ARS is all about us becoming great young women leaders and for me pltw helps a lot. In pltw we don’t necessarily have a teacher that is always there, what I mean by this is that yes we do have a teacher but we have a teacher that wants us to become independent. In our class we are not all doing the same module. We all have different modules that my group and I chose. We have to make a schedule and passe our self’s and make sure that everything is done the day its assigned or even earlier, because trust me when we don’t have a teacher that is right there every single second we get off task and this is where us ( the great young women leaders) have to become event better independent leaders. We have to start making a schedule being independent because trust me you have to have your work done the time is due. You have to become the independent one and this helps a lot because when ever we grow up and go to college we have to become very independent and it wont be that hard because we are great young independent women and a big part of that is thanks to ARS and pltw which helps us each and every single day become more independent. 👍

-Litzy Santana

                                                       Filming

By Olga Hernanez

In our class this year, we have been taking Media Tech. One of the activities for this module was, to make a video/commercial, where you make up your own device that would be really helpful nowadays. My team and I invented this object called “Pet Talk,” where you can use it to understand what your dog want or needs.

For us this was an easy and fun project to do. We have never had to film something, so for us this was really exciting. Also in the Apple Macs, we have an app called iMovie. For example, I didn’t have even the smallest clue of what the app was for. When we found out what it did, I got really interested and the first thing that came to mind when I knew it edited videos, I thought about youtubers!

I never knew iMovie existed. I always thought, ‘how do they make the videos look that good?’ I just told myself they make their lives so difficult because they have to record certain parts and make sure its good and if not delete it and do it again. But now that I learned about iMovie, I understood everything better.

While recording, we had our ups and downs. First of all you always have to have good lighting, because that is an important thing to have in a video. Also you never get your first shot right, and because of that we filmed a lot of spots and we had a ton of cropping to do when it was time to edit.

When it was time to edit, that when the most fun started. First we had to, get all the silly parts out and also where we made mistakes. The most fun was actually installing music into the video. It was really fun because, I noticed that editors have a fun and easy job because it is really easy to do, well at the simple stuff.

The final product was really good. When we saw the whole video, with all the music and covers put into it, we were schoked because, all the music and cover we had put in the video, made the whole things better.

In conclusion through our ups and downs we always, looked towards the bright side because in the end you never know what happens and in our situation we ended up getting a really amazing process.

Group Project vs Single project

 

Hello, this is Erin again.  Today I’m going to be talking about something completely different than last time.  This time I’ll be talking about group projects verses work you do on your own, hints the title. I remember Mrs. Goka saying something along the lines of, “there are no single desks at ARS,” (this is true).  Which means that we work together a lot and have many group projects.  In my opinion there are three opinions of group projects.  You either love group projects, don’t like them, or you’re really indifferent about it.  Let me show you the different views:

 

First view: You love group projects

This is the group that likes the fact that everyone has different ideas that they can bring to the project.  They may also like the fact that you don’t have to rely on getting everything done because you split up the work. They’re also able to make something spectacular that you wouldn’t be able to without your group.  This can be helpful, especially when you’re in PLTW.  Its nice to have more than one mind when you’re trying to make a robot or you’re using the Little Bits.  For example on the engineering module your group needed to build a bridge.  One person had the idea to make a plain bridge, basically just like a sidewalk.  Another group member suggested that we put another level and add triangles for support.  This made the bridge stronger and it was able to hold more weight.  That was an advantage to a group.

 

Second View: You don’t particularly like group projects

This group don’t really see the point of group projects. Which is the opposite of the  ARS way of working together in groups almost all the time. They may think its annoying to work with others and it slows you down.  They will still help out the group with their best effort even though they don’t prefer working with a group.

 

Third View:  You’re pretty much indifferent to the whole group vs single

This group doesn’t really care if they work in a group project or a project by alone.  It doesn’t really make a difference to them if they work alone or with a group, most likely its just as good if they get the project done.

