In the end, the Klassy Kasoma and the F$M$L group completed this project with a complete track that integrated parabolas, ellipses, and other circle equations. All in all, both these groups incorporated a lot of their previous knowledge from other years into this project. Certain people in each group focused on the algebra behind the track (Desmos design & blue print.) Others in the group focused on the chemistry based part (creating a battery.) Throughout this project I think all groups learned where they messed up and the process of fixing mistakes. Overall, I think the final projects were similar to our visions. We will continue PBL but we will move on to a different project. You will be able to follow it there. For now, we are satisfied with the final results that came with this project. Klassy Kasoma: With one more day to go, my group was really determined to get everything set and finished for our track today. We wanted to finish gluing all of the track walls today, but towards the end of class, we decided to see how the cars really went around the track. When we saw how the cars made our track turns, we became really frustrated and a bit disappointed. We didn't know how fast the cars actually were. In our experiment we realized how fast our cars really are. This would be a good problem to have but they can't make the turns on our track. We ended up making the track too narrow for the cars which also discouraged our group. However, Mr. Gaines told our group about recreating the track with a wider road so that we could actually race our cars without any problem. We want to take on this challenge and make a track in which RC cars can easily race on! U3: Today was clutch day for the U3 group- well every group but mostly us. In the morning we believed all we had to do was finish up our lemon battery and we were set with our track. We thought our race track mixture (flour and water) would be solid to race on, but we soon realized it had became the opposite. The flour rose like it baked overnight and smelled like rotten dairy. This was a huge setback, so much so that it practically sent our group to square one. I told my fellow group mates "We need to clutch so hard this period" and I am sure people thought we would not be able to finish due to the position we were in with our track, but we did (for the most part). We took out the messed up layer off the track and put sand again except with paint (because paint is basically a colorful glue). We will see the results for that tomorrow. Meanwhile, we finished the lemon batteries which was giving us problems too because we weren't using the same size of copper wire ( one was thin the other was thick). In the end we used all thick wire to complete our lemon battery circuit which produces about 4 volts and re did our track.
Klassy Kasoma: Our group is almost done with the race track! We decided to to repaint everything because we wanted to maximize our time and not waste it since our completion deadline is coming up! We placed and super glued the track onto the wooden planks which was a bit challenging. Kathy came up with the idea to put little pieces of poster board in between the wood pieces and the track in order to add the crazy glue easier. This made the process proceed faster. We decided to add duct tape to the sides of the track so that the cars would not fall out. Once we finished, we tried driving the cars around and we found that the tape may not be strong enough which led us to thinking about creating stronger barriers since both our cars make fast turns leading them to fall of the track. We also made some of the plaster to see what it looked like and in the end, although we are double-thinking whether to use it on our track. U3: Today the U3 group completed the tasks we wanted to do for today. We brought a packet of "all purpose" flour so that we can make the mixture for our racetrack. We preset our track by digging the track so that our previous problem would not happen. Our previous problem was that the mixture solidified and raised off from the base. We are confident that this will not happen again because we made sure there was not any layers underneath so it would not raise. Once we poured the mixture, we decided to work on the battery, but then we realized we were out of lemon juice and we did not have a salt bride, we decided to do this another day. F$M$L: Today my group and I decided to start the base of the track all over since it was not working for us. We gave up on using clay since this created cracks on the surface of the track. We will repair the track and add the "borders". Meanwhile, we will stick to the idea of creating a tunnel integrated onto the track. We were thinking of adding another layer on top of the track. We will make it by using clear plastic on the track. We will need to repaint the track since the clay left some damage and tomorrow we will be doing that. We somehow want to get lights inside our track so it can look like a tunnel at night. We will work on the chemistry behind the battery tomorrow.
