these change (with the control of heat/energy).

Lastly, I did milestone five “Scratch Coded Applet”. This milestone was probably the most important of all because it was the actual creation of my simulation. The way I completed milestone five was by coding the idea that I previously created (in milestone four). To code this simulation I went through many, seriously a lot, of drafts…

From completing all of these drafts I realized that this wouldn’t be an easy task to complete. This then related to having a growth mindset, and the way I kept that attitude was by asking my peers (especially Nolan!) to help me in situations of struggle. After a long time at work I completed my simulation, that I’m quite proud of… 

Within this milestone I showcased the use of multiple curricular competencies, but the one that stood out the most was “Reasoning and Analyzing”. The point in this milestone where I felt I demonstrated a produce that uses logic and patterns was my coding simulation. The reason I think this is because my coding simulation had a variety of interactive functions that lead to the use of logical patterns. The area I could have improved on (within this competency) was my use of awareness of what was happening. Otherwise I feel I had reached for a sophisticated demonstration of this competency. 

In conclusion, this project has given me lots of knowledge about the kinetic molecular theory and the atomic theory. Now I even have enough information to answer my driving question for this project, which is “How can the behaviour of matter be explained by kinetic molecular theory and the atomic theory?”. Here’s my answer…

The kinetic molecular theory and the atomic theory can explain the molecular theory in a form of a simulation. This is possible by the correct test and fail concepts that make a simulation represent it’s overall idea. This is a sturdy method of explaining the behaviour of matter due the act of logical scientific equations. 

That concludes this project about coding a simulation of the kinetic molecular theory and the atomic theory. Plus my answer to this project’s detailed driving question, would you have another?

• Alicia 😀

 

 

 

Credits:

Special thanks to Nolan and many of my other peers for helping me learn more about coding.

The coding website that was used is called Scratch

Thanks for reading 👋