How can we represent the scientific method?

What factor affect the function and efficiency of electric circuits?

Introduction:

This project was extremely long and challenging however, at the end I had both a good understanding of the scientific method and how to use circuits. At the start of the project I never heard words such as loads used in the context of electricity. Moreover, this project really made me understand what exactly is electricity with hands on activity and lab report. In general, I hope learn more like we did in this project in the future.

 Milestone 1: Mind-map 

This mind-map was my first step in understanding how electricity works. Most of the information present in the mind-map I didn’t fully comprehend what it meant. This is due to me just looking through the text book and typing the definition of a certain word I thought was interesting. One thing I think I did well on this part of the project was making pretty designs which complimented the information presented. However, if I were going to do this project again I would make sure to understand what I put on the mind-map. Overall, this part of the project was a great introduction for what we would do next.

Milestone 2: Electricity Lab #2&#3

The Electricity Lab #2 & #3 saw me apply the knowledge that I had learned from the textbook. For these lab reports we had to calculate the voltage, current and resistance of a parallel and series circuit. Electricity Lab # 2 was my first time working with wires and creating a series circuit. This experiment was successful and helped me improve my knowledge on math and electricity. Electricity Lab #3 was not a successful however, I still taught me quite a lot about electricity and the scientific method. In the third one my group messed up the voltmeter which made our results wrong. One thing I wished I did differently in this project was to contribute more to my group when creating the circuits. However, I think I made a neat and descriptive lab report which I am very proud about. Overall, this part of the project taught me so much on electricity and how to create an awesome lab report.

Milestone 4: Blueprint Part 1

The blueprint part  was most likely my favourite part of the project. This is due to how much creative freedom I had for what I create for the blueprint. Additionally, I also included some math in my blueprint which I had a very fun time calculating. If I were going to do the blueprint again I would make sure to make mine more neat. However, I think did an amazing job at the math and making clever contraptions. Overall, I hope we are given this creative freedom again.

Milestone 6: Video Presentation

Creating the Rube-Goldberg machine for the video was a long process that took weeks.    This Rude-Goldberg has parts of each of our blueprints and included pictures of the scientific method on the board. Moreover, the Rube-Goldberg caused the switching on of two circuits. One things I wished I improved upon this project was contributing more to my group. I feel like for the building of the machine I didn’t do as much as I could of done. However, I think I did an excellent job at creating the script and coming up with a few ideas for the Rube-Goldberg machine. Overall, this project has really made me understand both how to make a complex machine and the scientific method. 

Core Competences

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

I believe for this competence I have fully met it. This is due to me spending most of my class time not fooling around and focusing on the task at hand. I always handed my work on time or at the very least a few minutes late and took notes on all of the textbook pages. However, one slight thing I need to improve upon on this competence is taking the charge when I don’t understand topic. Overall, I think I nailed this part of the project.

Reasoning and analyzing: Estimate reasonably

I feel for this part of the project I did a mostly good job on. For my lab report and first blue print all my mathematical information was accurate. Additionally, I showed the progress for which I got to this conclusion. I showed each of my measurement and a reference photo in my first blue print. One thing I wished I improved on mine was triple checking to make sure all my information is correct. In general, I think I have the potential to do better in the next project. 

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

For this part of the project I think I a decent job. I believe I used the right equipment and my group planned out all the steps in this project using the blueprint. Moreover, these blue prints were great instruction for telling us what we need to do next in the project. However, I wished I made a more neat blueprint thus it would be easier for me to understand it. In general, I hope to improve this competence next year.

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

I think for this part of the project I completely nailed it. This is partly due to how well my team worked together. Moreover, our final video explained all our contraptions in detail and how exactly they relate to the scientific method. Even though it took us many takes, we were able to take a video of all the contraptions in our video working. Overall, I hope I can continue nailing this competence in the next project.

Conclusion

In general, this project was fun however, I’m glad it is over. This is project has gone for weeks and even though it taught me a great deal about electricity, I’m thankful I can finally be done with this project. Moreover, this project really helped me be better at collaborating with others. In general, what I learned from this project I will most defiantly used in both school and life.