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June 21, 2021

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Ultimate Design Challenge

Today, I am going to be talking about the latest project I have done: the Ultimate Design Challenge! In this group project I learned how to use a design software called Tinkercad to create an object optimized for either surface area or volume. I also learned how to measure my shape to figure out if I have achieved my goal. So, without further ado, here is the post.

We started of the first day of the project with an activity. This was our task:

Use measurements and surface area calculations to determine how much it would cost to paint our classroom (4 walls and a ceiling) and replace the flooring. your group will be assigned one wall/floor/ceiling
-Measure and record the dimensions of your surface.
-Estimate and subtract areas that do not need new paint or flooring.
-Do research and a calculation

So we did that, and figured out that the floor would cost approximately 1,193.45$, and the ceiling would cost about 1,424.72$.

The first milestone for this project was rephrasing the driving question in a more specific way. The driving question for this project was: How Can I Design An Object To Optimize It’s Shape? My milestone one question was: How can I design a model of an electric hobby motor for maximum surface area in a certain area?

For the second milestone, I created my model and wrote out the formulas I would use to measure it.

Design of Motor

After this, I exported my model as an .STL file for 3D printing. (Though it never got printed in the end)

For milestone three, I measured my model. The pages of measurements are below.

Motor Dimesions

Milestone four would’ve been the final printed object, but, as said before, my group’s model never got printed.

Then, Milestone five: the presentation. This is the final presentation in front of the class about our objects. Here is my slide:

And, as with all PLP projects, throughout the whole project there are curricular competencies as guides for us.

Applying and innovating: Contribute to care for self, others, community, and world through personal or collaborative approaches.

All class time is used efficiently for learning without distractions.

I used all my class time well, and I think that is reflected in the quality of my work.

Reasoning and Analyzing: Model mathematics in contextualized experiences.

A 3D object is designed using TinkerCad or other design software. The design is optimized for either maximum volume or maximum surface area. The design should include at least 10 basic 3D shapes (A model should also be built cooperatively for groups of 2 or 3)

My 3D object was designed to fit the criteria above, but if i did the project again I would add more complex shapes to my design

Communicating and Representing: Explain and justify mathematical ideas and decisions

The surface area and volume are measured, calculated, and compared for efficiency. These factors are explained in detail in a keynote presentation to the class.

Most of these factors are explained in my keynote presentation, but I think I could’ve added more information about how I made my calculations in my keynote presentation

Thanks for reading my post! If you want to check out my group member’s blogs, click on a link below:

Noah

Cooper

Anyways, see you in the next post. Bye.

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June 20, 2021

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Don’t Eat Rat Feces!

Today, I am writing a summative post about my latest, and last project of the year. This project is called Comic Cells. I learned a ton from this project, from what subsequent endocytosis is to why you shouldn’t eat rat poo. So, without further ado, here is the post.

As with all scimatics projects, we started off the project with a mind map of existing knowledge, question, sources, and anything else about the topic. Here is mine:

For the second milestone of the project, I created a wanted poster for a disease containing the date of discovery, how it affects cells, it’s mortality rate, and more.

Then I started working on a storyboard to guide the making of my comic. The storyboard was a very rough guide to the comic, and some parts were not even in the final comic.

Then I started to research a TON of facts about the virus I chose. (Hantavirus) To read more about hantavirus, veiw the sources down below. I learned a ton about cellular processes, and then started drawing pictures for my comic. I am not the best at drawing, so this was a hard task for me. However, I a very proud of the final comic, which is the namesake for this post.

Don’t Eat Rat Feces

And, as with all projects, there were core competencies I worked towards throughout the project. They are:

1. Questioning and predicting: Demonstrate a sustained curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest.

All class time is used for learning and creating a comic book story about cellular processes and/or diseases. I think I used almost all of my class time efficiently, but even so I still think I could’ve worked slightly faster in class and had less homework after school. But it worked out in the end, which is good.

2. Scientific communication: communicate ideas, findings, and solutions to problems using scientific language, representations, and digital technologies

Correct vocabulary and accurate diagrams are used. At least 10 interesting science vocabulary words are included in the story. I used more than ten science words in my Story, and I think my diagrams are concise and accurate at what they represent.

