Semester 2 of Physics:
The Energy Project Excibition:
This project showed us the different ways that energy is looked at and used in the world. In the energy project we learned the main concepts behind how energy is created, distributed, and used in every day life. We also learned the humanitarian side as well as the political challenges that oil, coal, and natural gas give to communities that reside near these power plants. In physics we specifically learned about how electricity works and how different conductors change the electrical flow.
Reflection:
What Did I Learn that was most Interesting or Impactful to me:
I think the most interesting thing that I learned during the energy project in physics was how energy is transferred. Energy can be created in many different ways (solar, coal, wind, gas, hydro, natural). Some of these are better for the environment and some are worse. All energy, regardless of its origin is enhanced by a transformer in order to be useful to society. A transformer makes it so that the voltage created by the energy source is stepped up, creating higher amounts of voltage and lowering the current so that the loss of electricity is so small we only lose it to heat. Learning about this was the reason I chose to do my final project on the function of transmission lines. The number of different processes that the electricity has to go through just to reach our homes for consumption is vastly interesting to me. This is something I will never forget from my physics class.
Leadership and Collaboration with my Group:
During the final project we had to work in groups which I was dreading. The thought of working with other people feels the same as hearing nails on a chalk board. Usually I prefer to work alone because I fear being placed in a group with students that don't want to work hard and create a meaningful project. Luckily I got to work with an amazing person in my class, Hunter. Hunter is a very smart human and he is a hard worker. In the project we tried to work more together so there wasn't as much of a leader present, but there was a lot of collaboration. Hunter and I decided to split the work evenly. He would create the notes page and the general idea of what we wanted to talk about in our presentation and I would create the diorama and some of the final note cards that would go on the diorama as information bulletins. We both played to our strengths and over all we created a spectacular final project that we were both proud of.
What Did I Learn that was most Interesting or Impactful to me:
I think the most interesting thing that I learned during the energy project in physics was how energy is transferred. Energy can be created in many different ways (solar, coal, wind, gas, hydro, natural). Some of these are better for the environment and some are worse. All energy, regardless of its origin is enhanced by a transformer in order to be useful to society. A transformer makes it so that the voltage created by the energy source is stepped up, creating higher amounts of voltage and lowering the current so that the loss of electricity is so small we only lose it to heat. Learning about this was the reason I chose to do my final project on the function of transmission lines. The number of different processes that the electricity has to go through just to reach our homes for consumption is vastly interesting to me. This is something I will never forget from my physics class.
Leadership and Collaboration with my Group:
During the final project we had to work in groups which I was dreading. The thought of working with other people feels the same as hearing nails on a chalk board. Usually I prefer to work alone because I fear being placed in a group with students that don't want to work hard and create a meaningful project. Luckily I got to work with an amazing person in my class, Hunter. Hunter is a very smart human and he is a hard worker. In the project we tried to work more together so there wasn't as much of a leader present, but there was a lot of collaboration. Hunter and I decided to split the work evenly. He would create the notes page and the general idea of what we wanted to talk about in our presentation and I would create the diorama and some of the final note cards that would go on the diorama as information bulletins. We both played to our strengths and over all we created a spectacular final project that we were both proud of.
Physics Exhibition:
During this project, I worked hard to create an amazing experience for the exhibition. During the exhibition how my team and I created a starship to present our topics in. We lade out LEDs and created an atmosphere that made you forget you were on planet earth. I felt that the audience really enjoyed our presentation from the responses that we got at the end of each tore. Then during the exhibition, we crafted a tore schedule to show off our knowledge of space travel. I am proud of how it all turned out and how it came together with each other's topics to craft that experience.
This project was super fun to do. I had the privilege to design and create a spaceship that could theoretically function and transport passengers, but I did have some difficulty during the research part of the project. I was super excited to create a spaceship and I couldn't get started on researching it, but I kept procrastinating on the important aspects of the ship. I kept going down the rabbit hole of researching and I found myself both having too much information and not enough at the same time. During the last few days before the exhibition I was scrambling to get all my work put together and stressing that it wasn't good enough. Though once I created my final project and exhibited it, it went amazingly. Next time to stop myself from spiraling my self down the rabbit hole of doubt I will ask for assistance from my teachers and group members to make sure that I am meeting expectations.
Should We Go to Space
I think that we should go to space because there are far more thing’s out there in the universe to explore and obtain that humanity can benefit from. In space, there are vastly more resources than here on earth. We would be able to gather vast amounts of resources without destroying our planet, and by colonizing new worlds humanity will be able to expand as a species. If humans are able to go into space and travel through it we will be able to obtain new knowledge of the universe that we did not know before. In spite of the fact that going to space is extremely expensive now and our world is in a partial position right now, I do believe that we should go to space, because of the vast knowledge that we could gain and for the future ability to survive as a human species. So to answer the question of If we should go to space, I think that we should.