Trus(s)t the process

This is the first Action Project for our Spring Term, STEAM course; Urban Planning. In this unit, we learned about the meaning of Urban Planning, its purpose, Newton’s Laws of Motion, calculations of Velocity, Force, Acceleration, Vectors, Triangles, and how those all connect to Bridges. We also learned about different types and classifications of bridges, ending with our central focus, Truss bridges. Additionally, we were supposed to enjoy an outside adventure, walking along Michigan Ave, and ending where the River bridges connect the two parts of downtown. However, we had to watch virtually, as our teacher filmed the whole experience live because in-person learning was canceled that day. The purpose of this project was to take what we learned during this unit and build one of our own bridges. We were challenged to build them with a limit of 60 popsicle sticks, and at the end, create a bridge durable enough to withstand at least 8.9 pounds, over a 1ft gap. Below, you will see my work and whether or not I succeeded in the challenge. Enjoy!

 

Looking back at my process and my overall conclusion about my bridge, there are many things I would have done differently if I could do it over. I remember thinking, throughout my entire building process, "this will be the stick (that I do or don't add) that will make or break my bridge." This guided where I placed every stick, but looking back, I realized I should have added more. I only used 36 out of the available 60, because I thought that I had already used enough. However, if I were to do it over, I would have added more vertical stick support on the bottom chord/deck of the bridge, and I would have made my top structure longer, with more triangles. This would have distributed the weight more evenly, throughout the entire bridge, instead of it just balancing on the square. Despite the bridge breaking, I learned that there can still be successes from failure, and I feel that I am able to write this reflection in more detail, now that the bridge is broken, than if it wasn't. I also learned the meaning of building something with your own hands, designing something on your own, and that it is, of course, not easy. I feel as though my bridge connects to SDG11 because of the initiative it took for us to build/design them, and if we were actual engineers, they would meet the characteristics of the goal (sustainable, and safe, etc. human settlements). I hope you enjoyed my project!

Amending the Code

This is the last Action Project for the Winter term of our Humanities class, Argument. In the last unit, we focused on the Declaration of Independence and ultimately, made a declaration of our own. For this unit (unit 2), we learned about The U.S. Constitution, and 14 of its amendments. We focused on learning and distinguishing logical fallacies, along with, applying those fallacies to real situations. We had multiple FE guests that all did work for the city of Chicago, in some capacity. Those guests were: Alderman Andre Vasquez (40th ward), Alderman Walter Barnett (27th ward), and Public Defender Connie Jordan. We looked at crucial parts of history (primarily the 1850's), and we studied the amendments to the Constitution around that time. We also learned about important people of the time - The Dred Scott Case and the poems by Phillis Wheatley. For this AP, we looked at highlights from the Chicago Municipal Code and were tasked with finding our own ordinance that we thought was unjust or in need of amending. After some time of research, I finally found the topic that I wanted to amend, even though it wasn't much. I chose the topic of the Limitations of Purchasing Handguns in Chicago, and below, you will see my argument! 

 

 In conclusion, I really enjoyed amending my own ordinance and going through the process of finding a topic. The Municipal Code was very lengthy and already pretty sound, so it was difficult to find a topic, but I am proud of what I did with mine. I hope you enjoyed my project!

An Hour in Time

This is our last AP for our Winter term STEAM class: Light, Sound, and Time. For this unit, we focused on the 3rd topic, Time. First, we did an experiment to grasp our own concept of time, where we spent almost the entire class time (around 40 minutes), without looking at any clocks or forms of telling time. It was very interesting and kind of weird, because we were all so used to constantly checking the time, and we had to go without that. It definitely helped us to focus on what we were discussing and not have the distraction, and the time seemed to pass faster than usual. At the end of the lesson, we each guessed what time we thought it was and the correct answer was around 1:40pm, which was a little bit later than our usual class period. Throughout the unit, we also learned about how time is measured and the Cosmic Calendar, how time can be told using the sun/stars or Longitude/Latitude, the different tools to tell time (sundial, pendulum, sextant, etc), Time Zones, General relativity, and the Twin paradox. We also had an FE guest who talked to us about the Universe and what he studies. For this AP, we researched devices for telling time and we chose one that we wanted to modify and improve. We then made a 2-minute video explaining our product and how it works/its significance. I chose to improve an Hourglass, and below, you will see my video. Enjoy!

In conclusion, I really enjoyed brainstorming ideas to modify an Hourglass. It took some brainstorming because it was a little difficult for me to figure out what to change, but I think I did well on these basic modifications. If I could do anything differently, I would have taken more time to think of more complex ideas for modification. I hope you enjoyed my project!

Diddley Bows and STEAM

This is the second AP of our Light, Sound, and Time class, and we are in unit 2, which is Sound. In this unit, we focused on the components of Sound and we learned in-depth about what it is. We learned about sound waves, the anatomy of the ear and how sound travels to our brains, the Doppler effect, UltraSound and Infrasound, and stringed instruments. For this AP, we made our own stringed instruments, called Diddley Bows (kind of like a single string guitar), and had the opportunity to go in person, again, to build them. We made them because we were talking about stringed instruments, and this is our visual representation of Sound. I am most proud of my Diddley Bow because it was a little difficult to make, but I think it turned out well. Below, you will see my finished product, an explanation of the instrument, a recording of what it sounds like, and calculations, measuring the instrument and its frequency/wavelengths. Enjoy!

The Diddley Bow produces sound by you plucking the string, and the sound waves vibrate from the battery (applying pressure on the string) to the tin can. Then, it moves inside the hole, and echoes throughout the can, coming out the open side of the can, and further being amplified by it. The device demonstrates pitch/frequency because of how you can apply a certain pressure on the string to increase or decrease the pitch. This means that you can change the pitch based on how hard you press or how tight/loose the string is. My Diddley Bow is very low pitch because the string is 54 gauge (.054inches). Its frequency is about D5 603.9Hz. Below, you will see my Diddley Bow, as well as the 4 harmonics.  

2021. Harmonics. MEM

2021. Diddley Bow. MEM

Below, you will see all the calculations for my Diddley Bow, and a sketch of it from the side, demonstrating its most important parts, and showing most of its measurements. 

Calculations: 

String length - 24 inches 

H - Vibrating string Length - 20 inches 

Thickness - .054in thick (54 gauge) 

Wood length - 27 inches 

B1 - Wood to battery height - 1in 

B2 - Wood to string at can height - 2in 

Height of can - 4.5in 

Radius of can - 1.5in 

2021. Diddley Bow Sketch. MEM

Trapezoid- 

Area - ½ (b1+b2)h 

Area - ½ (1+2)*20 

Area - 30 in^2 

Triangle- 

tan(u) = opp/adj = h/(b2-b1) 

Inverse tangent of (length of wood under vibrating string/difference in heights by can and battery) in degrees 

Inverse tangent of (27/1) in degrees = 87.878 degrees 

360 - 90 - 90 - angle U = angle L 

360 - 90 - 90 - 87.878 

Angle L = 92.122 

Cylinder- 

Volume = πr^2h 

Volume = π1.5^2x4.5 

Volume = 31.8 in^3

Here, you will see the Frequency and Wavelength of each Harmonic, as well as a visual representation of each Harmonic, and a recording of what the Diddley Bow sounds like. 

2021. Harmonics. MEM

Frequency - D5 603.9Hz 

Wavelength (w = speed of sound / f) 343/603.9 = 0.5 meters 

2nd harmonic frequency - 603.9x2= 1,207.8Hz 

2nd harmonic wavelength - 0.58/2 = 0.29 meters 

3rd harmonic frequency - 603.9x3= 1,811.7Hz 

3rd harmonic wavelength - 0.58/3 = 0.193 meters 

4th harmonic frequency - 603.9x4= 2,415.6Hz 

4th harmonic wavelength - 0.58/4 = 0.145 meters 

2021. The Diddley Bow. MEM

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this unit and making our instruments. If I could do it all over again, the only thing I would do differently is choose a thinner string. I would do that so it would be easier to tighten, and so I could hear what a thinner string sounded like. This unit, I struggled with the equations and graphing waves but in the end, I think I had a better understanding. I hope you enjoyed my project!

My Declaration

This is the first Action Project for our Winter Term Humanities class, A Nation's Argument. In this unit, we focused on what makes a strong argument and learned what an argument really is. We spent time really breaking down the components of an argument and how to write one. We learned about syllogisms, which include premises and conclusions, as well as, Inductive and Deductive reasoning. We also focused on learning about the Declaration of Independence and how that related to Argument. We broke it down into sections and related each part back to individual indicators and components of Argument. When it came to the AP, we were tasked with making our own Declaration - a Declaration of an Independent Study. We got to choose our own topics and then made an outline supporting why this study was important, and showing how the course would go. We also had the principal of Rogers Park Montessori School, as an FE guest, to talk to us about the school, and the benefits of hands-on learning. Below, you will see my Declaration to study Psychology in High School. Enjoy!

In conclusion, I enjoyed this project because I am passionate about Psychology and would like to study it in the future. If I could do the project over I would change how much detail I put into it. However, I think I overall did pretty well. I am excited for the next unit and what it brings. I hope you liked my project!

Can You See The Light?

