PHYSICS: Hey guys! Here’s our discussion on the properties of waves. Remember anything from your earlier 8th grade physical science days? Problems are pretty simple for you, I think. Do you remember the main formula from chemistry? Speed = wavelength x frequency (c = λf).
Easy peasy – and don’t forget the applications!
Physics 3-21-16 Waves from Tammy Skinner on Vimeo.
I give myself a 3 out of 5 this week. My group did very well at the design challenge this week. It was probably the most difficult design challenge yet. When I first looked at the supply list, I could not automatically think of any idea. Eventually I had a plan and we used it for our design. We ran into some trouble because we were unable to poke a hole in the bottle or the bottle cap. To fix this problem we used chewed gum as a bottle cap and poked a hole in that. Our design was only 4 seconds over 3 minutes so I am very satisfied with the outcome. The chapter this week seems very straight forward. I did very well on the homework this week. I ran into trouble with my groups rube goldberg machine. Making the base structure is a lot more difficult than we anticipated. We worked a long time yesterday and did not get any of the steps complete. We are also struggling finding a time when we can all work. Hopefully we can get it done today.
I rate myself a 4 out of 5 stars this week. This chapter has been fairly easy to understand so far, and I have done well on the homework. Reading the book has helped me a lot with understanding the homework, as well. Today’s lesson was a little harder for me to wrap my mind around just because there are so many types of waves to remember, and I am worried that I will mix them up or forget some of them. I am going to continue to review over my notes in order to fully understand what we went over today. The design challenge this week was a miracle because even after brainstorming for so long, I could not think of any plausible way to time 3 minutes. When my lovely group and I got together, we came up with an awesome idea that ended up allowing us to be only 4 seconds over the 3 minute time limit! I’m so thankful that we were able to find a way to use the materials we had in order to succeed. Pat, Blake, and I are beginning to build our Rube Goldberg project tomorrow and working on the first 5 steps Saturday. I’m praying that all goes as planned!
I will rate myself a 4 out of 5 for this week. This week has definitely been challenging for me. It seems that during all of my class lecture time, I am extremely confused on a good deal of what we talk about. However, once I get to the homework, it is making a decent amount of sense. This does not happen often for me because it is usually the other way around. The design challenge was very frustrating for me. I knew after Monday that we needed to incorporate a pendulum into our clock, but I had no idea of how to do it without a calculator. I am so glad that we received “visions” in order to successfully complete this challenge and escape from jail! My ExploreZone exhibit is coming along nicely, and I am very excited to show these kids just how strong air pressure actually can be! As for the Rube Goldberg project, to say that I am stressed out would be an understatement. Nonetheless, my group is meeting tomorrow and Saturday to hopefully successfully get this ball rolling (no pun intended).
This week I would rate myself 4 out of 5 stars. This week I did well on the harmonic motion lesson. The waves lesson was a little more difficult. I think the only thing that I really had trouble understanding was standing waves. The discussion in class helped a little bit, but I need to review over them some more. My group did well on the design challenge, constructing a device that was very accurate. The area where I am struggling most is the Rube Goldberg machine. We have only got one step done so far, and we are getting behind.
This week, I think I’ve earned a solid 4/5. The Ready, Set, Escape! Design Challenge went really well for our group & I’m super proud to say that we used a modified version of my original plan. 🙂 in regards to the lessons on sound and waves, I really think that I’m understand the various types and factors. Like Mary Addison mentioned, I’m kinda nervous that I’ll mix them up, but that’s nothing a little reviewing can’t cure. Lastly, I finally have all my Explore Zone helpers, which I’m super excited about. Overall, it was a jam packed and exciting week.
I’m rating myself the very first 5 out of 5 stars I have given myself this year! Preparing for Explore Zone this entire week went extremely smoothly with my awesome helpers and preparation beforehand. We were very prepared, and we practiced everything at least 3 times before the big day today. Today, even after doing the same thing 28 times, I still had a smile on my face because our exhibit went so well! Most everything worked during every rotation, even when a kid knocked over an entire glass of water. Though the kids were tiring and inertia seemed a little hard for them to grasp, I really think that they learned a good foundation for Newton’s 1st Law of Motion. And, even if they didn’t quite grasp the concept, they got to see some awesome demonstrations of inertia’s effects. Hopefully, one day, they’ll use what they learned from my exhibit in their very own physical science classes! Thank you SO much for allowing us to have the opportunity to have such a fun time at Explore Zone and make kids excited about learning!
This week was a 5 out of 5! ExploreZone setup was pretty chill for me on Monday and Tuesday. This is because I did not get the air compressor until Wednesday. That is when we ended up having to do a lot of testing on our demonstrations. We found the perfect angle for our rice krispy demonstration, and we figured out how to fix the leak in our air compressor to get the beach ball to work. Today, the entire exhibit was really fun! I think the kids really ended up enjoying it. Unfortunately, the water gun did not work very well! Some kids made it shoot up; however, for the most part, the kids were trying to make bubbles and could not follow our instructions on how to hold the straws. Then the mess was quite a lot to clean up! All in all though, I think our exhibit was very fun and successful!
This week I rate myself a 5 out of 5. I had an absolutely awesome week. Explore Zone was so cool and I had a ton of fun. My exhibit, electrostatics, was about electricity and how it works. It was so cool to learn about it and show all the kids the fun things we can do with it. The coolest part was the Tesla Coil. That thing is awesome. My first Explore Zone was so cool and I loved teaching the kids. The only negative I had this week was that I won’t be able to do Explore Zone again!
I give myself 5/5 stars this week. Explore zone was great and a lot of fun. The kids really liked the balancing birds at my exhibit. They thought it was cool how easy the bird was to balance because of science. At first, I struggled to find the right timing for teaching so that all the kids would get a chance to do everything. By the middle of the day, I had it down and the last kids would be walking on the balance beam when it was time to change.
This week I would rate myself a 3 out of 5 because I had a difficult time getting ready for Explore Zone. The Newton’s Cradle was the first challenge. It was very difficult to align the balls so they are perfectly in line and on level. In the end I was not able to get it perfect, but it worked. The second obstacle I ran into was how long my exhibit took. I had to cut down the time for my explanation, and assemble the rockets for the kids to fix this problem. The I tried other ways of doing it, but assembling the rocket was the only method that allowed me to hit the five minute mark. The last problem I had was unpreparedness. I had not briefed every person in my group on their specific job until the morning of the exhibit. This made my table a bit chaotic until I was able to assign specific jobs and roles. I am glad am glad I figured this out before the kids started coming in. Overall I did well adapting to these challenges and coming up with solutions.
I’m going to give myself a 5/5. This week, Explore Zone prep went extremely smoothly. Joey and I were able to get everything together and go over the script on Monday and Tuesday. Though we had a tiny hiccup with the first bed of nails practice on Joey, we were able to easily adapt to make it work better. Our solution was a sheet of cardboard between the top nails & the person’s chest. (Thank you Ms. Skinner) On the day of, we were able to quickly set up and practice several times before the kids came. Overall, Explore Zone went smashingly, but I think it’s safe to say that my entire group is happy to have our own beds back.