I forgot what happened but we probably did lots of stuff and lots of things
Cardboard Square Cutout Wednesday Challange
Today, Tuesday 1/17,
We got together and talked about our websites as a class, disscussing who had trouble with logging into firezilla the last semester and who wanted to do something different or felt like quiting. Dr. Neat gave all of us two choices for what we wanted to do our websites on, we could either stick with html and learn how to master it in our own way or we could switch to google sites if html had gotten too hard for us to do.
Today, Wednesday 1/18,
Dr. Neat gave all of us our wednesday challange as he usually would on a Wednesday and this time it was to deliver three golf balls, one at a time each person doing one, in one bag to another bag without dropping them on the floor or touching the sides of the bags once. The rules of the challange were that we couldn't touch the golf balls or the bag with our hands and for the building our project we could only use the supplies we were given to create our final device.
Ebola Golf Ball Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 1/19,
We looked at all of the other devices that had been created by the other teams that tried and we also looked at the wining team's device to see what they did in order to win since they were veterans and knew a lot more than us. When we looked at the veteran team's device it showed us how much more thought they had put into it using the same amount of time as us and after failing we tried to think about what we could have done instead to have not gotten disqualified on our first try.
Today, Friday 1/20,
The robotics team presented to us all the progress they had made since the start of their challange with the stemworks robotic competition and they explained to us their teams and their sections that the teams worked on. They had made various teams to work on sections like design, building, feild equipment and electronics which were all set to have certain things finish at a certain time.
Today, Monday 1/23,
Dr. Neat talked to us a little about our websites, reminding us to upload to firezilla every time we can, and he also told us that he had graded all of them over the weekend. He showed all of us our grades for our websites and when I saw mine I realized that I had forgotten to upload it on friday which was extremely unfortunate but will not effect anything since Dr. Neat had chosen not to count this grade for anyone.
Today, Tuesday 1/24,
Dr. Neat gave us all an early challange which may or may not become our next wednesday challange and it involves us cutting cardboard which i'm excited about since I have been liking everyone of the cardbaord challanges so far and box cutters are just cool to cut boxes with. The gaol we were given was to build a car that will go straight down a 25 foot long ramp while trying to not fall off, the distance of our car determines the grade and the ramp is also on a slope so it will go faster and wobble more torwards the end.
Today, Wednesday 1/25,
Dr. Neat gave us our actual wednesday challange and it was to make a type of trinket that will be mass produced and given to the other teams that our robotics team will go against during the first steamworks competition. The only rules for the challange are that the trinket has to be small, cool, have 589 on it somewhere, be somewhat related to the competition and has to be cheap along with easily made.
Steamwork Trinket Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 1/26,
Dr. Neat let the rest of the teams for the Wednesday challange finish giving their presentations to the class about their trinkets and the chance to explain their ideas fully, then the all the veterans were moved into the other room in order to talk about who had made the best trinket for the teams to use in the competition. The other half of the class period was used for people who wanted to work more on their websites and upload it to firezilla or continue working on their cardboard cars and getting ready for the race.
Today, Friday 1/27,
The veterans that are working on the first steamworks competition got together in front of the whole class and showed us everything that has been completed since last friday which was quite alot. The veterans told us about their CAD for the robot and of the design and ideas of how many motors or which motors to use, but out of everything they showed us, they were most happy about the fact that almost nothing that they had planned was late or past the days that they wanted it finished and done.
Today, Monday 1/30,
Mr. Miller gave a speech to the whole class about our current resource management state and how to improve it by keeping the class clean after we work by picking up whatever we used or took for our project. After Mr. Miller's speech we spent the other half of the day being allowed to continue working on our car which sadly I have yet to start since i'm still thinking about what design I will be using for the car or even how to make the different parts of the car themselves.
Today, Tuesday 1/31,
Dr. Neat gave us the entire class period to continue working on our cardbaord cars which was good for me because I still needed to actually start the process of building my car and I still didn't have a plan which eventually did not matter. When I had finally started looking for cardbaord to make the car out of, my friend offered me his which he thought he had screwed up on and I refined it in order to make it work and to get back all the time i've wasted over the days.
Today, Wednesday 2/1,
Dr. Neat gave us our next wednesday challange which was to take the trinket that was chosen from the last wednesday challange and make our own version of it along with what it would be built out of and the cost for making each individual trinket or set of trinkets. My group wanted to do a different propeller idea for our trinket then the one that the other group had used since ours would be easier to make and would have a lower chance of failure.
