Problem description:In the project “Scaling your world” we were supposed to choose anything and make a scale model of it either bigger than the original or smaller than the original. We were allowed to work with a partner or work in a group of 3. I chose to work in a group of 3. The scale model I chose to create was a larger version of a KFC bucket. We decided to make it 3x its original size. Before even starting this project we had lessons and group work on the skills needed to complete this project. We learned about things like similarity proportion and dilation. The purpose of this project was to teach us about these concepts and have us actually use them and experiment with them
Understanding concepts:This year we have learned multiple concepts to help us with this project. We learned about similarity, proportion and dilation. There is a relationship between similarity and proportion which is if something is similar it is almost the same but not exactly the same. An example of this would be if you had 2 squares that looked the same but had different sizes. If the proportions are off it would no longer be similar it would just be 2 shapes. This relates to dilation because it is when you change the size of a shape therefore turning 2 shapes that are the same into 2 shapes that are now similar.
BenchmarksDuring this project we had to turn in multiple benchmarks so we could make sure we were going at the right pace. The first benchmark what to write a quick description on what our project plan was. Oor project was a KFC bucket like I said above. For the second benchmark we had to sketch our product and and write out the calculations we were planning to use to make the bucket bigger. We had to write out our specific plan including all of the correct calculations. For the 3rd benchmark we had to build and bring in our final product. This KFC bucket was made out of paper and paint.
ReflectionI feel like overall this project was a very fun learning experience. I learned a lot about the different concepts that were introduced to me. The habit of a mathematician I improved on during this project is definitely being organized. I think this because keeping track of the different benchmarks and things we had to turn in required a lot of organization. If I were to change something about our product it would probably be to get better materials because what we had to work with wasn't the best, even though we didn't have everything we needed I think our product still came out pretty good because we worked with what we had and kept a positive mindset. Overall I learned how these concepts could be used for good purposes and how to use them in different situations