Physics Project Reflection 1 - Carey

Hello Parents and Teachers, we have been working on both a Rollercoaster and Rube Goldberg project. So far we have made the first slide off of the top of the rollercoaster but we haven't started our Rube Goldberg part at all.

I see our project turning out to be one of the best, if not the best project for this year and prior years. What I imagine our project turn out with is first, at the top, there is a small Rube Goldberg project where a marble goes down a tiny rollercoaster, which then hits a few dominos, which push a toy car. That toy car pushes a marble which rolls down the rollercoaster, does a loop, then makes a turn. After the turn, the marble goes through a batwing and then a downward loop. After that loop, the marble goes around again and rolls onto the table. The marble hits another Rube Goldberg project which includes dominos, rubber bands, toy cars, and another marble at the end of the table (the Rube Goldberg project goes around the supports on the table). Then that marble at the end of the table gets pushed and goes into another roller coaster which brings the rolling marble to the ground. That rolling marble hits a button, or lever, and shoots of a catapult. Inside the catapult is a different marble which hits a few Jenga blocks. The Jenga blocks fall over and push a toy car, the toy car rolls on the ground and pushes a lever which puts up a science which says "The End," or "Thank You."

So far, as I said in the intro, we have only started the set up where the first Rube Goldberg project is going to be, and we put up the first tubing for the roller coaster. We have brought lots of boxes and a few sticks/poles for the project. So far that is all that we have brought from home. Other than that, we are able to use the tubing for the roller coasters, Exacto knives, and strong tape.

Our progress so far (we have a bit more than this):




A frustration/challenge that we had is learning how to work with each other as well as listening to each other's ideas with respect and as a possibility of using it.

By next class, we are hoping to finish most of the roller coaster and the first Rube Goldbridge project.

Our "Before" picture:



Same photo of our "current" progress:




And... a cool loading gif:

Blog Post #3: What were the challenges

What has been a challenge so far?

Challenge #1:

So far I have had a couple challenges. The biggest challenge was probably deciding whether I should change or not from my old idea, which was "Cleaning up the Oceans" and I actually already started my website about it. Then one day when I was working on it, one of my friends told me that cleaning up the oceans is a boring idea and that I won't like it. I thought about it for a couple of minutes and then decided to change to another one of his suggestions, which was making something about tennis since I am good at it. Now I have made an outline for my tennis website, which you can see here. I am happy that I took his recommendation because I can tell that it would be more fun than cleaning up the oceans. I also know a lot more about tennis that about the oceans, so I would have needed to do a lot of research. Another thing is, I would have had to make an essay about cleaning up the oceans, while I can just make videos to teach people about tennis, a lot more fun.

Challenge #2:

Another challenge that I have faced was trying to find time to film my videos to teach people numerous shots. So far I have not overcome this challenge. I will try to film it this weekend, but I doubt that I will have the time to do so, as well as a physical problem. Other than that I am completely finished with the outline of my website.

What have you learned or how have you grown from your experiences from your challenges? 

Overcoming my challenges was an experience in itself. I have realized that I am able to overcome these challenges and that I will manage to overcome many other challenges in the future.

There are a few experiences that I have gained from this project, and many more experiences will probably follow due to the project not being over or finished yet. I have gained a few experiences which I will list now:

My Experiences:

Experience #1:

The moral lesson for my first experience is "Always choose the path that you will like, be proud of in the future, and enjoy the most." - Ayvret

Experience #2:

My second moral lesson for my second experience is "Set aside some time for other things. As well as sometimes you have to take away time from your favorite things that aren't so important and make use of that time for more important things." - Ayvret

If I could go back in time, what advice would I give to myself?

Umm, this is a tricky one,  I would probably tell myself not to start the "Cleaning up the Oceans" project because I think I used a week to start that project. Other than that, I don't think there is anything else.

How do I see my project ending up, and how is it different to my original thoughts?

Well, it's actually quite different because I thought that I was going to end up with a completely different project than that I think I am now. But if I am comparing now to the time when I started my tennis project, I kind of feel that it is going to be similar. The only difference is that I didn't know what my website was going to look like, or the content of it.