Steam Science has opened my eyes to many future careers. I thought a game developer was what I wanted to be, but I soon figured out that mechanics, really intrigues me. Steam Science has brought a lot of new experiences into my life, such as kayaking, capturing jellyfish, building cardboard boats, 3DS MAX, rubber band shooters, and more. I hope every student eligible to take Steam Science, will because it is a class I will never forget!
Life size cardboard boats, it seems like a bad idea; you may be thinking "how can cardboard hold a person, above water!" well that's the question we challenged ourselves to answer. the regatta, tested many categories such as style, style of sinking, speed, endurance, and effort. our steam science class and the Perry Central physics class, engineered there best "boats" from three rolls of duck tape and all of the (non-reinforced) cardboard we wanted! These are the rules we agreed on - only three rolls of duck tape, two passengers must sit and float in your boat, if one of your members falls your time stops until they are back on, when your boat completely sinks your time stops, no reinforced cardboard, no water resistant paint, and you have to use paddles (no kicking). When we started our project, we spent three days on design and gathering materials. although those three days of preparation put us behind in building, It helped us get second place in the long run. For our design we created a box, from smaller boxes and made it big enough to be buoyant when it holds two members of our team, then we made cross patterns with the tape and cardboard for extra strength, finally we completely duck taped the bottom and sides of our boat! (for extra protection) This is our boat before the race - We stayed afloat for 1 minute and 56 seconds, taking second place. first place stayed afloat for 27 minutes and 50 seconds. this is there boat - Even though we didn't come in first place, I had a really fun time creating and racing the cardboard boats! Hopefully you will try to be a part of a cardboard boat regatta, because it really is a fun and education experience. Makey Makey, is a new way to interact with your computer, it connects your surrounding with your computer by linking objects to the control panel with metal cords. we used cups, but you can use almost anything. creators - Makey Makey This is another blog, where I want to talk about 3DSMAX. Recently on 3DSMAX I have started a project I named freeze, and I am planning for this project to be my biggest one yet. Freeze will have color, a longer time period than my other projects, and social interaction! What I mean by social interaction, is It will have multiple objects or "people" interacting in my project. I am excited to create, and share this project with you, and when I am done with it I will create a video link.
Have you ever seen an animated movie? They're the kind of movies that don't have real people in them! I started to find this interesting so, I have been using 3DSMAX to start exploring animation! I am starting to familiarize myself with 3DSMAX, (with the help of Steven B.) but it is still fundamentally challenging. the best part about 3DSMAX, is you don't have to be an artist! (anyone can animate!) I hope you get a chance to try 3DSMAX and hopefully, you will love it!
When I started my project, It didn't work. I tried to make bouncy balls and magnet goo, but the bouncy ball turned out to be playdough and the magnet I needed for the goo was really expensive. After days of trying to get these experiments to work, I was running out of time. Aaron let me help him with his project. his project was Fire Bubbles and he made his own acid! he had everything ready, so I helped him present and create, the Fire Bubbles. The best part of the project was the fiery explosion, it was amazing when the bubble were set on fire. that is what I did for my project.
Have you ever played a game, and your movement was the controller, Well I have been using app inventor to make phone apps, and I wanted to make my tables movement control the games action. I found out that an accelerometer (ex-cell-er-om-eat-er) controls what happens when a phone or tablet moves. I started to use the accelerometer, and it was harder than I thought. the accelerometer has a lot of math involved, because it runs on a motion = movement on grid system which means motion makes it move. Although, its hard to use the accelerometer is a good tool for any game.
The new program I am using, is app inventor. app inventor allows me to create android apps, but it is a lot more complicated then scratch.mit.edu. I have started learning how the program works, and it uses a drag and drop system (pulling code in block form, and connecting it). so far it has been and interesting challenge. I hope you can try appinventor.mit.edu or https://scratch.mit.edu.
My experience with the jellyfish has been fun, I have learned a lot too. I have learned that jellyfish have one hole where they eat and make waste. I also learned that jellyfish eat fish eggs (we feed them caviar). jellyfish are not like normal pets, they need special attention such as putting air into their tank, putting rocks in their tank, and feeding them high priced food (caviar). it is a shame they don't live very long, because they are a fun pet, fun to talk about, and fun to learn about. that was my experience with the jellyfish.
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AuthorSam Rockwell |