Process Journal

May 27, 2008

Today my group got the length and width of the solar panel and drawed it on a paper. We measured the height of the wheels and also planned our height the car was going to be. When we finally had all the dimensions, we recorded it on the piece of paper with the dimensions of a car. We got the dimensions with a ruler and made it exactly the same on the paper. Our goal for the next class is to have the cardboard cutted, ready to paint.

May 29, 2008

Today we cutted the cardboard Camila brought. Nicole and I went outside the class and with the measurments we had, we drawed all the pieces to the cardboard and then cut them with the exacto knife. When we finished cutting the rectangular pieces. We cutted three equal triangular pieces made also of  cardboard. While Nicole and I cutted the cardboard, Camila was cutting wire to use for the wheels. I think taday it went really well because we finished cutting all the cardboard pieces and also the wire strings. Our goal for the next class is to stick the pieces together and start painting.

May 30, 2008

Today our goal was to finish cutting all the double pieces to have enough support for the solar panel. We changed our goal of the last time because we needed to do this first and we had not realized. We finished pasting all except the cone-shaped trianglesthat we need to do it for the next class. Today we did not have problems cutting and pasting but it was tricky to paste the three triangles to make a cone-shaped point. Our grop worked very well but in some moments Camila did not do anything.

June 2, 2008.

Today our goal was to paste the cone-shaped point. When we were going to attach the three triangles, we realized it did not really was going to be good so I had an idea of using two triangles we had and to cut two rectangles. The two triangles woul be one on the top the other on the bottom and the rectangles on the sides. When we finished pasting it, it looked really well. After doing that, we cutted the sticking out parts and it looked better. Our goal for the next class is to paint it and if it dries, we can paste the two clips. Today Nicole did not come to school because she went to a trip.

June 3, 2008

Today, our goal was to paint but we realized the we needed to put the wheels. we had a good pair of wheels the teacher gave us but the problem was that we needed another pair of wheels that would have a similar size. We got nother pair of wheels but we needed the stick to attach them. Suddenly I had an idea. Camila had a thick wire and it could match. It worked alittle but it also moved. At the end we put come uhu in the wheels so that they would attach harder. It went pretty well although Nicole did not come.

June 5, 2008

Today we did a good job. First we asked Mrs. Lemley how the motor worked. After that, we planned how it would be so we made two holes; one for the gear and another for the motor. After making the holes, we went outside and painted the car blue and light green. We made a good job except that when the teacher explained us about the motor, Camila was not paying too much attention so I needed to explain her all. Our goal is to finish attaching the wheels, motor, and gear.

June 6, 2008

Today our goal was to finish painting and attacing the wheels. We finished painting but we did notattach the wheels because the paint was not dry. The first thing that we did was to finish painting the color blue. Then we painted the color green. The paint mixed a little but it was not a big deal. Our goal for the next class is toattach the wheels and motor.

June 9, 2008

Today my group workes well but we had a problem because Camila was not working too much and was distracted with other things. Nicole and I cutted 4 strips of wire so that the wheels woul not bump. We pasted the wire. It lasted very long for the wire to stick so we could not do anything else. Our goal for the next class is to paste the motor and put another layer of paint.

10/6/08

Today we did not advance too much because the things that we made lasted long. First we realized the wheels did not rotate well so Nicole and Mrs. Lemley had an idea of using Nicole’s juice straw. We cut 4 pieces and pasted them. Then we put the wheels through the straws. We needed to get out some things to put the wheels like: some wire that was there for nothing. After doing that, we tried the car but it did not work because the motor was too high so with sand paper we rubbed the carton so it would be more flay. Then we tried the car and it did work. Finally we attached tape to the motor. Our goal for next class is to attach better the motor.

12/6/08

Today we tested our car two times. First we fixed the holes of the wheels; we made the holes smaller. After doing that, we sticked the motor with scotch but it did not paste well when we tested the car because it did not touch the gear well so with sand paper I rubbed the carton. Then we pasted the motor with electric tape and it did not work well but at the end we made some adjustments but we did not have time to test it. Our goal for next class is to make the car work.

13/6/08

Today we tried the car but it did not work. We made a larger hole so that we could work with more space and with Mrs. Lemley´s help we got out some extra layers of cardboard there were. Then we pasted all we had gotten out again and pasted the motor. When we tried the car, it worked. But it went backwards! We put the motor on the other side. So for the next class we need to have another cone-shaped point for the other side so that it looks like an arrow and I will bring another pair of wheels because the other ones do not work well. We are happy to know it worked.

16/6/08

Today we almost finish the entire car. I brought a pair of wheels that were of a toy I had but the problem was that the stick was too short and we could not make holes. Nicole had an idea of putting the wheels on the point of the car. So with a little piece of straw we paste it on the point and put the wheels through them. While Camila and I were doing that, Nicole was cutting another con-shaped point because the ones Camila had brought were too small. Nicole will finish painting the cone-shaped point and we are done.

17/6/08