How can we represent the scientific method? What factors affect the function and efficiency of electric circuits? These questions helped us get through and build our Rube-Goldberg style metaphor machines. These machines had to include hand crafted series of parallel circuits. First we started with a random prototype, without any circuits of any structur of the scientific method. 

`From here we started building on how electrical currents, circuits and charges work, so that we could incorporate them in our final machines. We started this with an experiment, using a Van de Graaff generator, and the results were quite satisfactory. 

Liam (whos featured in this video), his hair slowly rose, due to the charges and electrons flowing from the generator to him. We started to dive into this aspect, and did workbooks to strengthen our knowledge on electrical circuits.

Competency One: Resasong and Analyzing

This competency was used in many areas of this project. First, the Khan Academy Scale Diagrams was a small course we took that explain how to make scale diagrams. We were required to score 4/4 on our final quiz. I decided to take my time on this part, becuase I really wanted to understand this and I didn’t quit until I understood what I was doing. The second part was constructing our final blueprints. Attempt #1 was our ideas and final was our groups ideas all combined. These final ideas had to be made into a blueprint that had the correct measurements, and our final plan looked like this.

Ultimately, we had to cut out parts of this design in the real machine because the things that we were going to add were hôte unsafe and could’ve been roblematic if we ever presented it. 

Competency Two: Scientific Communtication

This competency was based on our final video we created and presented to the class on Tuesday. The video had to include the fully functioning machine with a voiceover(s) added which explain the sequence of the scientific method, which was what the machines were based upon. 

 I feel that we succeeded in fulfilling this competency, and all the requirement were there. I just wish we would’ve used our time effectively and efficiently, and if we did that we could’ve added cooler and way better parts to this already great machine. Something we struggled upon was managing our time, which will definitely become a priority in my next project. 

 

Competency Three: Planning and Conducting

This competency revolves around the actual structure, the hand built circuits and the efficiany of this machine. I feel our machine met these standards, but our diagrams and the actual look of the machine could’ve been improved, which was again on us because we didn’t prioritize. 

Competency Four: Questioning and Predicting 

This last competency is about using all of our class time efficiently, which I think personally I did succeed at this. When workbooks came around, even if I didn’t finish, I would do a couple pages in class to study for the future test. Building our machine was pretty good once we knew what we were doing, and our plan was clear. Our plan only became clear around the last week we had to build, so it was not a lot of time to prepare, which is something I want to work on for our next project. 

Project End Mind-Map: The Big Idea! 

Now we end with our final video of our metaphor machine in full completion! Thanks for reading!

 

 

~Malaika