ELA Component

Journals

Entry #1

Today I finally got the subject for my PBL Project, in which I will have to have completed by the end of the school year, and this year my project will be in the field of Physics. Unlike last year, where my project had to be about the History of Geometry, this year I actually have to perform an experiment called Jacob's Ladder. I did in fact feel a bit skeptical in the matter of having to actually build such machine, and actually have to work with such high levels of voltages. Now, I do consider myself to be very cautious with things, knowing by common sense that I will have to be extra careful, meaning that I won't be able to keep anything that can actually catch the electrical current, such as certain objects, and even bystanders. However, since this project can in fact be quite dangerous, I will have to perform this project at school, and thankfully with the help of my Physics teacher, Mr. G. I'm very relieved of this since i won't feel too lost with about constructing the device.

Entry #2

Today I decided to begin making my overall research over what makes Jacob's Ladder, well Jacob's Ladder, and how is it able to react in such way when it is turned on. The unfortunate part is that since my project is fairly new in PBL, our school science department does not have a Jacob's Ladder available, so I will have to build my own once the materials have arrived to the school. Of course, I won't be able to actually build the entire model all by myself, meaning that I will need some assistance from my Physics teacher, Mr. G. The process took quite a few hours just to accomplish the model, with some material being rather complex when it came to all of the parts together, to which I have a fair advantage since I will in fact have some assistance from an adult rather than struggling in the bliss of trying to bring this whole model together. Also, since I can't actually take my project home, I won't have to worry about it getting damaged in any way whatsoever on the way from and to school, which I take as an advantage since it will be located somewhere only I and my Physics teacher can reach whenever it is necessary to. The research itself, I believe, should be fairly simple since I am able to look at different resources in order to gather up my information, and pretty much summarize what I have found- how does Jacob's Ladder work, and why does it react in such form, also what is the history behind it.

Entry #3

Today I have begun to research the function and history of my project, discovering how the arc takes form in between the two copper rods and as to why it is able to travel all the way up these two rods. Information in which I can add to my PBL website, and to a brochure that I myself will have to create, explaining the main principles of Jacob's Ladder and add it to my website as well. Unfortunately, when I began my research about the history behind Jacob's Ladder, I would often find links and other sources in which they would describe different types of Jacob's Ladders- the most common ones I discovered were a story from the bible, and sci-fi movie props. Since I wasn't all that fortunate finding much information behind the history of the actual experiment, I decided to add a bit of information as to how much of an impact this project had on society in both religion, and pop culture. I did manage to at least gather some information about how this specific model actually works, what it is consisted of, and finally what is actually going on within the Jacob's ladder. I was not able to gather much information about it's history, however, so I decided to add information about how it came to be inveted in the first place.

Entry #4

As I continued my research, I realized that in reality, there isn't much a of an important use for constructing Jacob's Ladder, other than using it as a 'wow factor' for sci-fi films, or maybe even during Halloween. However, there is no doubt that there is a high risk since it deal with such a high voltage to create just one arc that travels up two copper rods and dies off when it reaches the end, only to start off once again in the bottom. Even if it may not have an actual purpose in our daily lives, Jacob's Ladder is certainly something that can be used to amaze a group of people who are trying to figure out just how does it work. However, Jacob's Ladder is not a toy- in fact, it is a very dangerous model, and is considered as lethal, therefore one needs to make sure that safety precautions are taken throughout the entire demonstration.

Entry #5

My research for my project has made a lot of progress in my perspective; I have found some of the history behind my project, what does it do, what is the source of the arc, and lastly why are we the spectators able to view this arc traveling up the copper rods. Now all I would really need to worry about would be to make and edit my own videos, and post the both of them on YouTube, demonstrating my project to the public while representing my school at the same time! Of course, this won't be an exact 'piece of cake' since I have no experience with filming and editing a video like this, though I am 99% sure that I can accomplish this, and hopefully before the deadline. So I have agreed to meet up with my Physics teacher, and record a quick 4 minute video, which I will have to shorten out a little, and add my information. Also, I will have to make sure that I fix my brochure, add two QR codes that lead to my PBL website, and my YouTube channel where other people can find my videos and learn more about my project. Once that is done, all I have to do is simply make sure to save it as a PDF file, and post it on my website in a form in which other people would be able to download and print my brochure.

Entry #6

Like in many other situations, I have appeared to run into some complications time and time again; for one thing it wasn't necessarily all that easy adding a downloadable PDF file to a website, and editing an entire video straight out of my cell phone, not to mention the fact that I have no internet access at home. But of course, all comes with trial and error, if you can't do it at the first try, well just try again until you get it right. Eventually I was able to do all of this with a bit of complication, but what mattered was that I got those tasks out of the way and I can go on with my research. By now, everything appears to be simple tasks, the only problem would be getting a decent internet connection, other than that, I am sure that I can accomplish this in no time. Not only that, but I also have to get myself prepared to present my project by myself, in front of my class, and finally in front of strangers at my schools STEM Festival, and I have to admit, I am a little nervous.

Entry #7

Today was the day in which I presented my project in front of my Physics class, which thankfully is a small class, so I wasn't really all that nervous, but I was able to get if not a small taste of what I may experience at the STEM Festival. I will have to not only prepare myself for presenting my project, but to also prepare for the many questions that are sure to come due to many people not actually knowing what my project is about, and also the fact that there may be professors and such who can be considered as experts in the field of Physics and would probably ask different questions that I may or may not throw me off a little. I have to be prepared with all of my information, and most importantly just get my point across, to teach strangers about what is Jacob's Ladder. It is actually thanks to this practice presentation that I am now more aware of what I can and cannot do during my presentation at the STEM Festival.

Entry #8

Today I mainly concentrated on getting my website fixed, as well as making sure that I got my 'Demonstration Video' up and ready to go on YouTube. Thankfully this one didn't require as much work since it is a uch shorter video simply giving the public a quick view of what my project is about, and what it does exactly. And once again, I had appeared to have run into a little bit of trouble when it ca,e to keeping my website updated, such as adding more information to my S.S. Connection, and my journal entries for my ELA Component, though that is an easy fix.

Entry #9

Finally, the day for the STEM Festival arrived, and I was pretty nervous about it since I would have to speak to a great amount of other people, who were hopefully interested in my project and were willing enough to stand through my presentation. And I have to admit, soe people really were impressed, even stating how it reminded the of the story in the bible and even linking Frankenstein as well- however, there was a fair amount of people who were quite rude in my perspective. Either way, I couldn't allow that ruin the rest of my presentations, so I managed to simply speak to those that really were interested, answering a few questions as I demonstrated the arc, and explaning just how it worked, making sure to not talk for too long, and go witht he main points of my project.

Entry #10

I believe I have finally reached the day where I won't have to worry about what I have to add to my website, or if there any last minute things I may have to fix or r-do. Now, all I have to do is wait for my project to hopefully be approved, thus I would have already completed all of my work, well at least I think so. Overall, I believe that my PBL project went fairly well, even if I may have not been the one to have chosen it, however, I do think that I was successfull with receiving all of my information, and putting it all together. From my understanding, I've heard that my project is fairly new to STEM, so I do hope that maybe other students may able to actually have the choice to do this experiment just like I did, and hopefully become more interested in it. Yes, there may be a certain risk dealing with such a large number of voltage used, but harmlss if one is careful, of course.