Evaluating: Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence

Cell/bacteria/virus characters interact in a scientific way. Symptoms and logical outcomes of the chosen disease/cellular/ body process are integrated into the story. In my story, the reaction to the virus is realistic to real-life cases, and the outcomes are on the probable side.

Sources:

Thanks for making it this far. If you liked this post, make sure to check my other ones here. See you in the next post! Bye.

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May 11, 2021

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Atoms

As you can probably tell from the title, this project was one about atoms (and molecules, Kenetic energy, etc…). We spent about three weeks learning, coding and thinking to answer the driving question for this project: how can the behaviour of matter be explained by the Kinetic Molecular theory and the Atomic theory? So, without further ado, here is the post.

We started this project with a mind map and an experiment/magic trick. We wrote the mind map about what we already knew about matter, and then all of our questions about it.

For the demonstration of atomic and molecular theory, the teacher performed a trick using a sealed bottle filled with water and an eyedropper.

The trick works by utilizing pressure. When the bottle is not squeezed, it looks like this:

But when the bottle is squeezed, the pressure increases, forcing the eyedropper down, and if you are subtle, it looks as if you magically made the eyedropper go down.

Squeezed bottle with the eyedropper down

One really cool activity was called the gemstone identification challenge. The whole class partnered up to measure the volume, weight, and then calculate the density of a few stones. The class average density was 3.74 grams per millemeter, and the closest density to that was that of colourless topaz, so we confirmed that the stones were colourless topaz.

For milestone 2, we created accurate models for our coded project. In order to make our simulations or games follow this competency: Several different atoms/molecules, different states of matter, and particle motion are represented in the finished product. A historical model of the atom is chosen and implemented, we created some sort of model and text.

In order to create realistic and functioning models of atoms, molecules, and in my case quarks, I worked on three slides of information and graphics. It took three other versions to create to the one shown below.

The final three slides (to veiw them in higher detail, click here)

The next week was mostly spent learning more about matter and coding or refining our scratch projects. Then we did milestone four, which was a coding plan for the rest of the project. This was my milestone four coding plan:

Features:
Press space to show Bohr models
Press M to mute music
Press N to unmute music
Press Q to create more clones
Press 1-3 to change molecule type
Gravity that can be turned on and off
Click the reset button to reset the simulation
Use the temperature slider to change how fast the particles move.
Setting the temperature to zero will stop the particles from moving, other than gravity acting on them.
You can create different states of matter by adjusting the temperature and gravity.
you can adjust how much gravity there is.
You can move between subatomic particle models, Bohr models, and no models by pressing space bar twice This kinetic molecular theory is included in the simulation when the particles move. They follow the Kinetic molecular theory.

After creating a plan, I continued coding my scratch project until it was completely done and polished. If you want to check out my simulator, click here. After all was said and done, I created a summative mind map of the project, which helped round of the end of the project.

As with all projects, there were curricular competencies which you can see below:

Questioning and Predicting: Demonstrate a sustained curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest.

All class time is used efficiently for learning without distractions. I used all my class time efficiently, and I am very proud of my final product.

Scientific Communication: communicate ideas, findings, and solutions to problems using scientific language, representations, and digital technologies.

Several different atoms/ molecules, different states of matter, and particle motion are represented in the finished product. A historical model of the atom is chosen and implemented. I have three different molecule designs: H2O (water), carbon dioxide (CO2), and ozone (O3). I also have three Bohr models of the elements: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, And finally two subatomic models of protons and neutrons.

Reasoning and Analyzing: Use logic and patterns (including coding) to solve puzzles and play games.

An interactive Scratch coded matter simulator or game is created with logical conditions and functional user controls. I created a simulator with four variables that the player/user can change, and extra aesthetic changes as well. The user can change limits all the variables, and the layout is logical and easy to use.

Thanks for reading my post! I had a great time doing this project, and i am sure to do more, so stay tuned .Even though I have featured it already, just in case, here is the link to my scratch matter simulator. Thanks to my friend Noah for all the coding help and feedback. If you want to check out his blog, click here. See you in the next post!

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April 19, 2021

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Exploring European Exploration

Welcome to another summative post. Today, I am going to talk about our latest project on European Exploration. This was a three weeks long, and consists of five milestones. So, without further ado, here is the post.

