Over the past few months in Scimatics, we have been working on a project titled Laser Laws. The driving question was “How can we test the Pythagorean theorem and the law of reflection.” In this project we worked with a group to create a right triangle made with a laser and mirrors. My group mates were Makai, Francis, and Owen.

The goal of this project was to represent mathematical and scientific ideas in different forms. Our aim was to co-operate as a group to create a physical product. As, always, we strived to answer the driving question.

When we started the project, we participated in an event called laser tag. In this game, we used lasers and mirrors to try and hit a target before the other team did. We then made a project start mind map. After, we learned all about lasers. We then tested our knowledge in a law of reflection experiment. When that was done, we learned about the Pythagorean theorem. Finally, we tested all of our knowledge on a digital laser triangle design.

After we came back from winter break, we met with our group and began making our triangle. Our group chose to go with an evil science theme. These are some photos of us creating our design:

Once it was set up we tested the laser triangle in the dark with some smoke. This is our completed design:

I have now gone back to the mind map and used it to reflect on what I have learned in this project. Click this link to view: Laser Laws Project End Mind Map

This is my final reflection on the project and how I think I did:

To answer the driving question, we can test the Pythagorean theorem and the law of reflection digitally using a simulator, or physically using mirrors and a laser.