Objective:

• I can continue building my experimental model and initiate my experimental procedures to complete my project by the specified deadline.

Links:

• The Scientific Method: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml#overviewofthescientificmethod

Assignment:

• Continue working to build your finished product.
• Begin procedures to conduct your experiment. Remember your guiding question and use the Scientific Method to guide your experimental procedure. Form your hypothesis, test with an experiment, analyze your data and draw conclusions to help answer your guiding question.
• Based on last week’s build experience, continue to assess how much time you need to complete your project, and determine whether or not this project can be accomplished within the remaining four weeks (taking into account this week’s odd schedule). Adjust your Team Work Plan  and project scope accordingly.
• Checkpoint 4 will occur on Friday, April 15th. At that time, I will speak to each team, looking for evidence that sufficient progress is being made towards completion of the project within the time frame specified in the Team Project Work Plan. All teams will once again be expected to provide evidence of progress to receive credit for Checkpoint 4.

Objective:

• I can collect materials and begin building my experimental model to complete my project by the specified deadline.

Assignment:

• Begin working to build your finished product.
• Collect and begin to assemble your materials into a working product.
• If your project does not have a physical component, begin procedures to conduct your experiment.
• Based on this week’s build experience, continue to assess how much time you need to complete your project, and determine whether or not this project can be accomplished within the remaining four weeks (taking into account this week’s odd schedule). Adjust your timelines and project scope accordingly.
• Checkpoint 3 will occur on Friday, April 8th. At that time, I will speak to each team, looking for evidence that sufficient progress is being made towards completion of the project within the time frame specified in the Team Project Work Plan submitted last week. All teams will be expected to provide evidence of this progress to receive credit for Checkpoint 3.

Objective:

• I can conduct research to determine what materials, procedures and time resources I need to complete my project by the specified deadline.

Required Files:

Team Work Plan 2017

Assignment:

• Begin working to determine what materials you need to complete your project’s finished product.
• Determine what you need to do to assemble said materials into a working model.
• If your project does not have a physical component, determine what procedures you need to follow to conduct your experiment.
• Estimate how much time you need to complete your project, and determine whether or not this project can be accomplished within the remaining five weeks (taking into account this week’s odd schedule and the April 1st holiday). Adjust your timelines and project scope accordingly.
• If you have not already, please complete a Team Work Plan and submit it by Thursday, March 31st to complete Checkpoint 2.

Final Project

Over the next six weeks, you are tasked with developing a project that will address some aspect of Computer Science. The project must include an experimental element and a written description that combine to answer a guiding question.

 Guiding Question:

You must formulate a driving question that will guide the development of your final product. This should not be a question you already know the answer to, although you should form a hypothesis that will guide your testing. Nor should it be a question that has an answer that can be looked up on Google. Your driving question should be a computer science-related question that can be answered through experimentation and proven with empirical data. Possible driving questions include (but are not limited to):

• How difficult is it to write a computer program that can guess a password?
• How can one design a video game that teaches someone how to do something?
• How can one learn more about app design by creating a new app or making improvements to an old one?
• How does a computer work, and how are all the parts connected together to create a working electronic device?
• Do extreme temperatures (both hot and cold) affect how well a computer performs given tasks?

You will need to submit your guiding question to Mr. Marmolejo, and receive approval before the end of the week.

Product:

At the end of the project, you will need to have a way to demonstrate the results of your experimentation. There are 3 products to choose from, each with varying levels of difficulty. The harder the product is to create, the more points it is worth.

Option 1 – 100 points: Create a working model of your project using your own materials, or materials that are available in the Center for Computer Studies, along with a written report detailing the steps you followed to complete the project, your experimentation procedure and the results of your experiment that lead to the answer you determined for your guiding question.

Option 2 – 85 points: Create a PowerPoint presentation that discusses all the elements of your experiment and details the steps you followed to complete the project, your experimentation procedure and the results of your experiment that lead to the answer you determined for your guiding question.

Option 3 – 70 points: Create a poster that discusses all the elements of your experiment and details the steps you followed to complete the project, your experimentation procedure and the results of your experiment that lead to the answer you determined for your guiding question.

Remember, these products need to include both the visual and written elements to receive full credit.

You will have checkpoints along the way and will get feedback from Mister Marmolejo throughout the course of the project.

Do’s and Don’ts:

Do be sure to pick a project that you are interested in, and that will continue to hold your interest for the next six weeks.

Do your research in class, and your experiments if possible.

Do yourself a favor and write up a plan for the next six weeks.

Do use your class time wisely: to conduct research, to build your project or to write up the results.

Don’t pick a project that will take one day to finish and expect to chill for the next five and a half weeks.

Don’t build a project for its own sake – make sure you develop a guiding question and an experimental procedure that the project can address.

Don’t sit at your desk and watch YouTube videos, unless they are directly related to your project.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew: make sure your project is something that you can finish within six weeks.

Don’t assume that six weeks is all the time in the world. As you discovered in the Directional Antennas project, the next six weeks will go much faster than you think – plan and manage your time accordingly.

Objective:

• I can demonstrate my understanding of computer networks, network operating systems and wireless networking by assembling a functional directional antenna.

Links:

None.

Topics Discussed:

• Chapter 20: Wireless Networking

Assignment:

1. Turn in your Project Team Contract and Project Team Work Plan (available on StudentsTempFiles server) if you have not already.
2. Proceed with the first identified steps in your Project Team Work Plan.
3. You may work in either Room 225 or Room 212, but you will need to notify the instructor if you need access to Room 212.
4. All tools and equipment are located in Room 212, but the Wireless Network Cards are located in the cabinet above the printer in Room 225.
5. Please use this time to make progress on your project. We have time provided to complete the project, but no time to waste. It is very likely that your first antenna design may not be your final design, and you will need time to test and make adjustments to your design.

Posted: May 6th, 2015
Due Date: May 14th, 2015