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SC 10 H: Accessibility Design Challenge – Harry & Daxton & Andrew & Eugene & Ray

SC 10 H: Accessibility Design Challenge – Harry & Daxton & Andrew & Eugene & Ray

Project: Tactile Map

Empathy & Define:

Our main goal for this project was to make a tactile map to help and ease Molly to navigate the school. After a conversation with her, our group decided to make this because we knew that she still has difficulties understanding the structures of our school. Her white cane was not enough and drawing mental maps in her head was extremely difficult.

Ideate:

First, we thought of lights that change colours depending on current location of Mollie using lights, but we ended up not using this as she couldn’t differentiate colors well.

Second, we thought of self-driving wheelchair that has certain programs about routes in the wheelchair with a motor.

Third, we thought of tactile paths such as the ones found in Asia sidewalks.

Fourth, we thought putting different smells and perfumes around the school so that Molly could identify the sections of the school.

Finally, we decided to make a tactile map which was the most practical idea out of everything we had.

Brainstorm:

Download

Our initial sketch & steps:

Prototype & Test:

 

map was too small so we printed 8 pieces so she could identify the rooms more easily

Pros:

  • Printing small takes less time.
  • It is easy to scale the map.
  • 3D printing is successful.
  • The printed map is a hundred percent identical to the designs we did on Blender app.
  • We can use 3D printer any time.

Cons:

  • Too small
  • Difficult to change lines because we have to convert every single lines on Blender.
  • Difficult to print bigger because it takes too much time.
  • Braille that represent room numbers do not show on the map because of technical issues.
  • Cannot choose colour.

Feedback from Molly:

  • The entire map is too small.
  • Office area has too many rooms that it is difficult to feel it by her hands.
  • Likes the idea of puzzle-map.

Final Product:

 

Reflection: 

I’m overall not to happy with how the map ended up, in the end we where not able to fit the brail onto the map as we couldn’t print it so that it fits into each room. If we knew from the start that the brail wouldn’t fit we could have had another person to work on the map.

My role in the project:

I worked on one of the four quadrants of the map, and along with Harry and Daxton came many times after school and at lunch to trouble shoot some problems while printing.

My responsibilities:

  • Monitor 3D printers
  • Make 3D model
  • Research & Analysis

Contributions:

I worked on parts of the map and helped Daxton show the others how to use blender.

Collaboration improvement:

I will improve my collaboration skills by communicating clearly. throughout the project many if us ran into issues, from printing, to designing. One huge problem with this was one of our group members not using a texting app that we used so we would have to email him separately if we had issues.

What I learned:

I learned that not everything works as planned and problem solving skills are important. We had to revise our 3D model several times because there were technical issues. Moreover, it took us a week to figure out the proper size of the map because we had to print it even larger. Since there was limited time given, instant problem-solving helped us to finish the product quicker than we expected.

I learned how difficult it is for the blind people to navigate the school. I was able to empathize with Molly through a conversation with her. To make our society more inclusive, I think we have to accept and respect those people with disabilities. It will eventually subside the stereotypical mindset of our community, hence it will inspire positivity to it.

This is what I learned while working with the SME (the student):

I learned that Molly mostly depends on her white cane to move and navigate around the school. The EA (Educational Assistant) described the cane as part of Molly’s body. I realized how important that cane is to Molly. Therefore, I chose to make a tactile map because I wanted to make an unprecedented object that could possibly help Molly to walk around the school without difficulties.

What I liked:

I liked how we where able to interact with Molly letting us clearly communicating our ideas to her, and also testing whether she didn’t like something specific or not. Also her showing us a fraction of her problems allowed us to get a feel of what she has been struggling with her whole life.

In the future:

I would like to use this as my capstone, i really hope that the other members agree with me but i would love to work on this project more. Using this as our capstone we would be able to help our school with problems targeted towards those who’s lifes are already difficult, we could leave a mark on this school by making there live a bit easier.

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Astronomy I wonder assignment scienceH10-Andrew Tang

Have you ever wondered how we measure the size of stars and planets from so far away?

Well, I have, and I will answer this question listing the five most common ways NASA measures stars within the reach of our telescopes.

Angular Diameter:

Firstly, we can measure planets within close proximity, by using a telescope and finding its angular diameter. The angular diameter of a circle is a plane that is perpendicular to the displacement vector between the point of view and the center of the circle that can be calculated using the equation Angular Diameter = 206265 X.

 

Occultation:

Another way is specifically for stars, by letting an asteroid block a star/sun, we can measure the amount of

 time it blocks the star/sun, and how fast the asteroid travels, we call this occultation. If you know both of these factors you can make a rough estimate of the size of the star, by using mirrors to measure heat, and telescopes high powered telescopes you can find the size of stars. After using all this information, you can use trigonometry to find the diameter, then the circumference and finally the size of the star.