Klassy Kasoma: We have our race track base almost completed!! Today, we drilled our wooden planks into the base successfully :) I personally did not know how to use a power drill, but I learned today! After we got everything in place, we needed to paint the base black. This took us several tries because we had to use different kinds of paints. The first time, we used regular black paint, but it turned out to be too watery and did not show a dark black color. We guessed that either the paint was a very cheap kind or that the wooden base soaked in the paint so that the top layer did not show very well. After realizing that the paint would not show, we tried using spray paint; this did not turn out well either because we could not even out the spray paint on the base. It would start to drop and made the top layer look weird. Next week, we need to repaint everything evenly with another kind of paint and see how that turns out. U3: The U3 group is doing great. We knocked out about half of our project in one class period. We had to redo our racetrack's math calculations on desmos considering we made a new track. We did the math on the online graphing calculator (desmos) by plugging in many different numbers in the formulas for parabolas, circles, and lines (with the help of domain and range). It actually did not take so long to finish the calculations because we actually knew what we were doing (haha). Afterwards, we dug into our track so that when we pour our "pavement" (flour and water solution) it won't cause us problems like the last time when it lifted off from our track. We also made sure to make the width of the track and corners are wide enough for our rc car. The last thing we added to the track was add "corner banks" which are basically slight inclines on a corner of a track so it could help the car take sharp corners easier. All that is left then for U3 is to make our solution and pour it and then finish our battery. F$M$L: Today my group worked on setting the clay on the track. We have been struggling with the clay because it always cracks over time. We came up with the idea of painting over it and it has actually been working. Since our car would not be able to make the turn, we had to fix the curves so the car has the ability of making the turns. We also started to cut the boarders we will be using for the track. We are adding borders onto the track in order to avoid the car falling off the track. On top of that we will be adding bridges onto the track which will allow it to have designs.
Klassy Kasoma: My group is in a great place right now! We have our schedule down for the completion of the track. We came up with an idea to use duct tape for the edge walls on our racetrack, so that our car will not fall off the track. We also marked the wooden base with a marker in order to make sure that we place our wooden planks correctly; this ensures that the race track will be elevated three-dimensionally to allow for the different angles of incline and decline. Tomorrow, we will super glue (using Gorilla Glue) the track onto the wooden planks which are each different heights, so that it adds different height levels. We decided to use Gorilla Glue because it is a fast-drying adhesive that will provide a secure connection between the foam board and the wood. Gorrilla Glue contains 4,4'-Diphenylmethane diisocyanate. (More information on this ingredient could be found here). Diisocyanates are generally used to make a wide range of polyurethane (PU) products. Also, we want to add decoration to the track such as a small stadium and a ticket booth stand and paint to the base. We feel that adding these components will contribute to the overall aesthetic of the racetrack. F$M$L: Today we changed our plans. We decided to change the track completely. We will be adding borders to the sides in order for our RC car to be driven on the track without any issues. We will be powering lights with batteries that we constructed ourselves. We will integrate lights in the track and, when we are finished with the borders, we will add a transparent sheet so we could simulate a tunnel in our track. All in all, we want to construct a transparent tunnel on our track. We are going to finish the track with clay and smooth it out with some paint so the car can be driven on the track with no problem. Tomorrow we will work on the development of the lights for the track.
Klassy Kasoma: Our group became a bit frustrated with our ideas for the race track today. We did not know what to do with our base since we wanted to go two different routes; we wanted to paint it, but we also wanted to add the grass paper on it. We ended up deciding to just focus on the track and the elevation of the track with the wooden planks. I placed each wood piece today on our track so that tomorrow, we could lay the track on the wooden planks and see if we need to fix the placement. In other news, we finally received our race car. Although, after testing it, we came to the conclusion that we need to add small walls on the sides of the track, so that the car could easily drive thro ugh our track. U4: Our group has continuously get drawbacks, but today we got "clutch"! As of today, the U4 group became U3. One of our members decided to go his own route and we respect his decision. Despite this, we had to come up with a new track design in which our little rc car (which seems to be slowly dying) can drive through the corners (turns). We were going to model our new track after the Willow Springs Raceway here in California, but that too was impossible for our car. We then randomly thought of a simple track and it has been designed to the point where it is more " appealing" than our previous track. Our next step then is to do our algebra calculations for this new track and then make a solution substance for the track. F$M$L: Today my group and I worked on the construction of the track. We previously applied clay on our track and today we went to see the results.After observing the clay we realized it cracked (although we like how the track looked with the cracks in it). Regardless of being neutral with the results, we decided to put paint over the track in order to make the cracks unnoticeable. Our observations made us realize that the lack of glue in our solutions caused the creation of the cracks. If we would have had added glue, the clay would have had been together and it would have had been a better result. We also need to make the track a bit thicker because if the layer of clay is thin, it will eventually crack. We left clay, water, and glue mixed together in a container today and we will check the results tomorrow.
