For my ELA component, I decided to keep a log of 10 journal entries dedicated to the progress of my PBL project from September to early Febuary. Here you'll see how I managed to complete my project and what I've learned from it.
Physics PBL: Double Ball Bounce
Journal Entries
December 21, 2014
For those wondering if I managed to complete my SS Connection under the hour and a half time limit, yes, by some miracle I wrapped up my findings with 30 minutes to spare. Alright so the history behind the Double Ball bounce dates back to when natural rubber was discovered in the late 15th century by the Olmecs. Rubber balls were important to the cultural religion of the Olmecs and Mayans. It was apparently used in games that was more like a fight to the death than a sport. The game is known as Mesoamerican ball game which is a game still played today. That is how the creation of rubber and balls have an effect in history. The ball bounce effect has revolutionized history because without it we would never have had such devices like the bounce house been created. Many things have been done since the discovery of the bounce effect in 1925. Bungee cords, bounce houses, and all other types of creations that involve the bouncing. Many discoveries have been made since the discovery of bouncing. Interested in reading more? Click here for more info over my SS Connection Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
December 19, 2014
I apologize for the lack of updates recently. Honestly, I've been procrastinating so long for the Social Studies Connection part of my PBL project that now I have less than an hour and a half to finish my research. At least my US History teacher, Mr. Torres, was kind enough to warn us about the deadline before he automatically inserted 0s in the grade book. So far I discovered that there is actually some history behind the double ball bounce. For real, I'll talk about the SS Connection in my next journal entry. Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
December 1, 2014
Great news! Luckily, Mr. G decided to extend the Level II PBL deadline till December 19th instead of the original deadline of November 21st. Now I can clearly work on my project with no impending worries. This week I plan to start working on my Social Studies Connection behind the Double Ball Bounce. I find it strange that there is history behind my project, but there is a story behind everything I suppose. The next journal entry will consist of my findings of the Social Studies Connection. Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
November 21, 2014
Today is the dreaded day, when everything related to my PBL project is due. Unfortunately, most of my peers and I failed to complete the entire project on time. Sure, I made a good amount of progress since Monday as I worked on my Investigation questions and most of my brochure. However, I still have failed to work on my Social Studies Connection or my actual video, because I did not have enough time to do so. Hopefully, Mr. G will extend the deadline so I will be able to finish. To those of you reading, have a good Thanksgiving break in the meantime! Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
November 17, 2014
From my experiences from previous years, the usual deadline to complete and turn in the entire Level II PBL project is the week before Spring Break, which leaves students plenty of time to work on their project. Of course, most students don't take advantage of the faraway deadline and leave the task of completing their investigation last minute. I admit I am one of those procrastinators. Well, for better or for worse, my Physics teacher bumped up the deadline to November 21st, this Friday! By now, I created my website obviously, completed the About My School tab, Background Information tab, and My Project tab, gathered my materials, and started working on my ELA component. Sad to say, I am far from being done as I haven't started on my Social Studies Connection portion of my project, the actual video, brochure, and the investigation questions I need to answer after doing the experiment. It will be a rough week ahead of me, but somehow I'll find a way to finish this project. Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
November 2, 2014
Bad news, my father's attempt to fix the Astro Blaster toy was a failure. It seems that even with the adjustments my father and I made to the Astro Blaster toy the toy doesn't bounce properly as it should. I recall before Mr.G handed the Astro Blaster toy to me he mentioned that in case the Astro Blaster toy didn't work I could try some other substitute for my experiment or eliminate the component altogether. Since my little brother has some toy poppers at home, which works similarly like the Astro Blaster toy, I could properly investigate more and use that instead. I will turn to previous demonstrations of the Double Ball Bounce experiment to help guide me with my choices on how to adjust my project. Other than that mishap, for now I don't have to substitute the tennis ball or basketball component of my project. Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
October 25, 2014
No matter how ridiculously easy it is to purchase or find a mere basketball and tennis ball, it took me about 2 weeks to get my materials. The only thing that I'm missing is the Astro Blaster toy. Mr. G did give me a rather abused Astro Blaster toy, a junior messed up last year, but I'm not sure if I could properly integrate the Astro Blaster into my project as I wanted to. Most of the Astro Blaster toy is fine, but the biggest rubber ball has a nasty tear where the stick is supposed to fit and no matter my attempts the Astro Blaster can not bounce properly as it should. My father will attempt to drill the ball sometime this week though I don't have my hopes too high. I'm thinking I should eliminate the Astro Blaster toy altogether or find some other alternative material like a popper or something. Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
October 8, 2014
It's been almost a month since I've chosen my PBL project: The Double Ball Bounce. For the past week, I finally buckled down and investigated more about my project besides the fact I have to drop a tennis ball and basketball on top of each other and observe their collisions. The driving question I have to answer is "Why does a ball bounce much higher than the height it was dropped when it is simultaneously dropped on top of a larger, more massive ball?". In short, the Double Ball Bounce. This is only a brief summary of my background information; however, you can check out my complete report in the Background Information tab to the left or click on the hyperlink. Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!
September 9, 2014
Our 11th grade Physics teacher, Mr. Gozuacik -or Mr. G for short- tasked us to complete a mandatory year long PBL -Project Based Learning- Physics project. Unlike my Geometry PBL project from last year, the choices avaliable in the Physics are far more interesting and challenging to complete. It was certainly a tough decision to decide between the simple but hard to master Double Ball Bounce project and the delicious "Measuring the Speed of Light With-Chocolate!" project. Although after much debate, I decided on the Double Ball Bounce not only because it is one of the easier projects, but also because the experiment did not require such costly or many materials as the rest of the projects. For the rest of the ELA Component, I will be documenting my Double Ball Bounce experiment process and experiences through 9 remaining journal entries. Stay tuned for more astounding Physics discoveries!