50 Lego Challenge 18-19 S1

Students will be given a chance to create using legos during class.  Each student will have access to the "classroom pile" of legos.  Students will create something using only 50 legos.  Creations will be photographed, and placed online for voting by 515 staff and students.  Students will spend another class writing a story about their creation to describe what their inspiration was, and what their project is/does.  There are no criteria for judging other than popular vote.  Subsequent build contests will vary.

Design a Closet - Architectural Design / Space Planning Project 18-19 S1

Today we will be learning about how to use our previous lesson (Drawing To Scale) to help us plan to use the space in a closet more efficiently.  Using our knowledge of measurement, math, and utilizing basic tools, we will measure and create a Closet Design System that might be sold at a local home improvement store.  We will measure a closet here at school, and work on the design together.  We will define some of the new terms that we should be using throughout the project, and we will sketch a scale representation of our design.  We will use readily available product specifications from brochures and online sources to design and price our closet organization systems.  Once we understand the basic idea and methods of this process, you will then be required to independently measure, design and present a project from your own home.  You will be given time in class to complete this project.  The lessons learned from this project will help you with our future Room Design Project.  Please use the following website as a reference:

HDMODIFI.com (Primary Item Selection Site)

HDmodifi Specification Sheet (Click Here)

HDmodifi Pricing Sheet (Click Here)

For More Information here is a video about some choices from Home Depot:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2y9S_lrl-Y

If you are interested in learning more about interior design, and the software application we will be using for a future project (Room Design), please go to the Google Apps Web Store and look for FloorPlanner.  I have already set up accounts for each of you to start designing your spaces.  We will be creating new classroom layouts for some of the teachers in our building.  Have Fun!

Floorplanner (EDU Version) 18-19 S1

Learning to draw to scale, and create accurate floorplans is crucial if you are persuing a career in architecture, construction, or engineering.  Floorplanner has graciously allowed us to create an EDU account (and sub-accounts) for students here.  Once created, you will be able to follow the directions found on the website to create architectural drawings and floorplans.  This is an introduction to this type of drawing, and should not take the place of learning AutoCad or other brand-name architectural software if you continue to work in professional trades or careers.  Please review the tutorials listed below, and spend time in class learning to use the basic functions of this program.  You should be familiar with how to create walls, doors, windows, and place furniture.  You should also be able to render in both 2D and 3D to create images for inclusion in presentations.

"Floorplanner is the easiest and best-looking way to create and share interactive floorplans online. Whether you're moving into a new house, planning a wedding or reorganizing your living room, Floorplanner has the right tools for you. With Floorplanner you can recreate your home, garden or office in just a few clicks and furnish your plans with our huge library of objects." - Excerpt taken directly from https://floorplanner.com/

Click Here for Tutorials and Help

Design Layout - Rouch Sketch to Scale Drawing 18-19 S1

Today will will extend out learning about Drawing-To-Scale by making some Rough Sketches of rooms in our school.  Please take a moment to review the instructions about Drawing-To-Scale from yesterday.  Watch the video below to help you understand how to create a Rough Sketch of a room prior to designing for that space:

When you have reviewed the information, use a blank piece of grid paper to create a sketch of our Technology Room.  See how accurate you can be, and make sure to list the scale you are working in.  Turn in your work for review.  If you get done early, you can work on a Rough Sketch of all the rooms around the Technology Lab for practice.  Turn in both worksheets for review and credit.

HOMEWORK:  Tonight you should try to visit a home improvement store (Lowes, Home Depot, True Value, or a kitchen & bath store) and look at some of the documents that are available to help you design specific spaces.  Choose one type of document, and with the permission of your parents, and the owners of the store, take the documents home and work on a closet in your home.  Make sure to use a tape measure to measure all the dimensions in the closet.  Your next task will be to redesign a closet (at home, or at school).  You can choose any design elements you wish.  You must design, price, and report on what the project will cost, and an estimate of the time and materials you will use.  We will be expanding on each of these requirements next week during class, and scaffolding the steps of this project so everyone can keep up.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Remember to follow the Problem Solving Steps we outlined in the beginning of the program. Define the Problem, Prepare a Solution, Try to Solve it, and Reflect on all steps and at the completion of the project.  Have fun with this project.

