Final project
This year I have grown as a mathematician in many different ways and I have also seen some areas that I need to work on to become a better mathematician. Here are some ways I have grown at generating ideas during our boat project. I was in a group with Will and we didn’t know what kind of boat we wanted to make we made a boat design that we originally thought would work but then we realized that it wasn’t practical so we decided to redo our boat design. I then had the idea of making cataraft with our original boat because it looked almost identical to a pontoon for a cataraft just without a cover on the top. We then used the same design to create the second pontoon, then made the covers for the top. However if we planned out our design better and drew better diagram we would have been able to see how it wouldn’t have worked before we put it all together.
I think that I need to work on communicating thinking in a clear and accessible way. I don’t see a way that I have improved on this the past semester. I could have done better during this semester when we were designing how we were going to test and see whose boat designs worked the best. I had some different ideas for the testing but couldn’t explain it very well so I just gave up. I could have drawn diagrams to help describe my ideas. I also was gone for part of the planning and the actual exhibition because I was at the international science fair. By missing some school I wasn’t able to hear or talk with my peers more about our project, so by working on communicating better I could have still contributed more to our exhibition.
Problem solving has been an area with a lot of growth this past year. I have seen it this year so much in my science fair, in my work and in my school work. I would like to become a mechanical engineer so problem solving is a big thing that I needed to learn and I feel I learned it at animas this past year. We had to problem solve with our boat and the designing of it we had to problem solve and figure out how we were going to test the boats. Problem solving is a strength for me and I really learned it this past year.
Reflecting and synthesizing is something I could do better at. I don’t really feel like I need to provide why something works or reflect on it if it works. I think I am starting to grow in this but not until very recently. I use to think if something worked I shouldn’t have to provide why it works if it works. However I feel I have seen how and why we are learning things and how they connect to real world applications such as our spreadsheet workshop, I used spreadsheets for some explorations and POWs especially when I was trying to find the optimal of something.
PROJECT REFLECTION:
Will and I came up with some cool and original ideas such as using duct tape to seal off our boat because when we just used saran wrap it didn’t seal it off completely and would allow some water inside and would get the cardboard wet. We did some research on the design and how and why they built catarafts the way they did. We were in charge of how we tested the boats. I didn’t really run into any challenges along this project. I think part of the reason was I didn’t challenge myself enough in this project and I wish I challenged myself more in this project. We had to apply several different principles of mathematics in this project such as buoyance.
I think that I need to work on communicating thinking in a clear and accessible way. I don’t see a way that I have improved on this the past semester. I could have done better during this semester when we were designing how we were going to test and see whose boat designs worked the best. I had some different ideas for the testing but couldn’t explain it very well so I just gave up. I could have drawn diagrams to help describe my ideas. I also was gone for part of the planning and the actual exhibition because I was at the international science fair. By missing some school I wasn’t able to hear or talk with my peers more about our project, so by working on communicating better I could have still contributed more to our exhibition.
Problem solving has been an area with a lot of growth this past year. I have seen it this year so much in my science fair, in my work and in my school work. I would like to become a mechanical engineer so problem solving is a big thing that I needed to learn and I feel I learned it at animas this past year. We had to problem solve with our boat and the designing of it we had to problem solve and figure out how we were going to test the boats. Problem solving is a strength for me and I really learned it this past year.
Reflecting and synthesizing is something I could do better at. I don’t really feel like I need to provide why something works or reflect on it if it works. I think I am starting to grow in this but not until very recently. I use to think if something worked I shouldn’t have to provide why it works if it works. However I feel I have seen how and why we are learning things and how they connect to real world applications such as our spreadsheet workshop, I used spreadsheets for some explorations and POWs especially when I was trying to find the optimal of something.
PROJECT REFLECTION:
Will and I came up with some cool and original ideas such as using duct tape to seal off our boat because when we just used saran wrap it didn’t seal it off completely and would allow some water inside and would get the cardboard wet. We did some research on the design and how and why they built catarafts the way they did. We were in charge of how we tested the boats. I didn’t really run into any challenges along this project. I think part of the reason was I didn’t challenge myself enough in this project and I wish I challenged myself more in this project. We had to apply several different principles of mathematics in this project such as buoyance.
Skill mastery
One mathematical skill that I have mastered would be FOIL method. I think that this it’s super easy for me and I think that I have done a good job in doing this. I knew how to do it before but I didn’t know the FOIL acronym or what it meant at first but then when I saw Dan do it I realized that I knew how to it I just didn’t know FOIL. I think that FOIL makes more sense to learn it.
F First
O Outer
I Inner
L Last
Exploration 19 & 20 definitely helped me understand how to do it.
Exploration 19
F First
O Outer
I Inner
L Last
Exploration 19 & 20 definitely helped me understand how to do it.
Exploration 19
Habits of a Mathematician
I think a couple habits of a mathematician that I have mastered this semester would be.
-Restating a problem
- Formulating a plan
Here are some examples of each:
-Restating a problem
- Formulating a plan
Here are some examples of each:
Spreadsheet Workshop
https://docs.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y8hWzoO0nQefu2NpzmQlkdroEfRm1OGtYjdDZFmPicQ/edit?usp=sharing