In case you missed it, the end of the school year is coming. Sooner for some than others, but hey - we all teach 180ish days, no matter how they're dispersed. This is the time where many teachers say they can "finally do their fun projects because testing's over". I'll see you after class to discuss how that's a ridiculous statement. Since we're on the subject, I know some of you have your paper chain already made up and ready, but please leave it in the closet this year. With 3D printing, kids won't want to leave your room. Nope, we're goin' RACIN'!

***CLARIFICATION*** Even if you don't have a 3D printer, you can do this activity with styrofoam, cardboard, old shoes... Just giving some ideas.

This week, I became an uncle. Although I have two little hellians of my own, it was a pretty cool FaceTime conversation to see my brother's son all swaddled up in his hospital blanket, fast asleep and dreaming about how he's going to poop everywhere and drive his parents crazy. As I was watching him, I realized that I needed to make him something cool. Challenge Accepted:

In our family, it has been a tradition to give money to a newborn. Kind of pointless if you ask me, but I'm not one to break tradition. Instead of writing a check and handing it to my brother and his wife, it had to get kicked up a notch. With the Airwolf3D printer in my garage, this was a sure sign to fire it up and get creating. The image above shows the finished design in AutoDesk123 Design, but it took a few hours to get it right. The goal was to create something that the kid can chew on without choking (verdict is still out on that - hey buddy, just leave it alone 'til you're 12, k?) and serve as a fun toy for the rest of its existence.

The first design was far from good. I just tossed something together, much like students would do in a classroom project. It could have worked, but it wasn't awesome. I needed awesome.

Back to the drawing board it was, and it's a good thing. Thanks to Rafranz Davis, there were a few minor errors I found in the design that would've messed up the print altogether. I finished up with the design, then started thinking about how cool of a lesson this would be to have students go through. 

3D Printed Race Car Derby

• Students would design their own car within a set of constraints formed by the teacher
  
• My design was 40mmx80mmx40mm and it's big enough
• Students would be required to have a car with working wheels
• Mine uses 3/32" aluminum rods as axles
• Students would then race their vehicles on a course designed by the teacher or, better yet, the students themselves
• The race car needs to hold a LEGO Minifig the entire time in order for the team to remain qualified
• Fastest car, best throught he bracket, or whatever you decide, WINS!

Thinking of ways to end the year can be so much more than a PowerPoint project or making a poster littered with glitter (PLEASE NO!). 

This year, how about letting your students design their own car and challenging them to a race?

If you would like the full lesson plan (or even the .STL file for the truck and the undercarriage, please shoot me a message on twitter or drop a request in the comments. It's free.

Happy "Uncle Of The Year 2015" Fishing

The lesson was prepared and delivered last Friday. Today, it was time to put the math into action and launch over 125 dolls and random objects down a fishing line and analyze the data. The objective was to determine a safe, yet fun, set of parameters for a Barbie Zipline. Students used a variety of methods, including angle of depression, the Distance Formula, and/or Pythagorean Theorem to come up with their data. Once they have their data, the stats students will analyze it to find something awesome using regressions.

Before I get into how exciting the day was, it's important to reflect on what went into the day itself. The following is merely a reflection of what was done ahead of time and what we plan to change for next year.

• We picked a day that was warm... too warm. May 1st in Southern California means that you're pushing towards 90 degrees, and today didn't buck the trend. Last year, I did Barbie Zipline in November, and that was a much better option, even though my students still whined about the low 80's. #SoCalProblems indeed.
• I invested in more (and higher quality) carabiners and pulleys. The carabiners were basic, but the pulleys were well-worth the investment. Joe Keays went out and bought 18 of them, but I didn't have the funds to give each group their own setup. For next year, I'm fine with the setup of 4, but there will be other improvements.

