This week, we continued our flashlight project. On Monday, I cut my pipes and got all the materials I needed. I also drew my wires on my diagram and measured them out. On Tuesday, I cut all the wires needed for my switch and soldered them with the switch, battery, and light. On Wednesday, I put together my flashlight. Believe it or not, it works! I colored my flashlight in the middle blue, and on the lights end, red. Since I finished everything with a bit of time left, I worked on my arrows. On Thursday, people were still working on their switches so I helped 3-4 people out to finish them. On Friday, the people who didn’t finish their switches finished them and everyone else tried to make a block tower of a certain design. I used the first 10-15 minutes of class trying to build the correct tower but it wasn’t standing up by itself. I used the rest of class to help more people finish their flashlights.

On Monday this week, we watched a video about pollution and how bad plastic is for the environment. On Tuesday, Mr. Calvert told us a about our new flashlight project. He introduced it with a true story about how kids got stuck in a cave for 2 weeks without food or light! Our goal was to make flashlights for them so they could see. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I spent my time drawing my diagram and measuring the pipes. Next week I am going to do the rest and hopefully have it finished soon.

On Monday, it was Memorial Day so we didn’t have school. On Tuesday I thought of an idea for my third switch. I thought of it and made it. It works by turning a switch which moves a cemi-circle. When the cemi-circle moves one side of it touches the tin foil on another piece of cardboard. On Wednesday and Thursday it was time for other people to finish up their switches. At first I was going to make a giant sling shot but instead I decided to make a bow and arrow.

This week, we started our electricity unit. Our goal is to make three switches. We learned about batteries and how to make switches work. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I finished my first switch. I didn’t have many ideas for my next 2 switches but I eventually thought of something. On Thursday and Friday I made my second switch. My first switch works by putting down one Side of the clip which makes the other side touch the tin foil above it. For the next switch, you pull back a piece of cardboard which is connecting to another piece, pulling it back. The piece of cardboard has tin foil on it and when it is pulled, it hits a wall which also has tin foil on it, causing the two pieces to touch. I’m still thinking of an idea for my third switch.

This week, we start our soldering projects! When we came in our Monday we got to work with pliers and wires. We first just made the circle shape of our jewelry. On Tuesday, we cut off the access pieces of wire and made the big knot where the ring was. On Wednesday, we put the paste thing on our brainstorming sheet. On Wednesday and Thursday I did the inside of the ring. By the end of Thursday I just finished my soldering. On Friday, we had a sub but he let me do what I needed to do since I knew how to. I added a chain to the necklace. I know its late but im going to give the necklace to my mom for Mother’s Day.

This week I finished up my heart necklace for by brother. On Monday I made sure all my calculations were correct and that I liked everything I put on the necklace. On Tuesday I checked it with my teacher one last time and put it in the “needs to print” folder. In the next three days, I finally got to finish the necklace. I painted it with silver paint and used a screw driver to make sure the writing was still there. I finished by using the drill press to make a hole in it where I felt like I was going to cut my fingers off. Luckily I didn’t. It was my first time using the drill press so i was a little excited.

This week, we had our first week where we only had workshop days. We had our playlist started and we worked on our laser cuts. At first I just made a Mets logo that I forgot to put in the “Needs to Print” folder in google drive. (I put it in this morning) Then, we learned to scale and we started making things to scale. Personally, I made a necklace for my brother to give to his girlfriend. The base was a heart, and on the necklace it said my brothers initial and his girlfriends first initial with a “+” in between. For the whole that goes to the chain, it was also a mini heart. I made it so it was 1/16 an inch per box.

This week in technology, we continued the talk about atoms and the periodic table. On Tuesday, we used ofluvia or static electricity to make the aluminum foil in a can separate from each other.  We went through every element on the periodic table and how people tried to make gold. Thursday was our first workshop day! What we did was learn how to use the laser cutter and then make a banner. Back to the ofluvia, I happened to take a video of it so here it is:

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This week was our welcoming week! 🙂 It was our first week of tech. The first two days we spent the whole class going over rules and what our weeks would look like, and I can tell you I’m very excited. The next day we did a scavenger hunt around the room to open 3 locks. It was one half of the class vs the other. The next two days we learned about neutrons, protrons, electrons, gold,  bronze, atoms, and the rest of the periodic table.