Final Blogpost YESSSSSS

I'm so over this year I dont think it's possible to be any more over this year then I am right now. But, to answer the prompt: I really thought that this project was more applicable to the real world than any other project we have done in school. In school, we are mainly given tasks that have nothing to do with the real world and we may never use again. But with this project, we are given a very business-like deadline and were free to work as we pleased. Some things that went well were we met almost all of our deadlines. We also were given a good group dynamic. We had two people who worked very well with the technology and kept us on track with our blogposts, as well as Ekolu and I, who worked very well hands on. Some things that didn't go as planned were as followed: we didn't follow our plans, we didn't take into account the door that our bench would be blocking once implemented. Also, we didn't really follow our original design for the bench. We were supposed to pour quikrete into our cinder blocks. From this I learned that planning is one key aspect that it is essential that it is followed or else projects seem to go downhill. I learned that if given a group, you should play to each other's strengths and establish a plan and due dates to keep you on task. This project was pretty well done so i'm not so sure that i would do anything differently. For the most part, I guess our construction was somewhat science. Obviously it dealt with science because everything in the world has to do with science, but it was not at the forefront of our brains and thinking during the project.

NO NEED DO FINAL!!

Finally done! This project took a lot out of us, we really worked hard and had to force our selves to stay on time during this whole process. But through all the hard work, the painstaking construction, and the looonnngg presentation of projects we made it. I can say on behalf of everyone in this class that it was worth it for the reward of not needing to do a final written test was so wonderful. I enjoyed this project and I really think that this should be repeated every year and hopefully our school can become a better place with the work of students and staff of this school. Imua Kamehameha.

Final Blog post

Alright, so first things first. This project was definitely a project like no other. It required me to actually solve a problem not written on a piece of paper or with a hint as to how to solve the problem. Instead, I had to actually go out into the school community and find a problem. In my experience as a student, teachers usually say, "here's a scenario, your tasks, and your timeline on how it should be, now go and do it." However, this project was like: "find a scenario, plan it out, and keep yourselves plan in check." It forced us as students to be individual thinkers in a way, making choices for ourselves and standing on our own two feet as people. So what went well was definitely the presentation. I feel that our group put it's best foot forward in our showcase of our project. What didn't go so hot was what the presentation encompassed. Due to some planning issues, our Ho'oulu ia Kamehameha project was a scramble to finish a single bench and just get someone to sit down on it. I learned that sometimes, it's better to just lead than expect another to do it, because your subordinates are probably thinking the same thing: "Oh, it's fine, someone else will take charge, no worries." Sometimes, it just takes a single person to step up and say: "Hey, we need to focus right now, so lets get back on track." The stories behind this are the  blog posts and several of our written assignments. For our blog posts, all of us forgot the turn of who did what, and ended up thinking it was just someone else's turn, thus a lack of blogposts. For writing assignments, for several items, such as our final report, proposal, and detailed design, they were all pretty rushed. The reason? No one regularly checked when what was due, and no one tried to take charge and remind the rest. As for what I would change, I can't think of anything really. It's pretty fair, so I would say nothing needs to be changed. By thinking up a real solution to a real problem, I saw how the science was happening, which I found very cool. Asking things like: "What's the plan?" or "What's a possible solution?"

Pau Hana: My Final Blog

This project has been such a good experience for me as a person and as a student. Sometimes this project brought a lot of stress but for the most part it has taught me a lot. My overall thoughts on this project is that it is a positive thing that students should go through. We were able to make strides toward making change. Although they were small steps to change, it was making the effort that really counted. It helped us to realize that there are problems bigger then ourselves and that we have to be the ones to initiate change in order to make it happen. An overall positive effect!
One thing that went well was that towards the end of our project we became more focused and worked more collaboratively as a group. Our contributions in the ending portion of our project really showed off the strengths we have as a group.
The most significant part of our project that didn't go as planned was the planning. As a group we had a hard time keeping track of our deadlines and completing things on time. Most of the time we would complete the task but it was already late. However, we were able to turn in our final paper on time :D
Some of the things I learned was that in a group project you actually have to work as a group! I learned that if you work to each others strengths you can accomplish more. Also another thing that I learned was that staying on track and the importance of planning can contribute to how successful you will be.
I feel that this activity was really effective! I don't think that there is any problems with the project. Every aspect that each group had to do was thoroughly planned out and instruction given to students were clear.
This project exemplified a different kind of science. It was a different approach, therefore, I didn't feel like we were doing science but I knew we were. I liked it this way much more than sitting in a classroom and just learning from a textbook!

