Building A Metaphor Machine!

This unit was all about electricity and circuits. For our project, we had to create a metaphor machine. A metaphor machine is basically a machine that has to go through a series of actions to complete its goal but also shows the scientific method. We used the scientific method to show our knowledge of circuits and electricity. To do this, we added circuits to our metaphor machines. Before we started constructing, we had to create a mindmap for our project.

This is the mind map I created for this project. With the before part of the mindmap, I show the questions that I made at the start of the project. I later then show the after part of my mind map. This shows the answers to each of my questions.

After I completed the mindmap, my group and I (Grace and Ben) started working on building the machine. We started cutting wood, gluing pegs, and drilling holes. We ended up creating a pretty cool machine that shows the scientific method. It starts by knocking down different panels that show our observation, then it knocks down a bigger panel showing our hypothesis. After that, the ball hits a switch which symbolizes the experiment. The circuit is activated and the light switches on. The ball then hits some pegs which symbolize us analyzing data. As the ball continues to roll, it falls into a box that symbolizes the conclusion. Below is our metaphor machine video. Enjoy!

Below are the following competencies that I had to follow for this project.  I’m going to talk about what I think I did well at, and what I need to improve at.

Questioning and Predicting:

Questioning and Predicting means that I demonstrate that I am curious about the topic or problem. This also includes that I used my class time efficiently without distractions. I think most of the time I did well at showing my curiosity and knowledge about the topic. I think that I need to work better on blocking out distractions. For this project, I did pretty well at this but there were times where I got distracted and I could have used my time better. I can try to fix this by isolating myself from distractions and focusing more on the task at hand.

Reasoning and Analyzing:

Reasoning and Analyzing mean how accurate our machine is. I’d say that our machine is fairly accurate. We double-checked all of our measurements together to see if we all got the same result. We used the rulers for some of the lines we needed to make to make sure it was accurate. We also drew where we wanted everything to be glued, cut, and drilled. This helped us and it would be something I’d remember to do again.

Planning and Conducting:

Planning and Conducting is about properly using the equipment and technology to create our metaphor machine. We were able to use all of the equipment such as the drill, saw, and soldering iron. We were also able to build a proper circuit that activated lights when a switch was flipped. We also created our machine so that the ball would hit the switch and trigger our machine. On our diagram, we had our written observations and hypothesis behind each panel. We also had our conclusion marked on our box at the bottom of our machine. Overall, I think my group and I did well at showing this competency and the skills we’ve learned from it.

Scientific Communication:

Scientific communication is all about the video and how you used the scientific language and scientific method.  We showed the scientific method well with clear voice overs and titles.  We also had clean video clips that showed off our metaphor machine.  It was also organized in a way where everything together really explained the scientific method well to the audience.  From creating this video, I think I have become a better video editor and learned to work with a short amount of clips to make a great video.