The driving question for this project was: What Did European Settlement Mean For Everyone Involved? To answer this question, there are two thing you need to know first: what is European settlement, and who was involved, and this post is documenting how I found the answer to this.

We kicked off this project with our first milestone: a stream-of-consciousness writing about European Settlement. This was the first assignment of this project.

We did some other activities to build our knowledge, and then did milestone two, a sheet were we used evidence to rank events by significance on a chart. This is what it looked like:

Throughout this project, me and my partner have been writing almost everything in one shared document. We have written scripts, notes, photos, content, and sources.

After we finished researching and creating our facts and graphics, we handed the rough infographic in as milestone three.

Over time, me and Cale refined our infographic, and created six different version before the final product was created.

We then created a script, description, title, QR code, and Keynote magic move for our YouTube video.

Using all of this, we created the video which the QR code on the infographic leads to. You can find this video here.

And finally, we worked on putting all 26 infographics up around the school. We decided on were to put the infographics and which ones should go together, then put them up!

And that brings us to now, where I can answer the driving question: What Did European Settlement Mean For Everyone Involved? Well, the answer is complicated, because of how broad of an event it was. In my infographic, I focus on one aspect of it: alliance and trade. European settlement affected the First Nations, British, and French. Even today, and I’m sure for long afterward, trading will remain a constant. But what resources that are being traded, how they are traded, and the people trading them will always be changing. Alliances are crucial to humanity, and we are able to accomplish much more when we ally together. European Settlement gave new resources, trading routes, and opportunities for alliance to everyone involved, and that completely changed history for long after.

Thanks for reading my post! If you want to check out my partner’s experience with “The More Things Change” project, click here. Anyways, thanks for reading my blog and see you in the next post.

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April 1, 2021

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Destination Imagination!

In this term as a challenge, we did something that PLP has done for more than five years! It is a challenge that is completely done by students, and consists of an instant challenge and a team challenge. I cannot tell you guys about the instant challenge because it could give other teams an advantage. But, since I can still talk about the team challenge, talk about it I will do.

If you don’t already know what DI is, they are an organization that hosts global project-based learning competitions for students to compete in. If you want more information, click here. As PLP students, we compete in these challenges, and for me and my group, we got the technical challenge: The Next Level. In short, there are four different categories; technical, scientific, fine arts, and engineering. The technical challenge was about making a specific storyline in a video-game style.

To start it out, we made sheets of each team members strengths and weaknesses, and decided on general roles for the project.

We also completed interference contracts, which are forms that state that we will not cheat, tell others about the contract, or use other people’s ideas. We completed other worksheets to decide on the storyline and specify things that must be completed.

All throughout this project, our team hub for communication was constantly being updated with what has to be done, what has been done, and certain events to prepare for. Once our group decided on what storyline to use, we wrote the first version of our script. This script would be revised later to check certain boxes, but the general idea was always the same.

Then, it was time for the instant challenge to be released. I cannot talk about the instant challenge, so I will skip over it. But, I can say that it was quite a hustle to get done, but we did do it in the end.

We also had to complete tournament data forms, which include an expense report and questionnaire, as well as safety forms.

Expense Report here

We also completed meeting notes every time our group met, resulting in thirteen individual notes.

After we finished writing our final script we moved on to filming. The script had three other revisions before we used the final one. In collaboration with Noah, we made the tool (I made the lower body, he made the upper body) and worked together to refine it. Here is a small worksheet reflecting on my D.I. Experience:

We finally started filming on the last week before we put in our team challenge video. Our editor had a very small amount of time to edit this, so shout out to him! We also filmed and scripted a Q&A video to go along with our main one. We finished the final challenge video, and you can check it here.

Go check my group member’s blogs as well:

Also, here is the full tournament award stream. Anyways, thanks for reading my post. See you next time!

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March 29, 2021

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Argh, Matey!

For our second project this quarter, we did a project about the Age Of Exploration, and this is a summative post About my learning throughout this project.

To kick off this project, we watched a pirate movie based off of a real hijacking. We talked about pirates a bit, and then learned what cause and consequence are. Cause and consequence is how all events happen; they have a cause, and then more events because of it. We made webs of cause and consequence to practice this skill:

The whole project was about teaching us about the causes and consequences of European exploration. The driving question was: “What Was The Impact Of Global Exploration?”. To answer this question we first, you guessed it, learn what global exploration is.

