Audrey's+Journal

 **March.26/2009**

//1. You will be exploring a da Vinci inspired topic, of your choice, and going into great detail. What subject or subjects are you interested in?// I am interested in the art and engineering aspect of this project. I really want to build something out of wood, and see how it would turn out. I'm probably not going to draw/paint anything... probably not make one of my own inventions either. I would rather make something that da Vinci already thought of, and creating that to see how it would turn out and see it close up. I'm thinking about making a teeter-totter/see-saw, because I was always interested in how it works and how it gets made, and it would be a good opportunity to learn more about gravity/physics/fulcrums and weights.

//2. What interests you about your subject? Why is it something you want to know more about?// The engineering part is more interesting to me than the art aspect because even though I am **very** interested in photography and paintings, I would rather try something new for this project and learn more about his inventions and what he thought of. It's very interesting to me because he thought of many things that nobody else could make until after he was dead. It's like his brain was 20 years ahead and he already knew that we would need certain things one day. It would be a good experience to make something that he designed/created and expand **my** understanding.

//3. Would you rather work individually or in a group? And what is the largest group that you would be interested in working in?// It depends on what I initially decide to do, but for now I think that if I do make a see-saw I would make it alone, but also with the help of Mr. Kennedy and maybe a couple friends as the weights to test it out. If I would work in a group, the largest group I would work in would be about 2-4 people so that the ideas are more focused and it's easier to communicate.

//4. Look at the images on the In-Class page for March 12th. For each of the levels/skills on Blooms Taxonomy that we discussed, use the key words in the image to tell us some of the things that you might do in your wiki assignment, in order to demonstrate each of the Skills.// Well right now, if I would just make a teeter-totter/see-saw that would only be applying what I already know, since they exist. I wouldn't be making any changes, I would just keep it the way it is now and make a model myself to understand how it works better. One thing I could do, is make a teeter-totter and expand on that idea and make it into something new. I could **create**


 * February.19/2009**

Today I learned about different gadgets and how they work. For example, I learned that the bigger gear always moves slower than the smaller one, but it moves with more force. I also learned about gears I have never heard of before like the cam, a ratchet, and a rack and pinion. I also did an activity called a "Gagdet Anatomy" where it showed different types of tools, and guess which gears/gagdet are in those. For example, a scissor style jack is made up of screws and levers.