DTE Project | Insult-A-Bot/Complement Bot

Over the last few months, we have been learning things like coding and robotics. With these skills, we started our project. For the last few weeks, me and my group Aryan, Saia, and Chris have been working on a project called the Insult-A-Bot and another part of that was the Complement Bot. 

The start of this project was the hard part. We had to come up with an idea which took a while. Eventually, we came up with the Insult-A-Bot/Complement Bot. The first ideas were quite simple. I built a robot that we thought would say stuff when it detected motion but that didn't exactly work. There was also the Arduino which was really complex but we couldn't use that. There were some other ideas that I can't really remember but they didn't work. But I eventually came up with the idea of putting it in a box and having buttons you press on top. We did not end up finishing it but we got quite close.

I have learned a lot during this project like making and using the vex robots. We learned more about coding and working in groups. I really liked this semester and I wish I could have finished the box.

Passion Projects | Finished Project

 This week we finally finished our karts for passion projects. The finished project wasn't the best but it worked. Some things I would do if I did it again would be to try to make the hole where the bolts for the wheels sit smaller because there was a bit too much movement and the wheels didn't really sit well. I would also put more screws in the back piece of timber that the wheels were connected to because we bent it when we crashed and it didn't go straight. Apart from that, the kart was good. Here it is:

Passion Projects | Week 2

Last week we got quite a bit of work done. On the Wednesday we started off by trying to get some pallets. To get some we decided to go across to ask some businesses. We went to a business called NBS limited. We kindly asked them for some pallets and they gave us 4 really good pallets. We took the pallets to the workshop and started pulling them apart by the end of the hour we had all the pallets pulled apart. The next day we took all of the nails out of the wood which took quite a bit of effort for some pieces and barely any for others. On the Friday we cut off the broken bits and put most of them through the thicknesser which smooths out the wood. That's all that we got done last week. This week we might need to get more pallets because we might not have enough wood and hopefully we will finish it in time.

Passion Projects

For the next few weeks, we are working on our passion projects. For my passion project, I am making a push kart. I'm enjoying the planning part of it with a rough model drafted and a materials list organised. The materials are looking a bit pricey but might fit within the budget. 

Saia, Jacob and Josh are part of the team, but a lot of the planning has fallen to me right now. 

Here Is a rough model:

Social Studies | News Article

 Today we were working on a news article type blog post foe social studies about pollution. Here it is:

Pollution

Over the past few weeks we have been learning about pollution. This blog is about what I have learnt over the past few weeks.

We have been learning about whales and how they have been washing up on beaches with stomachs full of plastic. Whales feed micro organisms called Phytoplankton which produce oxygen. They make 4X more oxygen than the amazon rainforest and 85% of all oxygen on earth. Plastic is killing heaps of animals every hour. 8 million tons of trash gets dropped in the ocean every year and that number is rising. Plastic dissolves and turns into things called microplastics which are practically invisible especially to fish. They eat these and die.

I think that the oceans should be cleaned up and taken care of. We could help by donating to charities that clean up the ocean and should stop using one time use plastic.

Metal Reactions

This week we were did three experiments using metal. The first one was metal reacting with acid. Then magnesium reacting with oxygen. Lastly we were testing for the presence of oxygen.  

Metal and acid

Magnesium + sulfuric acid --> magnesium sulfate + hydrogen.

First we got a test tube and put 2ml of acid in. Then we got a little piece of metal and dropped it in the tube. After that we quickly got a boiling tube and put it over the tube. After 2 minutes of waiting we got a little thing called a splint, set it on fire and put it in the boiling tube then  it made a popping sound.

When you put the metal in the acid it started bubbling and forming hydrogen. After a while it started to accumulate in the top of the boiling tube. When the flame came in contact it made a popping sound because the hydrogen. This showed that there was hydrogen. 

Metals and Oxygen

Magnesium + Oxygen --> Magnesium Oxide. 

First we set up the bunsen burner and got a pair of scissor tongs. After that we grabbed a piece of magnesium and lit the bunsen burner. When we put the magnesium over the flame it started glowing and it was quite bright. After that the magnesium turned into a white powder called magnesium oxide.

Testing for the presence of oxygen

Magnesium Dioxide + Hydrogen Peroxide --> Magnesium Hydroxide + Oxygen.

First we got some test tubes and put some magnesium dioxide into it. After that we lit a splint. Then we put some hydrogen peroxide into the tube. After that they started reacting with each other. Lastly we blew out the splint, put the smouldering splint in the tube and it set on fire again. 

Metal Carbonates and Acids

Metal Carbonate + Acid  --> Metal Salt + Water + Carbon Dioxide

First we grabbed two tubes and put a bung in one with the delivery tube going into the other test tube. Then we added some metal carbonate into the tube with the bung. In the other tube we put some lime water. After we quickly took off the bung, added some acid and put the bung back on. After a few attempts the lime water started going cloudy.