Every day, we got a lecture on exploration, from the invention of new inventions like the caraval or astrolabe, to people who completely changed history like Christopher Columbus, or prince Henry the navigator. We did different reflection activities to help absorb the knowledge, like these below:

Age Of Exploration-reflection questions

Then, we did milestone 2, which was a large web of cause and consequence about the European exploration.

We finally used our device skills to create a augmented reality presentation. This presentation was of a story written by me about the age of exploration.

And the answer to the driving question: the impact of global exploration is in the language we speak, the food we eat, and the things we do. The merging of cultures from global exploration caused many, many new things, and predicting the world without global exploration is nearly impossible, considering how much it changed the world.

Now, this project was a great journey, and I learned tons about our history. I also had tons of fun writing this post as well. You might want to check out some of my classmates views on this project too!

Sepaus

Colton

Thanks for reading my post! See you in my next one.

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March 11, 2021

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Student blogging challenge: the ACTUAL last day

Today, I am writing about the blogging challenge I have been doing for this whole quarter. So without further ado, here is the post!

When we started this project I will admit it: I really did not like the sound of making one blog post every day until the end of the quarter. But, as time went on, writing the blog posts quickly grew on me, and by the end, I really enjoyed writing the posts.

The first post in the challenge was an: “embedding content” post, and I wrote it about snowboard bindings. This post was pretty cool, but it was not my favourite post I have done. Honestly, my favourite post of all time is my blogging challenge day ten post, i am just really proud of all my photoshops, and had a ton of fun writing it.

I learned tons about embedding content, writing, and creating digital content in general. If you look at my first post in the challenge to the lat post, my growth is obvious. I will keep updating my blog and some previous posts, so stay tuned!

This has been an amazing challenge, and I appreciate you for reading along with me. See you in the next post!

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January 26, 2021

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Laser laws final post

Hello, and welcome to anotherblog post. In this post I am going to show all I have learned throughout the laser laws project. First, I’ll start with the driving question: how can I test Pythagorean theorem and the law of reflection. There are many ways to test this, but first we had to build our knowledge on the subject by completing worksheets and doing cool science experiments. For example, at the start of the project we played laser tag, were there are two teams and they both try to shoot the other team’s target with their laser, while protecting their own. There was not to much to be learned from this activity, but it was a fun intro to the law of reflection. After that we did a project start mind map:

And along the way, I added to the question section, and also answered them all in another mind map at the end of the project:

While mind maps are all fun and good, though, we still haven’t actually tested the law of reflection or Pythagorean theorem. We did a small workbook to get up to speed, and then did a really cool experiment about the wave model of light. Here is the experiment:

in the waves lab, I learned a lot about the nature of light, and how there are multiple models that can be used to define it. We were then split into groups, then did an experiment on Pythagorean theorem. In My groups’s experiment, we tested to see if you can use Pythagorean theorem to get the values of the two legs with only the hypotenuse. The answer was no, but if you know that the legs are the same you can do it.

In my second milestone, we did a khan academy test to check our understanding. Our third milestone was yet another experiment, this time testing if the law of reflection can be used to make shapes.

Law of reflection experiment Click here for full experiment

After this, we started on milestone four, the design for our laser triangle. This design may or may not be used as the final design, but it is a crucial step nonetheless. There were three revisions of this, but here is the final one:

Then, it was time for the final design. The groups started to set up the mirrors, prepare the laser circuits, and do all-around finishing touches.

Then all the groups set up their projects near the smoke machine, then we all got really cool views of our work coming together.

I overall learned a ton from this project, from how to measure est sides of a triangle to the different models of light

And, finally, the curricular competencies:

The first of three, questioning and predicting, is about ‘‘Demonstrating a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest’’ I think that I did this quite well, as I was on task and very interested in the class.

In the second, Questioning and predicting, you must ‘‘Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest’’, and I did well in this, because i had so many questions about the law of reflection and Pythagorean theorem. Luckily, google search, textbooks, and class resources exist.

