Posts from experience and class activities
Our next unit is building switches (and Solder People). We will be using cardboard, tin foil, straws, hot glue, popsicle sticks, etc. The tin foil is the conductive material that will be used for turning a light bulb on.
What you’re supposed to do is build a switch out of available materials that will make the light flash. In order to do that, you will have to attach the tin foil to the switch so that when you flip it on, the tin foil touches another side of tin foil. One alligator clip will be clipped on each side to make the light flash. You will have to build three switches which will be used in a game at the end, so you want them to be fast and efficient.
I will make a lever, a button, and a sliding switch. For my lever, I will make a straw lever with a popsicle stick and a rubber band attached. The popsicle stick will have tinfoil taped to it so it will be conductive. In front of the lever, there will be another piece of tinfoil taped to be conductive. Behind the lever, there will be another popsicle stick where the other side of the rubber band will be. This will allow the lever to turn off as soon as I turn it on for speed.
For my button, I will make a straw button that will go up and down- like a button. I will make a little box with two sides missing. On the bottom inside of the box, I will attach tin foil to make it conductive. On a little straw, I will attach tin foil to the bottom to be conductive. To make it turn off right after I turn it on, I will attach a rubber band to the straw. The other side will be attached to a hook made of a popsicle. In the box, I will make a hole in the middle to insert the straw button.
For my sliding switch, I will take two little pieces of cardboard and slide them to turn it on and off. On the edges of both pieces, I will tape on tin foil to make it conductive. On the side of each of them, I will make a hole. In the hole, I will insert a straw to allow the boards to connect and slide. Next to the switch, I will have a popsicle stick so that each time I slide the switch on, it will turn back off.
I always like to make something really special for my mom. I almost always create something. This year for Mother’s Day, I’m going to make her a bracelet and ring. When it was her birthday this year, I tried to make a ring but it ended up breaking. I learned from my mistakes and now I know I will create a great present.
Last time, the glue I used was really bad so it didn’t stick. Also, it was too flimsy and the wrong size. Now I have really strong glue and I know the correct size.
The first thing I did was gather my materials. On my watch, the metal band was doing very well, so I gathered lots of those pieces. While I was trying to find all of the metal, I realized that one of th pieces was hooked to a keychain and locked in some weird way. It took me a long time to get it off, figure out how to open and close it, and figure out how to use it in my creation. The next thing I got was the same soft and stretchy material I used the first time for my watch band. Finally, I got my glue and red Sharpie. The red Sharpie was for drawing hearts on the soft material. I wanted it to be special.
After I drew the hearts, glued it all together, and let it dry, I was finished.
I can’t wait to see the look on my mom’s face on Mother’s Day.
For almost 2 months now, I’ve been trying to fix the band on my watch.
One day when I was using it, it just snapped off. Since then, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to recreate something like that out of the materials I had.
First, I tried using a soft and stretchy material, because it was a similar feel to my original band.
It lasted for a couple days, but then it snapped. It was also too uncomfortable because I used tape instead of glue.
The second time, I used a nice piece of paper.
This time I used strong glue instead of tape. It lasted much longer, but it was fragile so it ripped.
The next time, which is what I still currently have on my wrist, is a piece of metal from an old dog tag.
It’s working really well so far, but we’ll see how long it lasts. I started using it on Monday, a week ago, so it already broke the record. It could eventually snap, but it would be hard. It’s also really comfortable, so I hope it lasts.
