PLTW is a class in which we have the opportunity to deepen our understanding through modules that are based on the different pathways that are offered  here at our school. There are a variety of pathways offered, some of which are Bio med and Media-tech. So far I have completed modules with relation to Media Tech. After further evaluation, I decided to try Engineering because my initial thoughts on media tech were vague, but I realized that it realistically was a very interesting pathway to study, all I needed to do was learn more about it and with this I had high hopes for Engineering.

I recently just finished the engineering module, in which we had to design and build a bridge with a limit on materials and a list of requirements to meet. We began by writing down our design brief and sketching out some technical drawings of what we wanted our bridge to look like. Then  we combined all of our  ideas together, to obtain our final bridge design. The following classes we dedicated ourselves to building our bridge. During one of those classes we decided to weigh the pieces we had finished constructing with a triple beam balance the weight results we obtained for the bridge were a little upsetting and surprising. It turned out only a portion of our bridge weighed around  sixty grams, which meant we were twenty grams over the  weight limit. We had to remove a lot of the string we used to hold the toothpicks together and decreased the amount of string we used on the remaining parts of the bridge. We decided to keep our trusses, but decided to revamp the platform of the bridge hoping that would decrease the total weight of our bridge.

In the end our bridge supported a small amount of weight, but I was still very proud of my group members for not giving up through this tough building process and really giving it their all. With this module I also learned that you have to go through a lot of trial and error which can be frustrating but will ultimately improve your ending product. I really enjoyed completing this module, it was a fun experience to work through.

-Andrea S.