 

I don’t know if you were wondering what my opinion is, but I’ll tell you anyway.  I’m pretty ok with group projects, its nice to see all the ideas other people have that are different from my own.  Its also nice not having the pressure of completing the whole project, because you have split the work out and you receive an even better finished project. Thats what I think, what do you think?

-Erin N.

Natalia Vazquez

My last module was Mechanical Systems the big idea for this module was our group to build mechanism together out of materials from the maker space the type of materials use for the mechanism are gears and wheels.

For challenge one was to build a mechanism chosen by your last name initial from each team member of your group the bevel gear, the universal joint and the chain drive. My opinions for this challenge it was difficult a whole mechanism. To find the right materials for the mechanism so it would actually work but we finished it. We learn the input and the output of the machine.

For challenge two we had to have some mechanisms together to build a machine that would beat an egg. We mixed more gears and made a handle to make it easier to use. My opinions was that this challenge was actually better to make our own creation and using our creating skills, ideas also.

For my last module, I did Mechanical Systems. For this module we got gears and connected them in a way that made them move. For our final project we had to build something that could beat an egg, slice a piece of food into different pieces, or turn three different skewers over a flame at the same time. Me and my group decided to make something that could beat an egg. For this module we used two big gears together to then steer one pole at the top and that would cause both gears to move and steer the bottom witch had smaller gears that would beat an egg. During the process of coming up with this module we also got time to experiment with different gears, and got to look at actual little toys with small gears that made them move too. Besides from the final project we got to make a different gear that depended on the first letter of your last name in alphabetical order. I would really recommend this module to you because it is one of my favorite yet. so have fun!

Gisel Perez

With my group members, Kayla, Izzy, and Bonnie, I did the mechanical systems module, s in engineering. I wanted to do mechanical systems because I love taking things apart and putting them back together again so I thought this would be the perfect module for me.

 

For challenge one I was assigned to assemble the Rack and Pinion mechanical system. For me the first class was basically looking around in all the drawers and finding whatever bits and pieces that we needed to use. I also helped Izzy with her challenge one because it was one of the hardest ones to make. The next class I completed my Rack and Pinion it was fairly easy once I have all the pieces for it. Some real life examples of a Rack and Pinion is that they are used in cars steering systems. When that was done I posted the picture of my Rack and Pinion and then I helped my other group members.

 

For challenge two, we were challenged to design a mechanical system that would make cooking easier. My group decided to do the mechanism that involves roasting a shish kebab over a fire, I called it the Roaster. We made many mistakes, first off, we forgot we had to include two different combinations of gears. We had to take the Roaster all apart then two gears to mesh correctly so we had to fiddle with that for a while. After that we put some gears in the wrong place, we had to undo those. Last but not least the Roaster also fell apart on us because we didn’t have a bolt put in correctly.The Roaster’s input came from the crank and The output was on the two gears that turned the skewers. We were very proud with the end product because it actually worked and turned all three skewers. That was the module I did with this group.

By: Zoë Magee

This week I explored a new form of engineering. This module was completed at the hands of a computer. The was very different from the rest of the modules that I have done in the past. For the past couple of weeks I have been  getting to know our handy saws and creating with my hands.
This time, I decided to shake things up a bit. I was refreshed on how to draw isometric and orthographic sketches. Then, I use a program that I 1st learned about last year called Inventor to make a digital 3D object. Inventor is really simple once you get used to it and a useful program. Inventor allows you to see the object in all views with easy accessibility to make changes without having to recreate all over again.

I also got to play around with our classes new 3D printer. This is a cool device that can make almost anything. Mrs. Sauter found this website where you can download other people’s creations and print them out,. Click the link below to check it out. I never really thought about how a 3D printer actually works, I know the object didn’t just magically appear but I didn’t really think any further. I watched my blue elephant print, layer by layer it came to be an elephant that could sit,  stand, and and. you could even make it look like it was running.

