Blog entry i
What are the materials being used for my project?
For my torpedo diorama I'm buying a torpedo kit off of Amazon. Since it's a plain gray color, I used acrylic black paint to coat the entirety of the torpedo. Before I painted, I placed the corresponding pieces onto the torpedo such as the propeller. The material I'm using the most is epoxy resin, I'll also use a dark blue pigment to best match the color of the deep ocean. For the base of the waves I'll use polymer clay, and let it harden over night. Then use white and transparent silicone and gell gloss medium to make the waves as lifelike as possible. This will all be contained inside a plexiglass case.
What safety precautions will I take?
I have an abundance of nitrile gloves from a previous chemistry project. I'm also using a drop cloth to cover the floor and table so I do not get them ruined. When I'm using the epoxy resin, the instructions says to wear protective eyewear. I also have plastic goggles I'll wear.
What are some ideas for the free will conversation?
Right now I have a google document with various ideas for how I can showcase my work. I have screenplay, short story, essay, and verbal presentation. Right now I'm tied between writing a screenplay or short story. I've also gathered information from a plethora of websites. I now have a list of articles and videos that I will look at so I can get a general sense of what free will is. I think this project will prove to be very challenging since free will is such a tough subject to discuss. For now I'll begin by reading articles to see what opinions people have so I can have a better idea of how to develop my story.
For my torpedo diorama I'm buying a torpedo kit off of Amazon. Since it's a plain gray color, I used acrylic black paint to coat the entirety of the torpedo. Before I painted, I placed the corresponding pieces onto the torpedo such as the propeller. The material I'm using the most is epoxy resin, I'll also use a dark blue pigment to best match the color of the deep ocean. For the base of the waves I'll use polymer clay, and let it harden over night. Then use white and transparent silicone and gell gloss medium to make the waves as lifelike as possible. This will all be contained inside a plexiglass case.
What safety precautions will I take?
I have an abundance of nitrile gloves from a previous chemistry project. I'm also using a drop cloth to cover the floor and table so I do not get them ruined. When I'm using the epoxy resin, the instructions says to wear protective eyewear. I also have plastic goggles I'll wear.
What are some ideas for the free will conversation?
Right now I have a google document with various ideas for how I can showcase my work. I have screenplay, short story, essay, and verbal presentation. Right now I'm tied between writing a screenplay or short story. I've also gathered information from a plethora of websites. I now have a list of articles and videos that I will look at so I can get a general sense of what free will is. I think this project will prove to be very challenging since free will is such a tough subject to discuss. For now I'll begin by reading articles to see what opinions people have so I can have a better idea of how to develop my story.
Blog entry ii
What is your project?
Instead of building a geodesic dome I wanted to create a project that is meaningful to me. I was debating on making a large torpedo from scratch, but I had a hard time finding guides/similar experiments that could help me. I stumbled upon a submarine diorama and I knew I had to try and replicate it as best I could. Of course instead of a submarine I'd be using a kaiten type 1 torpedo. The diorama will show a torpedo going through the water.
Why did you decide on this project?
Based on the historical moment project, I was talking about my grandmother's life during World War II. I did a lot of research and was surprised by the information I found regarding Japanese occupation in Okinawa. So for an honors project I wanted to be connected with my project on a personal level. I've never made a diorama so I also wanted to challenge myself.
How is the free will conversation going?
I've finally made up my mind and I've decided on writing a short story. I tried writing a screenplay but it felt very alien to me and I was struggling on how to start. With the short story I was help to get started with an introduction quicker. I've spent a couple of days just reading articles about free will and its definitely not what I expected. To be frank I thought it was going to be an overload of boring information but I was wrong. I'm quite interested now and I've got a good idea of how I want to center my story. Since I see the conversation I will have with Newton as some sort of battle of wits, I thought I could represent that through a chess game. I also want the story to take place in France at a cafe. I feel confident now that I have an idea of what I will write.
Instead of building a geodesic dome I wanted to create a project that is meaningful to me. I was debating on making a large torpedo from scratch, but I had a hard time finding guides/similar experiments that could help me. I stumbled upon a submarine diorama and I knew I had to try and replicate it as best I could. Of course instead of a submarine I'd be using a kaiten type 1 torpedo. The diorama will show a torpedo going through the water.
Why did you decide on this project?
