The Patriotic A.L.S. Ice Bucket Challenge:
Our project went through a countless amount of phases. At first, we just generated a bunch of ideas, and eliminated the ones that we didn't like. Some of the ideas included popping a balloon, ringing a bell, sautéing onions, and setting off a party popper. As a group, we decided that we all liked the party popper idea the best, and thought it would be really fun to do, but still give us a bit of a challenge. About a third of the way into the project, we decided that we wanted to change the party popper finale idea. We decided to have the machine make a lego mini-figure perform the ALS ice bucket challenge. We thought it was a good idea because it supports ALS, and it is a "stunt" that most everybody knows about.
Our project consists of 10 steps. In step 1, a 200 gram weight is rolled down a ramp. In step 2, the weight falls down a hole and strikes a heavy silver ball. In step 3, the heavy ball goes down two wooden steps. In step 4 the ball rolls down two switch back ramps, and falls on one side of a lever. In step 6, the lever lifts up on the right side, and releases an orange ball attached to a string down a ramp. In step 7, the orange ball pulls on one side of the lever, releasing the other one. In step 8, the other lever swings down and strikes a golf ball. In step 9, the golf ball goes down two switch backs, and hits the cup of water. In the final step, step 10, the water pours on the lego man, and the ice bucket challenge is complete.
*For a better look and understanding of all this, check out the "Images and Videos" page. Go to "School"-->"9th Grade"-->"Rube Goldberg Machine"-->"Images and Videos".
The reason that our machine is called "The Patriotic A.L.S. Ice Bucket Challenge" is because we painted the whole thing red, white, and blue. We decided to do this because we wanted ours to stand out. Not many people were going to paint theirs, and we wanted to make ours special by making it look good. We also believed that the appearance of our machine was important, because it would attract people to see something that looked cool and different.
In this unit, we went over many concepts of physics. Newtons, joules, mechanical advantage, kinetic and potential energy, work, and force. Newtons are a measurement of force. The equation for force is F=ma: Force equals mass times acceleration. Joules are a measurement of energy. There are two different forms of energy; kinetic, and potential. Kinetic energy is energy in motion, potential energy is energy pre motion. Joules are the unit for energy. Energy and work are very related, in that their equations are the same; KE=fd, PE=fd, and W=fd. Kinetic energy, potential energy, and work all equal force times distance. Mechanical advantage also has two different forms; theoretical mechanical advantage, and actual mechanical advantage. Theoretical mechanical advantage means the mechanical advantage without any friction, or wind resistance. Actual mechanical advantage is mechanical advantage with all of the elements (friction, and wind resistance). The equation for theoretical mechanical advantage is: distance input/distance output. Actual mechanical advantage is: force output/force input.
Had we not learned all of these physics concepts, our project wouldn't have been half as good or consistent. If we hadn't learned these things, we would have a lot of spots on our machine where a ball would fall off, or there wouldn't be enough weight to trigger something, or anything else that could have gone wrong. We had a kinetic energy transfer at the beginning of our machine, when the 200 gram weight hits the ball. There are 2 places where we have mechanical advantages. When the silver ball hits the lever, and when the pulley is pulled, each with a mechanical advantage of 1. If we hadn't learned about mechanical advantage, the balls wouldn't have been able to activate those two things.
There were many ups and downs in our project, some more dramatic than others. For the most part, I would say that we worked very well as a group. We all seemed to agree on most all of our ideas, and we never had large fights or disputes over anything. We got along well, and I would think that it's fair to say that we had a lot of fun building our project together. One thing that didn't go so well, is that we weren't as prepared to start building as we would have liked to have been. There were points in the project where we either realized it was too short, or we were missing an aspect, or something along those lines. It worked out in the end, but it would have been nice to have been a little more prepared.
From this project, I have learned, and grown a lot. At the beginning of this project, I would not have characterized myself as a leader in a group. I would have thought of myself, as productive, and listens to orders, but doesn't take control of things very much. This project has brought out that side of me. It shows me that I am as capable of being a leader as anybody else is, and that is going to really push me in life to take control a little, and show some leadership. Another, but less deep, thing that I have learned is how to be more handy with tools. Don't get me wrong, in the beginning of this project, I did know how to use a hammer, I did know how to use a drill, and I did know how to use a saw. I'm just saying that know I have learned how to use those tools in a more advanced and efficient manner, which may help me in my future.
There are definitely a couple things that I may have been able to do better, and will work on in the future. The first thing, is that in some times during the project, I could have been a little bit more on task. There were moments when I was either tired or distracted, and I had a hard time staying on topic with what we were doing, and that may have given the group "lazy vibes". What I mean when I say that is, since their atmosphere is tired and distracted, that might encourage them to be to. I will definitely try to work on that, and remind myself if I'm doing it in the projects and assignments ahead. The other thing that I could work on is taking roll a little bit more, by organizing meetings, reminding people of things we needed to get done, and other things like that. However, aside from all this, all in all, I'd say it was mission accomplished.