 

Parallax:

The third way to measure star and planets is by using the parallax method. The parallax method uses two opposite points of

view of the sun which takes a lot of time as we need to wait for earth to orbit to the opposite side of the sun. The parallax method works by using the length of the sun to the earth and creating a right triangle from two opposite views of the sun creating two right triangles. After creating two right triangle you can create more right triangles and using trigonometry until you find the star you would like to measure.

 

Cepheid’s:

The fourth way to measure stars is to measure the light from the star and how long it takes for the light to travel. Astronomers can predict the absolute magnitude of any given Cepheid by measuring the time it takes to rhythmically change its brightness. But first we have to know what the inverse square law is, the inverse square law is that the intensity₁ divided by intensity₂ muse equal distance2/2 divided by distance 2/1. Now by observing the apparent luminosity (light from an object from space), dimmed by the inverse square law of light traveling across the vast reaches of space, and comparing this with the predicted luminosity, astronomers can calculate the distance to that star.

 

The Kepler telescope / models based off of it:

And finally, the Kepler telescope, the Kepler telescope is quite simple it is a telescope that uses other measuring methods, 

the Kepler standing at exactly 1-meter was named after an astronomer from the 17th century, Johannes Kepler, it is a telescope that floats in space and can look at specific spots in space for a long period of time. An advantage to using the Kepler telescope is its wide field of view and its ability to have great magnification while staying steady. Some serious drawbacks from using the Kepler telescope is the price to operate it, and repairs as it sat in space independently, and if damaged it was difficult to be brought back to earth. And on n October 30th, 2018, the Kepler telescope would run out of fuel, after observing half a million stars it would be retired by NASA, 587 lightyears from earth. 

So how can we use this technology in other ways?

Well to start off, we use one of the most used type of math used by astronomers, Trigonometry, which we use commonly while building structures which we learn in high school. Another technological advancement is Kepler telescope, which can be used in many other ways such as studying wild life, and the more we can improve the telescope we can discover more planets and stars. Overall there is so much to discover and learn about our universe, and technology is only making it easier for us scratch the surface.

Work Cited

Alastair Gunn “How do astronomer measure the size of planets” Science Focus, date published unavailable 

https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-do-astronomers-measure-the-size-of-planets/.Date accessed: 11 may, 2022

 

Phil Plait “How can we measure the a stars size” 16 April, 2019

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/how-can-you-measure-a-stars-size-wait-for-an-asteroid-to-block-it. Date accessed: 12 may 2022

 

Jim Lucas & Tereza Pultarova “What is a Parallax” 11 January 2022

https://www.space.com/30417-parallax.html.Date accessed: 12 may,2022

 

Richard lynch “ how do astronomers use cepheids variables to measure distance” 24 august, 2015

https://astronomy.com/magazine/ask-astro/2015/08/astronomical-distances. Date accessed: 12 may, 2022

 

Laurel Kornfeld  “ scientists use Kepler telescopes to study planets” 2 April, 2018

https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/space-observatories/scientists-use-kepler-telescope-to-study-supernovae/#:~:text=Used%20to%20measure%20the%20expansion%20of%20the%20universe%2C,generations%20of%20stars%2C%20planetary%20systems%2C%20and%20life%20itself. Date accessed: 12 may, 2022

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ScH10-Genetic Engineering Blog post- Andrew Tang

Introduction : 

Genetic engineering is directly changing the DNA of an organism or manipulating an organism’s genome to give it new characteristics or enhancing/modifying the original characteristics. In the late 19th century, scientist started discovering microorganisms and their useful properties with diseases and processes. This led to major discoveries in the 70’s with recombinant DNA techniques, meaning the relation or denotation of an organism, in San Francisco. Scientists change these characteristics by changing one base pair, altering the DNA in an organism’s genome, deleting whole DNA strands, or adding copies of genes. Genetic engineering has advanced human technology in medicine, agriculture and even in the food we eat.

Question #1 – What are the greatest advancements?

When genetic engineering was first introduced and implemented in 1973, numerous ground-breaking advancements have been made since then, such as harvesting DNA from the gene encoded bacterium E. Coli. In 1978, genetic scientists discovered that by splicing a human gene that produces insulin into the genetic code of the bacterium E. Coli, it was able to produce insulin which is a drug vital for the survival of diabetic patients. This was a great achievement for the name of genetic engineering for this was one of the first human genetics that have been encoded into a bacteria. The insulin produced from the genetically engineered bacterium was able to be harvested after a fermentation process and be able to be used by diabetic patients. After this discovery, human use insulin has become much more accessible for those who depend on it to prosper and ultimately changed the lives of countless diabetic people.

