We first measured out the sizes for the house on a piece of foam board using the measurements from our plan.

We then used a craft knife to cut out the parts of the house.

We used hot glue to put them together, leaving the back of the roof open so that we can insert the solar panel technology later.

We then cut out a window in the roof to display the lightbulb and used a clear plastic sheet to represent glass.

Foam Board

Hot glue gun

Heat mat

Craft knife

Clear plastic sheet

Ruler

Pencil

We started the session by working on Tinkercad, ensuring that the online model of the staircase had the correct measurements and would be proportional to the rest of the rollercoaster.

We then went down to the 3D printer and uploaded the design to the software.

There was an issue with the measurements, and we had to make some adjustments to the design so that it could 3D print.

• We had to shrink the size of the staircase and cut it into 2 sections because the design we had created was too big to 3D print.

• We will have to print out the stairs in two parts and use hot glue to stick them together.

While the design was 3D printing we went to the storage room at the back of the gym to look for resources and materials we could use for our rollercoaster.

Laptop (Tinkercad software)

3D printer

3D printer software on school computer

Plastic for 3D printer

In the previous class, we tried to start 3D printing our rollercoaster, however, the 3D printer wouldn't work so we spent the lesson trying to come up with alternative solutions

We started the session by re-attempting to 3D print the staircase,

• we spent the beginning of the session messing around with the software to try and fix the technical issue that occurred.

• Unfortunately, we were unable to overcome this issue, therefore we had to come up with an alternative solution

We decided on different ways to build each part of the rollercoaster.

• Staircase: We will use wood to build the centre pole and base of the staircase, and foam board to create the steps.

• Cart: We will use foam board to create the cart, and straws to make the wheels functional.

• Tracks: We are still unsure about this idea, but we are using metal wire to create the edges of the track and connecting them with small pieces of wood.

After coming up with our altenative ideas for our project we used the rest of the lesson to start constructing them.

• Liraya started to work on the staircase, she used a saw to cut out circular wood shapes for the base and top of the staircase.

• Me and Sev started to construct the rollercoaster tracks, we used pliers to cut out sections of metal wiring and used hot glue to attach small wood pieces to them.

Laptop (Tinkercad software)

3D printer

3D printer software (school computer)

Plastic for 3D printer

Metal wiring

Pliers

Hot glue

Thin sheets of wood

Heat mat

Saw

Wood board

Today's session was not the most productive, however, we were still able to accomplish what needed to be done.

We divided our tasks between the groups to speed up the process and more effectively manage our time.

Me and Sev spent the majority of the lesson working on creating the track for the rollercoaster as we believe it is one of the most important components of our project and is very time-consuming.

• We were able to construct the tracks for most of the rollercoaster

Liraya used the class to work on the staircase

• She finished sawing the wooden base

• We then sawed a wooden pole to fit the height of our rollercoaster and plan to use it as the centre of the stairs, to support the steps.

• We use a drill and nail to attach the wooden base to the wooden pole.

At the end of the lesson we went back to the storage room to check if there were any more materials that would be useful for our project

Metal wiring

Pliers

Wooden sheet

Ruler

Scissors

Hot glue

heat mats

Wooden plank

Wooden pole

Saw

Clamp

Drill

Nails

We started the lesson by experimenting with the track pieces that we made in the previous session to visualise how we could merge them to represent the rollercoaster track.

• We spent some time testing different ways we could bend and loop the wire to re-create our design, however, we struggled to figure out a way of attaching the track pieces together.

This problem prompted us to innovate a new way of creating the tracks.

• We took some time to brainstorm and test out different methods of attaching the tracks together, for example, we tried hot glue, tape and straws.

• After talking to Ms. Varma we came up with the idea to use a soldering iron to attach the track pieces together. This idea also prompted us to replace the wooden pieces connecting each side of the track with metal wiring.

• Before the next class we will need to talk to the lab assistant about using the soldering iron and solder.

We then worked on the staircase,

• We used hot glue to stick on all the steps made from foam board.

• We also decided to use plastic straws to connect the steps instead of the foam board.

Metal wiring

Wooden sheet

Plastic straws

Foam Board

Craft knife

heat mat

hot glue gun

Unfortunately, we were unable to use the soldering iron today, because the lab assistant was absent, so we couldn't get permission to use it.

• We will ensure that we are able to get access/permission to use it before the next class.

Because we were unable to follow our plan and use the soldering iron today, we decided to work on some other aspects of our rollercoaster.

We used the first part of the class to finish our staircase,

We then worked on our rollercoaster cart.

• We used a craft knife to cut the foam board into small pieces before using hot glue to attach them together.

• We used the track size as a guide, and made the cart 4 cm wide.

• We then used straws, metal wiring and small foam board circles to create the wheels.

Plastic straws

foam board

hot glue

heat mat

metal wiring

craft knife

The first thing we idd this lesson was go down to the physics lab to inquire about the soldering iron that we had planned to borrow.

• They were able to give us the iron this time, however, due to a lack of resources, they were not able to give us a lot of the solder wire.

We then started to work on soldering the pieces together.

• Unfortunately, the soldering iron would not work as the solder was not hot enough to stick the metal wire pieces together.

