3D Printing – Possibilities and Impacts

3D printing has changed the way things are manufactured.

I looked around my house to find things that thought may have been 3D printed. 3D printing is when you digitally make something and then you send it to the printer. The printer then makes the object by making it layer by layer. (This can be seen in the picture above.) The printer melts down filament which is a spool of  material which is commonly plastic. It then takes the melted filament, puts it in print head which distributes the filament onto the print plate. 3D printers can be used to make food, art body parts, toys, or even houses. I think that my garbage bin, some folders and my Invisalign are all 3D printed. Below is a picture of a filament spool

One of the things that 3D printing effects is the environment. 3D printing can be  very sustainable.  It can be sustainable because the filament can be melted down and turned into new filament. This way, when people are done with objects or if it is waste, they can reuse it to make the filament something new and the cycle can continue. This way, we can recycle things instead of letting it become landfill or pollution, it can be something new and great. 3D printers sometimes use renewable bioplastic.

3D printing is also getting into the art world. It gives artist many new opportunities. They can either make sculptures or pottery or even food art without having to be good with their hands. Some people are very creative, but they aren’t good at the actual “making” part of art. This gives these people new ways to become artists.  Below is a picture of a really cool piece of 3D printed art.

As you can tell, 3D printing has many benefits.

Timber Harvest

Through the help from four videos about timber harvest, I was able to learn a lot about how timber was harvested in the past and about how it is harvested now. Before watching these videos, I was curious about how enormous trees were cut down before they had machines to do it. I wondered this because it didn’t seem reasonable to cut down the tree at once because it may fall on someone or something if it is very large. I learned from the first two videos about harvesting in the early 1900s, that what they do is they have someone climb to the top of the tree and cut the top off. They call that person a topper. This way the big trees don’t come down at once. Then when they do that  a group of people cut down the bottom of the tree. I never realized  before watching the first two videos that a whole team is needed for this job.

On the far left is a photo of people cutting down the bottom of a tree in the early 1900s. In the center of the post is a photo of a topper cutting the top of the tree off.

Another thing I found interesting about timber harvesting was the way it changed over time. During the 1900’s most of the process was done manually, but now most of it is done by technology. One example is that what I described earlier was how they typically brought a tree down in the earlier 1900s. Now they don’t use toppers or a group of people at the bottom of the tree. Instead they use cranes driven by  people. They are shown in the picture on the left.

 

Another way that it changed was the way that they transported the wood. In the earlier 1900s they had to build trains and tracks in order to transport it. Now they just use trucks. This makes it much easier to transport the timber.

 

Building

I think building something means that you are taking an idea or creation that you thought of and you make it a reality. In other words, I think when you build something you’re taking and making it something real that you can use. I think that something built can look a million different ways.  One thing that I built was a flashlight last year in technology.  During parts of the building process, I was confused because I had never built something like that before it was also pretty challenging. Because of this, at the end of the process I was really proud of myself. The flashlight is still in my room today, but I don’t think I have used it because I haven’t needed a flashlight. I probably will use it at some point when I need one. Here is a photo of it:

I personally love to build and create things. My favorite parts of building something is  being able to decorate it at the end and being able to see what I can accomplish at the end. Building and creating things are very different from my regular hobbies. Doing things like building allow me to physically create something by myself, which I don’t usually do.

My Photo Essay

For my photo essay I chose the words:

Lonely

Strange

Inspiring

I chose the word lonely because we don’t really get to see anybody for real anymore. I chose the word strange because we have never had anything like this and everyday the story is new. I chose the word inspiring because  we can take time to try and learn new things. My piece will have some pictures of each of these  things. Some will be for comedic purposes, but most will be more serious. My photo essay’s message will be that even though this time is really hard and boring, we have to make the best of it. I hope this essay helps and gets people inspired to do new things during this time.  Here is a very rough sketch of my photos.

Fantasy Post # 2

The Analytical Paragraph:

I like that we don’t have to worry as much about structure. It makes it easier when we don’t have to have three body paragraphs and a introduction & conclusion. We don’t have to worry if some look much shorter than the others do because they are all together. I finds this comforting because I like my paragraphs to be about the same length, and when there is just one large one, I don’t have to worry about how it looks. Also the introduction and conclusion don’t have to be as formal. In other words, it can just bleed into the evidence and analysis. In my opinion that makes it easier to write them. I find it interesting that you can prove a topic, have a conclusion and a introduction in just one paragraph. I also found it interesting that I had the capability of writing a  two page paragraph!

I found it challenging to keep track of the different parts of the paragraph. It is easier to edit an essay because you can take it piece by piece. For example I can edit and perfect my introduction, and after that I can do the same to my first paragraph, and so on. When writing an analytical paragraph it is MUCH harder to edit because I have to edit a part and then I’ll loose my place and start reading the entire thing again. This can be pretty time consuming when you have a two-page paragraph.

I just finished my first analytical paragraph press here  if you would like to read it. I think it was some of my best analytical work.

Here is an excerpt from it. This is personally my favorite part of the paragraph because I think I did a nice job or bringing all f the evidence together in a conclusion. I am very proud of it.

Overall, this is an important thing to remember when reviewing Harry’s traits. Harry’s family left a mark on his confidence, that hopefully he can get rid of. So in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone Harry Potter who lives in a closet under the stairs in his uncle’s house and who gets a very small amount of value in the family is self conscious because of his family. 

Fantasy Post #1

To be honest, I really dislike fantasy books. I am defiantly not into them. I’m not really sure why, but I always have. I guess it is because I can’t picture the crazy things that happen. I enjoy to picture things that CAN happen.