It's All Coming To An End

On Friday we had our project presentation! This marked the ending of project, beside the final paper of course. I'd say that this project has been kind of a rough road from beginning to end. Many unexpected turns and as group we faced and overcame a lot! On a good note this project has taught us a lot about ourselves and students. We were able to learn how we can become better team members in order to solve problems that are bigger then ourselves. The different projects and their members gave all of us new perspectives during the presentations on how we can help to improve our school, which was great. Overall this project has really been an eye-opener in a variety of ways and there is so much more we can do in and out of school but it is really up to us to make that change! Now at the end, it has really settled in, how exciting :D

Last Post, #1

As of right now, it is 1:05 in the morning. This is the first post of the last three we have to do . This is our last weekend blogpost for this project and the last weekend of our junior year. I got home after 12 and I couldn't manage to sit myself down to write out this blogpost. But here I am doing it right now. Sorry guys because its late, but better late than never. We did good tonight guys. I can honestly say this is the first project I actually enjoyed and I know you all did as well. We came together, cooperated well, learned, taught, and finished it strong. Although many of us did not want to be at school so late on a Friday night, I think it was worth it being that we put so much time into the project it self, we needed so much time to explain everything, and now we dont need to take a final. Im stoking on that one. I think everyone is. If there is certain requirements for this blogpost besides posting our over thoughts/success/updates just like we usually do, sorry cause I have no clue what they are. But this counts as our blog post for Friday, May 18. And I am going to bed now.

Almost There...

Thursday was another somewhat productive day for our group. During class we worked on our Keynote presentation, presentation prep and on our final paper. Tomorrow is our physics Final/presentation, the culminating event if you will. After tomorrow all the stress from this project will be over, well sort of. We are still working on our final paper which is due on Monday, but that is the least of my worries. Today, we also tried to accumulate some type of data that will be presentation-ready. Students did respond to our survey, via surveymonkey, which is good but we hope to get more! Tomorrow is a big day but we just need to go in confident and professional. The presentation makes me a little nervous but a little more prep during period 6 tomorrow is sure to do us some good :D

FInal stretch, here we go~!

Alright, so NOW that we have our bench out and running, it's time to get back to punching away on our computers. Today, I posted up our group presentation on google docs, so everyone can contribute and we can finish this dang project! With our basic outline done, we just need to fine tune it with info and pictures, and then we're off to present! Furthermore, after school today, I plan to go down to lower campus to record info on how our bench is working with the students. With some work on our presentation, and some good team effort, we shall finish this class strong.

Bus Stop Bench

Today was a big day for our group! We finally installed our bench at the lower campus bus stop. Hopefully, it will be used properly and effectively by the students, being it is in fron of the outlet in that bus stop area. Today we faced some adversities with the installation of our bench but it all worked out really well. First, our group planned to carry down the bench from our physics class in Konia all the way down to the lower campus Paki building. Keep in mind this is A LOT of weight, four cinder blocks and 4 pieces of lumber! It was so rough even my iphone screen cracked! Luckily, we bumped into Kumu Kawika who graciously drove us and our bench down to tech. building and then to our Bus Stop destination. This saved us a lot of time and energy. Once we got down there Chayse and Ekolu sanded the bench and put up a small sign explaining it's purpose. There were students who were already intrigued by the idea of having the bench as they watched us situate the bench. In all, today was a very productive day in terms of getting closer to completing this project. We still need to prepare for the presentation and write up our final paper but we should be able to finish everything!

Last Week Push!

This week will probably be the most crucial and important week of our physics lives! There is still so much to get done. The bench will be our first priority and collecting data will probably be the next. It is vital that we receive some type of data throughout the week in order to write our paper and complete our presentation. Hopefully, we can collect something so that we can prove if our project was successful or not. It is hard believe that in the next five days our physics finals will be complete and we will be that much closer to the end of our junior year! I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared at all, but I do have my slight doubts. However, I know that if our group really concentrates and works hard this week we'll definitely be ready come Friday!

Final Deployment Day

Today was our final deployment day /:
Unfortunately construction still continued today and the bench, is almost, but not yet fully completed as of our working class period. Over the past few days we've had some problems completing and installing the bench whether it was finding the right drilling materials or getting the proper measurements. We still need to determine how we will transport the heavy bench to it's home at lower campus. It's been a pretty long week and everyone is excited for the weekend but... there is still a lot of work to do before our final presentation in 7 days! We need to install and implement our prototype, collect data, write our paper draft and develop our keynote presentation. Our group has a lot to get done and I hope we can pull it off :D

A progressive kind of day.

So did we flat out finish the benches today? Nope! Am I mad about it? Nah. Today was a great day for getting things done for our group! The plan for today worked out like this: Me and Chayse walked down to Mr. Massad's to pick up a drill bit while Ekolu took measurements for the bench (marking where we would drill/lining up the planks straight) with the help of Megan. When we got back, we began drilling holes in the wood and the cement blocks. Tomorrow, we shall deal the finishing blow and (with the help of Mr. Massad, apparently) get this bench to the underclassmen. Imua! XD

A little behind on things....

Ok, today's blogpost is a little different then usual. Today's blogpost is basically going to be a personal speculation from your's truly, about how our group has "fallen behind" a little. At first, our group was on it pretty good. Turning in blogposts in a timely manner, as well as other written necessities. What brought us (and killed us) here was not sticking to the plan/lack of proper planning perhaps. We have slumped behind in our posts, and stumbled a little here and there (I don't exclude myself from this, cause I stumbled around a lot too). Also, one of the things I see as the most detrimental was our adapting to when we would receive and start building with our supplies. When we got things last thursday, we were a little iffy on how things were actually gonna go down. Are we taking it home? If so, who is gonna do it? Maybe we should probably build it here? This may have been good if we had sat down as a group and talked about it earlier. So were we on track? For sure. What brought us down? I speculate that it was that we should've talked about "the plan" just a tad more, so that we were all on the same track about this. But, don't lose faith yet of course. Tomorrow will be a great day for our group, for I am sure we will get this dang bench out and running, once and for all! 

Physics Contest

Haaha! It seems we have miscalculated plans on Friday. On this day, we had our Physics Contest, a short quiz on topics we've learned in this course. AGGGH, even though we were reminded of this, I HAD NOT FORESEEN THIS! Being so focused on the bench, the quiz did not even cross my mind. In other words, we couldn't do anything about bench building!  So, a slight screw up? Yes. But make no mistake, next week, with our supplies, tools, and plans ready to go, we shall FINISH OUR BENCH. :D 

Divide and Conquer

Today was the first work day of the week in physics. Our goal for the day was to get as much work done and do it efficiently because of our time restraints! We used a divide and conquer tactic to accomplish what we wanted to achieve.
Jordan and I were left in the classroom to work on the preparation for the content needed as we're getting closer to the project deadline. This means that we worked on the early drafts and the beginning development of the group's keynote, paper and presentation that will e due in a couple of weeks. We also decided that we had to make sure and catch up with any missing blogs and the revisions of our proposal and detailed design papers.
Chayse and Ekolu had a much different, hands on, task to do today. For the most part of the class they both went down to the tech building to get materials and instructions/assistance from the teachers down there who are familiar with construction and designs of things, similar to our bench project. They are becoming responsible for all of the construction and development that goes along with the project, specifically the building of the bench. After all, without a bench there is no project!
We trust each other to work hard and get as much work done quickly in this next few weeks so that we will be able to finish it and still have time to prepare for our final presentation.

Week of Construction

This week is going to be crucial in the progress of our project. We received all of our materials last week as May 4th's blog mentioned but now it is time to put it to use! During the last working class period our group assembled the bench to see what it will look like after it is completely and securely assembled. This week is going to be important because we are going to make sure our bench is in use so that we may begin to collect data. In the picture it seen that our group members did the pre-construction measurements and planning. Our schedule is really tight and we haven't gotten a whole lot completed, but I believe that our teamwork will help get everything run smoothly, whether it's in class or during free periods. We will have to take this week serious being there are only a couple more week of school!

A short break....

Whoopsie, did I say those benches were going up on Friday? Silly me, forgot we had a TEST on Friday. Can't really put up a bench when you gotta test, can you? Enough joking around, our group has not been the most active, during this time lapse, but will be bouncing back starting tomorrow (unless some other prior engagement interferes). In the case of a free class period, our project prototype will finally see it's creation/deployment, 

Support Package arrives!

So, when I strolled into class today, I was totally shocked! Because as you can see in the pictures above, we finally received our supplies today. YAY! Thanks to Pauahi and her trip to home depot to pick up our supplies, which consists of: 

(5) 8 ft long 2x4's

(4) 8inchx8inchx16inch corner cinder blocks
(16) 3/8's inch by 5 inch long (GALVANIZED not zinc coated) 
(16) 3/8s inch (GALVANIZED not zinc coated)* washers.
(16) 3/8s inch (GALVANIZED not zinc coated)* hex nuts.
(1) bag of quikrete mortar mix ( to secure the 2 blocks on each side together)

(Thanks Ekolu for the list). 

So from this point, what's next? Well, tomorrow, we have our prototype roll-out planned. Although we wanted to get it done today, transportation troubles (to and from Ekolu's house) were in our way. However, tomorrow, we will take down our supplies to Paki, build our bench, and have that baby ready to go! (Or so I believe). As for extra improvements (sanding down the wood/painting), we shall see.

Look forward to a new bench, underclassmen! 

HAWAIIAN FOOD FOR LUNCH

Use your time wisely, or if you need you can leave early to get to lunch. The basic intro of todays class. Everyone was pretty energized today after a long fun assembly. Its one of those things where its an exception and everyone can let loose. Since the whole day was pretty slow going and classes were only thirty minutes there was hardly enough time for us to work in class on the project. We really have nothing to do until we get our materials to build our benches. Thats the progress we made so far on this building stage. We are at a standstill till our materials come in. If we get it by next class we should be able to get our benches done on time in the block schedule class period.

4/31/12

A day late... sorry guys. But anyway todays class was our preparation day for building our prototype. We just talked about the construction of our bench, talked about what the different things we needed and why and what our final project will come out to be. We finally got our list of materials through and all we need to do now is wait for it to come in and then build our drawing out. I think I can relate this process to the world of engineering. If you think about it, we went from an idea, to forming a hypothesis, to building and example of what we need to make, to designing our prototype and we have yet to build and put it out. After that we take data of how our project is doing. Its engineering on a mini scale. Cant wait to get our materials because we have 3 days to get our project out. Hopefully construction goes smoothly also and everything works out.