Based on the historical moment project, I was talking about my grandmother's life during World War II. I did a lot of research and was surprised by the information I found regarding Japanese occupation in Okinawa. So for an honors project I wanted to be connected with my project on a personal level. I've never made a diorama so I also wanted to challenge myself.
How is the free will conversation going?
I've finally made up my mind and I've decided on writing a short story. I tried writing a screenplay but it felt very alien to me and I was struggling on how to start. With the short story I was help to get started with an introduction quicker. I've spent a couple of days just reading articles about free will and its definitely not what I expected. To be frank I thought it was going to be an overload of boring information but I was wrong. I'm quite interested now and I've got a good idea of how I want to center my story. Since I see the conversation I will have with Newton as some sort of battle of wits, I thought I could represent that through a chess game. I also want the story to take place in France at a cafe. I feel confident now that I have an idea of what I will write.
blog entry iii
How was the first day working on the project?
I was excited when the torpedo kit came in the mail, and I quickly set to working on it. Putting all the small pieces were more challenging than I had assumed. I was getting a bit frustrated when the piece wouldn't stick, and sometimes I would accidentally snap them in half. But after an hour of being cautious and careful I was able to successfully place the correct pieces on the torpedo. It was almost therapeutic when I was painting the torpedo, it looked way better when it was coated in the dark paint. I then worked on making a clear stand to connect the torpedo to the base of the plexiglass case. I cut up some straws and filled them with the clear epoxy resin, and I knew I had to wait 24 hours for it to dry and harden. The next day I realized I forgot to add the hardening epoxy resin, so the straws were leaking the clear resin. I was frustrated at myself for doing something so stupid so I cut up some more straws. I then mixed the clear and hardening resin together for 10 minutes, then I carefully poured them in the stands. Again waiting 24 hours, the resin had hardened and I was glad it worked. However it was very difficult to peel off the straw, I ended up using an x-acto knife and successfully cut away the straw to reveal the clear stand.
What progress have you made with the free will conversation?
Not only did I want to have information on free will but I wanted to educate myself on Isaac Newtons life. His life was just as intriguing as I thought it would be. I was also surprised to know that he had many rivalries with different scholars. I also learned more about the book he published the Principia, and I think I'll incorporate that into my story. Also I don't want to call Newton by his real name because I feel that isn't interesting enough. So I've decided that I will call Newton, Nicolas the name of one of his friends. I've written my entire rough draft and I feel pretty good about. I was so immersed in my writing that I didn't notice just how many pages I had. I'm going to ask for feedback from three of my peers so I can see what I need to improve upon. But so far I'm really enjoying this project and I've made a lot of progress!
I was excited when the torpedo kit came in the mail, and I quickly set to working on it. Putting all the small pieces were more challenging than I had assumed. I was getting a bit frustrated when the piece wouldn't stick, and sometimes I would accidentally snap them in half. But after an hour of being cautious and careful I was able to successfully place the correct pieces on the torpedo. It was almost therapeutic when I was painting the torpedo, it looked way better when it was coated in the dark paint. I then worked on making a clear stand to connect the torpedo to the base of the plexiglass case. I cut up some straws and filled them with the clear epoxy resin, and I knew I had to wait 24 hours for it to dry and harden. The next day I realized I forgot to add the hardening epoxy resin, so the straws were leaking the clear resin. I was frustrated at myself for doing something so stupid so I cut up some more straws. I then mixed the clear and hardening resin together for 10 minutes, then I carefully poured them in the stands. Again waiting 24 hours, the resin had hardened and I was glad it worked. However it was very difficult to peel off the straw, I ended up using an x-acto knife and successfully cut away the straw to reveal the clear stand.
What progress have you made with the free will conversation?
Not only did I want to have information on free will but I wanted to educate myself on Isaac Newtons life. His life was just as intriguing as I thought it would be. I was also surprised to know that he had many rivalries with different scholars. I also learned more about the book he published the Principia, and I think I'll incorporate that into my story. Also I don't want to call Newton by his real name because I feel that isn't interesting enough. So I've decided that I will call Newton, Nicolas the name of one of his friends. I've written my entire rough draft and I feel pretty good about. I was so immersed in my writing that I didn't notice just how many pages I had. I'm going to ask for feedback from three of my peers so I can see what I need to improve upon. But so far I'm really enjoying this project and I've made a lot of progress!
blog entry iv
How is the project progressing?