Steamwork Trinket Part 2 Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 2/2,
The last few groups from yesterday pitched their ideas to us and to the judges for the trinket project and I am very confident that my group will probably have an okay-ish chance of winning. For the other half of the day we were allowed to be free and do whatever we wanted whether it was completing the cars for the project or putting more info down into our websites since this weekend is the one where they get checked for our grades and I would like mine to be good so i'll be adding to my website.
Today, Friday 2/3,
The veterans got in front of the class again to show us what they have done so far with their first steam works competition like usual and showed us that after last friday they had failed to complete every single task on time and are now far behind their deadline. They also said that for once in their robotics history, CAD was actually complete before the final competition. After the veterans talked to us Dr. Neat told us who had won the last Wednesday challange and, for a huge surprise, it wasn't us.
Today, Monday 2/6,
All of the class was allowed to work on their cars for the entire class period and Dr. Neat had reminded us that the cars are due tomorrow and not having them will be a huge loss of points and loss of experience for when we make the actual skateboard. Today as I went to finally work on my car, I realized that I couldn't find it and after spending half the class period searching I had excepted the fact that I was car-jacked and had to start over but since I need time for the glue to dry and it was due tomorrow, there was basically no point in trying any longer.
Today, Tuesday 2/7,
When I got to class my friend shared with me his story of getting car-jacked, then procceded to find his car right after while I still couldn't so I figured that I should work on my car since Dr. Neat set back the due date to wednesday and most of us were saved. As soon as everyone was released and we were all told to make choices for ourselves and not mess around, I thought and did the best thing I could possibly do and worked on my website instead of the car becuase it needed to be updated and the car was sorta close to it's completion.
Today, Wednesday 2/8,
After the entire class was seated we were told by Dr. Neat that the place where the steamworks competition was being held had a rule that did not allow flying objects in the building so our last trinket idea, which was a flying toy that would be luanched and spun, was a complete bust. Since the trinket that was chosen was not allowed to be used, we had to build a new one which became our Wednesday challange for this week and we had to come up with a completely new idea that could not fly or take off of the ground in any way, shape or form.
Steamwork Trinket Part 3 Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 2/9,
We had to spend the begining of the class period listening to the last three presentations from yesterdays challange and they were all decently good but they did not have enough planning complete for their trinket so they al went to waste. The later half of the day we had spent racing the cars or working and hopefully completing their cars if people hadn't finished building them by now which sadly included me.
Today, Friday 2/10,
The veterans came in front of the whole class again and told us what they had been up to during the week and showed us how late they were on their planned dates along with the base of the robot's frame which was almost fully complete. After the veterans showed us their robot's chassis and all the sketches they did, we were told to get our cars so that we were ready to race and if anyone had still not comlpeted their cars to do so.
Today, Tuesday 2/14,
I was absent and probably missed something important
Today, Wednesday 2/15,
Once everyone got to class and was paying atention Dr. Neat gave us our wednesday challange for this week and it was for everyone to get in a circle and toss tubes to the people on their left while catching a tube from a person to your right and we had three different challanges to do. The way our group did it was we watchecd the other team and followed what they did but better and that was to practice each challange over and over until we got them right and then we did it for real and had won.
Circle of Tubes Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 2/16,
Dr. Neat and Mr. Miller talked to everyone who had gotten bad grades on their websites during the last grading period and tried to find out what had gone wrong with them. While they were checking to make sure people are doing good and up to date on everything, everyone else was busy working on their websites since the grading period for them is this weekend and there is a lot of new links and updates that should be in them.
Today, Friday 2/17,
The veterans got up in front of us like usual to explain the progress that they have made since last friday but today was slightly different because it is the last time that they are presenting to us about this challange which i'm sad for since it was fun to hear their progress. After telling us of their completion the veterans moved into the shop to judge the people racing their cars and I chose to work more on my website because I sorta don't have a car to race and the website is worth a lot more points.
Today, Tuesday 2/21,
After class had started, Dr. Neat had called out the names of everyone who passed the car race and told them to get their cars so that they could show the rest of the class what they had done in order to make their cars win. After that he explained to us what the next step torwards building the skateboard was, it was to get a car design that was made by someone else and then build the design but we could only do it if we had passed the previous challange so I need to work on my car.
