Metaphor Machines, that is the name of my most recent scimatics project. For this project the driving questions we had to answer were “How can we represent the scientific method? And What factors affect the function and efficiency of electric circuits?”. I answered these questions with all the stepping stones, worksheets, and milestones that all contributed to the end product, a metaphor machine. 

We started off this project with a start mind map to write down the knowledge I already had about electrical circuits and the scientific method. Then just a few days ago I added to that mind map with the knowledge I have learn though out this project. 

Start mind map:

End mind map:

After the start mind map we did workbooks to learn more about electrical circuits. We also did an experiment on parallel and series circuits. Before we could do the experiment we needed to test the voltage and current in a science simulator. I found the simulator very helpful because it meant I could visually see what the workbooks were talking about.  

We also took a khan academy test on scale diagrams. I found this really difficult to do but in the end I understood what the test was about. After the test we drew our own scale drawings of what we thought our metaphor machines could look like. I had some trouble with showing all the steps in the scientific process but in the end i love the creativity that came with putting it all together. 

Here is my individual blueprint:

We ended off this project with the final product a metaphor machine that shows the 7 steps of the scientific process. I worked in a group of four to create this metaphor machine and a final scale drawing blueprint of it. My group had a lot of trouble getting the machine to work. We especially had trouble with the questioning step where we had a cup move down with the added weight of a marble. In the end we did get everything to work and we did show all 6 steps of the scientific method. We then took a video with voiceovers to show our machine.

Curricular competencies:

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

I think I did an accomplished job on this competency as i used all my class time efficiently and went to lac during class time to work on workbooks without distractions. I also showed this competency when my group fell behind on our machine and came in during flex time to try to finish building the circuits part of the metaphor machine.   

Reasoning and Analyzing: Estimate reasonably.

I showed how I accomplished this competency in the math test, individual blueprints and in the final blueprint. The math test took me long but i did get to understand how draw things The final blueprint has a grid scale, all lines are easy to see, and it is complete and accurate. 

 

Planning and conducting:Select and use appropriate equipment, including digital technologies, to systematically and accurately collect and record data. 

I think my team and I did a good job one this curricular y competency. We hand built all the machine parts including the circuits. We included in our machine both a working parallel and series circuit that were turned on at different times. We included our circuit diagrams in our final blueprint.  

 

Scientific Communication: Formulate physical or mental models to describe a phenomenon

I think my team did really well on this part of the project. We created a video with the whole machine working and slow motion videos of every part of the scientific method. All six of the steps were clearly shown in the video and explained in the voice overs. One thing I think we did really well on was that to show the observe step one of my teammates created a spiral with an eye on it. 

I really enjoyed the creativity of creating a metaphor machine out of cardboard, wood, and anything else we could find. I did find it hard closer to the end of the project to get the whole machine to work and I am very glad I came early during flex time to work on it. This was a very cool project where I got to grow my knowledge on scale drawing and electrical circuits.