You have all been working hard. Unfortunately, the materials of construction have been difficult to work with and many group members have been out with illness. I am impressed by how groups have risen to this technical challenge and have built functioning roller coasters but we lost valuable testing time. As a result, the following two items have been removed from the project.
Level 4
Illustrate the motion of the roller coaster using a position vs time graph.
Illustrate the motion of the roller coaster using a speed vs time graph.
As a result, there will be a few extra questions that I individually ask you regarding these two topics.
Updated Schedule:
March 15 - Test Roller Coaster / Work on write-up (Write-up due next class)
March 19 - Roller Coaster presentations + Assessment
Today's schedule:
12:20 - 12:35 Project Team discussion regarding testing. The Project Manager and Technical Lead should make sure that this meeting is focused. At the end, the Technical Lead will have a discussion with the TLs of other groups.
What is your plan?
What are challenges that you anticipate?
What questions do you have?
12:35-12:50 Technical Lead meeting. Fishbowl style (other members are observers). Technical leads will problem solve challenges and present solutions.
12:50 - 1:45 Testing - data must be collected in a data table. Multiple trials are expected.
1:45 - 1:50 Clean-up, final comments
Everyone worked hard today - thanks! Unfortunately, it appears as if groups did not have enough time to collect data. We will take the first half of class on Friday to collect data.
Updated schedule:
March 13 - Complete construction
March 15 - Test Roller Coaster / Work on write-up (Write-up due next class)
Today, your goal is to construct a roller coaster. As you work, I will come around and talk with each group about concepts relating to your design.
At 1:30, the Technical Lead person from each team will meet in the fishbowl to discuss the testing that will take place next class. Each member is expected to be ready to talk and help the group problem solve any issues.
Alright! Today I hope that everyone can build upon the excitement in class on Tuesday to work out more ideas about your roller coaster. Here is the general flow of the class:
1. Brief project manager meeting. (Note: If you are not a project manager, your job is to observe the meeting and think about the discussion. If you have any follow-up questions or there are items you do not understand, you will have time after the meeting to ask them.)
Topics of PM Meeting:
Inverted
Design Items
Is your group using the maximum amount of track? (Where is your start point / end point?)
Can you tell me exactly where is the 130 cm point of your track?
How far on the roller coaster ride will a person first be inverted?
What's the fun factor of your roller coaster? Would you want to ride it?
English language - Are you doing your best to keep the conversation in English?
Daily Completion / Reflection
Questions
2. Overview of Today's Simulation
3. Team Meeting - goal setting and design conversation
Concept Review (each person) - Note: If you do not understand or cannot fully answer an item, you must write the questions you have in order to receive credit.
After the success shown with the Zippy Fun project, your design team has been asked to design and build a roller coaster for a new amusement park. The owners of the new park want to build six amazing rides and are hoping that your design team can help them meet this goal.
This is a quick project since the owners want to begin as soon as possible. Today, we will discuss the schedule, expectations and criteria of the project. To get focused on the idea of roller coasters, take a few moments to look at this video of coasters at other amusement parks.
What is the first question that comes to your mind?
Upcoming Schedule:
March 5 - Project Introduction / Design Teams / Initial Thoughts and Design
Each person on a design/build team has skills that are valuable to the group's success. The most successful groups are those who equally share the work and constantly communicate about design, challenges and ideas. For this project, each person will have a "job" that provides certain responsibilities in addition to making sure the project is successfully completed.
Project Manager - This person's job is to make sure the group is constantly moving forward on the project. He/she is responsible for attending the daily project meeting, organizing the work of group members and making sure that each person on the team is constantly contributing. This person also makes a point to listen to the ideas of all members on the team.
Construction Manager - This person's job is to make sure that the construction site is a safe environment to work in and that materials are properly used. At the end of each day, this person makes sure that the construction site is as cleaned up as possible.
Operations Manager - This person's job is to make sure that the activities of the group are well documented on the Team Whiteboard. Someone should be able to quickly glance at the whiteboard to understand the team's design and progress. This person assists the project manager in making sure that each person has a job (on the whiteboard!) and that the project moves along. There is a due date!
Technical Lead (Note: this job is spread out in 3-person groups) - This person's job is to make sure data is collected with as much precision as possible. Spreadsheets /Tables are used to record data and create graphs. This person coordinates data collection activities.