Today, Wednesday 2/22,
After everyone got to class we were told to find a partner for the challange then we were told about our new challange which would involve us designing an A and building an A that another group had designed. After we had designed our A the veterans took the file and gave it to another team so that they could make while we were given the file of another team and were told to make it. Whoever made the best A would win as well as the people who had designed it for them.
Design and Build an A Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 2/23,
Once class had started and everyone else was ready we were told to get back in our teams from wednesday and to get out our laptops which had a sketch up of an A on it so that we could build it and try to win the challange. After I got my laptop and got together with my partner we started working on our A and did a pretty good job of it.
Today, Friday 2/24,
After class had started Dr. Neat showed us a video that was made quite a while ago about trying to find another earth in space using a drone that could know exactly where an object is in space and also look for life on planets. After the video Dr. Neat told us that the drone had actually found a few planets that are extremely similar to earth less than a week ago which is pretty exciting. After that annoncement we were allowed to work on our websites some more or on whatever we wanted.
Today, Monday 2/27,
I was absent
Today, Tusday 2/28,
I was absent
Today, Wednesday 3/1,
Once we got to class Dr. Neat and Mr. Miller told us all about our next challange which is to create the boat tail that a rocket would use and it has to be made properly. After being told the challange everyone got into their groups and we had started working but me and the rest of my group, except for the veteran, were completely lost and had no idea what to do.
Create a Boat Tail Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 3/2,
I got to class and waited for my team to show up so that we could work on the boat tail that we were making yesterday but our veteran was absent so we were going to be lost without him. While we worked on the boat tail, trying to understand what we were supposed to do, Kevin hhad helped us and explained a little which made things a lot easier and we eventually began to work on the tail.
Today, Friday 3/3,
Dr. Neat and Mr. Miller warned us over and over again that the websites were being graded this weekend and that we should work on them if we could so that our grades would rise and the number of kids failing would decrease. We were all let free and the people done with their websites were allowed to work on their cars or just do whatever they wanted to do until class ended.
Today, Monday 3/6,
Dr. Neat and Mr. Miller talked to the class about the websites and reminded us that they were graded last weekend by Mr. Miller and we were also told that half the class was failing because they didn't do the websites. After seeing how many kids were failing because of the websites we were told to continue the project with our car and to also try and see what went wrong with our websites.
Today, Tuesday 3/7,
Dr. Neat and Mr. Miller let everyone work on their cars and Found out that one of the axles on my car did not fit properly so I had to spend the entire period trying to fix it and it worked correctly. After I fixed my car it was too late to race so this project is going to take even longer than it should have if I had been quick with making my car.
Today, Wednesday 3/8,
We were given our next challange which would take a few weeks to complete and would change our semester grade to an A if we won it by getting the top score and could save people who are failing. After hearing the explanation of the challange, my partner and me started making a sketch up of a device to be used to protect the chip while being shipped and we got some basic ideas down.
Today, Thursday 3/9,
My partner was absent so I had to figure out the sketch up we were going to give on my own and I had no idea were to start or even what materials to use for the box. The whole class was given the entire day to work on their project sketch ups and to tell the judges that they were done in order to trade sketch ups with our other groups.
Today, Friday 3/10,
Once class had started and everyone sat down with their laptops, Dr. Neat told us that we have to finish our sketch ups and trade with them with our partner team by the end of the day or else we can't participate in the challange and will have no other chance at improving our grade. He also said that if we were done with sketch up, we should start building whatever sketch we were given by our partner teams and make sure it's done by wednesday.
Today, Monday 3/13,
After I got to class and waited a while, I realized by partner wasn't going to be there and I continued to listen to Dr. Neat tell us about how the projects were due wednesday and that we need to be done by then and that we should spend the whole class period working. After Dr. Neat informed us on the due date, the whole class went right to working on their project, fixing and correcting anything wrong with it.
Today, Tuesday 3/14,
I was without my partner again and had finally started to work on building the sketch up that I was given and trying to get it done by tomorrow.
Today, Wednesday 3/15,
After everyone got to class and the bell had rung, Dr. Neat said that our projects were due at the end of the period no matter what and had to be approved. Since my partner was here we worked together and finished the project as soon as the bell ended and it was approved.