• One of the last things I wanted was a fishing line that would break. Therefore, I used my saltwater Izorline 25 and 30# test. For about $10, you get all you could ever ask for. Since we had two classes out to run the trials, we used both lines. Next year, I would only use one line and have the second person on the roof as a deckhand to prepare the next launch. We wasted too much time on transitions.
• Blue painter's tape has become a staple around our schools due to its ability to avoid leaving behind residue and how effective it is. Before the day began, I went out and taped off markers every 5 feet to make it easier for the students to identify where they needed to stand. With a Sharpie, I wrote on the tape and it was effective enough to not switch up for next year.
• Buckets and rope were used to hoist up the used carabiners and pulleys, along with the dolls at the beginning of the period and any other materials. This was Paula's idea and a darn good one. Rather than having kids throw stuff up to us on the roof, we could just drop the bucket, fill it, and hoist it up. I'll definitely be using that again next year.
• Work gloves made our life easier atop the staging site and saved our hands from getting cut into. As the day wore on, it was really nice to not have jacked up hands (those come in handy, ya know). If anything, I won't use my old leather gloves from the electric company, but some smaller ones that are easier to work with.
• Water... I'm not a PE teachers and have a lot of respect for those who are. My day is spent inside as a classroom teacher, so I'm not used to being outside ALL. DAY. LONG. A 2-gallon jug was perfect for being in the sun for 6 hours, even with how hot it was. In the future, I'll bring my own sunscreen (and not be so stubborn about working on my Greek tan).
• Plenty of video and photo options are vital to documenting the day. After all, it's pretty rare to see a math class outside and doing something interesting. We identified photographers and videographers for the day, but we didn't explain what that role really meant (cue the "kids know tech but don't know how to use it" crowd). This translated into students not talking to each other and sharing information - something that will get fixed for next year. We came up with the idea of creating a video that is a tutorial with expectations of what each role will do - and look like - once we get outside. 
• One really cool piece was that we had a student get his dad and brother to bring in a quadcopter to record different angles. WHOA! We also had a GoPro and a couple other students who taped their phones to their zipline run, so that was fun.
• We had students go outside and give us the dolls, but there wasn't enough structure. One idea we kicked around, and liked, is giving each group a number and having them adhering a taped number to their doll ahead of time. This would let us know whose doll is whose and the order for groups, keeping kids more on-task. The way we did it was too scattered, having kids put their dolls into the bucket and us randomly choosing the order. I understand why some kids got bored - they didn't know when they were going to get called on.
• Photographers and videographers were encouraged to tweet out their media with the #BarbieZipline tag. I'm not about to force kids to tweet school-related material, but I'm going to encourage it again next year.
• Maybe it was because of the weather, but the iPads we were using to collect data overheated. We wound up getting 90 data points to analyze, so I'd call that a pretty strong sample set. Next year, I'll work on making the form easier to use, but I loved the results that we saw. CHECK OUT THE RESULTS!

Some comments overheard from the day:

"You fool, you knew from the start that your doll was gonna die"

"I went online and researched the best angle of depression and used a 6% drop in elevation to determine my parameters" (This really happened)

"Umm, can I get out of my next class? I want to try a different set of values." (No)

(from a passerby) "Wait, why are all of you out here?" 
"Math class. We're launching Barbies"
"Hey, can you get my teacher to do this?!" (I'd love to)

Enough of me reflecting. Here's a better recap via tweets:

Today wouldn't be possible without the support of the phenomenal administration team of Los Osos High School and the desire to take a risk from the Integrated-II math team who chose to make it work with their schedules. Thank you. Even the best lessons fall flat without a group of students who are willing to join the teachers in taking that risk. Thank YOU.

If you are interested in going Barbie Ziplining with your students, all of the information is here, but please feel free to reach out. I'll do whatever I can do help you make it a success for your students. There's also last year's work that I put together and learned from.

*** VIDEO OF TODAY WILL BE AVAILABLE ONCE I REGAIN ENERGY ***

Happy "Get Outside And Do Something Awesome" Fishing