Into The Wild
This project was a combination of both Math/Physics and Humanities. For Math/Physics we made a compass, a headlamp and a soda can stove. While also learning the tools and skills on how to make these items, we also put the them to work on our 3 day, 2 night camping trip to Anza Borrego in the beginning of March. For the Humanities part of the project we read the book, Into The Wild about a man named Chris McCandless which was what this project was based off of.
Headlamp... How Does It Work?
A circuit is a “pathway” made of wires that electrons can flow through. A circuit needs to be circular in order to work, the wires need to go from the power source to the device and back again so that the electrons can go out and come back. The lights on our headlamps are in parallel so that if one of the lights goes out, the others won’t be affected and will stay lit. The switch, however, is in series because when the switch is off it makes a gap in the circuit and stops the electrons from flowing around because there is only one path for the electrons to take. We connected the three LED’s by soldering them together in a series. Each LED has a voltage of 3 Volts that they’re getting from the battery pack. We decided to use to LED’s instead of regular light bulbs because they don’t burn out as quickly and are therefore more efficient.
This project was a combination of both Math/Physics and Humanities. For Math/Physics we made a compass, a headlamp and a soda can stove. While also learning the tools and skills on how to make these items, we also put the them to work on our 3 day, 2 night camping trip to Anza Borrego in the beginning of March. For the Humanities part of the project we read the book, Into The Wild about a man named Chris McCandless which was what this project was based off of.
Headlamp... How Does It Work?
A circuit is a “pathway” made of wires that electrons can flow through. A circuit needs to be circular in order to work, the wires need to go from the power source to the device and back again so that the electrons can go out and come back. The lights on our headlamps are in parallel so that if one of the lights goes out, the others won’t be affected and will stay lit. The switch, however, is in series because when the switch is off it makes a gap in the circuit and stops the electrons from flowing around because there is only one path for the electrons to take. We connected the three LED’s by soldering them together in a series. Each LED has a voltage of 3 Volts that they’re getting from the battery pack. We decided to use to LED’s instead of regular light bulbs because they don’t burn out as quickly and are therefore more efficient.
Compass...How Does It Work?
Inside the compass is a needle which is a bar magnet. It aligns itself with Earth’s magnetic field whose direction is from Earth’s magnetic South towards magnetic North. This happens because Earth acts like it has a big bar magnet deep in it’s core. The needle follows an imaginary line that connects to the magnetic poles of earth. If a magnet comes in contact with a compass the needle will move to the pull of the magnet rather than the Earth’s magnetic field. Which you don’t want because then you would be going in the wrong direction. A magnet is a piece of iron (or other material) that has its atoms so ordered that the material shows properties of magnetism, such as attracting other iron-containing objects or aligning itself in a magnetic field. A magnetic field is how you can figure out where the North magnetic pole is and how the atoms are moving. We also know that the field lines emerge from there and point toward the South magnetic pole (The Earth’s South magnetic pole is the geographic North). If Earth’s magnetic poles were to change that would just mean the magnetic North pole would also be the geographic North. Earth’s magnetic field is not really explained but they say to think of Earth having a big bar magnet buried in the core. A working theory is that Earth’s core is iron, a red hot iron, so hot it’s crystallized solid. With the radiation of the heat and the rotation of the Earth they lead to weak magnetic forces around the axis of spin.
Inside the compass is a needle which is a bar magnet. It aligns itself with Earth’s magnetic field whose direction is from Earth’s magnetic South towards magnetic North. This happens because Earth acts like it has a big bar magnet deep in it’s core. The needle follows an imaginary line that connects to the magnetic poles of earth. If a magnet comes in contact with a compass the needle will move to the pull of the magnet rather than the Earth’s magnetic field. Which you don’t want because then you would be going in the wrong direction. A magnet is a piece of iron (or other material) that has its atoms so ordered that the material shows properties of magnetism, such as attracting other iron-containing objects or aligning itself in a magnetic field. A magnetic field is how you can figure out where the North magnetic pole is and how the atoms are moving. We also know that the field lines emerge from there and point toward the South magnetic pole (The Earth’s South magnetic pole is the geographic North). If Earth’s magnetic poles were to change that would just mean the magnetic North pole would also be the geographic North. Earth’s magnetic field is not really explained but they say to think of Earth having a big bar magnet buried in the core. A working theory is that Earth’s core is iron, a red hot iron, so hot it’s crystallized solid. With the radiation of the heat and the rotation of the Earth they lead to weak magnetic forces around the axis of spin.
Soda Can Stove
We used the soda can stoves to cook our dinner on the first night and our breakfast on the last day. You would pour denatured alcohol into the stove and then light it on fire and put your pot or pan over it to cook your food. My group made stir fry and pancakes
We used the soda can stoves to cook our dinner on the first night and our breakfast on the last day. You would pour denatured alcohol into the stove and then light it on fire and put your pot or pan over it to cook your food. My group made stir fry and pancakes
Overall Experience
My favorite part of this project was definitely the camping trip because I feel like along with tying it into the project, this trip also was a bonding experience for all of us and we all came back a lot closer than we were when we left. I really valued this trip and all that it did for me. One of the most important lessons that I learned from this trip was that you don't need all the material things to be happy. You can be out in the wild with people that you care about and still have a good time. I also learned that you can't always just go off of your first thoughts about people. There were a lot of people in the other class that I never talked to and on this trip I actually got to know them. I think this whole project encouraged a lot of team work and I think that's a good lesson for everyone to learn,
My favorite part of this project was definitely the camping trip because I feel like along with tying it into the project, this trip also was a bonding experience for all of us and we all came back a lot closer than we were when we left. I really valued this trip and all that it did for me. One of the most important lessons that I learned from this trip was that you don't need all the material things to be happy. You can be out in the wild with people that you care about and still have a good time. I also learned that you can't always just go off of your first thoughts about people. There were a lot of people in the other class that I never talked to and on this trip I actually got to know them. I think this whole project encouraged a lot of team work and I think that's a good lesson for everyone to learn,