THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM PORTFOLIO
INTRODUCTION
During this unit, we studied and analyzed information in order to solve a story that Edgar Allan Poe wrote. In this story, he refers to a man that is being held in bondage on a table. There is a thirty foot pendulum that is swinging and lowering towards his body. The man's ropes are being chewed by rodents and it will take approximately one minute for him to escape the ropes. He says that he has twelve swings till he will be killed by the pendulum. The point of this unit is to gather the given data and figure out how long it takes a thirty foot pendulum to complete twelve swings in order to know if he is able to escape.
PORTFOLIO AND FINAL CONCLUSIONS
Cover Letter: Mastery Section
Self Assessment: 29-30/30
The initial question that we were asked after reading the story is, “Does the story’s hero have time to carry out his escape plan?” After reading and analyzing the given information in the story, I came to the conclusion that it is very difficult to accurately predict whether or not he can escape. In order to answer the question, we would need to know more information, like, how much time it will take to roll of the table or how much stealth he has. We looked into standard deviations and put info about different factors to see what impacted it most. After Studying the different factors that affect the experiment, we found that the only factor with a significant impact on the time it takes to make 12 full swings is the length of the rope. We know that the pendulum is around 30 feet, so we calculated the amount of time it would take by finding and equation based on date we collected from experiments. My group found that the best fitting equation according to the data is Y= the square root of x-2 then add two by putting our information on a table and curve fitting a line based on the parent function. After inputting 30 into the equation, we found that it would take 20.92 seconds to complete four full swings, multiplied that to find the duration for 12, which is 62.76 seconds in total. And he states that it would take approximately one minute (60 seconds) till he gets out of his bondage. This would only leave him two second to escape the wrath of the pendulum, which is possible, but unlikely. But, it is hard to tell with the amount of information given. Each piece of work that is currently in my portfolio shows my growth in this unit. I had actually never learned about standard deviations or normal curves, so it was cool to touch on a new subject. The pieces of work show how I was able to learn this new subject and apply it to the unit questions and smaller experiments.
Effort and Growth Section:
Self Assessment: 30/30
As we progressed, I put more and more effort in the unit question. The reason i believe i deserve full credit for effort in this unit is because I had missed the first days of learning about standard deviations and normal curves, and I had no idea how to approach the work when we first got it. I had to catch up on many different assignments and learn separately from the class. Additionally, I had to figure out how to put in data, curve fit, learn about standard deviations and normal curves all on my own. Most of the time, when I worked with a group, they would not participate in any of the work so i had to do it all myself. I believe that throughout this unit, I put in maximum effort to experiment and record data and use ti to help us answer the unit question. I grew as a learner and expanded on my independence skills. I had to learn the ability to be patient with others when I do not work well with them or if they do not work at all. Math is a subject that takes time, and I finally understand that I can take my time on one small subject for as long as i need. The pieces that i put in my portfolio each show the amount of work i put into finding data and how to properly input it in order to fund its significance. All the pieces show how it eventually led into the bigger unit question. One specific piece of evidence is the last piece we did, the final conclusions on the unit question. This is because i did most of the work on m own, and got a pretty accurate answer.
Curiosity Section:
Self Assessment: 9/10
Extension Question: Are there any other factors that can be ruled out that may affect the final conclusions about the unit question? Or What if the length of the pendulum were to be 50 feet?
Self Assessment: 29-30/30
The initial question that we were asked after reading the story is, “Does the story’s hero have time to carry out his escape plan?” After reading and analyzing the given information in the story, I came to the conclusion that it is very difficult to accurately predict whether or not he can escape. In order to answer the question, we would need to know more information, like, how much time it will take to roll of the table or how much stealth he has. We looked into standard deviations and put info about different factors to see what impacted it most. After Studying the different factors that affect the experiment, we found that the only factor with a significant impact on the time it takes to make 12 full swings is the length of the rope. We know that the pendulum is around 30 feet, so we calculated the amount of time it would take by finding and equation based on date we collected from experiments. My group found that the best fitting equation according to the data is Y= the square root of x-2 then add two by putting our information on a table and curve fitting a line based on the parent function. After inputting 30 into the equation, we found that it would take 20.92 seconds to complete four full swings, multiplied that to find the duration for 12, which is 62.76 seconds in total. And he states that it would take approximately one minute (60 seconds) till he gets out of his bondage. This would only leave him two second to escape the wrath of the pendulum, which is possible, but unlikely. But, it is hard to tell with the amount of information given. Each piece of work that is currently in my portfolio shows my growth in this unit. I had actually never learned about standard deviations or normal curves, so it was cool to touch on a new subject. The pieces of work show how I was able to learn this new subject and apply it to the unit questions and smaller experiments.
Effort and Growth Section:
Self Assessment: 30/30
As we progressed, I put more and more effort in the unit question. The reason i believe i deserve full credit for effort in this unit is because I had missed the first days of learning about standard deviations and normal curves, and I had no idea how to approach the work when we first got it. I had to catch up on many different assignments and learn separately from the class. Additionally, I had to figure out how to put in data, curve fit, learn about standard deviations and normal curves all on my own. Most of the time, when I worked with a group, they would not participate in any of the work so i had to do it all myself. I believe that throughout this unit, I put in maximum effort to experiment and record data and use ti to help us answer the unit question. I grew as a learner and expanded on my independence skills. I had to learn the ability to be patient with others when I do not work well with them or if they do not work at all. Math is a subject that takes time, and I finally understand that I can take my time on one small subject for as long as i need. The pieces that i put in my portfolio each show the amount of work i put into finding data and how to properly input it in order to fund its significance. All the pieces show how it eventually led into the bigger unit question. One specific piece of evidence is the last piece we did, the final conclusions on the unit question. This is because i did most of the work on m own, and got a pretty accurate answer.
Curiosity Section:
Self Assessment: 9/10
Extension Question: Are there any other factors that can be ruled out that may affect the final conclusions about the unit question? Or What if the length of the pendulum were to be 50 feet?