Tech vs. Comp Tech (Battle of the Sixth Grade Quarterlies)

I think Tech is the better class because it has just the right amount of hands-on activities (which I like but suck at) and use of electronic devices. In Computer Tech, I think it was fun to have, but some of the coding programs were very non—interesting. (That’s another way to say boring, in case you ever need to.) Tynker and Swift Playgrounds are good for learning to code, but I think Scratch is the much better website.

TECH WINS!

Signing off for now,

Will

Cranks are really cool. They include TWO  of the six simple machines, the wheel and the axle. No, they do not have a lever, I-Beam, or triangular support bases. When you turn the wheel, the axle helps to move it. They are very hard to build, seeing as when I tried to build mine, it broke.

Adios!

Will

(Wow, I have a lot of drafts on my blog unpublished—This one’s from last month)

What shape is the strongest? That’s right—triangles. Why are triangles so strong? I don’t know. (Just kidding—they have the strongest base and have a lot of support). Trusses, like I-Beams, also hold up a lot of things in this world because of how strong their bases are. Unlike triangles, I-Beams do not have as strong a base. Their base is strong because of how much support they have, whereas I-Beams use something in between the two tops to gain support

Will

Hey guys, it’s Will again. Do you know what most things are held up by? That’s right. I-Beams. Almost every building you see, some portion of it has I-Beams holding it up. (Also yes, I understand my posts are out of order. I’m catching up on Tech work.) Just like atoms, I-Beams are everywhere. But unlike atoms, you can definitely see I-Beams. You can’t see them, but inside your house, there are tons of I-Beams. These are what hold up almost every structure.

Thanks again,

Will

Now it was time to use the very useful hammer again. With my classmate Gil’s help, I lined up a decora slider in between the two dimmer racks. Then, I lined up the dimmer racks and started to hammer. Soon, the dimmer racks were in place. The switch was finished! (I forgot to talk about the drill. Two days before, I drilled a hole in my platform. To use the drill, I lined it up with the hole in my platform, which would hold the dimmer rack. I moved it so the two red lines on the drill aligned, then let it go down after clamping it still. It moved at a rate of 2040 rpm, which will DRILL A HOLE IN YOUR HAND EEK! Once I was finished, I took it back and finished coloring my pieces.)

Hasta la vista!

Will

After hammering all four nuts into the pins, it was time to attach them to the driver gears. This would allow me to move the switch, and this part was easy. The pins with the nuts went into the driver gears just like that. Now I had what was starting to look like one of the six (two) simple machines, a lever. I stuck them into the no dimmer rack that I had colored red, and took the pinion nuts, and glued them on to the second pin, which I had put in it. Now, it was time to hammer the dimmer rack.

(Continued) So, like I said last time, we had to color in the parts for our switches. Then, we started to wax the sharp parts on the driver gears and racks so they would allow the switch to move back and forth. I then put glue on the sides of my pins, so that way they would stick to the nuts. The nuts were small, little pieces. I attached the pins to the nuts. One of the nuts was very stubborn, though, and decided not to go through. So I grabbed the mallet (a.k.a hammer), and lined it up with the table. Then I hammered the nut onto the pin, where it stuck.

(End of Part 2)

Hey guys, I’m back! This week in Tech, we started to build mechanical switches that you might be able to use at home. First, we started off by bringing our tech bags into school for the first time this year (YAY). Then, we got some paint pens and started coloring in the pieces. When you use a paint pen, you need to shake it for 20 seconds, otherwise you will find it flying out and getting all over your clothes, and it will NOT come out. But anyway, it’s been fun.

See ya next time,

Will

Hey guys, it’s Will again. So this week in Tech, we learned more about cranks. We cut paper out to put on our cranks, and we learned some more about atoms. Remember, everything is made out of atoms. Inside atoms, there is a nucleus, but in an atom, there is mostly NOTHING. Literally, NOTHING. So you are basically made up of 70% nothing. (This is a guess.) Also, you technically will never touch anything in your life. For example, when you sit down on a chair, your bottom is technically not touching the chair. There is a small space in between the two, so small that you cannot see it.

Until next time,

Will

This week in Tech we learned about cranks and automata. Did you know that one of the oldest automata in the world is over 240 years old? That’s about as old as the United States is. This automata can write, and it can write just about anything you want it to write. We also learned about atoms. To be able to see something, you need light to bounce off of it, just as light is bouncing off your eyes right now! It is impossible to see an atom, as it is way too small to be seen.  Atoms make up everything. But did you know that there are things inside atoms? There are protons, the nucleus, and literally NOTHING. This may seem strange, because atoms make up everything, right? Well, even they have something inside them. Crazy, right?

Hasta la vista!

Will