Audrey roller coaster science project.mp4
We started by completing an investigation to determine the relationship between potential energy and height.We also wrote a lab report and CER paragraph using the data we collected during the investigation.
What did we do?
We baked goods to sell at a bake sale.Doing math problems helped us figure out the price of the ingredients we were supposed to use and that helped us figure out how much one baked good would be sold for.
What did we learn?
We learned how to calculate the total price of one serving of baked goods. Then, we learned how to add the amount of money we would earn to the total price.
What worked?
The part that worked the most well for me was when we baked the goods.The product me and my partner sold was snowflake crisps.We first planned to go to her house together because she had experience in making snowflake crisps, but then I hurt myself on the ankle and didn’t go.Even though, it was my first time baking snowflake crisps, it still worked out very well for me and the goods I baked were all sold out.
What did not work?
The part that didn’t really work out for me was the poster making. I always try my best to make the poster but I don’t know how to start. On this point, Canva helped me a lot by providing templates of every kind.
Personal Relevance
This is a valuable experience for me because it can help me do better in future projects like this one.I now know have experience in doing charity fair or bake sale projects like these.After doing this, I am more confident in doing these projects in the future.
What did I work on?
I first worked on writing down my observations, inferences, and wonderings. Then we practiced answering open and closed questions. Finally, we practiced writing CER paragraphs.
What did I learn?
I learned how to write CER paragraphs, open questions and closed questions. Open questions can be answered using CER paragraphs. The answers to closed questions are usually yes or no. Learning how to answer closed and open questions helped me during Otzi’s mock trial, which was about whether Otzi died of natural causes or was murdered. What worked well?
What worked well?
One thing that worked well for me in this unit was answering open questions. I now know that open questions are usually answered using 4-5 sentences. There is usually 1 sentence of introduction and then 3 sentences proving my point and after that is the conclusion. After tons of practice questions and writing, I can answer open questions very well.
What did not work?
One thing that didn’t work out very well for me was that I did not get full points on a CER paragraph. I didn’t submit the CER on time because, even though I finished, I remembered the wrong due date. Next time I can mark the exact due date on my planner.
Personal Relevance
The collaboration and communication skills I used to prepare for Otzi’s Mock Trial are very useful to me. In the future, I may have to do projects with other people. The skills I have learned from this experience will come in very handy, as they will help me collaborate more effectively with these people.
In this unit, I learned how to safely snorkel. First, we practiced sign languages.These gestures can be used to convey messages when we are in the water. Next, we learned what to do before you snorkel.You check your partner’s snorkel to see if it is air tight.After that, we learned how to correctly go into the water when we are standing on a boat and experienced snorkeling.In the last class, we had some fun with paddle boarding.
What did I do?
We had to make a stable car out of 3 pieces of A4 paper,1 thick straw, wheels, axels and 1 meter of tape in about 1 hour.
What did I learn?
Building these egg cars helped us see Newton’s Laws of force and Motion in real life.We saw Newton’s 1st law when the Egg Car when our fake egg “jumped” out of the car when we were testing our prototype.We saw Newton’s 2nd law when, with the light fake egg in our car, our car moved moderately fast down the ramp.When we put the real, heavier, egg into the car, the car slide down the ramp very fast, resulting in the egg’s “death”.We saw Newton’s 3rd law when the Egg Car bounced backward after it slid down the ramp.The ramp”hit” the egg car because the egg car hit it.
What worked?
Our design included a egg shaped layer of paper that enveloped the egg and another layer of paper that surrounded the the egg shaped layer.Even when the egg car hit the concrete wall, the paper did not rip or break.
What did not work?
If I did this whole challenge again,I would make my egg car smaller and neater.The egg car that I made this time had a crumple zone made out of folded paper.The paper was too messy and didn’t protect the egg as well as I imagined it would.
Personal Relevance
This egg car challenge has helped me understand the basic components of a car and why it is so important to wear a seatbelt.A car is usually composed of a crumple zone, passenger seats and a trunk.If a person not wearing a seatbelt is involved in a major car accident, the person might be thrown out of the car and die.
What did I do?
In this activity,2 people formed groups to make balloon cars.The Balloon Car was built using a blown balloons, a styrofoam base , wheels and also axels.The constraints were that we could only use the materials the teacher provided.We used the balloon car to learn about Newton’s Laws of Force and Motion.
What did I learn?
