Technology Blog Post 9

This week in Technology, we started building our switches. For my first switch I did this switch where you lift it up, rotate it, and put it down. The only problem is that it isn’t really attached to the platform but it should still work fine. For my second switch, I plan on making a little toggle-switch that you move on and off. I haven’t decided what to do for my third switch yet but I will keep thinking about it, and also probably go in during lunch so I can be finished by tomorrow.

Technology Blog Post 8

Today in Technology we started building a circuit on a breadboard. I managed to get four LED lights to light up. I thought it was fun because there were these really small things like whether the lights were pushed in a lot or not that would make it work and so I had to work small and try a lot of things. I had trouble with cutting off the edge part of the wire until I got the stronger wire cutters. I also thought that the rest of it wasn’t too hard and enjoyed it.

Technology Blog Post 7

Today we listened to the periodic table song. I thought it was okay. After that we talked about electric current and the way wires work. We did this cool simulation where you make a circuit and try to get it to work. I thought it was pretty fun. In the simulation we learned about short-circuiting and fuse boxes. I liked trying to make the most powerful lightbulb with the super-batteries.

Technology Blog Post 6

This week in Technology, we have been learning about atoms. I learned that the first recorded guy to think that atoms were a thing was this Ancient Greek philosopher. His name was Democritus. I also learned that the amount of protons an atom has decides what type of substance it is. I think the most interesting thing about atoms is that their electrons have a really small chance to  literally be on the other side of the planet at any given point.

Technology Blog Post 5

Last week in Technology I finished my light switch gear. It works pretty smoothly but sometimes it moves a little slowly. However it’s nothing that a little more force can’t fix. But because it doesn’t work on my light switch I will have to put it somewhere else. The only thing is that the plate is too thick, but I think that it’s fine because it’s still a cool thing to have.

Technology Blog Post 4

This week in Technology we watched a movie about automata. We had to watch it instead of learning about something fun or doing something fun because Mr. Calvert had more meetings. I didn’t like the movie because parts of it I found a little disgusting. For example, during one part of the movie, they had blood and organs that were probably fake but still as disgusting as their real life counterparts. Even though we learned a lot about the history of automata, I would not watch it again.

Technology Blog Post 3

Today, I finally finished my cam project, and I think it works pretty well for a first project. What I wish I had done better is align the cams to be more 180º since right now when one goes down it takes a bit for the other to go up. I also wish I had made the box better since the bottom doesn’t fit very well. Next, I’m going to be working on my crank project. I’ve already built the box and two parts of the crank and I aim to have finished the crank by the end of the week.

Technology Blog Post 2

This week we have been trying to finish up our cams project. Right now, I am on the step right after the followers and that is to build the axle, which is kind of behind compared to other people. But the good thing is that I’ve been taking my time, so I hope that in the end that my project at least works for all the time I’ve put into it. I think what I want to do is be able to make folds faster while maintaining precision. That would definitely help me speed this up since  it takes me quite a bit of time to make a good fold.

This Week

This week we learned about a simple machine called the lever. The lever has 3 parts: The fulcrum, the load, and the effort. The fulcrum is where the lever is pushing off of. The load is the thing you are trying to move, and the effort is the part you are pushing or pulling. There are 3 different types of levers. Class 1 levers are when the fulcrum is in the middle. Class 2 levers are when the load is in the middle, and class 3 levers are when the effort is in the middle. I think that levers are pretty cool because they’re really simple compared to some other simple machines but they can also be really effective.

Swift Questions

For me, my goal was to have a realistic conversation with a computer. I wanted it to seem like something a friend might text you, even though they were more getting to know you questions. One thing that I thought would be challenging was adapting to Swift when I have only a week or two’s experience with it. I found it to be surprisingly easy because Swift is really easy to read and understand once you do it a couple of times. I found it a little boring after I wrote a few on the first day because we hadn’t looked at other ways to ask questions, but then it became really fun.