Tuesday May 27, 2008:

Today everyone in my group forgot to bring the materials for the project so we couldn't work on it. Instead of fooling around and not doing anything we did the basic pieces on a piece of white paper so that then, I could take it home and cut the same pieces with the same measures on a piece of cardboard. We used a ruler to measure every single piece like we had planned and then, Janice and Nicole, gave me all the measures and all the pieces drawn roughly on a piece of paper and told me to cut them on cardboard for the next day. Since everyone agreed on what we were going to do on Thursday we could work a little better even though if we didn't have the materials. For Thursday, every one of us is in charged of some materials and we definitely need to bring them.

Thursday May 29, 2008:

Today everyone on my group brought the materials. I brought the wire, the cardboard, and the uhu. Janice brought the clips and the silicon, and Nicole brought the paint. In class we finished cutting all the rectangular and circular shapes that were necessary for the structure of the car. While Janice and Nicole cut the different shapes I was cutting the wire so we did a wonderful teamwork. For tomorrow we set a goal of pasting all the pieces and if we had time, started painting. Finally, I think that today we did a good job on catching up on the dates set by us, so I think that we are on track.

Friday May 30, 2008:

Today we finished cutting and pasting the rectangular shape of the car. At first we did only one layer pasted together, but then we thought that to hold the solar panel we needed a double layer so that it could support more weight and not fall. So, we attached a double layer of cardboard on each side. For Monday we want to finish the structure and start painting if we have some time left. I think that we did a fine job today but I also think that we are behind the plan we set a little.

Monday June 2, 2008:

Today we added the cone shape point to the rectangular base that we had already done. The first thing we did was measure the sides of the cone so that when we cut the different parts and glued them together they would be exact. When we glued the cone to the rectangular shape, we saw that there were parts that were sticking out and made the car look bad, so we grabbed the exacto knife that Nicole had brought, and we cut all the parts so that the car looked even. Once we finished all this, we saw that a rectangle on the back part was missing so we measure the dimensions and cut the piece. Lastly, Ms. Lemley passed around with the solar panel and we tested it on the car. To our gladness and surprise, it fitted perfectly on our car structure since our car had the precise measure of the solar panels. Therefore, for Tuesday we set the goal of finishing the structure of the car and start painting.

Tuesday June 3, 2008:

Today our goal was to paint but we realized that we needed to put the wheels and that we were not going to have time to paint. We asked Ms. Lemley to give us some wheels and she gave them to us. We tried them on the car and it fitted perfectly, the only problem was that we needed another set of wheels the same size. So, we asked again if we could get another ones the same. Ms. Lemley said that she only had that set of wheels and gave us ones that were bigger and with a smaller stick that holds them together. We tested them and we saw that we needed a bigger stick but we had not one. Then Janice came up with the idea of using the wire that I had bought. I got the wire and with all my strength, I got to cut a piece of wire we needed. We tested the piece and it fitted perfectly on the wheels. So, we pasted the wire to the wheels and we were done. Our goal for Thursday is to start painting the car.

Thursday June 5, 2008:

Today we cut the holes for the motor and the gear and we started painting. At first, we did not realize how the motor was going to go and we asked Ms. Lemley to help us. She told us that the gear had to be connected to the wheels and the motor and we didn’t know how to include it. Then, Janice came up with the idea of cutting two holes, one at the bottom of the car and the other ant the top part, for the things to enter and we did. We cut the two holes, tested them and the two holes fitted perfectly with the gear and the motor. Then, we started painting the car green and blue and that was it. Our goal for Friday is to finish painting our car and attach the motor, gear and finally, the wheels.

Friday June 6, 2008:

Today we finished painting the car with the two colors that we had chosen to paint with that were blue and green. The first thing we did was grabbing our materials and taking them outside so that we could paint easily. The day before, we had already started painting and we put another layer of paint to the entire car so that it would look nicer. My entire group started helping one another with the painting job and it was easier for all of us since it was a faster way to paint because one painted one part while the others painted the parts that were missing. At some points, our paints were mixed and we had to put more and more layers of paint until the mixing paint would disappear. Our goal for Monday is to attach the wheels and the motor to our finished painted car.

Monday June 9, 2008:

The first part of our technology class I did not work a bit since I was bored and I was not feeling well. I saw how Janice and Nicole attached the gear and the wheels by pasting strings of metal through them and finally securing them by using scotch tape. Then I thought that it could be of some help if I gave them some tips for their work to be better since I was also a group member. Therefore, I talked to them and gave them some advice, and to my amazement, they followed it. So, at the last part of the technology class I worked a little with them by supporting and giving some advice. Our goal as a group is to attach the motor and put another layer of paint to the car.

Tuesday June 10, 2008:

Today my entire group worked together. The first thing we noticed once we got the car was that the wheels were not working and we did not know what to do. The wheels were going in different directions and they weren’t attached together; the car did not move. Then Nicole came up with the idea of attaching the wheels by using straws and it worked. Then we didn’t know how to attach the motor because it didn’t stick together and Ms. Lemley gave us some advice of carving, by using sandpaper, some kind of hole so that the motor would stick to the gear and make the car work. We did that and to our amazement, it worked. Then we saw that if we attached the motor with scotch tape, when the car was moving, it would fall or move. So, we figured out that we needed another type of scotch tape, like electric tape, and some wheels with some varnish. And this would be out goal for Thursday.

Thursday June 12, 2008:

Today we tested the car two times. The first time we tested it, the motor moved and the gear stayed in its place but the two of them didn’t make any contact so the car didn’t work. We taped the motor were we wanted it to be by using some electric tape and we asked Ms. Lemley if she could make us the favor of testing our car again and she did. The second time we did test it; the car still didn’t work because the motor moved away since it wasn’t well taped. So, we taped it better so that the next time we could test the car again. Our goal for Friday is to test again the car and put a layer of varnish to our whole project.

Friday June 13, 2008:

Today we attached the motor to the car. Since we knew that the motor didn’t work and it moved from side to side making the gear to also move and not making any contact at all, we had the idea of taking out every layer of the structure put the motor in and paste everything again. When we tried to follow our idea we saw that this idea could ruin the car and we tried another thing. We cut a bigger hole than the first one so that we could work a little bit easier on attaching the motor. We did it and it worked. We had more space to work on our motor and to be honest it was an easier way of resolving the problem we had. Then we asked Ms. Lemley if she could help us and she did. While she was helping us with this, I was fixing the metal of the wheels because it all wrinkled and it didn’t make the wheels stay together; it didn’t make them work. Suddenly, Ms. Lemley said that the motor was ready and quickly we putted everything in place and we saw that the back wheels worked, but that the front wheels were the ones which made the car go slower, so we took them out. Then we tested our car and to our surprise it worked, but backwards. Ms. Lemley had attached the teeth of the gear, backwards to the ones of the motor making the motor go backward; making the car to spin backwards. Our solution was to make another cone shaped point at the front so that it could work. So, our goal for Monday was to cut all the cone shape pieces, paint them, glue them, and search for some wheels.

Monday June 16, 2008:

Today Janice brought two wheels for the car. We tested them and we saw that they worked but the problem was that the stick that maintained the wheels together was too little. Then we tried to make holes on the sides so that the wheels could enter but it didn’t work. Suddenly, Nicole saw that the wheels fitted on the front part of the car. Once we finished testing the wheels and seeing that they fitted perfectly we glued them together and that was done. Then we tried the wheels and we saw that they worked. We asked Ms. Lemley to test our car and our car worked and it moved!!! Our goal for Tuesday is to finish painting and search for more wheels if anyone of us can.

Tuesday June 17, 2008: