Angry Birds Project
For this project we were put into groups of 3-4 and had to create three products. A launcher, projectile and structure. My component for this project was the launcher. I decided that I wanted to make a trebuchet, which is similar to a catapult or even a seesaw. On one end of the arm was a pouch to hold the projectile and on the other end was were a counterweight (or in our case, human force) would bring down one side flinging the projectile side and ultimately launching the projectile (or "angry bird"). My component was the last to get done and my original idea was not how the final product turned out. It was a new experience for me, measuring the wood, getting it cut, and then figuring out how to put it all together and make it work. We couldn't really test out the launcher with the other components until it was all finished and for a lot of the tries it didn't work. It wasn't doing the one thing it was supposed to do, launch. But after some modifications, a lot of help from Jocelyn, and some more test runs it finally started to work. The Potential Energy (energy stored in an object) is on the side where you push down so that the other side will go up. The Kinetic Energy (the energy in a moving object) is in the pouch and projectile as it's being launched. During this project I didn't really help my group members with their components and was mostly consumed by my own. For a lot of the time I was afraid of asking for help from my group or my teacher when I could've or should've and probably been done quicker. Next group project I want to try to have better communication with my group and let them know what's going on as well as help them as best as I can with what they need to do.