Specialism: Year 7 & 8 Enrichment- Justifying our designs for our solution

This week we have been justifying our design ideas

We looked back at the original problems we found around school and reminded ourselves of how we ranked them

we justified our designs based on whether we were meeting our school needs

we did this by hand

or on the computer

it is important to not lose sight of the problems we found in the first place

were our designs meeting the need/problems found around the school..?

were our designs going to solve our problems of shade and seating for eating.?

Next week we will be choosing our final design/s...

Specialism: Year 7 & 8 Enrichment-Designing our shade and seating area

This week we have been designing to meet the need for our school to have shade and seating..

Our enrichment group have been designing seating and shade to solve our whole school problem

some designed on paper

others chose to draw designs up on the computer

on the computer we can see a 360 degree view

we can change the materials it might be made from

some used the computers to research materials suitable for use in New Zealand and suitable for our mild winters and hot summers

any way of designing is good as long as we communicate our ideas well

Micah came to visit- he checked on our progress- looking at our designs so far

he gave us some good advice

about how we should explain our thinking in detail

about how to create a mood board

and how to use other peoples ideas for inspiration

Micah then made sure we had a check list to work to

and he looked at our ideas individually

Thanks Micah- we have a lot to do before the next deadline- see you in a few weeks

Specialism:Year 7 & 8 Electronics- Making Switches

This week we have been learning about switches

we made a circuit with a buzzer, then added a switch...

we had to figure out what a switch does within a circuit..

once we figured it out we made some of our own..

we used paper binders/fasteners..

paper clips..

then we tested them using our circuit

we refined them if necessary..

most worked, some didn't..

it took us a while to figure out how to make our own

we also used foil

we recapped circuit diagrams

we had to draw them- making sure they were correct and that they worked

we added switches to our circuit diagrams

then we did some explanation writing to recap everything we have learned in the last two weeks

Specialism: Year 8 Enrichment- Design solutions and development

Our Year 8 enrichment class have been busy coming up with design solutions to their chosen problems

now they are drawing them in context

on faded pictures of our potential chosen area for covered seating

some of our students are beginning to draw them up on sketchup

some are beginning to refine material choices by researching appropriate materials for our climate- mild winters, hot summers with our strong NZ sun in mind!

Specialism: Year 7 & 8 Electronics- Basic circuits and circuit diagrams

This week we have been experimenting with components to make a circuit

we have wires, a battery, battery clip and a little black thing...

we have to figure it out- no help is given..

How will we know if we have been successful?

some of us worked it out quickly

some of use took a little longer

finally we were given a little clue about +/-, positive and negative, 

success at last- the black thing is a buzzer.. it made a noise..

then we learned about circuit diagrams- how we use symbols to represent our components and how the circuit must be complete and have power for it to work

Specialism: Year 7 & 8 Soft Materials- Releasing the print

This week we have used some lesson time to release our pictures

we have to dampen our paper

and carefully rub away the top layers of paper

to reveal our designs..

next week we repeat the process until all the paper has gone

Specialism: Careers visit by Sheena Chen- Structural Engineer

This week we were lucky enough to have a visit from Sheena Chen a structural engineer working on the Kirkbride Road Interchange

Sheena gave a great presentation to the Year 7 & 8's

she explained her role

how important all engineers are, how she uses maths and physics every day in her work, how she was inspired to become an engineer by a lack of females in the role and by her love of architecture, maths and physics

what she has done at Beca- including looking at wharves and checking for structural defects

her current project- Kirkbride Road Interchange- which is local to us

how it used to look

what they are doing

why they are doing it, and problems they have encountered along the way

engineers have to design for extremes of weather and events like earthquakes

Sheena explained how concrete behaves like hard lollies and steel behaves like lolly snakes- how engineers combine the two materials to use both qualities in reinforced concrete

what Kirkbride Road Interchange looks like now

what it will look like in the future when it is finished

how this impacts on Auckland and the motorway network

how all the agencies involved work as a team

Our students asked some awesome questions at the end

Sheena designed a bridge that she is most proud of...

Thanks Sheena- you have really inspired us!