Drawing to Scale & Basic Proportions 18-19 S1

Today we will be working on Drawing To Scale and Basic Proportions as an introduction to Architectural Design.  Please take a few moments to learn about this by watching the following videos:

Introduction to Scale Drawings (Youtube.com)

Virtual Nerd - Introduction to Scale Drawing

BASIC PROPORTIONS (http://www.basic-mathematics.com/scale-drawings.html)

Since it is not always possible to draw on paper the actual size of real-life objects such as the real size of a car, an airplane, we need scale drawings to represent the size like the one you see below of a van.

In real-life, the length of this van may measure 240 inches. However, the length of a copy or print paper that you could use to draw this van is a little bit less than 12 inches

Since 240/12 = 20, you will need about 20 sheets of copy paper to draw the length of the actual size of the van

In order to use just one sheet, you could then use 1 inch on your drawing to represent 20 inches on the real-life object

You can write this situation as 1:20 or 1/20 or 1 to 20

Notice that the first number always refers to the length of the drawing on paper and the second number refers to the length of real-life object

Example #1:

Suppose a problem tells you that the length of a vehicle is drawn to scale. The scale of the drawing is 1:20

If the length of the drawing of the vehicle on paper is 12 inches, how long is the vehicle in real life?

Set up a proportion that will look like this:

Do a cross product by multiplying the numerator of one fraction by the denominator of the other fraction

We get :

Length of drawing × 20 = Real length × 1

Since length of drawing = 12, we get:

12 × 20 = Real length × 1

240 inches = Real length


Example #2:

The scale drawing of this tree is 1:500

If the height of the tree on paper is 20 inches, what is the height of the tree in real life?

Set up a proportion like this:

Do a cross product by multiplying the numerator of one fraction by the denominator of the other fraction

We get :

Height of drawing × 500 = Real height × 1

Since height of drawing = 20, we get:

20 × 500 = Real length × 1

10000 inches = Real height

DRAWING TO SCALE (http://www.probuildersslo.com/scale)
The whole idea behind creating a scale drawing is to keep the objects in the drawing proportionately accurate in relation to each other. By using a measuring device called a scale you can create accurate drawings of very large objects on a standard size piece of paper.

Scales Used to Create a Design Drawings
1:4 Scale pronounced: "One Quarter Scale" or One Quarter aSize.
1/4 inch on the scale = 1 unit on the object being drawn.

By extension, if we use 1/4“ graph paper, one 1/4” block can equal one inch, one foot, one mile, one light year etc. For architecture, 1/4“ usually equals 1’ (1/4 inch = 1 foot). Scaling is really up to you but be consistent with all measurements and dimensions otherwise the end result will be useless. Always note what the scale you used on the drawing and whenever possible use industry standard scales.

Engineering and Architectural Scales (in this case the word scale is being used as a noun referring to a type of measuring device) are made in a triangular form so that they can be marked with different scale ratios for versatility. Typically, a triangular scale has 12 different ratios on it - 6 on each end and related ones (like 1/4 and 1/8 for instance) interlace in opposite directions without interfering with each other. Below is what an Architectural Scale looks like.

How to Use Them
The scales on the Architectural Scale (isn’t it nice the way they make explaining this so easy:) are all related to measurements in feet and inches. Above is a representation of 1/4 scale. One quarter inch equals one foot. Notice that at the beginning of the scale the first 1/4” is divided into 12 subdivisions, one for each inch in a foot. Notice also that the ”0“ point starts after the initial smaller subdivisions. Watch out for that. If you don’t remember that the zero mark is not at the beginning of the scale you will end up with an inaccurate drawing. It is set up that way to make it easy to layout feet and inches - like 4’ 6”. The 4’ would use the main part of the scale and the 6“ would use half of the inches designation on the end. That makes laying out a drawing very easy. By using 1/4” graph paper you will greatly reduce your drawing time. The Architectural Scale will help you with the inch measurements on your design drawing.

For initial design layouts, accuracy to 1 inch is good enough. The contractor and cabinet maker will measure much more accurately, of course, but for your design drawing one inch is usually just fine.