Windracers Experiment

 Monday 14 September 2020

This week in Science, Kyra-Lee, Lily-Ray and I are Researching and designing a windracer. A windracer is a small, free-flying staysail for super light air. It's tall and thin. It's freestanding, so it's not attached to the headstay. The tack attaches to a deck pad-eye. Use your spinnakers' halyard to raise it and tension the luff.

After researching different types of Sails, we decided to make the 'Storm Jib' sail. The Storm Jib sail is good for strong weather and we will need something like this for the harsh wind provided from the wind blower.

On the second day, we built the first model of our windracers using newspaper, string and tape. We tried to make a replica of the plan.

On the third day, we will be testings our windracers to see if we need any changes. We then painted our sail with red, white and black stripes. 

On the forth day, we tested our windracers against the rest of the class. The results helped us get an idea of the changes we would need to make to have our windracer move the furthest. The changes we are making is adding extra support to the sail, so that it could catch more air and not have the windracer toppling over.

On the fifth day we made the changes to our windracers. We added more newspaper and stabilised the sail.

On the sixth day we had the final race against the rest of the class. Our windracer was in 4th place.

The changes that we made didn't help us as much as we expected, but it did add stability. 

The best thing about this project is the we came 4th and we had so much fun. 

Performance Evaluation

 

1. What did you perform?

I sang the song ‘Une femme avec une femme’ along with a youtube track playing.

2. How did the performance go?

The performance was easy going and smooth but the only problem was that the track was too loud and people couldn’t hear me. 

3. What was challenging about this task?

The most difficult part was learning the song and getting the pronunciation right because the song was in french.

4. What did you enjoy about the task?

Having a choice with which song to perform and how to perform it.

Technology And Change Essay

 For the past couple of weeks, we've been learning and researching technologies made in different time era. My group and I researched the technology made in Ancient Egypt and presented the research to our class. 

Link to Presentation

Then we worked individually and wrote an essay for the end of term assessment.

Technology has been around for centuries, under different time periods which gave a head start to some of mankind's greatest inventions now. The Ancient Egypt time period had amazing inventions, many of which - such as calendars, paper, clocks, tooth brushes, toothpaste - have undergone amazing advancements and are still being used till date.

One of the many things that the Egyptians invented was Papyrus or as we know it today - paper. The creation of paper has done wonders for us, from providing the Egyptians something to write their knowledge and history on, to now being turned into books - to write on or to read - paper to print on and used for many other activities. In 3000 BC, the Egyptians made the first ever form of paper using the papyrus plant which grew in the Nile region of Egypt. Papyrus was very thick with a tan colour and streaks of colour from the plant, modern day paper is found in many colours and has a range of different thickness and textures. Paper has been very important to the history of Egypt and after many advancements, it’s still being used today all over the world.

Another great invention of Ancient Egypt are scissors. Scissors were used by the Egyptians to cut hair and were fashionably made, we still use scissors now for many different reasons, cutting hair, cutting fabric, etc. In 1500 BC, the Egyptians created a scissor-like metal device which was then adapted by different time periods and in 1761, the first ever modern scissors were made. The scissors invented by the Egyptians were made of two large metal blades, forged together and engraved with pictures to make them look fashionable, the modern scissors are made with hinges, metal or plastic handles for a much easier use. Many modern scissors are also personalised for different uses such as metal scissors used by hairstylists and scissors with patterned ends to create more fun patterns. The importance of scissors are still shown today as they are being manufactured and are in great demand.

The Egyptians also invented the first ever calendar and clock. These are both very important inventions as they help us know the day, time, month and year. In 2510 BC, the first civil calendar was established which has since then gone through great advancements, being adapted by different groups of people and later being made into what it is today. The civil calendar used to be printed/carved on to stone by the Egyptians and after many advancements, the modern calendars are found printed onto paper and also digitally. Around 1500 BCE, the Egyptians invented a device which divided the sunlight into 10 parts, plus two ‘twilight hours’, this is known to be the first ever portable timepiece. Many years later and the modern clocks came to be, made of metal, plastic, wood and etc with a ring of numbers starting from 1 to 12 with hands traveling around the ring and showing different times. This invention is specifically very important because without it, we wouldn’t be able to tell the time or know what day it is.

The inventions of Ancient Egypt are beyond amazing as Egypt gave a start to many of the important devices that are being used today. They had invented paper, which is a very useful product, scissors, which are now being used in everyday life for many reasons and the first calendar and clock, which is most probably the most important invention so far. They had done this during an era which we think of as old but their minds and craftsmanship has provided us with many great devices.

  

Painting Techniques

For the past couple of weeks, we have been learning painting techniques in art. We tried many different techniques with blending, layering, texture, using gesso and stencils.

Link To Images

Learning and refreshing these paint techniques will help towards the mural we will be starting on by the end of the term. These paint techniques are very useful and will add an interesting look to the mural.