Step 5 - 8: Final Update
Intro:
As the academic year comes to an end for BOATSTONE, we take a look back at our research, prototypes, sketches, marketing materials, and final report after we spent the entire semester working on the capstone project. As part of this project, we produced formal reports, slideshows, videos, and more to advertise our boat and its feasibility.
One of the biggest parts of building our boat was running experiments to improve the design of boat so that we could ensure that it floated. We would need to design, 3D print, and then test the model each time. After the test, we would find an issue that led us to fully redesign the boat multiple times. In addition to this, we also made technical posters, professional websites, and a professional presentation presented to the STEM Board and an audience on presentation night.
This is our life cycle report:
Our Poster:
Here is our defense presentation:
Content:
Functionality: The quality of being suited to serve a purpose well; practicality. The boat floated perfectly, it worked very well.
Experiment: A scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact. We ran an experiment on how much weight it can hold, it eventually just hit the bottom of the kiddie pool.
Prototype: A first, typical, or preliminary model of something, especially a machine, from which other forms are developed or copied. Along the way, we made many concepts until we came up with our final one. The different concepts we used helped us visualize what we needed to improve on.
Reflection:
I thought my best component in the last section of our STEM capstone project was critical thinking. This skill was developed because we had to work through many problems and issues that required creative thought and design. Overall, the entire capstone project required critical thinking.
My flaw in this project was keeping up to date and managing my time effectively. We struggled with working on the actual boat itself and the assignments that came with it hich caused us to fall behind in one or the other occasionally. To fix this, we should've spent more time outside of the classroom working on the project.