REFLECTIONS
This is Group 4's reflection.
Through this project, we have gained new knowledge and skills.
In terms of new knowledge, we have learned more about Newton's 3 laws of motion. For example, we definitely learned about Newton's third law, which states that' "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." One example of this law would be the forces exerted by the wheels and the floor when they come into contact.
We also learned a lot more about forces, like the balanced and unbalanced forces. The balanced forces acting on the car would be normal reaction force and weight. The unbalanced forces would be the forward push (from the air coming out of the balloon) and the resistive forces (air resistance and friction). [The forward push is stronger and can overcome the resistive forces, thus the car moves!]
We have also learned how the mass of the car is related to the movement of the car. If the car has a smaller mass (like ours), the car will have lesser inertia. This will make it easier for the car to start moving. However the disadvantage would be that the car will stop more easily (but oh well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose).
The skills we learned would be time management and teamwork.
As you can see, we didn't exactly planned our time well and thus all of us were panicking when the deadline was drawing nearer. Through this, we learned that time management is important as time is needed if we want to do things to the best of our abilities. [But we pulled it off because we can communicate well and we have teamwork!]
Teamwork is important as well. Teamwork is needed to complete a project like this. As the saying goes, "Two heads are better than one." Well, in our case its three heads. By helping each other out, we actually are helping ourselves because we will complete the project faster and also we have time to improvise on the deliverable, and we will, as a result get better marks!
Through this project, we have gained new knowledge and skills.
In terms of new knowledge, we have learned more about Newton's 3 laws of motion. For example, we definitely learned about Newton's third law, which states that' "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." One example of this law would be the forces exerted by the wheels and the floor when they come into contact.
We also learned a lot more about forces, like the balanced and unbalanced forces. The balanced forces acting on the car would be normal reaction force and weight. The unbalanced forces would be the forward push (from the air coming out of the balloon) and the resistive forces (air resistance and friction). [The forward push is stronger and can overcome the resistive forces, thus the car moves!]
We have also learned how the mass of the car is related to the movement of the car. If the car has a smaller mass (like ours), the car will have lesser inertia. This will make it easier for the car to start moving. However the disadvantage would be that the car will stop more easily (but oh well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose).
The skills we learned would be time management and teamwork.
As you can see, we didn't exactly planned our time well and thus all of us were panicking when the deadline was drawing nearer. Through this, we learned that time management is important as time is needed if we want to do things to the best of our abilities. [But we pulled it off because we can communicate well and we have teamwork!]
Teamwork is important as well. Teamwork is needed to complete a project like this. As the saying goes, "Two heads are better than one." Well, in our case its three heads. By helping each other out, we actually are helping ourselves because we will complete the project faster and also we have time to improvise on the deliverable, and we will, as a result get better marks!
JeAnn
Week 7: We researched videos on youtube to find out more information regarding the different types of cars and the different type of ways to build them. The cars we researched were basically balloon, rubber band and mousetrap. At first, we came across a video that showed how a magnet car works. We felt very excited and thought that the idea of doing a magnet car was indeed unique. However, when we met up for our first meeting to do the magnet car, even though we tried numerous times, the car just didn’t move. Moreover, after our consultation with Mr Wang, we realised that the video was a fake and the magnet car would not work as the magnets attract and or repel each other, therefore, the forces were balanced and would not move. Hence, we settled on a balloon-propelled car instead. Week 8: Firstly, we had to gather all the necessary materials for the balloon car. After that we met up and started making on. Constance and I drilled holes through plastic containers and a 1.5L bottle while Cheryl suggested improvements as well as making sure that our materials did not fly away(the wind was too strong). This time, Cheryl saw a video in youtube about another method to make a simple balloon car. Thinking that it was a good idea, Cheryl did the entire car at home. Week 9: Cheryl showed the car to Constance and I. Both of us were elated upon the discovery that the car moved successfully. However, we thought that the car was a bit too unstable and flimsy. Thus, we drew up another design using three wheels instead of 4. Week 10: However, on the day before our science presentation, we still could not make the car move. All of us were very anxious and did not know what to do. Finally, on the presentation day, we managed to make a car based on Cheryl's prototype at the last minute and managed to make the car move with a heart-shaped balloon. Constance suggested using corrugated board as the body and provided the board. The car basically had a corrugated board as the body and bottle caps as wheels. We even put beads to secure the wheel in place so that the car wheel does not come out of the skewer. Through all the hard work we pulled through, we finally were able to make the car travel over a distance of at least 5m and even more! Our highest record was 11.5 metres! And that was our last and final prototype. |
Cheryl D.