This term, our STEAM class is called, "Light, Sound, and Time," and each category is separated into a unit. For unit 1, we focused on learning in-depth about Light and components that relate to it. We learned about light waves - how light travels, how to capture light, different types of waves, and how to calculate them using trigonometry. We learned about color and the electromagnetic spectrum, and even how to make our own cameras! For this AP, we took what we learned about light and got to travel to our new school to make our own cameras, in-person. We had the option of making either a Pinhole camera, a Camera Obscura, or a room-size Camera Obscura. Each was a little different - the pinhole camera allows you to capture an actual image, whereas, the camera obscura acts more like a projector, allowing you to see an image through a lens, but not actually take a photo. Below, you can see my work and the finished product of the camera, along with, the image through the lens, a diagram of the light process, and some calculations. Enjoy! 

In this unit, I think I am most proud of my camera, even though it was pretty basic. It was really cool to physically make something and be able to see how it turned out/apply what we learned. My Camera Obscura captures light by it coming through a small hole (the lens) at an angle, and then hits the surface inside (parchment paper), to then create an upside-down image of the object you are looking at. It also demonstrates reflection, because of how the light goes through the lens, bounces off the parchment paper, and further travels to your eye, through the looking hole, which allows you to see the image on the paper. In my case, I was looking at a lightbulb, and it was really interesting to see how it appeared flipped in the camera. Another thing I found fascinating was how, if you moved your hand upwards in front of the light, it looked like it was going down, and if you moved it down, it looked like it was going up.

This is my Camera Obscura and I made it out of an old shoebox. The additional materials I used were aluminum foil, parchment paper, tape, scissors, and a thumbtack. The first step was cutting a hole on the opposite side of the pre-made hole, and covering it with aluminum foil (this is the lens). Then, I cut a piece of parchment paper and struggled to tape it in the middle of the box, but finally succeeded. After that, I used a thumbtack to poke a tiny hole through the aluminum and, finally, closed my box and went to look at a lightbulb. 

MEM. Camera Obscura. 2021.

Here, is the picture that I observed through my camera. As you can see, the lightbulb is upside down, and that is because the light travels from the top of the object, straight down into the lens, and to the bottom of the parchment paper, thus, making the image appear upside down. You can see this in the diagram below. 

MEM. Lightbulb Image. 2021.

Photopedagogy. Camera Obscura Diagram. 2011.

From the Internal Investigation, the camera most demonstrates the visible science of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, otherwise known as, the 'Visible Spectrum'. This is the part of the EM that we can see - the light we see. The camera uses visible light to create an image on the parchment paper.  

The data for the camera includes: it's dimensions, the height of the lens (h1), the depth of the camera (d1), the height of the light (h2), the camera's volume, a similar triangles diagram, the minimum distance between the light and the camera, and the path of light rays to the camera. 

Camera Dimensions: Length- 12in, Width- 9in, Height- 4.5in

Volume: l*w*h = 12*9*4.5 = 486in^3

Similar Triangles: (h1)- 4in, (h2)- 12, (d1)- 5in, 

Minimum Distance: h2*d1/h1-d1 = 12*5/4-5 = 10in

The pathway of light to the camera can be seen in the image below, in 4 labeled steps. 

MEM. Similar Triangles and LightPath. 2021. 

In conclusion, I really enjoyed making my camera and really taking what I learned, and applying it to something physical, to see how it works. If I could do it differently, I might’ve made a Pinhole camera instead, because you get to actually take a picture with it, but overall, I am happy with my decision. I feel good about ending this unit with a strong understanding of Light, and I am excited to move on to learning about Sound, in unit 2. I hope you enjoyed my project!

Citations:

“Camera Obscura.” PhotoPedagogy, https://www.photopedagogy.com/camera-obscura.html

Nonviolent Solutions

This is my Final Project for our Civic Term course. For this 3 week term, I was in the class called, Global Peace. During these three weeks, we learned about Gandhi and his teachings/work, his journey using nonviolence, along with Martin Luther King and other works of nonviolence. We also learned about nonviolent ideas, inspired by the teachings of Gandhi, called Sarvodaya, Swadeshi, Swaraj, and Satyagraha. We also spent two Wednesdays of the term, watching Selma and a documentary called The Interrupters. They were very educational and related to what we were learning, which helped us gain further perspective on our material, and how to apply it. For our projects, we were supposed to find a conflict in our neighborhood and find a way to nonviolently figure out a solution for it. For my project, I decided to focus on the amount of trash that is in my neighborhood and I tried to find a way to educate people, as well writing to my Alderman to try and get different trash cans. In my slideshow, you can see the outline of my plan and my journey with the conflict. You can also see my poster and my letter to the Alderman, below. Enjoy!

                                                             MEM. Letter to Alderman. 2020

MEM. Educational Poster. 2020