Category: Fairview Advantage
Tech Team
H.A.T.S. Hyland Innovation Showdown 1st Place
Dodecahedron of Antigone’s story
Fun with non-newtonian fluids (Oobleck)
Drone building
Bluetooth Speaker (first year)
AP GOV assignment
Personal speakers
Lamp of mat board and wood
Spring Break Assignment
This is a visual representation for Antigone by Sophocles. It is about how Antigone stands up for what she believes in, then dies for her choice, noble as it was. The project is made out of mat board and hot glue, and was created using the laser cutter. Each face depicts a character or an important scene in the play, with a short description on the person or scene. The hardest part of the project was designing all 12 faces of the dodecahedron, and figuring out how they all fit together once they were all cut out.
Physics Reflection
My first impressions of AP Physics was the complete change from every other class that I had taken previously. Physics connects to everything in life on a deeper level than every other class, because as you learn more, you see more in the world. Other classes like chemistry and biology, enjoyable as they may be, do not apply as much in everyday life on such a scale. Physics shows the world through different eyes, sometimes fascinating, other times confusing.
Physics has shown me how to plan out a problem before even applying the numbers. I have recognized that sometimes, even though I plan the equation, something goes wrong along the way and I get the wrong answer. I plan to slow down and do the equation in parts so I can see where I go wrong.
On one of the physic’s homework about gravitational forces, there was a problem where all you were given was that a satellite takes 5 years to orbit, and with that I found the mass of the Sun. That was literal rocket science, toned down for college/high school students.
Outside of class, the physics of how a car works struck me. That the force I feel when going around a turn is not actually a force, but only an effect of the forces at play. I found it interesting that a car only holds onto the road in a turn by static friction of the tires on the pavement.
Tech Team Reflections Q2
Over Christmas I got a wood burner from my girlfriends family. Having no artistic talent I used the laser cutter to create a outline for the mountains in the photo below. Then, doing a little investigating, learned how to use a wood burner and create different effects in the wood. I intentionally had the knot in the wood become the Sun or Moon, and the no-longer-apparent water stain become the horizon that the mountains loomed over.
Also for Christmas, but from my family, came a speaker kit. I am still working on the speaker casing, which is just glue together birch plywood. However, any good speakers have a crossover, shown beyond, which essentially only allows low frequency sound to play out of the subwoofers, and the high frequency sound out of the tweeters. Instead of giving you a crossover, you have to assemble it yourself with all the parts provided. They also give you a circuitry diagram so that you can assemble the crossover. I had to make two for the two different speakers in the kit.
One day while talking with Mr. Kaminski, Willie Norton and I noticed his speakers playing music and saw the way the speaker cone vibrated. We immediately decided that we wanted to put Oobleck on a speaker and then see what different sounds did to it. The video below is in real time and shows that different high and low frequencies do to the cornstarch mixture. Our end goal is to figure out a mixture of notes that will make the Oobleck look as if it is dancing.
For the Cleveland Clinic Expressions challenge a kid did different cancers suspended on different hearts under a large heart. I helped to laser engrave the names of the different cancers onto the hearts, one by one.
Below in the Fairview Shield in two parts as it was nailed to two different doors made for the counseling office. The shield is about 18 inches wide and 22 inches long. This is a problem as the laser cutter can only do 12 by 24 inches at a time. So I had to make a design that did half the sign at a time.
Damion Zody, Willie Norton, and I entered into the Hyland Innovation Challenge. Our idea was to innovate on the wind turbine that we have today. Our idea was to turn the turbine sideways, so it is parallel to the ground and have each blade rotate independently. These rotating blades would allow for all the blades except one to be parallel to the ground while the other is perpendicular to the ground. The wind would catch this blade and turn the turbine. As it spins that blade would rotate down and the next would rotate to be perpendicular. This way we have minimal drag on the all the blades expect one, which would have maximum drag to force the turbines to turn. That is one one of the modular pieces. Each piece would be 20 feet wide and 3 feet tall, and stackable, creating a tower of these turbines, matching the height of turbines today.
Last but not least, all the teachers got these paperclip holders as a Holiday gif from the principle. I was the one to laser cut the Fairview Shield, and Fairview Warriors onto the holders. I also created a template to hold 30 of them at a time as there was 90 to make in total.
Eagle Scout Project
I am in Boy Scouts, and I when going for my Eagle Scout I planted trees in Bain Park.
I had 5 native trees planted by the pavilion in Bain Park. A Bur Oak, Bald Cypress, Pecan Hickory, Eastern Red Bud, Summer Sensation Maple, all of which can be found in this area. I planted these trees because through some investigating I found the trees in that area where planted by the CCC back in the 1930s to combat the Great Depression. I decided I wanted to replant the trees to help restore the dead part that can be seen in the picture above.
