Into The Wild
In this project we read the book Into The Wild, which was about an adventurer named Chris McCandless. We learned about his journey and his life as a tramp. Because of this book we began working on homemade equipment that would aid us our very own journey into the wild. In this project my group mates were Kristen, Abril, and Cameron. Together we each made our very own headlamps, soda can stoves, and one compass. Throughout this entire experience we were learning new material in order for us to take a chance and survive in the wild. After we did a lot of digging, deep thinking, and writing in Erin's class we worked on all of our homemade equipment in Jocelyn's class. After all of that was finished we all journeyed to Anza Borrego Desert to camp and test our equipment for three days.
My Headlamp
A headlamp works using an electric circuit. A circuit is a pathway for electrons to flow through made of wires. A battery or a power source gives the voltage (electric power) that makes the electrons move to the circuit. When the electrons get to the LED (light bulb), they give it the charge/power to make it light up. There are two types of electric circuits, parallel and series. A series circuit is a circuit that allows electrons to follow a single path. A parallel circuit allows electrons to follow multiple paths. My headlamp is made using a parallel circuit because the electrons need to flow through all three of the LED light bulbs. If the headlamp circuit was in series the light bulbs would be much dimmer. This is because the electrons would have to go through all three lights and share it's power. If the circuit is in parallel the electrons can flow through either of the three paths. The switch in the circuit is in series because if it was in parallel the switch wouldn't be able to turn all of the lights on. There are 4.5 Volts that are supplied to the circuit through the three AAA batteries. The voltage is the measure of potential energy through the circuit. To connect the wires, you have to solder them together, making sure not to let the positive wires touch the negative wires. An LED is a light bulb, it's better to use an LED instead of a regular bulb because LEDs provide more light without wasting extra power. A resistor is an electrical device that offers resistance to the flow of charge. It is represented by a zigzag line in a circuit diagram. The resistance hinders or reduces the flow of charge. They are necessary because an LED has very little resistance by itself. If you were to run a current (flow of charge) through it directly from a power source, the LED would be destroyed because of too much current. And that Ladies and Gentlemen is how my headlamp works.
My Soda Can Stove
We used our Soda Can Stoves to cook our food. Each group had to cook two meals, dinner on the first day and breakfast on the third. For dinner my group mates and I made fresh tacos and they were absolutely delicious. For breakfast we made pancakes with syrup, which were also delicious. Our Soda Can Stoves allowed us to cook on a high heat that is just like a regular camping stove. This piece of equipment was my favorite to make, it was so much fun and I had a great time.
My Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows the four cardinal directions from anywhere in the world. The cardinal directions are North, East, South, and West. A good way to remember them is by remembering the phrase "Never Eat Soggy Waffles". Inside the compass, there is a magnetic needle that always points North, which is also referred to as the magnetic North (the direction of the North magnetic pole). If you think of the Earth's magnetic field as having a magnet buried in the Earth's core, in order for the North end of the compass to point toward the North Pole, you would have to assume that the buried magnet has it's South end at the North Pole. As you can see, the "opposite attract" rule of magnets would cause the North end of the compass needle to point towards the South end of the buried magnet. So the compass points towards the North Pole. To use the compass you must hold it level to the ground and the red part of the needle will point North.
My Overall Experience
The best part of this trip was definitely going to Anza Borrego and camping out. I had such a great time with all of my friends and my teachers. I enjoyed reading in the hot sun, hiking up the mountain, and just being with everyone and nature. I became close with more people in my class and I was able to just be one with nature. This whole experience has been so amazing and I have loved every minute of it. I loved reading about Chris McCandless' journey and I loved making all of our equipment in Jocelyn's. The most important lesson I could have learned through this project is probably not to take nature for granted. You think that it will always be there but with the destroying hand of man it is slowly dying and disappearing. I also believe that technology should not effect our lives how it has, we don't always need it and yet it will always be there.