This unit was really fun! We got to go threw the whole process of being a engineer and I thought that is really fun. When Ms. Edwards first told us about this project I was really excited but I didn’t know what to expect. It was harder and easier that I thought. It was harder because it was a little stressful trying to get things done by a certain day but it was easier because we already knew what we were gonna do next. When it came time to test out our rube goldberg I was nervous but excited. Overall I really enjoyed this unit.
Last week my teacher introduced my classmates and I to a project we will be working on over the next month. A Rube Goldberg machine!! You had the choice to work alone or in a small group. A Rube Goldberg machine is when there is a complicated chain reaction just to do a simple task.
For my Rube Goldberg I’m working with my friend Kate. I chose to work with Kate because we work really well together. I wanted to work with someone because 2 brains can make a stronger project. From the start we knew exactly what we wanted to do. Although we knew exactly what we wanted to do we still thought of more ideas. We finally narrowed it down to a few:
-turning on a phone
-opening a app on a phone
-cracking a egg
We still weren’t sure so we had to put a lot more thought into it and how we would do it. After awhile we decided to open a app on a phone.
Through out this project I think Kate and I worked very well together. Whenever we met we already knew what we were gonna work on. We planned ahead of time. We didn’t argued much because we basically had the same ideas. When we came to a spot where we disagreed we thought about what would be best for this project, then we tested both ideas out. We argued about how we were gonna get our task to work but tested each idea out and quickly found out which one worked better. Kate and I always work well together so I wasn’t surprised.
When we had to come up with ideas we didn’t disagree. We came up with ideas if we didn’t want to use it then, we picked our favorite. We didn’t disagree about our ideas at all so we were quick to decide. When we had to think about how we were gonna make our task work we realized that it didn’t work so we had to come up with another idea.
When we built and sketched our Rube Goldberg it went very smoothly. We tested each part out to make sure that it all worked before adding it together. After we tested each part we sketched it so there was nothing to argue about.
Overall, Kate and I worked really well together and it couldn’t of gone more smoothly.
When we first started editing we started with by discussing what we needed in the video. We figured out that we needed a intro, fails, success, credits and a slow motion. Kate brother Kyle showed us were to find different songs, themes and backgrounds. When it was time to put the slow motion in it was unclear what was happening so we had to get creative and decide to re film it at different angles.
One challenge we faced was getting the volume and music well balanced. Another challenge we faced is was making sure everything was correct in terms of grammar. We were able to face all of our challenges with a little bit of help from Kyle.
Even though the process took really long I really like the way the video turned out.
When we started to build we started with how we were gonna start it. We tested out a bunch of things the could work and found the best one. Next we built how we were gonna finish it. Since we already knew how we were gonna finish it we got right to work. We wanted to build the start and end and fill in the middle. After we were done with the end we when back to the begin and added on. Then we added on to the end and found a way for each side to meet together. We built each part separately and tested them out. When we made sure that each part worked then added it all together.
When it came time to do our sketch we gathered materials and studied them to see what we could do with them. Then we thought about how we could make our task work. We soon realized the it would be hard so we decided to change our idea. We put a lot of thought into because we wanted our idea to be the perfect fit. After awhile of thinking we finally came up with our idea. We figured out how we could get it to work. We thought that it would be easier to work backwards then work forwards so we drew out how we would end it then worked backwards. It was a struggle because we weren’t sure what would work and what wouldn’t. We decided that we would test things out then draw it out so we can change our decision easily because we had already tried it.
Today we presented our rocketry slideshow. 3 out of the 5 groups went: Rockets Inc., Radical Rockets and Rocket Crushers. The remaining groups: Flying Savages and The Rampaging Rockets would go tomorrow. On both days the Rocketry Unit Overview group would go. The class was divided into 5 groups with 4 members in each group. I was in Rockets Inc. and the Rocketry Unit Overview.
For each Rocket we had to design, build, launch and reflect. As we were in the process we had to make a slideshow that took you through the experience. We had to include our thoughts and why we made a decision or why we changed something to improve our rocket.
I was pretty nervous for the presentation. We started practicing The Rocketry Unit Overview about a week ago so we weren’t as prepared. However we have been working on the slideshow since the beginning of the year and started practicing it at least a month ago. I thought that I did much better then I expected.