This week in computer tech we did a Truss Structure Assignment. For the assignment we had to build a truss structure out of toothpicks and food connectors (carrots, apples, broccoli, etc etc).

This is how mine came out.

As you can see I made my truss structure a cube with eight food connectors and 12 toothpicks. To test the strength of my structure I stacked books on top of it until it collapsed. I got up to three books without it falling over. We had also made another structure in class that held five books, and obviously mine did not exceed this structure but still held quite a few for a small cube made out of toothpicks. I observe that mine only held three books instead of five because it wasn’t as sturdy (although quite sturdy) as the one modeled in class. This was probably because I didn’t push my toothpicks far enough into my food connectors. I also observed that as I piled books on my structure didn’t just stay in one position it slowly learned until the weight of the fourth book while having the three other books took it down, which I found interesting and now I can learn from it and make the next structure I build better. Although my truss structure wasn’t as sturdy as I could have made it, I still find it really cool how it held the weight of all three of those books. Overall I really enjoyed making my structure and I had fun and learned things from testing it. This was a really fun project!

This week in technology for my “Build a better beam” project, I needed to build two beams. One beam I needed to build for the project is called an I-beam

This is what an I-beam traditionally looks like

This is the I-beam I made using tape, glue, and cardboard

I also made a beam of my own design which looked like this

For this I also used the materials tape, glue, and cardboard

After building these beams, I had to test them. I tested them by balancing the edges of a beam on two chairs and putting a bag in the middle of the beam

which looks like the photo above. Then I would put various objects  like books, tape rolls, and pencil cases into the bag and see how many items I could fit into the bag until the beam that was being tested could no longer support it. I tested both beams one time and eventually came to the conclusion that although only by a little, the I-beam was in fact stronger then the beam of my design because it held more items. I think this was the outcome because the I-beam was slightly more secure then my beam and was more sturdy and straight. I really enjoyed making these beams and testing them because it was fun to experiment with the beams, I had a lot of fun making and testing them and I learned a lot about the strength and flexibility of I-beams, and even how I could successfully make my own. This was a really fun project!

Today in technology I explored a Nearpod about the adhesive glue. In the Nearpod I learned many things about different kinds of glue, the history of glue, and watched a demo of somebody showing different ways we can use PVA glue to make joints. One thing I learned from this Nearpod was that glue wasn’t always used for gluing things together, like paper and cardboard. In 70,000 BC they used glue to make their cave drawings last longer. But over the years glue became to be used like we use it today. I also learned glue wasn’t always made out of rubber or Polyvinyl alcohol, years ago they were made of dead horses and milk. I also learned about the setting and curing. Setting is the amount of time it takes for glue to become solid, and curing is the amount of time glue takes to be it’s maximum strength. Most of the time, the setting and curing of glue is different for each brand and sometimes different because of the weather outside. I also learned a lot from the demo I watched. I could see only from the video that there are so many ways to join material in any position with glue. I found this interesting because I didn’t know glue could do so many things. I also didn’t know many things that I learned in this nearpod, like the setting and curing of glue, how glue was used for cave paintings in early years, and glue wasn’t always made out of the material they make it today. I really enjoyed learning from this nearpod, and now I know so many different things that are super interesting and I didn’t know before.