GS Portfolio

Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the second Action Project of the STEAM class Design and Engineering. In this unit, we have been studying bicycles. We started off with a lab test on wheels and how different wheels work. Then, we looked at pulleys and wheels as simple machines. We learned how to graph circles and ellipses and later moved on to study weight, mass, speed, velocity, and acceleration. We also learned about functions, energy, and gears. The Field Experiences this term were with Earth Rider Cycling, Divvy, and Dyson. At Earth Rider, we talked about electric bikes with the owner of the shop and had the chance to ride electric bikes. A guest came in from the Chicago Department of Transportation with Divvy and talked to the class about how the bike share system can remodel city transportation. Meeting with Dyson helped us learn how to prototype and pitch our ideas. These have all led up to the Action Project of designing a bike of our own. This bike has to meet the need...

Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the first Action Project of the STEAM class Design and Engineering. In this class we observed garden tools and learned how they are only fit for a specific audience. We examined a few tools and investigated how they could be remodeled to consider empathy and serve all customers. Empathy is putting yourself in another person’s situation and sharing feelings with them. We planted some flowers outside the school building to see how different tools have a certain purpose and later had a Field Experience at Home Depot to help us choose a tool that would be the core of this Action Project. I also interviewed a gardener who does hydroponics and he talked to me about the tools he uses and how they could be made better. This AP was asking us to redesign a tool so an elderly person would have an easier time using it. An elderly person is a unique audience because there are not many products designed for the elderly and it may make gardening a little easi...