Newton’s 1st law says if an object is at rest, it tends to stay at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force.If an object is in motion, it tends to stay in motion unless acted on by another force. We see this law in action with the Balloon Car because when the balloon on the balloon car is not blown up the balloon car will not move.That is because, the gas that is in the balloon acts as a unbalanced force, and with the unbalanced force gone, the balloon cart will not move.
Newton’s 2nd law says force equals acceleration multiplied by mass. We see this law in action with the Balloon Car because we investigated how weight affects the distance the balloon car goes.When we added 3 washers onto the balloon car, the distance it moved was definitely shorted than the distance the car moved when it had no washers added.
Newton’s 3rd law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We see this law in action with the Balloon Car when the balloon car doesn’t sink into the ground because of gravity.The ground pushes up against the balloon car with the same force as gravity dragging the balloon car into the ground.These forces are what keeps the balloon car from either sinking into the ground or floating in the air.
What worked?
The collaboration with my partner worked well.Even though sometimes we had different ideas, we could still collaborate with each other and try to make 2 different ideas into 1 idea.We also worked well together when we were making the balloon car and didn’t give up even when faced with challenges.
What did not work?
It was a struggle when me and my partner were gluing the balloon onto the styrofoam base.To our astonishment, when the hot glue from the hot glue gun touched the styrofoam base, the styrofoam melted!The heat from the hot glue gun had melted the styrofoam base, leaving a dent. To solve this problem we switched another place to attached the balloon onto the styrofoam.
Personal Relevance
The Balloon Car was like a normal car in the real world.When I made the balloon car myself,I understood how a real car in real life worked and it’s basic components.I see Newton’s 1st Law in real life when my body goes forward even thought the car I am in comes to a stop.It is important to know these Laws because it helps me understand the importance of scraping on seatbelts when I am in the front seat of a car.I can also remind my parents to avoid them being hurt during a car accident.
The project I am most proud of is the pinch pot mushrooms I made.I made this project using clay.I first kneaded the clay.Then I rolled the clay into a ball.After that,I used my thumb to hollow out the clay.I even scored the underside of the clay to make it resemble the surface of a mushroom.After that I rolled the clay into rolls to make the stem of the mushrooms.
I am proud of this piece of work because I learned a lot when I tried to make the clay pinch pots look like real mushrooms.I learned that clay is a very flexible material, but if there’s not enough water inside, it will crack.I also learned how to slip and score properly.
What did I do?
I used my critical thinking skills to complete challenges with Indi robot cars and build rollercoasters with Gravatrax.
What did I learn?
I learned about how I would be graded for critical thinking.Critical thinking is my ability to solve problems and make the right decisions.
What worked?
I thought critically when I problem solved to build tracks for both the marble in Gravatrax and Indi,the robot car.I used my critical thinking while building both tracks.
What did not work?
I struggled to discuss with my teammates about how we can build the tracks.Each and every one of us have different opinions and we had to cooperate and accept each other’s opinions.
Personal Relevance
Today’s learning will help me better use my critical thinking in the future.It made me understand that critical thinking can not only be used in science, but also in real life.When we have a difficult problem, sometimes we can use our brains to solve it rather than using sheer force.
1.What did we work on?
During the Campaign for the Olympics unit,I worked on researching facts about why a city I chose should host the Olympic Games.Then I used these facts to create a presentation and presented in front of a IOC member.
2.Why global sporting events exist?
Global sporting events exist because they not only bring people from all over the world together, they also create happiness and a chance for the audience to experience different cultures. For example, if the Olympics were to be held in Japan, many people who have not experienced Japanese culture before can experience it on their trip to see the Olympics.
3.What am I proud of and what are challenges I faced?
I am proud of my skills of researching factsThat is because when I found out that some of the school’s data bases were not accessible at home,I still was able to find good evidence from other websites.I found group collaboration a bit challenging because I had no way to contact my partner.
4.What are the skills I want to improve on in the future?
Group collaboration is a skill I want to work on in the future because I will need to work together with partners at not only school but also, in the future, at work.If I can’t find my partner’s account on social apps like WeChat,I can tell my partner’s friend to give my partner’s WeChat to me.If my partner can not be contacted online, we can collaborate together at recess or break.
5.How does the project affect me?(personal relevance)
This project helped me develop useful skills for future projects and real life like communication and collaboration.These two skills will be used in future projects and this project helped me strengthen my use of them.Wether if it is working with a partner or presenting on a stage, these two skills will be used.This project has helped me strengthen familiarize with these two skills.
