Mechatronics

Hi​ ​everyone!​ ​It’s​ ​Lottie​ ​and​ ​Phoebe.​ ​We​ ​will​ ​be​ ​informing​ ​you​ ​about​ ​our​ ​wonderful Mechatronics​ ​Program​ ​that​ ​we​ ​have​ ​at​ ​Selwyn​ ​House​ ​School.

What​ ​is​ ​Mechatronics?
Mechatronics​ ​is​ ​a​ ​mix​ ​of​ ​engineering,​ ​technology,​ ​maths,​ ​art,​ ​creating,​ ​and​ ​building. 

What​ ​are​ ​we​ ​doing?
This​ ​term​ ​the​ ​Year​ ​8s​ ​get​ ​to​ ​group​ ​ourselves​ ​in​ ​groups​ ​of​ ​1,2​ ​or​ ​3​ ​and​ ​create​ ​anything we​ ​want!​ ​We​ ​have​ ​access​ ​to​ ​the​ ​3-D​ ​printer,​ ​laser​ ​cutter,​ ​the​ ​Food​ ​tech​ ​room, robotics​ ​room,​ ​wood​ ​cutting/shaping​ ​equipment,​ ​the​ ​Art​ ​room​ ​and​ ​any​ ​materials​ ​we need!​ ​Everyone​ ​in​ ​Year​ ​8​ ​is​ ​very​ ​excited​ ​about​ ​this​ ​opportunity​ ​and​ ​are​ ​looking forward​ ​to​ ​creating​ ​something​ ​to​ ​leave​ ​a​ ​mark​ ​at​ ​Selwyn​ ​House.

Some​ ​ideas​ ​we​ ​have:
Re-designing/Organising​ ​the​ ​Year​ ​8​ ​cupboard.
Making​ ​a​ ​pencil​ ​case.
Creating​ ​a​ ​Boom​ ​Box.
Giant​ ​operation​ ​game.
Making​ ​an​ ​Evi​ ​backpack
Designing​ ​and​ ​creating​ ​a​ ​costume​ ​for​ ​a​ ​Barbie​ ​Doll. 
Creating​ ​an​ ​automatic​ ​gate​ ​opener.
An​ ​egg​ ​holder.
Making​ ​a​ ​skateboard.
And​ ​more.....

If​ ​you​ ​have​ ​any​ ​questions​ ​or​ ​feedback​ ​feel​ ​free​ ​to​ ​leave​ ​a​ ​comment​ ​below.​ ​We​ ​will​ ​be posting​ ​pictures​ ​when​ ​the​ ​products​ ​are​ ​complete.​ ​So​ ​stay​ ​tuned! 

Felicity's Passion Project

Architecting Adventures

Hi, I’m Felicity and for my Passion Project I am designing floor plan for a house on a software archiCAD and I will be making a miniature model of this house as well i will also be making my floor plan into to a digital 3D model. I choose this topic because love designing houses and have always wanted to learn how the architects get there floor plan into a 3d model. I also love drawing and maths and I think this is a great thing that involves both of those things

Process

1. Research

2. Get software and trial the software and learn how to use it confidently

3. Start practicing and designing my own floor plans

4. Begin designing the final floor plan.

5. Complete floor plan

6. Start getting all measurements for miniature design

7. Use foam board and start making miniature model

Here are some photos of me working, my mentor meetings and the expert who I learnt a lot of things off.

I have made a blog where I document things that I have been doing in passion project I have been posting when there is something the has happened in my passion project that i think people would want to know about. Click here to view blog!

What have I learnt?

During Passion Project I have learnt a lot!

• I have learnt about ArchiCAD and all the features on archiCAD and I now feel quite knowledgeable.
• I have learnt a lot of things to remember about making a floor plan like which direction the house should be facing - North, East, South or West, is it functional, what the family wants - big kitchen, big laundry, big entertainment area, small garden etc. Does the family want an open space kitchen dining living.
• Things don’t always go to plan.

