I haven’t gone on code.org since the beginning of year 6, and so I was surprised to find not many projects (probably because I forgot my password after year 5 and made a new account). This is the first time that I am using Python on code.org. Normally, I would use Grok. The reason that I am using Python instead of Blockly is because I find it much easier.
I know exactly what is going where and I know how it works. There was something that I learnt today, and that is: you can actually create a function in Python with your own set of codes, for turtle (the drawing coding). This is only the first day of coding this year, so I can’t find much to write.

 

 

For my project, my group and I have decided to do both a game and an animation. The game will be to help people know how to be environmentally friendly, and an animation to make people aware of all the destruction. We will be focusing on mainly deforestation and pollution, but pretty much just the environment in general. Two of us will animate, and the other two will work on the game. We have yet to create storyboards, animatic, and detailed plans.

Unfortunately, I did not get to solder . . . at all. I spent way too long on the straws and did not actually have time to even experiment and try soldering. It is because of this that my “Parts, Purposes, and Complexities” task might be a little bit brief and vague.

I had no problem with knowing which straws to put where, and I know that I knew how to make the circuit work, but due to whatever problem I had with the straws needing to be in exactly the right place, I ran out of time.

 

Parts:

– Light Bulb

– Battery

– Switch

– Circuit Board

– I think it’s called a ‘Resistor’?

– Negative Wire (Black)

– Positive Wire (Red)

 

Purposes:

Light Bulb – To work and light up? I don’t actually know what a light bulb does . . .

Battery – To power the circuit, and the light. It charges the negative (sleep deprived) electrons, and sends them off as positive (fully awake) electrons, ready to give the light their energy.

Switch – To be able to turn the circuit (and the light) on and off at will.

Circuit Board – To help connect everything – To serve as a platform to hold the circuit.

Resistor(?) – To make sure that the energy going to the light is limited, and will not make the light explode? I don’t know if the light can explode for sure, but it certainly seems like it can. It is to control the amount of energy that goes to the light.

Negative Wire – For the negative energy current: for the tired electrons to travel back to the battery and be recharged.

Positive Wire – A current for the charged electrons to go through to power the light, going through the resister first so as not to lose control of the amount of energy.

 

Complexities:

I have not soldered, and therefor have obviously not made a proper ‘Hershey Kiss’. I can also only somewhat remember which rows the negative and positive wires can be connected to on the circuit board. From the straws, I do know, but I would have to look at them again as a reference. I cannot write much more as I did not get to do it myself, but one day I will. For now, I will continue to strive for and pursue the answers to these questions. I will revise, and maybe practise soldering if given the chance.

Soldering:

Connect:

I have never even heard of the word ‘soldering’ before, and so it seems that I have a lot to learn. After watching the video, I’ve realised that soldering reminds me of using hot glue-guns to put pop sticks together. It makes me wonder if this is how phones are coded – as in, when you take apart your phone and see the green plate with all those different bobs and wires.

Extend:

I wondered what can actually be made with them. How far can we get with this? How much modern technology is made like this?

Challenge:

I’m curious as to how this actually works. How does it connect? How do we make something from it? Can we code it?

 

Soldering a Basic Circuit:

Connect:

It reminds me of year 6 when we first started learning about electronic circuits. With a battery, wires, and a light. I know how circuits work, but I don’t quite know how each and every different aspect and tool works.

Extend:

I now have a basic idea on how to make it work, but I still do not know very much at all. This activity – connect, extend, challenge – really challenges me sometimes. Sometimes I know exactly what to write, and other times I end up stuck on one or two sentences.

Challenge:

I wonder how I can work with this, and how much I will be able to experiment when I am not using this for my task. I want to create something small, but I would need to understand this a little better before I did so.