The last but not least competency is applying and innovating: cooperatively design projects. I believe I did this well because our group got along well and our final product checked all boxes

And, the answer to the driving question: out of the many ways you could test the law of reflection, by far the simplest is to just grab a mirror and shine a laser on it in a dark room, and take a picture and measure the angles in it. To test the Pythagorean theorem, you could draw right triangles with random side lengths, then use Pythagorean theorem to solve for the missing edge. Then, check your answer using a ruler or, the measure app.

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December 18, 2020

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Tectonic Chances Summative post

Hello, and welcome to anotherblog post! In this project, the driving question was: how are thematic and mathematical elements used in board games?

The answer to this is: they can add a touch of realism, role playing, or just a cool element to your game. Thematic and mathematical elements can and are used in board games all the time, for example: chess; which uses medieval figures to add a slight bit of logic and realism to the game, which helps connect players to the game a bit more. In other versions of chess, they use other themes to make the game more applicable to different audiences. Or in games like pandemic: contagion, where tons of different chances are balanced to create a fun and diverse game.

Anyway, to get this answer, we had to do many activities, like learning about tectonic plates in order to make a game about them, doing a mind map, listing the scientific elements they will be in our game, and finally making actual game rules and a playable game and presenting them to other groups in the best way: playing them!

The first thing we did was make some rough game rules (which, in my group, weren’t used later on) on whiteboards.

Here is the first iteration of our game rules

This was the original mind map, but my game was changed a lot later

And, as with each project, there were curricular competencies that everyone strived for.

The first: evaluating; demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence. in the criteria for this competency, it states that there should be evidence of 10 key science concepts in your game, and game pieces should visually represent tectonic concepts. I think I this because my game had 10 science concepts: convection currents, mid-ocean ridges, volcanoes, earthquakes, ridge push, subduction, reverse faults, normal faults, and strike-slip faults. Speaking of which, click here for said game rules.

Onto the second competency, questioning and predicting. I think I used most of my class time efficiently and well, because I finished all work on time and did most of it in class. I also handed in first drafts of my work early for feedback.

The third competency, understanding and solving, is all about demonstrating understanding of mathematical concepts through play, inquiry, and problem solving. I think I did this because my game has lots of probability that is calculated at the end of the rules. At the end of my rules, there are multiple probabilities calculated correctly, and there are examples of turn outcomes stated.

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November 24, 2020

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Final learning post of Fractions Of Your Time.

Here are some of the charts from my presentation.

In the project, Fractions Of Your Time, the driving question was: how much of my time is spent on screens? The answer to this question was far less complicated than that of the last project, the answer, simply, was: a lot. But, as with any PLP project, it wasn’t just about making one thing, there were many steps. (Less steps than I expected though).

The first step was a small survey that were completed in class (or a bit later).

Then we did some homework, (not to hard, as these were just refining our skills).

We also did a fractions quiz, which were actually pretty fun. Each day, we would fill out a chart containing screen time and other categories from the previos day.

We later presented these charts and made a fraction about how much of our time was screen time. That takes us to right now, were I am writing final blog post, to finish the project. I was surprised by the numbers on the chart, and making the chart was fun too.

These are the fractions and decimals of my time.

Curicular Competencies:

These are the things that we are graded on and strived to do. The first one; applying and innovating, was were we tried to use our time wisely and collaborate with others around us, to further learning and cooperation. I did this well, but not extending, as I used my class time productively, but didn’t go much beyond that.

The second competency is about visualizing mathematical concepts, which was rated by how well you can comprehend using fraction, percents, and decimals to show how you spend your time. We learned how to create spreadsheets and tables with mathematical rules built in to record our time, and as a plus, how much time we spend on screens.

The third competency, communicating and representing, is based on being able to represent ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms. You proved this skill by using pie charts and tables to display an interesting proportion the variables of the chart display, and also show how much of an average day is spent on screens.

A Cool Site

My PLP School Blog.

Category Archives: Summative post

Ultimate Design Challenge

Don’t Eat Rat Feces!

Atoms

Exploring European Exploration

Destination Imagination!

Argh, Matey!

Student blogging challenge: the ACTUAL last day

Laser laws final post

Tectonic Chances Summative post

Final learning post of Fractions Of Your Time.