The scimatics project with the most problematic app ever.

Hello and welcome or welcome back to my blog

For our most recent scimatics project, we had to make a 3d model of an object that was maximized for either surface area or volume. We had to use 3d shapes to make the model using an app called Tinkercad. I’ll tell you about why I dislike the app later though. This was an interesting project, as my procrastination skills improved a little bit from last time, and I actually got things done for once, but I also definitely could have done a few things in more detail.

Now. Let’s explain why I dislike the app. At the start of this project, my keyboard was completely not working. Tinkercad functions mostly using the arrow keys, and many other keys on a funcional keyboard (not the onscreen one) so it was extremely difficult to use. I did end up buying a new keyboard though. It was also difficult to place things in the exact right area, because when you would think something was in the right place, it would be floating in the air, in some random place. At first all of the designs were like this, but then I decided that it would be much easier to make the house out of two main shapes, just a giant rectangular prism and a giant triangular prism. This made the entire thing so much easier. You may be wondering what Tinkercad is right now. Tinkercad is a 3d modeling app that allows you to create 3d models. You can use a variety of different shapes to create things. That’s about it.

Now on to everyone’s favourite part of scimatics blog posts, drum roll please………

THE CORE COMPETENCIES!!!!!!

Now, as we know by now, there are three main core competencies. They are:

Applying and innovating: Contribute to care for self, others, community, and world through personal or collaborative approaches. All class time is used efficiently for Learning without distractions. For this competency, I think that I was in between approaching and accomplished. I did some of my work in class, but sometimes I was really distracted by something, or I just wasn’t fully paying attention. I think that for the next scimatics project, I should really focus on giving my full attention to what is happening in class, as well as completing as much of the work as I can in class, so I don’t have to do a lot of excess work.

Reasoning and Analyzing: Model mathematics in contextualized experiences. A 3D object is designed using TinkerCad or other design software. The design is optimized for either maximum volume or maximum surface area. The design should include at least 10 basic 3D shapes. For this competency, I think that I was in between developing and accomplished. Although I did not have 10 completely different shapes, I did have 4 different shapes, which were varying in size. For my 3d model, I made a house, and to add more shapes to the model, I added a deck, and some trees. The house was designed with maximum volume in mind, though I was worried that the surface area would be larger than the volume, but in the end the volume was larger than the surface area by a ton.

Communicating and Representing: Explain and justify mathematical ideas and decisions. The surface area and volume are measured, calculated, and compared for efficiency. These factors are explained in detail in a keynote presentation to the class. For this competency, I think that I was accomplished. I had a keynote completed, and though it was not decorated or anything, It still got the job done. It had all of the formulas, the calculations, and the driving question. It also had the surface area to volume ratio, though it should have been simplified. This was when the times that I hadn’t payed attention in class came back to bite me, because we even did a lesson on how to simplify ratios, and I hadn’t been paying attention, so I couldn’t figure out how to do it.

Fun fact, after I was done presenting my project, my class was clapping, and then the other scimatics 8 class across the hall started clapping. They heard my class clapping and decided that they were going to clap too.

Here is my completed keynote just so people can look at it.