Hey y’all, Max here.
Lasers have always been something that were interesting to me, but at the same time felt like something that was too complicated to me. Going into this project, I thought it actually looked pretty simple, despite my previous thinking. Maybe it was because I already understood most of what we were being introduced to, or that I thought what I saw was too simple. Turns out, I was very much wrong about both.
While the idea of a laser hitting glass and reflecting is simple, and easy to grasp, there is a lot more beneath the surface. Think of it like an iceberg almost; appears simple at first, but there’s a lot more underneath.
At the beginning of this project, we started a mind map to help us organize the big questions we had. Gradually, we added to it, and began to find answers for some of our questions. Mine isn’t as large as others, but I don’t think i needed to make a big mind map, just because I didn’t have a lot of questions.
I think the simplest way to answer these is just to tackle the original four, instead of answering all the question that branch out.
1 – Why does light reflect off of certain objects?
Light reflects best off of objects like glass, and chrome, mostly because they are polished, usually flat surfaces.
2 – What is the Pythagorean theorem?
the Pythagorean theorem is a theory first suggested by a Greek philosopher named Pythagorus. The theory suggests that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides.
3 – What is light made of?
Light is described in terms of a stream of photons, massless packets of energy, each travelling with wavelike properties at the speed of light.
4 – How is light created?
Light is made up of photons, which are like tiny packets of energy. When an object’s atoms heat up, photon are produced from the movement of atoms. The hotter the object, the more photons are produced.
I learned a lot from this project about lasers and reflection and all that, but more importantly I think I learned how to contribute and work with a group, and by myself. I’m not going to say I was the most helpful in the group this time around, but I think I contributed equally with everyone else in my group. This was a good experience for myself, because up until this point I had never really worked in a group on a difficult project ( excluding the first quarter of PLP ).
Curricular Competencies:
Every milestone has (a) certain curricular competencie(s) attached to them. I can explain below how I used each one, how I improved each one, or how I might need to improve each one.
Communicating and representing: How can I represent mathematical ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms?
Really, this wasn’t too difficult. for The Pythagorean theorem required me to write out the questions by hand. Symbolically, I think the laser construction website might qualify for this. I think that it is almost a symbol of learning, it shows how I learned to use this website (https://ricktu288.github.io/ray-optics/) to make a laser simulation of a right angle. And for concrete examples, I think our final product is the best choice, just because its actually Our only solid evidence of our knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem.
Questioning and predicting: How can I demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest?
I thought this was an interesting project, and I personally thought it was more interesting that our tectonic plates project. I think the best way for me to demonstrate my curiosity for this project was through my mind map, which was actually made to answer my questions, and to add more things I was curious about.
This project was sometimes fun, sometimes difficult, but never dull.
I always thought there was something interesting happening at any given time during my time spent working. If there was one thing I would change in the future, it might be to alter the amount of time spent working on one thing, but aside from that, I cant think of many things wrong with this project. It really was a fun experience.