Pirate Based Learning
As our second, semester long project we focused on piracy. Not only the sword-bearing men living on the sea, but the ethical complications in modern technology as well. We learned the historical background behind piracy, and studied the cause and effects of it. As out final products, we build RC boats designed to complete certain tasks. Half the team were pirates and half merchants, building their boat accordingly. Along with the boats, we created a 3D wooden art piece that holds our boats using source imaging and the laser cutter, and a piracy dictionary.
To see my groups weekly work log, click HERE.
To see my groups weekly work log, click HERE.
Week one.
During the first week of this project, we got a feel for what we would be doing in the future. In Humanities, we started some picture editing. We got into pairs, took a picture and did what ever we needed to create a computer drawn version of the picture. I printed out the photo, traced it, scanned it, live traced it in photoshop, then colored it. This is the original and the final.
In physics, we learned about buoyancy and how a boat would stay afloat. We did experiments, like tin foil boats and mainly focused on how much weight a boat can hold before sinking. Also, as a homework assignment we wrote about what characteristic of a boat is most important to stay buoyant. See that below. My partner and I made this presentation about buoyancy, and a cheat sheet with a interactive worksheet. Check them out, and challenge yourself with the problems!
BUOYANCY PRESENTATION BUOYANCY CHEAT SHEET BUOYANCY WORKSHEET
BUOYANCY HOMEWORK
In physics, we learned about buoyancy and how a boat would stay afloat. We did experiments, like tin foil boats and mainly focused on how much weight a boat can hold before sinking. Also, as a homework assignment we wrote about what characteristic of a boat is most important to stay buoyant. See that below. My partner and I made this presentation about buoyancy, and a cheat sheet with a interactive worksheet. Check them out, and challenge yourself with the problems!
BUOYANCY PRESENTATION BUOYANCY CHEAT SHEET BUOYANCY WORKSHEET
BUOYANCY HOMEWORK
Week two.
My photo
During the second week, we continued onto a different physics topic. This was circuits. We learned about basic circuits, and how to make your own. Along with that, we learned about voltages, currents, and resistance. These will help we when we're working on the motors of our final boats. Below, you can see the cheat sheet about Electricity and Magnetism that I made to help myself.
In humanities, we started working on our Piracy Narrative. This is our main writing piece for the project. Mine, was based on the Cilician pirates and an unnamed girl living through the mystery of piracy. Before we started writing, we focused on what makes a good story, and examples we have seen. I chose to write about harry potter, the poster I made about it is below. Also, we continued with our source image work. As partners, we made two source images. One representing a scene from our own narrative and one from theirs. The picture to the left is my source image. If you would like to see Rachel's, click below.
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM CHEAT SHEET
PIRACY NARRATIVE
RACHEL'S IMAGE
WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY POSTER
In humanities, we started working on our Piracy Narrative. This is our main writing piece for the project. Mine, was based on the Cilician pirates and an unnamed girl living through the mystery of piracy. Before we started writing, we focused on what makes a good story, and examples we have seen. I chose to write about harry potter, the poster I made about it is below. Also, we continued with our source image work. As partners, we made two source images. One representing a scene from our own narrative and one from theirs. The picture to the left is my source image. If you would like to see Rachel's, click below.
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM CHEAT SHEET
PIRACY NARRATIVE
RACHEL'S IMAGE
WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY POSTER
Week three.
In humanities, we have finished the first draft of our Piracy Narratives. We critiqued each others, based on our intro, story line, and how the source image (above) connects to our story. We have also started outlining the final outcome of our dictionary. So far, each person will get a letter and come up with a phrase relating to piracy, you then write about how it's relevant. We want them to be like satirical adult childrens books. The class decided we want them made on the thick cardboard pages, like many kids books you normally see. Lastly, we are continuing on reading articles about the piracy problem we have today. The annotations my partner and I made are in a document below.
In physics, we started on the first design spiral of the project. Before we started on that, we had to create our design spiral. That is basically the process we want to have during the project, and every time we go through it, we are focusing on a different aspect of the boat. Above is an image of what our design spiral looks like. We drew the basic shape we want our boat to be based on the restrictions, and estimated volume. We also started learning about coefficients, like the block coefficient prismatic coefficient midship coefficient, and waterline. We ended by ordering the parts of our boat, like the motor and battery, and estimating the running time of our boat based on the battery. My group decided that instead of one bigger motor, we wanted two of the standard ones. This also meant that we ordered two batteries. So far, I believe that our boat will work very well.
TIME MAGAZINE ANNOTATIONS
In physics, we started on the first design spiral of the project. Before we started on that, we had to create our design spiral. That is basically the process we want to have during the project, and every time we go through it, we are focusing on a different aspect of the boat. Above is an image of what our design spiral looks like. We drew the basic shape we want our boat to be based on the restrictions, and estimated volume. We also started learning about coefficients, like the block coefficient prismatic coefficient midship coefficient, and waterline. We ended by ordering the parts of our boat, like the motor and battery, and estimating the running time of our boat based on the battery. My group decided that instead of one bigger motor, we wanted two of the standard ones. This also meant that we ordered two batteries. So far, I believe that our boat will work very well.
TIME MAGAZINE ANNOTATIONS
Week four.
Outline of boat ready to be laser cut
In Physics, we had another presenter come in. This time, he gave us very helpful feedback on our boat designs. After discussing our boat with him, we changed many things about our boat. After this, we started our second design spiral. This is the same process as the first spiral, however now were going more in depth. As that was happening, we have started the molds of our boats. I made the pieces we will laser cut. You can see that below. Once thats cut out, we will layer foam in the middle and use a hot wire to form the foam to the boat pieces. That will hopefully be done next week.
In humanities, we started on our phrase for our piracy dictionary. We were assigned our letters, and I got K. This letter proved to be pretty difficult, however I decided my phrase will be "Kidnapping, Kiss Your Families Goodbye." This will be about child kidnappings by pirates. This is was my first idea, so it's subject to change. With this phrase, we needed to define what it's about, and give a historical and modern reference to the problem. To see my writing about it, click below.
BOAT ILLUSTRATOR OUTLINE CHILDREN'S BOOK//K LETTER RESEARCH
In humanities, we started on our phrase for our piracy dictionary. We were assigned our letters, and I got K. This letter proved to be pretty difficult, however I decided my phrase will be "Kidnapping, Kiss Your Families Goodbye." This will be about child kidnappings by pirates. This is was my first idea, so it's subject to change. With this phrase, we needed to define what it's about, and give a historical and modern reference to the problem. To see my writing about it, click below.
BOAT ILLUSTRATOR OUTLINE CHILDREN'S BOOK//K LETTER RESEARCH
Week five.
In humanities, we have put the finishing touched on our A-Z Dictionary books. We completed out source images (below), and had our writing critiqued. To see my final outline see below. Most of our work this week was on our boat molds in physics, almost all of our time was for project work.
In physics we have finished our boat hull mold. (below) We cut the midship, deck, and waterline out on illustrator, stacked foam in between them, then used a hot wire to form it. After that, we used spackel to fill in a divits. Once that was dry we used sand paper to even it out, and finished by putting primer on it. It turned out really well, and were ready to have it molded!
K IS FOR...KIDNAPPING, KISS YOUR FAMILIES GOODBYE
In physics we have finished our boat hull mold. (below) We cut the midship, deck, and waterline out on illustrator, stacked foam in between them, then used a hot wire to form it. After that, we used spackel to fill in a divits. Once that was dry we used sand paper to even it out, and finished by putting primer on it. It turned out really well, and were ready to have it molded!
K IS FOR...KIDNAPPING, KISS YOUR FAMILIES GOODBYE
Week six.
In physics, we got our boat hull back from the plastic factory. Unfortunately a bit of our mold melted from the heat so there is a dent at the bottom. Hopefully this can be easily fixed. We also learned that we will need a lot of extra weight to ensure that it stays study. This is because our boat is so tall and large. Next week I hope to start with the electronics in the boat, and add the stability weights. See picture below.
In humanities, we have gotten a move on our boat dioramas. To do this, we used our source image skills and took out every piece to put into illustrator. This proved to be very difficult because ours is so detailed. To complete it, it took me about 6 hours but it looks very good. It ended up being so big that it's in three separate documents. My goal is to have it printed by Monday do we can start assembling it. Illustrator file below. The source image we are using is of a kraken taking down our boat, and I think that it will turn out very nice. Photo below.
KRAKEN ILLUSTRATOR FILE 1 KRAKEN ILLUSTRATOR FILE 2 KRAKEN ILLUSTRATOR FILE 3
In humanities, we have gotten a move on our boat dioramas. To do this, we used our source image skills and took out every piece to put into illustrator. This proved to be very difficult because ours is so detailed. To complete it, it took me about 6 hours but it looks very good. It ended up being so big that it's in three separate documents. My goal is to have it printed by Monday do we can start assembling it. Illustrator file below. The source image we are using is of a kraken taking down our boat, and I think that it will turn out very nice. Photo below.
KRAKEN ILLUSTRATOR FILE 1 KRAKEN ILLUSTRATOR FILE 2 KRAKEN ILLUSTRATOR FILE 3
Week seven.
In physics, we started constructing the boat. I made the deck in Illustrator, and laser cut it on corrugated plastic. This is a waterproof material. In our design, we also had to have a hatch so that we can get inside the deck, and a lip to ensure the hatch didn't fall through. To see deck Illustrator file, click below. Adrian made our rudder prototype, and I assisted Jimmy on the bulkhead. This is a piece inserted into the hull to provide stability. Also, we were given all of our electronics so that we could get a start on them. With the help of Rachel, we mounted both motors on the bulkhead to prepare for next weeks soldering.
In humanities, I laser cut the entire diorama. We finished assembling the pieces, and painting each of them. This was very difficult, because a lot of the pieces look very similar and the painting was very detailed. Hopefully by next week, we will have all of the pieces layered and glued.
BOAT DECK ILLUSTRATOR FILE
In humanities, I laser cut the entire diorama. We finished assembling the pieces, and painting each of them. This was very difficult, because a lot of the pieces look very similar and the painting was very detailed. Hopefully by next week, we will have all of the pieces layered and glued.
BOAT DECK ILLUSTRATOR FILE
Week eight.
In humanities, Rachel and I finished our groups diorama. Also, we assembled our frame and stained it. This puts us ahead of most groups, and I loved the way it turned out. (Picture left) Before exhibition next week, we need to add a piece of wood behind it so that there aren't any gaps between the diorama and the boat.
In physics, we are almost complete with our boat. We hooked up the servo, and connected in to the rudder. The last part we need to do, is connect the transmitter. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time last week to test it, and that worries me. I hope it ends up working well, because we have put a lot of hard work into it.
In physics, we are almost complete with our boat. We hooked up the servo, and connected in to the rudder. The last part we need to do, is connect the transmitter. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time last week to test it, and that worries me. I hope it ends up working well, because we have put a lot of hard work into it.