Our project went through a countless amount of phases. At first, we just generated a bunch of ideas, and eliminated the ones that we didn't like. Some of the ideas included popping a balloon, ringing a bell, sautéing onions, and setting off a party popper. As a group, we decided that we all liked the party popper idea the best, and thought it would be really fun to do, but still give us a bit of a challenge. About a third of the way into the project, we decided that we wanted to change the party popper finale idea. We decided to have the machine make a lego mini-figure perform the ALS ice bucket challenge. We thought it was a good idea because it supports ALS, and it is a "stunt" that most everybody knows about.
Our project consists of 10 steps. In step 1, a 200 gram weight is rolled down a ramp. In step 2, the weight falls down a hole and strikes a heavy silver ball. In step 3, the heavy ball goes down two wooden steps. In step 4 the ball rolls down two switch back ramps, and falls on one side of a lever. In step 6, the lever lifts up on the right side, and releases an orange ball attached to a string down a ramp. In step 7, the orange ball pulls on one side of the lever, releasing the other one. In step 8, the other lever swings down and strikes a golf ball. In step 9, the golf ball goes down two switch backs, and hits the cup of water. In the final step, step 10, the water pours on the lego man, and the ice bucket challenge is complete.
*For a better look and understanding of all this, check out the "Images and Videos" page. Go to "School"-->"9th Grade"-->"Rube Goldberg Machine"-->"Images and Videos".
The reason that our machine is called "The Patriotic A.L.S. Ice Bucket Challenge" is because we painted the whole thing red, white, and blue. We decided to do this because we wanted ours to stand out. Not many people were going to paint theirs, and we wanted to make ours special by making it look good. We also believed that the appearance of our machine was important, because it would attract people to see something that looked cool and different.
In this unit, we went over many concepts of physics. Newtons, joules, mechanical advantage, kinetic and potential energy, work, and force. Newtons are a measurement of force. The equation for force is F=ma: Force equals mass times acceleration. Joules are a measurement of energy. There are two different forms of energy; kinetic, and potential. Kinetic energy is energy in motion, potential energy is energy pre motion. Joules are the unit for energy. Energy and work are very related, in that their equations are the same; KE=fd, PE=fd, and W=fd. Kinetic energy, potential energy, and work all equal force times distance. Mechanical advantage also has two different forms; theoretical mechanical advantage, and actual mechanical advantage. Theoretical mechanical advantage means the mechanical advantage without any friction, or wind resistance. Actual mechanical advantage is mechanical advantage with all of the elements (friction, and wind resistance). The equation for theoretical mechanical advantage is: distance input/distance output. Actual mechanical advantage is: force output/force input.
Had we not learned all of these physics concepts, our project wouldn't have been half as good or consistent. If we hadn't learned these things, we would have a lot of spots on our machine where a ball would fall off, or there wouldn't be enough weight to trigger something, or anything else that could have gone wrong. We had a kinetic energy transfer at the beginning of our machine, when the 200 gram weight hits the ball. There are 2 places where we have mechanical advantages. When the silver ball hits the lever, and when the pulley is pulled, each with a mechanical advantage of 1. If we hadn't learned about mechanical advantage, the balls wouldn't have been able to activate those two things.
There were many ups and downs in our project, some more dramatic than others. For the most part, I would say that we worked very well as a group. We all seemed to agree on most all of our ideas, and we never had large fights or disputes over anything. We got along well, and I would think that it's fair to say that we had a lot of fun building our project together. One thing that didn't go so well, is that we weren't as prepared to start building as we would have liked to have been. There were points in the project where we either realized it was too short, or we were missing an aspect, or something along those lines. It worked out in the end, but it would have been nice to have been a little more prepared.
From this project, I have learned, and grown a lot. At the beginning of this project, I would not have characterized myself as a leader in a group. I would have thought of myself, as productive, and listens to orders, but doesn't take control of things very much. This project has brought out that side of me. It shows me that I am as capable of being a leader as anybody else is, and that is going to really push me in life to take control a little, and show some leadership. Another, but less deep, thing that I have learned is how to be more handy with tools. Don't get me wrong, in the beginning of this project, I did know how to use a hammer, I did know how to use a drill, and I did know how to use a saw. I'm just saying that know I have learned how to use those tools in a more advanced and efficient manner, which may help me in my future.
There are definitely a couple things that I may have been able to do better, and will work on in the future. The first thing, is that in some times during the project, I could have been a little bit more on task. There were moments when I was either tired or distracted, and I had a hard time staying on topic with what we were doing, and that may have given the group "lazy vibes". What I mean when I say that is, since their atmosphere is tired and distracted, that might encourage them to be to. I will definitely try to work on that, and remind myself if I'm doing it in the projects and assignments ahead. The other thing that I could work on is taking roll a little bit more, by organizing meetings, reminding people of things we needed to get done, and other things like that. However, aside from all this, all in all, I'd say it was mission accomplished.