Because of this I haven’t read that many fantasy books. I have only read The Giver and Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone. I didn’t like either of them, but if I had to chose I guess I liked Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone more. I didn’t love it though, because It got really confusing a didn’t make sense. There were parts that I had to read more then once in order to understand them.

I chose the books: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Among the Hidden, & Tuck Everlasting.

I chose Harry Potter and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe because I figured that if they were going to be my first true fantasy books, then I  might as well go with classics. I chose Among The Hidden because I had heard of it and It sounded interesting. I also thought of it because I read a book by the same author that I enjoyed. For my fourth book, I got a recommendation because I couldn’t think of another book to read.


 

Passion Project Post #7: The Final Post

I think one of the good things about doing this project outside of school is how we can take this project at our own pace. For example if half of my class has finished one part of the assignment it doesn’t affect me as long as I get it done at the end. I also liked how we were able to be super independent in this project. What I mean is we got to make all the decisions about where are project was gonna go. It also helped us learn how to be more responsible.

Some of the challenges of being outside of school was  staying focused. Because we are in our houses during this time it was much easier to get distracted from our work. For example when you sit in your room you are tempted to play outside or use your phone. When we were in school this wasn’t a problem because we had more rules. Another challenge was not being able to easily communicate with my teacher. In other words if I needed help or clarification, I was mostly on my own. Even though this was a challenge I am happy it happened because I think it taught me to problem solve these kind of things better.

During this project I learned that my time management skills have room for improvement. In other words during  this project I did a ton of procrastinating and pushing back deadlines. I think in the future I will know to discipline myself more when it comes to getting a project done. Because we were not in school I think I had to learn to trust my gut more. What I mean is in the past, I liked to ask: is this good? Because there was no teacher near me during this project I had to ask myself: is this good and is this the best I can do.

Overall, I think that the passion project taught me a lot, and not just about pickleball.

Passion Project Post #6: My Final Project

At last we are at the end of The Passion Project 2020! It took a lot to get here. Such as Noodletools, 5 previous blog posts, and a whole lot of researching, but I made it!

This is a picture of my WeVideo presentation. If you didn’t know that is what it looks like when you are making one.

For my final project I am making a mix of a WeVideo and a Slideshow. What I mean is that I am making a WeVideo that includes a how-to video and pre-made slides. I chose to use WeVideo because we used it quite a bit in elementary school and I think I am pretty good at it. I also chose it because I could do voiceovers. I also included videos of me giving examples on how to play the game. I chose to use this format because I personally, would rather watch a 5 minute video that is exciting versus just reading a presentation for ten minutes. I also thought that a video would be much more fun to make. I am really excited to share this video because pickleball isn’t a known sport so I know that my audience will  learn something from my project. I also hope it inspires them to play the game themselves.

Overall, I liked this project and I think it was a great way to pass time during these past few weeks.

Passion Project Post #5: Challenges

One of the biggest challenges I had was finding sources. This is because pickleball is not a none sport. I spent a lot of time trying to find sources. I tried sources that usually have everything such as Brittanica and World Book. There was not a single thing about pickleball on the school databases. This meant that I  had to start searching google for sources. I was lucky because I was able to find a few great sources. Such as the USAPA website. I am very grateful that I was able to overcome this struggle within a few days.

Another problem I faced was time management. I kept pushing back my deadlines. For example, I had planned to finish researching around Wednesday, but then I decide Thursday, then Friday, then I finished it on Saturday. At first I was worried that I wouldn’t complete the project in time. Luckily I worked really hard and was able to catch up. Now I am once again on track to finish on Friday.

Passion Project Post #4: Learning About Myself

Time Manager:

I learned that I am a person who likes to set a plan and a layout at the very beginning of the project. I also learned that when I do this, I am not  realistic. I had planned to finish all of my research before April started. When I made this plan I didn’t think about the fact that I also had other homework and April wasn’t very far away. So obviously I didn’t reach my goal, but I don’t really care because looking back, there was no way I was going to. I think I am making good progress either way. I am on track to finish in a few days. I have also learned that after my non-realistic plain fails I come up with a new one, that actually makes sense.

I think that realizing my flaws is really helpful so that next time I have a big project, I will try to be realistic in my initial plan. I think this will benefit because the earlier I have a plan the better.

I also learned that I am not good at understanding what I am capable of in the amount of time I have. At first I was planning to have three or four final projects, but I won’t have time for that no matter how hard I try. Again after I realized that my plan wouldn’t work, I fixed it. I narrowed it down to a how-to video and possibly a slideshow.

I am glad that I took this time to review my time management  skills. I never really thought about it until today. In the future I hope to I correct my flaws, so this project can be my best work.

 

Reader/ writer:

As a writer I have learned that taking notes in color based on sources and making them really colorful helps me stay organized. I am really glad I took Mr. DeBerry’s suggestion and did it that way. This is because next time I do a research project, I can use this format to help me.

As a reader I have learned that when I read things that spark my interest, I remember them more. In other words if I was doing a research project on something I don’t care about, then I wouldn’t remember it as much. I am not really sure why that is, but it’s true.

 

Learner:

As a learner I have learned that writing everything that I have to do out in the morning is very helpful. I think this is because I get to physically see what I need to do that day. Also it removes the risk that I will forget to do an assignment. I also learned that I mentally feel better when I get to have the chance to erase something. This is why I don’t love long projects because even if I do a lot of it, I still feel that I didn’t do enough. (If in the photo and in the writer portion you didn’t notice, I like to color code.)

This is my daily homework schedule format.