Placing my torpedo inside the plexiglass case, I set about to creating my main resin. Using clear and hardening epoxy resin I poured them into separate containers. I did this to make sure I measured out the same amount for each resin. Then I carefully, and slowly poured each resin one by one down the side of the large container. To ensure that I had no bubbles in my resin I placed the bottle in warm water for 5 minutes. Mixing my resin together for 10-15 minutes, I then added a blue dye to make the resin an ocean color. All the while I was mixing I had on gloves and protective eyewear. Once I had thoroughly mixed the resin, the container feeling warm, I poured the finished resin into the plexiglass case. Then I rolled out some polymer clay and tried to make ridges, then I placed the clay on top of the resin. Now I had to wait for 36 hours to allow the resin to harden.
What feedback did I get from my peers?
I asked Katy, Jasmine, and Blanca to give me feedback on my free will conversation rough draft. All of their comments were very helpful and they made me feel confident both in myself and my work. Jasmine said she really enjoyed the introduction and she said that she wanted to keep reading to find out who the mysterious man was. She liked that I added in the small details of the cafe and the chess game. She enjoyed that I added in bits and pieces of history behind each theory and that I made it easy for anyone to understand. Her feedback was she wanted me to incorporate the name of the book in order to ensure continuity. Katy also enjoyed how much detailed I added and she liked that the facts all came together. She also liked that instead of naming the man Isaac Newton I gave him a different name, Nicolas. For feedback she said I should add more about the location of where this conversation is taking place to make it feel more life like for the reader. She also suggested that I indented the dialogue to make it stand out from the other paragraphs. Lastly, Blanca loved the introduction and the amount of details I added. She liked how I described Nicolas' personality and how I added depth to the character. She enjoyed the amount of history and theories I added. For feedback she suggested that I make it more obvious of who is talking.
Placing my torpedo inside the plexiglass case, I set about to creating my main resin. Using clear and hardening epoxy resin I poured them into separate containers. I did this to make sure I measured out the same amount for each resin. Then I carefully, and slowly poured each resin one by one down the side of the large container. To ensure that I had no bubbles in my resin I placed the bottle in warm water for 5 minutes. Mixing my resin together for 10-15 minutes, I then added a blue dye to make the resin an ocean color. All the while I was mixing I had on gloves and protective eyewear. Once I had thoroughly mixed the resin, the container feeling warm, I poured the finished resin into the plexiglass case. Then I rolled out some polymer clay and tried to make ridges, then I placed the clay on top of the resin. Now I had to wait for 36 hours to allow the resin to harden.
What feedback did I get from my peers?
I asked Katy, Jasmine, and Blanca to give me feedback on my free will conversation rough draft. All of their comments were very helpful and they made me feel confident both in myself and my work. Jasmine said she really enjoyed the introduction and she said that she wanted to keep reading to find out who the mysterious man was. She liked that I added in the small details of the cafe and the chess game. She enjoyed that I added in bits and pieces of history behind each theory and that I made it easy for anyone to understand. Her feedback was she wanted me to incorporate the name of the book in order to ensure continuity. Katy also enjoyed how much detailed I added and she liked that the facts all came together. She also liked that instead of naming the man Isaac Newton I gave him a different name, Nicolas. For feedback she said I should add more about the location of where this conversation is taking place to make it feel more life like for the reader. She also suggested that I indented the dialogue to make it stand out from the other paragraphs. Lastly, Blanca loved the introduction and the amount of details I added. She liked how I described Nicolas' personality and how I added depth to the character. She enjoyed the amount of history and theories I added. For feedback she suggested that I make it more obvious of who is talking.
blog entry v
Continuation of the project.
Over the course of the 36 hours I would double check on the resin to make sure nothing would go wrong. After the time was up I had to take off the polymer clay which proved to be a bit challenging. What I learned was I needed to let the resin harden a little bit before putting the clay on top. The reason I even put the polymer clay on top of the resin in the first place, was to give it indents that closely resembled waves. After successfully peeling off the clay I set about making the actual waves. Using gell gloss medium and spreading it over the hardened resin with a popsicle stick, I now have to wait 12 hours for it to harden. This part of the project was pretty relaxing, I just did a thin layer of the gloss medium. Once it's done hardening it will look more like real waves.
How is my free will conversation going?
Looking at all of the feedback/comments I got I incorporated a lot of the suggestions into my story. I then made a separate document for my final draft, and changed everything to fit the APA format. I added in the references and title, and I double checked to make sure I had no grammatical errors. I also read my story out loud to make sure the sentences flowed smoothly and that everything sounded correct.
