Pancake Party!

4th period organized a solid breakfast this morning:

TED Challenge 2013! Part II

Now that you've picked, viewed and taken notes on a TED Video (TED Challenge Pt I), it's time to move to the second part of the activity.


You will work with your team. Each student in the group has a unique talk they felt was exciting and relevant to the class.

The objective of your group is to:
1) Negotiate within your team to decide which video you'll use to represent the group.
2) Once your group has agreed on a video, prepare a breif presentation for the class.
3) Be prepared to present your talk when asked to do so.

Your presentation should:
A) Play the TED video your team chose. Be sure to introduce your video. Provide a little bit of context for what the class is about to experience :)
B) Each team member will prepare a conversation starting question for the class (open-ended "how" and/or "why", not Yes/No).
C) Explain how a student could get involved in the field in question in the future.

You will be able to use the class projector to support your presentation.

Points are awarded for:
(1 pt) The student who's talk is chosen to represent the group earns a point.
(1 pt) All the memebers of the group who's presentation is chosen as the best of the class earn a point.
(3 pts) Each student in the group earns a point for each of the above three presentation criteria (A, B, C) that are met in their talk.

Food for Thought:
-Will you argue for your video as the best to earn extra credit for yourself?
-Or will you support your team by picking a different video that will best help the group's chances?
-Or are you so sure of your own video that you feel it should be chosen for your group and that it will win the class competition as well?

TED Challenge 2013! Part I

Go to TED.com and spend some time investigating the site.

Once you've had a chance to familiarize yourself with the webpage, answer the following questions:

1) What is the TED organization about?

2) What is the purpose of their website and how does the functionality of their site support that?

3) As Engineers and Problem Solvers, which topic areas (the choices from the "Show talks related to:" section on the sidebar) are of most interest to us? Justify your answer.

4) Based on your previous answer, what are 3 talks (videos) on the site that appear like they would be of most interest to you as an Engineer/Problem Solver? Justify your choices.

5) Each student will watch a unique video (clear your choice with me... first come, first served!). Watch the video. Embed the video in your blog post and create a bulletized outline of the key issues presented in the talk.

6) How could you get involved in the field/technology/issue you chose to hear about? What experience/skills/training/education would you need to learn to get involved with this field?


Part II of the TED activity will have you negotiate within a group to select the "best" video to represent the group. The student with the chosen video will recieve extra credit. The group will then prepare a short presentation that summarizes the talk and will present to the class. The class will choose the best presentation and that group will recieve extra credit.

Logarithms

Mr Farrar stopped by today. I always like to find out what other teachers are up to so he brushed me up on why log is useful. Mr. Farrar is passionate about effective math instruction. A great personal example of finding work that you can really invest yourself in.

Nice work Josh!

A Frank Lloyd Wright inspired custom creation by Josh H. This is my favorite Architecture Design Build project I've seen yet:

Minecraft Architecture Design-Build Challenge

This week's "Design-Build" challenge lets us use Minecraft as a rapid prototyping tool. Minecraft is quick to work with, but clearly not accurate like real CAD software. This exercise is a chance to exercise "choice" and then follow through on these design decisions. We're not looking for exact replicas (as one might attempt with the precision of CAD), but rather an explanation of choices made and how your work supports them.

1) As a team, choose an architect we've learned about and attempt to emulate elements of his/her style.


2) Decide on at least 3 qualities that are emblematic of that architect.


3) Each student in your team will craft their own structure in Minecraft that they feel captures these key elements. Some architects may lend themselves better to Minecraft than others. Remember, "trial and error" (aka "fail early, fail often") is the key to nearly every breakthrough. It's only digital blocks... try lots of solutions/designs! In the absence of ideas, build!


4) As a team choose the product from your team that best represents the qualities you were attempting to emulate.


5) The class will conduct a "gallery walk" of each team's chosen design. Which team will be voted "best in class"? Be sure to share with your classmate how your design meets the qualities you selected (post some notes next to your laptop?).


6) Describe your experience on your online portfolio (blog):
- Summarize what you were attempting to do. What architect did you choose? What 3 qualities were you trying to emulate?
- Post images of your personal effort. If you were attempting to emulate a real building/structure, post an image of the structure in question.
- How does your design meet the criteria selected for the architect in question?
- Post images of the design selected to represent your team.
- List 4 pieces of feedback ("+" or "change") you received from other groups.


JB working to a photo reference:

Lij Board Co. Is in Island Surf!

Nice job guys:

Flight of the ThunderBolt!

Humbucker!

Connor has made some solid progress on his guitar project:

Sea Perch Survey!

Engineers and Cadets, please complete this Sea Perch related survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/seaperch_post?c=LMLIOFD

Intro to Programming and Robotics

In the Principles of Engineering course, we're going to get into robotics and programming after we finish up our unit on statics.

The following is some media that helps set the stage for why these topics are of interest to us.

Steve Kroft from 60 Minutes reports on how robotics are effecting the economy and economic recovery:



Did you know San Diego is the "Drone Capitol" of the world? Not only are the US Military's main drones designed and manufactured in North County, we also have the world leader in "DIY" drones located in Kearny Mesa (I've been to their facility... nifty!). Hear about them here on Marketplace:


Read the story here on Marketplace.org

Leadership 101

Understanding Self and Others
Leading Self and Others

Direction
Alignment
Commitment

Design Thinking

"Design Thinking", or an emphatic, collaborative approach to iterating on developing solutions, is at the heart of our "Creative Problem Solver" experience here at CHS. Our first units in the Engineering Design course this semester are going to specifically address this topic so it was a great stroke of luck that this piece aired on 60 Minutes last night.

Here we have David Kelly, the founder of design firm IDEO, sharing insights on this design technique: