Gliders Summary: (Missing #2,3)

*Note: Pictures ARE Avaliable, but they are located at my house.  I will upload them, so for now, Requirements 2 and 3 cannot be met*

1) Provide a breif description of the activity. Who did you work with? What did you build? What challenges did you overcome to succesfully craft your aircraft?

• Our groupmembers were Ian, and Ezequiel; we all collaborated together, to build a balsa-wood airplane.  Our Primary problem, that we encountered, was that while gluing, some of the parts were not completely glued in the proper places.  As a result, while flying, the plane achieved some starboard (Right) list in the air.  To combat this, we re-fixed the rudder's position, and we also placed a (very thin) layer of glue over the wing, giving it more weight, and balancing it.  Even still, adding the glue caused for the plane to be dorsal-venterally unbalenced, and the plane would fly up-side-down, and go in the opposite direction.

2) Post a photo of your glider under construction.

(COMMING SOON)

3) Post a photo of your finished design.

(COMMING SOON)

4) Describe how you tested your aircraft and tuned its flight characteristics.

• We tested our plane over a period of three days (Block-Day Wednesday, Thursday, and the Friday preceeding the competition).  On the first day, we were foccusing on the proper methods of throwing the plane, and wind direction.  We found that at first, throwing it softly and with the wind, would give it some movement (Our best flight was 10-15 yards), and the rudder broke.  On the second day, we followed the same principles, and we also tested other factors, such as if you should throw it in a gust, and other techniques.  During these tests, we found out that the best way to throw it, was to let the propeller spin for about a second, prior to the actual flight of the plane.  We sustained breaks on the rudder again, and the wing support.  On the third day, we were focussing on the finite techniques on throwing, and checking to see any listing, which there was greatly.  During these tests, part of the wing support broke, and we re-inforced the wing support with glue.

5) Describe how well your aircraft flew in our competition. Did you win any events (furthest distance, longest time aloft)? Were you competative in our best decorated flier competition?

• Our Plane didn't do so well in the competition.  After the third day of testing, there were a multitude of flaws in our plane, and it became dorso-venterally topheavy.  Upon throwing, the plane would do a 180* turn, and fly backwards.  As a result, we did not win any distance, or time aloft competitions.  Our Group did not decorate our plane.

6) Pick three steps from the PLTW 12 step design process and describe how your team worked through these during the course of this experience.

*NOTE: Our group didn't follow the PLTW Steps in chronological order, but we did use many of them.  We also used a sort of "Reverse Engineering" Method*

• Refine: Our Group did extensive testings, to make sure that our plane didn't have any flaws, that would be potentially bad for the flying competition.  Our plane also took some damage, and required modifications to the plane.

• Explore Possibilities: Since our group was one of the first groups that finished with construction, we had many oppertunities, in which we could modify and change our plane. We looked at possible ideas that we could do, to modify our plane further; straying away from blueprints, we made the wings movable on the fuselage, allowing for tests at varrying lengths, and many other modifications.

• Identify the Problem/Brainstorming: Our group did a "Hit the Ground Running" method of construction, jumping into it the first day.  We knew what we needed, and made a few minor modifications to the blueprints (We added a few sticks above the wings, and made the wings movable on the fuselage), and we kept these in mine while construction; these things could have also lead to our problems while flying.

Game Changer (Finished)

Answers will be in Red:  Questions asked will be in Black:


1) What was the “Moneyball”approach that Billy Beane and Peter Brandt applied to the Oakland Athletics 2002 season? Was it an “art” or a “science”? What single statistic did they boil their value consideration down to? (In class research/discussion)

The "Moneyball" approach, was to focus on statistics, such as the OBP, instead of things such as age, and methods of playing.  It was reffered to as "The Art of winning the Game". The statistic used primarily by Billy Bean (Above all other statistics, and things that scouts would dislike), was for the On Base Percentage (OBP).

2) What is the equation used to calculate OBP? (In class research/discussion)

OBP = [H + BB +HBP]/PA.  Where BB is the number of bases, compared to balls thrown; HBP is the ratio of hits, compared to pitches; H is the ammount of Hits.  PA is the number of "Base Appearences".


3) What is design? (In class research/discussion) 

Billey Beane's "Design" jumps into the "Develop a Prototype" phase directly after identifying the problem.  In a way, he took a very large risk, in going on, and taking the idea of a person, and applying it on such a large scale, not ever before attempted.  Eventually, he shortly drifted from the "Moneyball Method", by selling Giambi's brother away to the Cleveland Indians.

4) Describe 3 situations where movie characters (intentionally or not) applied a step from the PLTW 12 Step Design Process. Explain both the (a) situation as well as (b) how the step is relevant:

1 -Identify the Problem - At the begginning of the movie, Billy Beane is sitting with his scouts, discussing the problems, primarily that Giambi, their star player, is being removed from the team.  Beane asks his scouts, "Tell me what the problem is", which is met by the first PLTW step, "Identify the Problem".

