Almost 2 months ago we started a new project in our Sciematics class. Our project was based on light (lasers) and triangles (pythagorean theorem). Of course, we had a driving question to guide us through our project. Our driving question was “How are the side lengths of a right angle triangle related to each other” Our teacher was thankfully able to teach us in a way so we would easily comprehend, understand and retain the knowledge he taught to us, while still keeping each class fun. At least I know that I finished with much more knowledge on the topic.
Throughout the project we were assessed on these four competencies,
Communicating and representing,
Applying and innovating,
Questioning and predicting,
The big idea.
I have shown my proficiency in communicating and representing by properly using the pythagorean theorem to calculate the sides of the triangle shown in our laser maze. In my group of Keenan and Logan, we all worked together to take our time when measuring our laser maze to make sure it looked right and was correct (following the pythagorean theorem).
The ship containing our laser maze.
I showed my understanding in applying and innovating by working together in a group with Logan and Keenan to design and create a laser maze in a aesthetically different and interesting way (inside a Star-Wars ship). Every group member contributed equally in our own ways into the design process and final creation of our product, a Republic Star-Destroyer. This, combined with our knowledge of the pythagorean theorem helped us work interdependently to combine all our ideas into one the create our final product.
The main part of this project was understanding the “big idea”. The big idea for this project was “light energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave”. I showed my understanding of the big idea by using the law of reflection to create a laser path, including a right angle triangle that bounces of two mirrors and comes out the hole still as a strong laser.
I strengthened my questioning and predicting significantly by demonstrating continuous interest in the topic. I never let up. I kept questioning how I could make this or that better or how changing this would affect that. Something that I found captivating was how you could reflect something that looks so fragile and transparent into almost anything you want! Another thing I found interesting was how you could find the third side of a triangle by just using the simple formula of. a² + b² = c².
All in all throughout this project I’ve really grown as a learner. After the project, I’ve felt as though I’ve retained the knowledge we learned during this project. I dove into this unit not even knowing what a pythagorean theorem was. Coming out of it I now have deeper knowledge and awareness into the subject. I learnt so much in the last 2 months about lasers, light and triangles. It’s a good feeling finally finishing off this project, but it’s also kind of sad knowing we won’t be learning much more about I topic that I enjoyed greatly.
That was what I took out of and learned throughout the project called Mazer Tag.
Leave a Reply