Mind Over Matter is a section we did for science, all about states of matter, atoms and everything to do with these things. Part of this section was a bit of review, but I learned a lot and learned more deeply about things that I had previously known, and did a lot of cool projects to showcase my knowledge.
Keystone 1: Who Am I?
The first keystone we did was about mass, volume and density and how to find it in objects. We learned about how the state of matter the element was in effected its volume, density and mass, and why. The keystone was called Who Am I because for the final project of the keystone we had to find an object inside our classroom, document its mass, volume and density and any other attributes of the object, and then the teacher would have to guess what it could be. This keystone was fun and overall a good project to start off more in depth learning in the future keystones.
Keystone 2: Gummy bear diffusion
For this keystone, we learned more about the states of matter, and learned more about the lesser-known element: plasma, as well as the terms to define and describe how matter changes and to what state. Then we learned about the kinetic molecular theory and how it defines matter, and how that matter exists and changes depending on the state and environment it is in.
Then we learned about certain simple chemical reactions and did some fun lab experiments. Then we learned about diffusion, which takes us to our main project for this keystone, the gummy bear diffusion. In the gummy bear diffusion project, we learned about how gummy bears will “diffuse”, and grow if put in water for around 24 hours.
Our project was to choose different things that could theoretically affect the physical appearance of the gummy bear or the water (salt, vinegar, temp of water, etc.), and put it in the beaker. Then we had to document the entire process of doing so, and every change that occurred after one day, compared to gummy bears diffused in just room temp water, in a keynote presentation and present it.
I found this project super interesting and enjoyable because I did not even know that gummy bears grew in water at all, and it was interesting to have the tools to have fun with affecting and experimenting with how the gummy bears would diffuse and hypothesizing the result. Here are some visuals of the gummy bears, and the link to my keynote presentation.
These are some of them before diffusion:
And these are some after:
Here is the link: file:///private/var/mobile/Library/Mobile%20Documents/com~apple~Keynote/Documents/Presentation%2018.key
Keystone 3+ Finish line (Final Project): Video Game Pitch and Coded Game
Keystone 3, the final keystone (including the finish line), was the most interesting and fun keystone yet. In it, we learned about what atoms are composed of, and then got strait to our final project, pitching and coding a game on scratch, a simple coding platform where you can both code games and play others, that incorporated what we had learned overall! I would say this keystone was more about reflecting and showcasing what we had learned so far, which is what put it apart from the other two keystones.
First, we had to pitch what our game would be to the teacher in order to approve it for creation. This would include talking about how the game would be showcasing aspects of what we learned in a way that it relevant and understandable, and showing what the game itself would look like and how it would work on a rough basis. Then we coded our games.
I found coding my game super fun, and I learned a lot about scratch and coding along the way. I created a game called Electron Dodge, in which you are an electron and you have to dodge other electrons for a high score. It showcases my learning in this project because it is about electrons buzzing around a distant atom, and if they crash together it could potentially disrupt the magnetic balance of the atom.