Hey Y’all, Max here.
The latest project we have done in Scimatics is Metaphor Machines. This project was all about circuits, voltage, and current. We made Rube Goldberg machines to represent the scientific method, which was another big part of this project.
The project started with us being sorted into groups. I was partnered with Cole , Mateo , and Sylas . I thought this was a good group, and I liked working together with them despite our many disagreements and disputes. Anyways, the project started all the way back in February ( is it just me or are these projects getting longer? ). At this point I wasn’t yet with my group, and I worked with a few others to make a small Rube Goldberg machine that didn’t have any electric properties in it, it was just to show we knew what a Rube Goldberg machine was.
This project followed a pattern Ive noticed in the past: the first few weeks are for learning and getting a good understanding of the main scientific or mathematical concept ( ex. Electric current, voltage ), and then the rest of the project is given for building and developing whatever is going to show how it works ( ex. The Rube Goldberg machine ). We did a few Khan academy quizzes on ohm’s ( Ω ) law, which is a law stating that electric current is proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to resistance.
I encountered some difficulty with calculating percentage difference, but after I learned the formula and the many steps involved, it was a piece of cake.
A few blueprints were drafted and some designs later, we created the rough outline for the Rube Goldberg machine. We painted the boards we were using blue, and then started applying the materials we had onto the board to make our contraption. the only issue we encountered here was that the wiring was getting in the way and looked really ugly. The only thing was that we had already laid too much of it to redesign the board. If we had figured out a way to design the board by putting the wires behind it, then it wouldn’t have looked so unsightly.
The last part of the project was to capture a full video of our tube Goldberg machine ( with the scientific method ) and explain it with a voiceover. Unfortunately, the audio file for the voiceover was cut off early, but here’s our full run through:
The driving question for this project was:
“ How can we represent the scientific method ?”
“ What factors affect the function and efficiency of electric circuits ?”
Firstly, we can represent the scientific method in a number of ways, but I think that the more creative, the better. In this projects case, demonstrating the scientific method through the Rube Goldberg machine was a unique and easy way to show it, with the ball going through every stage of the method.
Secondly, electric currents are much simpler than I thought they would be. There are only three main components: voltage, current, and resistance. Each dictates one another, and the result is an electric current. There are variants of this, but when it comes down to it, electric current is pretty easy to understand, and this is coming from me.
Overall, I enjoyed this project. I genuinely looked forward to coming into Scimatics and relaxing while building our contraption. It was nice to take a break from the stress of all my other classes. I liked this project, and I hope we do more like it in the future.