ELA Component Option 1:Journal

For my project i will be doing a journal. Each of my journal entries will be 7-8 sentences. I will have a total of 10 entries over a period of 9 weeks. I will explain many things in these entries, one of the things being my project procedure. I will also explain how i was able to get the background information, and the process of developing my project idea. I will also include any visual diagrams or graphs that i obtain over the time period. I will be as accurate as possible by defining my findings and any problems that i encounter along the way, and finally i will include how this project will help in future career goals.

Journal entry #1

I have began on working on my PBL project today by looking up more information. The project i was assigned was the hand cranked generator. So I did some research on how the generator works and its functions. I also did background research on the principle of the project. One of the things I needed to learn was about a law called Faraday's law. That law has to do with the magnetic field and how the generator creates the energy it needs. Now all i need to do i learn how to explain my project. But i can tell its going to be a great experience working on this project.

Journal entry #2

Today I went on my home computer to do some research about my project and decided to look for a chart that shows me exactly what i am dealing with and how it works.

Journal entry #3

It has been almost over two weeks and I still can not seem to be able to explain my project as great as I would like it to be explained. I keep trying to find websites that could explain to me the process and how the generator creates the energy but i have not found anything helpful other than the chart I have in the previous entry. I get too confused with the laws and the principles that there are involved in this project. I am positive that there has to be an easier way to explain this project than just with principles. I am thinking of just going with Mr.Dal and asking him but I want to see if I can do it by myself. My goal of this project is to learn and that is what I plan to do.

Journal entry #4

Today I went with Mr.Dal and got my project which was the hand cranked generator. I thought it was pretty cool when I used it. I still want to learn how this thing works though. My question is. What goes on inside that creates the energy? Here is a picture of my project, i did not take it but this is what it looks like.

Journal entry #5

So today after three weeks of studying this project i finally found out how a generator works and how it produces energy. They use electrons through a conductor to give electric power. A magnet then forces the electrons to move along the coil wire at a steady rate and this is how the generator works. All this time of having this project i finally found out how it works. Well I guess its better than not knowing at all. Now that I have found out how it works it is time that I completing the other tasks of the PBL i have been asked to do. Now i can understand the diagram above better.

Journal entry #6

Today i strated to mess around with my project and just see exsactly what it does. I did not do much today but just see what different ways i can display my project. I have seen two ways that i can display my project. I think i might look for more ways to display it just because i dont want it to be plain and boring and i want it to excite some people. I personaly think my project is pretty cool but i want to prove to everyone that its a cool project. The more I spend with this project the more I get more interested with the way electricity is created.

Journal entry #7

Today was the day that i started completeing my tasks and displaying my handcranked generator. I could not really find another way to display it so i guess i am going to have to stick with the two ways. Those two way will be generating electricity for a lightbulb and it will turn on. Another way, I will connect two hand cranked generators with a cable and I will turn one of the handles and the handle of the other generator will move at a slower pace than i am turning the primary handle.

Journal entry #8

Today I went with my teacher to ask him for assistance on my project because i was haveing some trouble with the cable that i was supposed to connect. It turns out that I had two different generator so they were not funtioning as they should have been. Once my teacher gave me the right set of materials we talked about how I have done with this project so far. I had told him about me haveing trouble understanding the whole concept of the generator but I managed to figure it out. He told me it was good that I had figured it out and he was there if I had any questions. But over all I think my project is comeing to and end.

Journal entry #9

I was looking at the pictures I had taken for my tasks and thought I could get better ones for my journal but i did not get any. Thats when I began to look at the pictures and graphs I put in the journal and thought i could get better ones. But after I tried looking i really could not find anything at all. I think I have the best picture to describe my project that there is. And the diagram that i have is perfect because it is simple and I am able to explain it very easy.

Journal entry #10

My final reflections of my project is that it was a very problem free project. The only thing that I had a little trouble with was understanding the concept. This was a great project to do and I learned a lot from it. Not only did I learn stuff about electricity but I also learned about mechanis. This was something that was a hands on expirience and I am glad that i got this project. I am not really surte how this will help me in a future career goal but it will be something that I know I will never forget, because I was able to learn on my own.