For this second unit of Design and Engineering, we learned about how engineers design bikes. We went on several Field Experiences to different bike shops and had designers come in to talk to us about the design of bikes and how that whole process works. At Earth Rider and Working Bikes, we learned about how bikes are made and repaired, and also went out and rode a brand-new type of bike called e-bikes that use electricity to help you pedal. For this Action Project, Better Bikes, as part of a team we brainstormed and developed a custom bike design to best meet the needs of a specific user. The persona that my team was assigned for this project was Vanessa. She has a younger sibling that she needs to take to daycare every morning, and they need to also deal with potholes and loud cars and trains around them. She also has to work around there not being any space inside her home, so she have to lock her bike up outside instead of bringing it inside. Our new bike design is needed becaus...
For the second unit of my Biomimicry class, Like an Animal, we learned more about how we can use the processes, forms, and behaviors of animals through biomicry. In this Action Project, we learned about how we can take the form, process, or ecosystem of an animal and incorporate it into design. We had to take the aspects of an animal, and apply it to a structural design, and to a transport design. The animal species that I chose for a structural design was the African mound-building termite, Macrotermes jeanneli , as seen below. These termites live mainly within grasslands and savannas. Termites create unique mounds with unique ventilation systems that work very well, to act as a lung for the nest that is located beneath the mound. Thin outer channels of the mound heat up rapidly during the day when compared to the deeper tunnels in the mound, which causes air to circulate in a closed-loop convection cell. During the day, air moves up along the outer channels and down the center...
For the first unit of our STEAM class this term, Urban Planning, we learned about how bridges and tension functions, as well as Newton's first three Laws of Motion. We went on a digital Field Experience where we had Adam go out and about downtown with his phone out, and talked about architecture we were able to spot while he was walking around. For this Action Project, we had to build our very own bridge out of wooden popsicle sticks and glue, and see if it could hold up a whole gallon of water by itself once finished. In conclusion, I thought that this project was actually pretty fun to hash out. It was interesting, learning about the different support structures and types of bridges that're out there, and how compression and tension work. It could've only really been better if we could have been in school, in person to do the AP together, but that couldn't really be helped.
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