Over the course of the 36 hours I would double check on the resin to make sure nothing would go wrong. After the time was up I had to take off the polymer clay which proved to be a bit challenging. What I learned was I needed to let the resin harden a little bit before putting the clay on top. The reason I even put the polymer clay on top of the resin in the first place, was to give it indents that closely resembled waves. After successfully peeling off the clay I set about making the actual waves. Using gell gloss medium and spreading it over the hardened resin with a popsicle stick, I now have to wait 12 hours for it to harden. This part of the project was pretty relaxing, I just did a thin layer of the gloss medium. Once it's done hardening it will look more like real waves.
How is my free will conversation going?
Looking at all of the feedback/comments I got I incorporated a lot of the suggestions into my story. I then made a separate document for my final draft, and changed everything to fit the APA format. I added in the references and title, and I double checked to make sure I had no grammatical errors. I also read my story out loud to make sure the sentences flowed smoothly and that everything sounded correct.
blog entry vi
Continuation of the project.
After the gloss medium hardened I applied white and transparent silicone to make the waves come to life. This was hard to do since I didn't have as many ridges as I wanted there to be on the surface layer of the resin. But it came out better than I had anticipated. It especially looks good when I turn off all the lights and I shine a flashlight, it reminds me of the bottom of the ocean. Just a small beacon of light penetrating the cold watery depths. I really enjoyed doing this project, there was definitely some difficulties but I managed pretty well. Another reason I enjoyed the project so much was I was doing all the work by myself. I know I can hold myself accountable, and it was nice not having to coordinate with other people. If I had the chance I'd definitely do this again, and switch up a few things. I think this diorama does better with a submarine as opposed to a torpedo. Also I miscalculated how much resin I needed for the plexiglass case, so now I know. Also I'd do a different way of making a clear stand since you can still see it in the resin. Also I would make the polymer clay a little thinner, so it would be easier to mold it into the shape I want.
How do I feel about my free will conversation?
I really enjoyed both projects but I especially enjoyed writing about free will. I did a lot of research and stumbled across countless articles and educational videos. I learned so much I thought my head was going to explode! There was one day when I had finished a lot of research and I suddenly started thinking about the universe, humans, humanity, life, what lays beyond our universe, etc. This project really made me think deeply and I gained so much knowledge. To be frank I was skeptical about this project and assumed I wouldn't enjoy it. I was completely and utterly wrong. I couldn't stop myself from reading different articles, taking in different peoples opinions on whether or not we have free will. Even during dinner I'd prop up my phone so I could listen to researchers talk about free will as I ate. Now that the project is over I think I have a better understanding of free will and what my opinion is, but I think I'll keep that to myself.
After the gloss medium hardened I applied white and transparent silicone to make the waves come to life. This was hard to do since I didn't have as many ridges as I wanted there to be on the surface layer of the resin. But it came out better than I had anticipated. It especially looks good when I turn off all the lights and I shine a flashlight, it reminds me of the bottom of the ocean. Just a small beacon of light penetrating the cold watery depths. I really enjoyed doing this project, there was definitely some difficulties but I managed pretty well. Another reason I enjoyed the project so much was I was doing all the work by myself. I know I can hold myself accountable, and it was nice not having to coordinate with other people. If I had the chance I'd definitely do this again, and switch up a few things. I think this diorama does better with a submarine as opposed to a torpedo. Also I miscalculated how much resin I needed for the plexiglass case, so now I know. Also I'd do a different way of making a clear stand since you can still see it in the resin. Also I would make the polymer clay a little thinner, so it would be easier to mold it into the shape I want.
How do I feel about my free will conversation?
I really enjoyed both projects but I especially enjoyed writing about free will. I did a lot of research and stumbled across countless articles and educational videos. I learned so much I thought my head was going to explode! There was one day when I had finished a lot of research and I suddenly started thinking about the universe, humans, humanity, life, what lays beyond our universe, etc. This project really made me think deeply and I gained so much knowledge. To be frank I was skeptical about this project and assumed I wouldn't enjoy it. I was completely and utterly wrong. I couldn't stop myself from reading different articles, taking in different peoples opinions on whether or not we have free will. Even during dinner I'd prop up my phone so I could listen to researchers talk about free will as I ate. Now that the project is over I think I have a better understanding of free will and what my opinion is, but I think I'll keep that to myself.