2 - During a part of Moneyball, Billy Beane is forced to sell a member of his team.  He decides to sell of Giambi's Brother, to the Cleveland Indians.  This is reflected in the PLTW step, "Refine".

3 - During the 20th game streak, the Field Manager decides to put one of Beane's picks, which he protested for the majority of the season.  The person did prove, that the idea was successfull. This is reflected in the PLTW Step "Test and Evaluate".


5) What is “Leadership”? List the three aspects of leadership that we come up with in class. (In class research/discussion)

1 - "A Community is like a ship; everyone ought to be able to take the helm" - Henrik Ibsen


2 - A Leaders must have values and morals, and trusting them in their actions.


3 - Leaders must be able to take initiative, no matter the situation; no matter the place.


6) Describe 3 circumstances from the story where a character exercised effective leadership:

1 - During the beginning scene with the scouts, Billy Beane uses leadership to try to help the scouts, in their problem of replacing Giambi.


2 - Near the Middle/End of the movie, Billy Beane uses Leadership, and talks with his team, about how they are doing, and what they could be doing better; something no General Manager usually does.


3 - Billy Beane attempts to manage the Field Manager, whom refuses to use Billy Beane's method.  After he notices that the "Moneyball Approach" actually works, he uses Billy Beane's method.

7) According to the movie, what was the A’s record at the start of their winning streak? 83:58
*Note: End of Season was 103 wins, to 59 loses.  Before the streak was 20 wins less, and 1 loss less; Which is 83 wins to 58 loses*

8) What does this ratio simplify to (roughly)? 1.4: 1 (Or 7:5)

9) How long was the A’s record setting winning streak? 20 games won.

10) Given the A’s win/loss ratio at the start of the streak (listed two questions above), what are the odds of winning 20 games in a row? Run the numbers. (In class research/discussion)

A forumula, that can be used, to find out the chances of winning games in a row, can be expressed in the equation: 1/2^(n), where n is the ammount of games.  The odds of winning 5 games in a row would be 1/2^(5), which would be one out of 32.  So Logically, the odds of winning 20 games in a row would be 1/2^20, which is One out of One Million, Forty-Eight Thousand, five hundred and seventy-six (1:1,048,576).

11) Based on your calculation, do you think the A’s got lucky or was there something to the Moneyball approach?
Given that the odds of winning that are well over 1 in a million, there is substancial evidence, that the "Moneyball Approach" did in fact help with the 2002 Oakland A's.  Before the 20 win streak, only two teams before the Oakland A's won nineteen games in a row; So unless of some freak chance, there is some truth to the "Moneyball Approach", in it's application in the 2002 Oakland A's Season.

12) Did Billy Beane strictly apply the “science” of Moneyball to his management approach? Was there an “art” to his efforts as well? Describe a circumstance where he broke from the Moneyball approach to make a positive change for the team.

Billy Beane applied his "Science" of Moneyball to his team; and to his daily life.  Multiple times throughout the story, people notice Billy Beane's unusual work-ethic, such as picking an assistant General Manager from another team, upon noticing him a few times.  The Moneyball Method also had an effect on the way that his team, both Athletes and management, had mixed feelings on the Moneyball Approach.





Bonus Question (look into this if you’ve finished ahead of the class):
Money Ball was originally a book. What author wrote the book? What other books has this author written? Is there a theme to his writing?

Michal Lewis wrote "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game".  Another primary book that he has written is "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game", about an Old Miss Left Tackle Player.  A large ammount of Michal Lewis' books are about the evolution of sports, and how they have changed over the past few decades.

CAD (2.1.5) Computer Animated Sketches (18/19 Finished)

I have finished (18/19) sketches so far.  The "Spring" Sketch (Number 13) couldn't be done, due to technical difficulties.

Sketch 1:

Sketch 2:

Sketch 3:

Sketch 4:

Sketch 5:

Sketch 6:

Sketch 7:

Sketch 8:

Sketch 9:

Sketch 10:

Sketch 11:

Sketch 12:

Sketch 13:

COULD NOT BE DONE, DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Sketch 14:

Sketch 15:

Sketch 16:

Sketch 17:

Sketch 18:

Sketch 19:

CONCLUSION:

1. The first thing that you would do, to create a "Coat Hanger", would to create a triangle.  THEN, you would filet the edges, so then you have a triangle, with rounded edges.  Then, you could create a point, and arch it, then a line from one part of the arch, to the triangle.

2. The Thread function could be used, to create a spindle on a wooden handle.

3. The CAD Software easily makes changes, by adding and subtracting 3-D Objects from the area.

4. If something was added, on a 2D Sketch, they could delete the addition.  Otherwise, the only other way to undo, besides the undo functgion itself, would be CTRL + Z.