Eagle Scout candidates are required to lead the project in all parts of it. This means I led the scouts and adults in the tree planting on May 13th. Through collaboration and communication I got the trees to the work site, the city to donate gator bags, and the scouts to show up at the right time and do the work I needed the to do. Before all this could be done I had to research where to plant trees, how to plant trees, when to plant trees, and many other important questions. I found these answers through investigating by talking to tree experts, and computer research.
Tech Team Q1
This english poster is on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and is completely laser cut. The project had to be broken into 9 layers, one for each individual photo and then groups of quotes. The entire process took almost 3 hours to complete. This took a lot of problem solving, and investigating the problems I encountered.
Willie brought in the shell of a lighter to have a picture engraved onto it. He decided on a dragon, so I designed the cut job to print on the bottom part of the lighter. The same image is mirrored on the other side so both dragons face the same direction. This took communication, creativity, and small problem solving as the lighter had a hinge on the one side.
I did research on how to cast molds using a CNC machine and found an article that explained that if you cut MDF wood you can pour molten metal into the mold. Mrs. Houser provided the Hot Pot to melt the metal, and the amount of tin I needed. However, she required that I find the volume of the mold, then find the amount of mass I needed to fill the mold before I could melt anything. This small project took creativity, communication, investigation, and problem solving.
Last, but not least, my speaker for this year thus far. I took two old computer speakers and designed a casing around them with bendable wood in the shape of an oval. The first picture shows the wrapping thats around the speaker. It was a test to see if my design actually bent or broke. The second photo is all the pieces together before it is all assembled. There are the speakers, circuit board, top and bottom plates, rings, and the bendable wood wrap. Sadly, I didn’t have a bluetooth setup this time, so the speaker has to be plugged into the wall, and use an AUX cord to work.
The almost finished project shows the inside of the speaker before completely assembled as it plays music. This project took months of planning, designing, and assembly. The pins had to be the right size and the holes had to be slightly bigger. The bendable wood had to fit into the rings. Everything came together in the end.
AP Lit Frankenstein
This is a theme poster on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. My group decided to laser cut the project, but had some problems along the way. The laser cutter could not handle the amount of graphics on the entire poster, so I had to break the collage into the individual photos and quotes to print it all.
Democracy in Action #4
Zack VZ
Ms. Keener
AP Government
26 May 2017
Democracy in Action
While not directly government, the Rotary Club is a group of very influential members of a community that give back to the community. I attended their meeting one Tuesday afternoon at noon because Dr. Wagner invited me to speak. They started with a hello to all and had everyone introduce themselves. Besides my grandmother and I, Mrs. Babel, the woman who donated the funds to create the innovation center, and others were there. They talked about old business, the discussed some of the plans for Summerfest and small marathons in Fairview Park to raise money. Afterwards, Dr. Wagner spoke about his personal experience running marathons, warrior runs, and doing bike trips. His plan is to run 100 marathons before he turns 52 years old; at the moment he is around his 70th marathon, both 26.2 miles and 13.2, along with 400 mile bike races. I got to speak at the very end of the meeting and after for funding for my Eagle Project to plant trees in Bain Park. (Which went well on May 13th, if you’re wondering.)
There were a couple people from city hall there as they are also members of the Rotary Club. Dr. Wagner is the district’s superintendent in charge of the schools. Mr. Russo, who is a council member of city hall was there. Beyond that, not many government people were there. This event was a local affair for the general community around Fairview Park, Rocky River, North Olmsted, and others. I did not know that my superintendent ran marathons so frequently for the shiny medals they give. This event shows that people outside of government can also affect the surrounding community.
Democracy in Action 3rd Quarter
Zack VZ
Ms. Keener
AP Government
3 April 2017
Democracy in Action 3rd Quarter
I went to a Fairview City Council Meeting this quarter. They started with role call and then started there regular question and answer. During this event the council decided to allow dogs to be on a leash in the city parks. After they finished, they opened the floor to the public. That is when I stood up, and gave my presentation for my Eagle Scout Project. I talked about my plan to plant five trees around the Bain Park Pavilion to restore the forest. Once I was finished talking about my project they opened the floor to others. A person from the Shade Tree Committee reminded the council that they were going to have a booth up at the State of the Community. Once they closed the meeting, I was congratulated on my presentation by the mayor and a majority of the council members. I got the signature I needed for approval from the city, gave a reporter some information, and left.
The mayor, head of the treasury, head of the service department, and all the council members were important to our government. This event was for local government as only policy for the city was discussed. I learned that dogs were not allowed in the parks prior to the new legislation. I learned that there was a decision to allow dogs into the parks with leases. I also learned how far our government will go to help a project come to completion. The event showed me how our democracy is willing to go as far as donate money to help buy trees. They were also willing to donate a truck to move the trees to Bain Park.