Week 7: This reflection is for week 7 regarding our self-propelled car project. Through researching, we found various ways to construct a self-propelled car. My team mates and i found this video on a magnet propelled car and it worked really well in the video, so we decided to try it out. But, it failed repeatedly. After our consultation with Mr Wang, we realised that the video was a fake so we had to start all over again. With Mr Wang’s help, we settled on building the balloon propelled car and we made a rough design of it on hard copy. Week 8: We got to work by getting new materials and arranged to meet up to finish our project. We settled on a plastic bottle structure. JeAnn and Constance were drilliing holes(it was tough on them) and i made sure our materials didn’t fly away. However, during the weekend, I saw a video on youtube of a guy using cardboard as the structure then placing the balloon on top of it (it moved pretty far:p), I decided to use the same idea and shared the picture of the cardboard built car with my group members. But the cardboard doesn’t seem to be stable so we were at a loss. Week 9: Then, Constance saw this design of a car online which was 3-wheeled(with CDs) and so our group decided to try that out. So Constance tried building the car at home before showing it to us, which we in one way or another helped to complete(mostly Constance) and Jeann helped us with the design of the car. Week 10: When we tried to insert the balloon, the car didn’t move at all so we were distressed as the car testing day was the next day. So, in the end, we improved on our 3rd prototype by making the body with a stronger and sturdier board, then fixing the beads on the skewers to secure the bottle caps(wheels) (to reduce friction)before changing the balloon to a bigger one(more pushing force--more acceleration--move easier and faster) In the end, after all our hard work, the car FINALLY MOVED 11.5M!(our best) we were all so relieved and overjoyed at this tremendous improvement and were delighted with our results!:D Group 4 was victorious!!! |
Constance
Week 7: This reflection is for our progress on the project in week 7. We watched videos on youtube to find out more about the different types of self propelled car (e.g balloon, mousetrap, rubber band). There was this video about a car that moves because of magnetic force. We were very fascinated with it and decided to build our car like that. For the car propelled by magnetic force, we used a cereal box for its body, bottle caps for its wheels and skewers and straws for the axles.In case you were wondering, the balloon propelled car made in week 7 was like a back-up.) However the car failed repeatedly. After our consultation with Mr Wang, we realised why the car couldn't move. When magnets exert a magnetic force on the other magnet (be it attraction or repulsion), there will actually be a balanced force acting on the car. When the forces are balanced, the resultant force is zero, and according to Newton's first law, when the resultant force is zero, the object (in this case, the car) will either move at a constant speed or remain stationary. In our case, the car remained stationary. After Mr Wang gave us advice, we decided to build a balloon propelled car. Week 8: We decided on a plastic bottle for the body, since it wasn't as flimsy and unstable as the cereal box, and plastic lids (from containers) for the wheels. However, we didn't complete this prototype completely because of many reasons. 1. It was difficult to drill holes in the plastic lids. 2. We realised that the plastic lids have rough edges that would increase friction between the floor and the wheels, thus hindering the movement of the car. 3. We didn't have enough time! Week 9: Cheryl came to school with a prototype that she had already made at home. It worked. It moved a few metres but not enough to get a good grade. The prototype had a piece of cardboard as its body, bottle caps as its wheels. It was pretty much like our first prototype other than the material used for the body. This time, we learned our lesson from before and so, we added beads to secure the wheels in place and to prevent the car from travelling sideways. However, the body of the car, like before, was still too flimsy and unstable. We were at a loss. So in the meantime, we decided to get started on our powerpoint first. We did the slides based on our previous prototypes and the choice of materials. During the weekend, based on our team's research and suggestions, I tried to make a three wheeled car at home but it was too heavy and couldn't be propelled by the balloon. I think the reason is because the car has a heavier mass and thus has more inertia and that makes it difficult for the car to start moving. Plus, the forward push coming from the air coming out of the balloon is not that strong and thus more inertia is a disadvantage for us. Week 10: We were really feeling nervous. The deadline was drawing closer and yet, our car wasn't completed. I worked on the three wheeled car throughout the nights but it was useless. The night before the deadline, I was suddenly struck with an idea. I told Cheryl to bring the prototype she had made earlier on to school. On the day our project was due, the three of us cut out the body of the car from corrugated board and used it to replaced the flimsy cardboard. We also replaced the original balloon with a bigger balloon. I chose to use the corrugated board because it was light and easy to get (since I have many at home). The advantage of having a light car is that the car would have less inertia and it would be able to start moving more easily, which would be really helpful to us, since the car was powered by a balloon. We chose to use a bigger balloon because it would have more elastic potential energy and would push more air out, which meant the car will accelerate more! In the end, our hardwork paid off and our car moved 11.5m! |