For my truss experiment, I used paper. I taped two pencils together, and then rolled the paper, and taped the sides of the paper together to make the paper strong. I then made 12 total of these. I then taped them together to form a cube. The thing I didn’t realize at all was that I didn’t have any triangular supports or trusses. I then filmed my video without trusses, and surprisingly the flimsy square held four books. I think I did well in this project except the trusses which I forgot.

For my electroscope I used a glass cup, smooth without bumps. For the cardboard, I used a cereal box and cut out a circle. I then used a paper clip to put through the middle of the circle. Before I did this, I put some foil at the bottom of the paper clip. Then, I taped the paper clip on and blew up a balloon.  I used felt and my hair. Off camera, I struggled when I used felt, but I did well when I used my head. I also realized that the project might’ve not worked if the there are too big holes in the circle. When I recorded the final video, it worked when I used the felt, but not with my hair. I found out that the positioning of the balloon changes how much the foil moves.

10/19/30 

This blog post is about mechanical machines. A couple examples of inventions of mechanical machines are ovens, phones, computers, cars, etc. The six types of simple machines are the wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, pulley, screw, and wedge.  A simple machine changes the direction or strength of a force. Work is basically [Force Applied] x [Distance the Object Moved]. Work is measured in joules. Lifting up a bowling ball is 8 N. Rolling a bowling ball up a ramp to the same height is 4 N. Even though this is true, it takes 16 joules to lift it up both 2 meters and rolling it up a ramp. Force is any push or pull and it is measured in newtons. Isaac Newton was born during the year 1642. He was the first scientist that developed the scientific method. He also figured out gravity by applying his thinking of gravity to the solar system. Lastly he discovered the three Laws of Motion and calculus. He found gravity, the three Laws of motion and calculus at his mom’s farm when he escaped the bubonic plague. The first of the three laws of motion are that every object in a state of uniform motion will remain in that state of motion unless an external force acts on it. The second law of motion states force equals mass times acceleration (F = m*a). The last law of motion is for ever action there is an equal and opposite reaction. On Earth, due to gravity, 102 grams exerts the force of 1 newton. 41 pennies exerts the force of 1 newton. 1 N = 102 grams*9.81m/s^2. 

After I starting making my movie, I thought that I wouldn’t want it to be too dull. I thought about having pictures not there at first, but then adding them in when I talk about them on the same slide. I also figured that I could use some of my youtube editing skills here, and I ended up having to edit every single one of my 100+ images. This was fun, because it wasn’t hard nor easy, and I felt like I was having a great time. Before sharing my capstone, I was really nervous, but after I was really relieved, and happy that I presented it. Overall, I feel like the capstone was a success, and it was a great experience.

For my capstone project, my main inquiry question is How does Java coding work in Minecraft and how did it become the primary coding language in Minecraft? I chose this topic because I have an interest in coding Java, and I recently started learning it, and also because I enjoy playing Minecraft. My first sub-question was “What is the history of Java”. This was probably the easiest sub-question for me to answer. I looked on Wikipedia and found a lot of information about the history of Java. For all of my other sub-questions, I went to over 10 websites for each sub-question to find information for the sub-questions. Most of the information was all the same, which was the cause of this.

For my interview, I interviewed a Java coder that is an award winner. He answered all of my questions and gave me extra information that I didn’t even think about. Also, there were a couple of questions I asked him that wasn’t planned because I thought I might need the information for my Capstone.

Unexpected Halloween

By Micah Lee

11/13/19

As the announcement that the Halloween parade was going to be indoors went over the sound system, kids from Heathcote Elementary School were filled with questions. What are we going to do during the indoor parade? Why does it have to rain? Can’t we still go out and walk in the rain? Let’s see what happens. Mrs. Stiles, the principal, set up an event that was going to happen in the auditorium instead of going outside. It was Plan B. At the beginning of the indoor parade, Mrs. Berscher, the music teacher, came out onto the stage, and the entire school including faculty joined in singing songs they had sung at the Circle of Friends Assembly. The songs included the National Anthem, The Circle of Friends Song, We are the Future of the World and Over the Rainbow. Most people thought that the assembly was not going to be as engaging as it was. Lastly, each class, ranging from Kindergarten through Fifth grade, walked onto the stage to showcase their costumes to the other grades. Most people were screaming and applauding when their classes were called out. Plan B ended up being a huge success with spirits and morale at an all-time high. This is what school is about; being unified, working and supporting each other. This was achieved at Heathcote Elementary School, 2019.