Question #2 – how is genetic engineering best used? 

As mentioned before, genetic engineering is most used in medicine, agriculture, and food. Although the ways genetic engineering has influenced crops and the food, we eat greatly like by selecting desirable traits and breeding them in food and living organisms and to take out the undesirable traits, the influence genetic engineering has on medicine has advanced it greatly. GeneticSee the source image engineering has influenced the creation of vaccines, treatment for infertility, growth hormones and has even improved the speed in which illnesses are detected and diagnosed. Genetic engineering is best used when influencing medicine because of the amount of people it is helping, like with the production of genetically modified insulin for people with diabetes, and the lives it saves with the advancements it influences. 

Question #3-How is this form of biotechnology changing the world as we continue to advance towards the future?

Genetic engineering revolutionized the food industry by taking over 92% of the market. This has its upsides such as letting us grow food, medicine, and vaccines, but we don’t quite understand all the possible consequences. Genetic engineering is still being developed to this day, scientists currently are working on creating bacteria that can eat plastic which is a better alternative than burning all our plastic, creating a cleaner future. The most popular use for genetic engineering is healthcare. Some examples, vaccines, drugs, or even the ground-breaking discovery of cloning, although it can only be used on dogs it still shows that we are on the right path.

Conclusion:

To conclude, although genetic engineering is still in its early phases, it has already taken over the majority of the food industry, and some of the medical industry. Some scientists say this is the future, but we don’t fully understand the consequences. Even if you search up genetic engineering almost every article has the quote “Humans should not play god”. The food industry is being changed but that doesn’t mean we have to replace natural food. Some people only buy natural food because of the possible consequences, next time you go to a grocery store look at the labels and I could bet the majority is genetically engineered.

 

Work cited:

Scott Dutfield “Plastic-eating bacteria: Genetic engineering and environmental impact” 23 march 2022

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/nutrition/plastic-eating-bacteria-genetic-engineering-and-environmental-impact/ar-AAVpcTD?ocid=BingNewsSearch

accessed: 1 April, 2022

 

David J Mconnel “Methods and achievements of genetic engineering: Prospects in agriculture” 2 august 1986

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0301622686900229#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20best%20examples%20are%20the%20immune,of%20enzyme%20technology%20in%20food%20production%20and%20processing.

accessed: 4 April 2022

 

 

 

 

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Sch10 Cheek cell lab – Andrew Tang

We did not get to the membrane disruption because we ran out of time

 

 

By using a dish soap and water solution we can break the membrane leaving us with the DNA, I believe that since the dish soap is used to clean off the surface of a plate. Both the DNA and the plate would be separated from whatever was on it (in this case the membrane), we can take a clear look at what our DNA really looks like after we put it in alcohol. During the first lab I learned how to break down a cell membrane leaving us with only the DNA that we would put in a test tube and take a picture. For my DNA (picture to the right) I learned how precious DNA, which is why I only got little bits and pieces in the test tube. During the second lab we observed cheek cells (picture on the left), I struggled with this lab because I couldn’t get DNA off the inside of my cheek. After we got my cells we looked under a microscope and I found that the nucleus is very small compared to the diagrams shown in class. My partner and I did not get to the third part of the lab but I do know that a dish soap solution can break down the membrane from the first lab.

 

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Sc10H-paper plane lab-Andrew Tang

Sc10H – paper plane lab – Andrew Tang

During the lab my partner and I folded 3 paper airplanes one different than the other with a slight modification which was folding the wings to make one fly straighter, and another folding the tip in to add more weight on the front thus increasing the thrust. We learned that a regular paper airplane is already the ideal choice, why? Because it is easy to fold, is balanced, and has the best average range out of the three planes we tested. The two other designs put to much weight on the front and on the wings, dragging our plane down while the regular maintained a balanced flight and was the only one that flew straight on most flights except one. The basic plane flew 13 centimeters farther on average than the folded wing design and flew 60 centimeters farther on average than the snubbed nose/folded nose design. All this data proved our hypothesis wrong, which was, if we alter the design of the paper airplane then it will fly farther because the other planes are modified to fly straighter and farther. During our testing we found that our design for our paper airplane was not the best as it had no center of mass and was to light, which is why they became unbalanced and veered off to the side of the hallway where we tested our planes. The planes were measured on a tape measure that was laid out instead of using the measure to pull it all the way to the plane, so it did not measure all the distance maybe being off by a centimeter or two. In conclusion the hypothesis is incorrect and that a regular paper airplane beats anything fancy.

Core Competency

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