Here is a link to my passion project imovie - https://youtu.be/rud2-FTG4Mw

Thanks

Felicity

Eloise's Passion Project

Hermione's Passion Project

Life isn’t perfect

but your outfit can be!

Hey, it’s Hermione. I have always loved clothes and DIY’s but I never thought about doing sewing to make my own clothes because it seemed like a bit of a faff, I found a way to make my own clothes without always having to sew. This year my Passion Project goal is to make my own clothes that I can wear and a bag that I can use, but make them out of old or second hand clothes and different types of materials that I have found. Then I want to take photos of them and put them in a book or magazine.

Early on in Passion Project I did lots of research on how to easily upcycle clothing. I have looked mainly in sewing magazines and on Pinterest. One of the most common ways to upcycle bags that I saw was making by them out of coffee bean bags.

Here is an example

of a coffee bean bag

The most common way to upcycle jeans that I found was to make them into shorts by cutting old jeans at the length that shorts would usually be at. I looked at a some sewing magazines and I saw that at the moment embroidery is quite popular (I already have collected and used some iron on’s from Spotlight).

I phoned Jane Gilder who does sewing courses, near the beginning of the year. She got back to me and said that I can start the course on the last week of the Term 1 school holidays. It is now Term 3 and I have been going to sewing lessons since then once a week , I have made one bag which I got the material for off of a dress that I found in the second hand clothing store in Merivale.

This is the bag that I made

I recently started sewing a skirt which I found the material for in Spotlight at The Colombo. In the holidays I found an old denim jacket of my sisters, I took of the sleeves and put on some iron on sparkly icecreams and glasses.

This is the waistcoat I made

Next I want to finish off the jeans that I am making into shorts, all I need to do for that is finish off cutting off the exes leg part. After that I need to find a shirt to upcycle and start looking for some other things to upcycle.

Some new learning that I have made:

• How to use a sewing machine
• I also found out that when you are making something from scratch you need a LOT of fabric.
• You can make a massive difference to an item of clothing without much effort

Amelia's Passion Project

Photogenic Blossoms

Goal/Purpose: My goal was to make 10 small stacking blocks to give away and 1 whole set to keep. I chose to do photography so I could see the different perspectives of photos and find out how much effort it  takes to take a perfectly focused photo.

The Process:

1. Choose my Photography Theme
2. Get a camera
3. Learn how to use my camera
4. Take lots of photos
5. Choose my product
6. Build My Product                                                                                     
7. Plan out my presentation
8. Present

Reflection: I am very proud of my photography skills that have developed over the year and also the blocks I made that turned out perfect. I found it difficult to hold my camera still without a tripod, so I would usually try to balance my camera on my knee or on the ground. If I were to do photography again I would most likely take a wider range of photos instead of just flowers. Passion Project has been such a great experience that I am just so glad it is compulsory as it teaches you how to organise yourself, do things yourself and of course think for yourself.

Amelia Adriaens

Reilly's Passion Project

Ella C's Passion Project

Screen Printing

My Goal

Was to learn how to screen print and to be able to screen print at home.

My Purpose 

I chose the topic of screen printing so I could combine 2 of my passions - art and clothing design. Screen printing allows me to do this because I can create my own designs and put them onto fabric to create art or clothing. I also wanted to learn something new and screen printing was something I didn’t know anything about.

My Process

Term 1

• researched about screen printing courses/workshops
• Book a screen printing course
• Look at designs, collect a variety  

Term 2

• Go to course/learn how to screen print
• Organise meet mentor meeting
• Extend my Passion Project goal

Term 3

• Research about resources needed to screen print
• Gather screen printing resources
• Screen print at home

Term 4

• Essay
• Board
• Present  

My Reflection

Passion Project gave me the opportunity to learn a new and creative skill – screen printing.

I am really proud of all the things I have been able to achieve:

• I have learnt how to screen print
• Put my own designs onto screens
• Created many screen prints
• Collected all the resources needed to screen print
• Screen printed at home
• Got some of classmates interested in screen printing, wanting their own screen prints and even screen printing themselves.

Please comment any ideas, feedback or questions your have for me.

By Ella C