Klassy Kasoma: For our project, our position right now is setting the track up on the wooden planks. These wooden planks are used and placed in certain places in order to elevate the track and make it three dimensional. However, my group lost the paper in which we wrote what sizes each piece of wood would be. This was our mistake, so next time, my group will probably make copies of important things we need to have. We need to learn how to become more prepared and organized with our plans. I also worked on my lesson for Desmos to the class. I am currently teaching the class about how to make an online track. I am going to teach about ellipses, circles, lines, and parabolas. I am going to teach the class about the ranges of each and how to connect each pieces to each other on Desmos. U4: Today the U4 group learned or relearned a little bit about circles and ellipses. The circle formula that we relearned was y^2 + x^2 = r^2 (^2 means squared) and for the ellipse (x-h)^2/b^2 + (y-k)^2/a^2 = 1. Both may seem pretty complicated, but with a little practice on Desmos (an online graphing calculator) it will become much more simpler. After that we headed back to the drawing board for our track because our solution for the track lifted off from the base and crumbled like chips so we had to clean up (destroy) the track and come up with a new idea for the track. Our new plan is to make a new solution that is sort of like asphalt and make the turns less complicated in order for our rc car to actually go through the course. F$M$L: My group and I have been working on the track. We have been trying to look for materials to use for the base of the track and settled with clay. We have decided to smooth out the clay with water so the base could be smooth and free of cracks. One of my group members started to make ramps for the track so it would not be a flat track. Meanwhile, my other group members were making the base by laying the clay out and smoothing it out with water. One of our peers came up with the idea of putting glue on the clay and the result was amazing!The clay ended up looking like cement and it will not easily be cracked. Tomorrow we will check out how the clay worked on the base.
Klassy Kasoma: Our PBL class was pretty different today. We revisited the subjects of reduction and oxidation and tied that into why copper and zinc are used to make batteries. We learned something new which was the idea that a salt bridge can be used to move electrons from one liquid to another. My group might use that for our second battery attempt since the first acidic solution did not work for us. - Copper - Cathode / Reduction (Gains Electrons) (Right Side Of Reaction) - Zinc - Anode / Oxidation (Loses Electrons) (Left Side of Reaction) - In our Chemistry discussion with our teacher we learned about different acids. We learned about the reasons they create reactions and why they ultimately create voltage in a battery. In order to learn more about the differences between anode and cathode, click on the video below! Half Cell Reactions for a Zinc/Copper Galvanic Cell BatteryCathode (i.e. Copper) Cu(s) --> Cu(aq)2+ + 2e- Standard Electrode (Cathode) Potential: Ecathode = 0.34 V Anode (i.e. Zinc) Zn(s) --> Zn(aq)2+ + 2e- Standard Electrode (Anode) Potential: Eanode = - 0.76 V Overall Standard Cell Potential: Ecell = Ecathode - Eanode Ecell = 0.34 V - ( - 0.76 V ) Ecell = 1.1 V F$M$L: My group and I have been working on the development as well as the chemistry behind the battery we are creating for our track. During this time, I learned that we cannot use pennies made before 1982 because the pennies made before that date did not contain zinc. I also learned that the pattern into the creation of the battery is crucial. After completing the battery, we would like to start focusing on the algebra behind the track. Although, we are beginning to face obstacles since our main focus has been making the battery function. For now, we have a conclusion that we will split the work between the different people in our group.
Klassy Kasoma: My group and I did not do have a great day with our battery. We could not figure out how to create more volts with the penny version of the battery. The LED lights that we have require 3 volts each and the highest amount of volts we were able to create was about 1 volt. We even tried using actual pieces of zinc with the sand papered pennies, but that did not work well either. We have decided to look up new ways to create battery as we have tried so many different kinds of acidic solutions. The one problem we have is that we do not want to make a battery made up of liquid ingredients because we do not want it to ruin our track. Tomorrow, we also want to power drill the pieces of wood onto our base to create the elevation of our track. U4: Team U4 is back on track! Today was a pretty big day for our group because not only did we have to present our safety presentation, we also had to put another coat of solution to solidify our sand racetrack. The only difference with this solution is that we mixed water with baking flour rather than using the tacky glue that we have previously used. Our teacher Mr. Gaines brought us a packet of flour in order to experiment and see if the water and flour would act like a pavement and not only smooth out but solidify the track as well. We poured the "batter" as if we were pouring cement and the track does look like oatmeal, but the result is what we care for and hopefully the sand will absorb the the flour mixture and create a smooth hard pavement we need in order for the RC car to drive on.
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For this page, we asked a student from each group to summarize the work done towards the completion of their race tracks & batteries. Feel free to leave any feedback to the groups under each post!
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