• This was a very disappointing realisation for us, and we were forced to come up with a new solution.

We tried a few alternative solutions in this class,

• We explored the idea of using popsicle sticks, however when we tried to bend and shape the track the stick just fell off.

• We then went through the drawers in the design room and the maker's space to see if there were any other resources we could use. Unfortunately, we were not able to find anything new.

• This led us to go back to our original plan of using metal wiring for the track, however, we had to use hot glue to stick the pieces together instead of a soldering iron. Even though soldering the metal together would have been significantly more effective, clean and reliable than using hot glue.

Soldering iron

solder metal

metal wiring

hot glue gun

heat mat

popsicle stick

The first thing that we did today was evaluate the tracks that we designed and created in the last class.

• Unfortunately, we found that the hot glue was very ineffective in glueing the metal wires together and the track had fallen apart.

This lead us to brainstorm a new idea.

• We spent some time looking through the resources provided in the design classroom and the maker's space, in hopes of finding a new material to replace the wire pieces connecting the track.

• We considered a variety of materials, however, we decided that the most effective and time-efficiant approach would be using string.

We found a bundle of thick black string and decided it would be a quick and somewhat effective method to wrap the string around the two wire sticks to create the appearance of a track.

We then cut the excess string so only the necessary pieces of string connecting the wires remained,

• This created the visualization of a track that our group was happy with, and we thought that using string would allow us the freedom to bend and adjust the track pieces later on.

Here you can see how we had wrapped the string over the wires to, time-efficiently, connect the wires.

We are also able to see how the track looked after we cut off the excess string

Metal wiring

Hot glue gun

Hot glue sticks

Heat mats

Roll of string

Scissors

Today's lesson did not go to plan, we were forced to make a lot of changes to our original plan and design.

We started off the session by checking on the track design we constructed last lesson,

• While it appeared fine, we found that we were unable to remove it from the heat mats without the track falling apart.

• This was an issue, and we spent some time adjusting the hot glue and string until we decided that this idea was not going to work.

This failure led us to a design change.

• As a group, we finally decided that we had wasted enough time trying to come up with new track designs and that we needed a new plan.

• WE determined that, becasue we were really short for time, we needed to come up with a simpler, and more realistic solution for constructing our rollercoaster.

We established a new design for the rollercoaster that would still meet our original plan, but on a more basic level.

• We decided we would construct a simple rollercoaster shape with a small heightened area.

• We would use our first idea of using small wooden pieces to connect the wires.

We felt like our new idea would be much more realistic and achievable, however still a design challenge and a mostly accurate representation of our original idea.

Because we felt that our project would be quite basic with only this idea, we came up with a few smaller additions to our project.

• We found a large plank of bamboo resembling a slide and we decided to create a slide with it using the original staircase we had previously made.

• We also wanted to create a swing set using wooden sticks and straw.

Adding these new concepts to our final project will allow for a better understanding of the overall principles we were trying to portray through our design.

• We wanted our rollercoaster model as a way of expressing how we can implement clean energy through implementing solar panels into amusement rides.

• We wanted to show how you can implement more clean energy into our world through a creative and abstract approach.

We believe that implementing this idea onto similar amusement constructions, we help further portray these concepts.

In this session I was able to create the shape of the track.

• I first cut down the metal wiring to the correct shape and bent it to the correct shape.

• I then hot-glued the grounded a section to the wooden base board.

• I then chose two wooden blocks to saw into small blocks to support the track.

  • Height: 8cm, Width: 4cm, length 1.5cm

• I didn't have time to complete the blocks today, however I will finish in the next class.

In today's session Liraya was able to saw the bamboo ramp into the shape of a slide.

• She then used hot glue to carefully attach it to the wooden staircase we made earlier on.

• After this, we nailed the staircase down to the wooden base to add support and security.

• To finish off the slide, she added a small wooden railing on the top of the stairs.

This class, sev was able to cut out the small wooden pieces to cover the whole track and hot glue them onto the wires.

Wooden base board

Metal wiring

Thin wood sheets

Hot glue gun

Hot glue

Wooden block

Bamboo slide

Thin wooden sticks

Sandpaper

In today's session I continued working on the track, adding the final touches.

• I, first, sawed down the wooden block to size (8x4x1.5cm)

• I then sanded these blocks to ensure they were smooth and precise

• After I had finished creating the blocks, I hot glued them down to the wooden base where I wanted to elevate the track.

To finish the rollercoaster, I had to bend the track I created last lesson over the blocks to create an incline and elevation within our rollercoaster, enhancing the overlla appearance of the track.

• I then used hot glue to secure everything in place.

Sev and Liraya worked on the swingset while I was doing this,

• They cut out the wooden sticks to create the framework for the swings and hot glued it together,

Here we can see how the framework of the swings was created with wooden sticks,

• They then used a strip of wire to bridge between each side of the framework,

• That wire was used to support the straw, while allowing it to move, this logic allowed for the swings to rotate.

• They then used another small strip of wood as a seat and used string to attach it to the straw.

Before we added the solar panels, there were a few final touches we needed to make,

• Firstly, we needed to hotgue the swings to the board.

• We then paced the house and rollercoaster cart taat was made earlier on, onto the track.