Today, Tuesday 3/28,
We got finally got back from spring break and were ready to hear about what our fourth quarter would be like and talk about what each other did over the break.
Today, Wednesday 3/29,
Once everyone got to class we started to talk about the wednesday challange that we were going to be working on all day today and it involved grades along with math class. The challange was to choose whether we would want to take a regular math class with all the tests, quizzes, studying and homework or write every single number from one to one million and get an A.
Math Class or Pi Wednesday Challange
Today, Thursday 3/30,
After class had started and everyone was seated Dr. Neat and the veterans had found the live stream of the First Steamworks Robotic Competition and we all watched it and cheered on our team. We saw our team win a game and during it they had delivered gears to the airship on their side, dumped balls into the boiler for more points and defended against the other alliance.
Today, Friday 3/31,
Class had begun and all the students were seated so the veterans chose to find the current live stream and put it on the overhead so that we could watch our team once again except this time they lost the match. While watching them we were reminded that in one week our websites would be graded and that we should put in everything about the Robotics Copmetition that we had learned.
Today, Monday 4/3,
The weekend ended and we were back in school ready to hear more about the competition since all the veterans had gotten back and would be able to tell us themselves since they were actually there and saw things we didn't see and did things we wouldn't know about. They told us about the three awards they had won and how they quickly got though inspection along with setting up the pit for their robot and the swiss team that had joined them.
Tuesday 4/11,
After class had started Dr. Neat talked to us about the two paths students were taking, they were either working torwards making a skateboard by doing a sketch up of it or they were starting the early wednesday challange if they couldn't do the skateboard. Since I wasn't allowed to make a skateboard and I didn't really want to, I was on one of two teams for the Wednesday challange. The challange was to design a standing tower made out of 1 by 1 inch squares then cut the squares out and build the actual tower while hoping it was bigger than the other team's tower.
Thursday 4/13,
We were told to continue working on what we had done the day before and the Wednesday challange people were suppossed to complete their tower by the end of the period while the skateboard people were suppossed to get close to finishing the sketch up. My group and I had finished sketch up so we started to work on the tower and spent the first half hour of class cutting out squares for it. The last hour and a half was spent building the actual tower and for that we just let one member do it since everyone trying to help would make the process take longer than it should.
1 by 1 Inch Cardboard Tower Wednesday Challange
Wednesday 4/19,
After class had started Dr. Neat told all of the skateboard creaters to finish cutting out their paper design and to tape it all together in the correct order so that it could easily be cut out when it is placed over the wood that would be used for the actual skateboards. He also told everyone who wasn't working on the skateboards about the challange that they would be doing which would require making boats from scratch and sailing them. The task of the challange was to make a sketch up of a boat that we give to another team while getting theirs in return. After that we would have to build the design that we had gotten and hope for it to float.
Float a Boat Wednesday Challange
Monday 5/1,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it with all the time they have while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.
Tuesday 5/2,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it with all the time they have while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.
Wednesday 5/3,
After class had begun Dr. Neat told everyone about the Wednesday challange and also told us that everyone was going to participate in it even the veterans and skateboard builders. The challange goal is to make an airplane and write the directions on paper that will be given to another team which they will make while we get theirs. Us along with our partners couldn't finish the directions so we were sure on a loss.
Flying a Paper Airplane Wednesday Challange
Thursday 5/4,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it with all the time they have while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.
Friday 5/5,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it with all the time they have while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.
Monday 5/8,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it with all the time they have while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.
Tuesday 5/9,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it with all the time they have while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.
Wednesday 5/10,
Dr. Neat explained to all of us the wednesday challange that we would be doing and told us that everyone but the veterans would participate in and it is a lot like the last challange that we worked on. The challange goal was to build a boat and have float for at least 5 minutes while holding whatever weight we chose to put on the boat. While thinking of a boat to build I remembered that for the last boat challange someone used a paper boat and I wanted to use that.
Float Another Boat Wednesday Challange
Thursday 5/11,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it with all the time they have while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.
Friday 5/12,
Dr. Neat split up the the whole class into the skateboard group which stays in the shop for the majority of the period and the non-skateboard group which stays in the main class room for the majority of the period. He told the non-skateboard builders to work on their websites and continue to perfect it since it is getting graded this weekend while the skateboard creaters are supposed to work on their skateboards and meet all the requirements.