There are so many types of engineers it just so happens the first two modules that I did were under the category construction. The Computer Automated Drafting  module was an example of computer engineers. The module that I just started is computer science this module has to do with robotics. We are using littleBits, they are the coolest toy you could ever play with. These tiny block use magnets and electricity to create light, sound, and motion. I never realized how much you could learn from a simple toy like that.

Savannah C.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:522710

I’m back yet again!

Actually, I should probably get rid of the whole “I’m back” gimmick because it’s a bit overused by me. There’s no announcement. I’m back and I’ll be back quite a few times until the year ends and the WordPress password is changed so I can’t get on and blog. No hard feelings there.

That said, it is the beginning of the Third Six Weeks, a milestone in school as this unit will end the semester (hopefully with a bang. A bang would be cool) and start the heaven-on-Earth known as Winter Break. Winter Break will be most likely spent watching anime and Animation Domination (or Sunday Funday, whatever it’s called nowadays)* and also playing Minecraft. A lot of Minecraft.

Enough blabbering though. Today I have come with news about our MakerSpace. After months of loneliness, well, I assume loneliness, it’s just a couple of rooms, more people have joined us. Today we are sharing (co-classing?) the space with a class of seventh graders. All is going well, so far there have been no casualties. We’re not supposed to talk to them, but sometimes we do.

However, this co-classing has not gone over very smoothly in the past. As our teacher has told us, the class before ours reportedly were rude to the newcomers, saying things such as, “What are you doing here?” and, “This is our space.” This made me a bit upset, but if you are reading this, Other Class, I forgive you. You were probably very confused, but now you know how to act.

Sorry if that sounded weird. I’ll post something a little more interesting soon.

Bye for now, Avery :3

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation_Domination

So after 12 weeks of this class, I have decided an opinion about it. I like this class, but the modules are a little hard to adjust to. I feel like two weeks are enough time to get them done, but there isn’t enough structure in the class, and I slack off. I do like the idea of the modules. We get to work on things that interest us and really decide what pathway we want. I am enjoying getting to work on things that I want to work on and not other things. Although sometimes the modules are complicated and a little confusing I still enjoy what we are working on them. 

So far I have only worked on the engineering modules and liked them a lot.  I hope to keep working on them and when I was working on them I got my idea for my project next semester. I think that these modules have done a lot in the sense that I have learned a lot, and been inspired. The module that I am working on right now has helped me decide what my project for next semester is going to be, and they have helped me to finalize my choice of the pathway I want. I have really liked the modules so far. Though they may be a bit confusing at times, I hope we get to keep doing them.

~Cloa

What is PLTW? PLTW stands for Project Lead the Way. In my option PLTW is one of my favorite classes because it’s a class where you can be creative, think outside the box, and be you. This year in PLTW we have modules to sort of figure out what pathway we would want to do when we head into high school next year. There are three pathway options for next year engineering, media tech, and bio med. The pathway that I am thinking of doing next year is media tech, because I feel like I would really enjoy it, plus I’m not too big of a fan of bio med and I’m not so good at engineering.

Since the beginning of these modules I’ve been really focused on the media tech modules. The first module we did for media tech was like an introduction to the pathway, we interviewed someone who was in the pathway to see what they do and why they picked media tech as their pathway. Then we had to come up with a device that could improve technology today, my group 1came up with a watch that could help with school like textbooks and you wouldn’t have to worry about carrying a heavy backpack around and hurting your back.

The next module we did was blogging. We learned what makes a good blog, how blogs are important, and how to write a blog. This is kind of funny considering I am writing a blog post right now. The module that I have
recently finished with was intro to photography, the challenge we had to do was make our own pinhole camerawith our group. At first I didn’t think the camera would actually work but as I got a better understanding of what we were doing I started feeling confident about our camera. I thought making a pinhole camera was fun and I can’t wait to see results of the pictures we took.

The module that we just started is screen printing. We have to make a design that has to do with PLTW. I think that this module is going to be interesting and fun, I can’t wait to actually screen print the design on a shirt. Well I think that’s all I have to say right now thanks for reading my blog post, until next time guys!