Mackenzie's ETEC Blog

In the beginning:  I created my Twitter account back in 2009 (when the logo still had legs) and last tweeted in 2011, almost 12 years ago (when the logo still had eyes)! It feels weird to be jumping back on this bandwagon so many years later. It was a blast from the past reading my old tweets -- I was traveling a lot for several engineering projects at the time, and mostly tweeted from airports when I got bored. While I followed a few engineering hashtags, I mostly used Twitter to see what businesses my friends were working in or promoting. It was a time of frequent job changes for many, especially somewhat recent grads who had just spread out across the country.  What's new: Looking at Twitter now, I'm excited to see that a few of my old friends are still tweeting, and I get a peek at what careers or projects they are working on now. I wasn't in education last time I was on Twitter, so that opens up a whole new area of interests to explore. I'm also following my class ...

Search 1: Thankfully, a search of my name in quotes "Mackenzie Miller" did not turn up anything about me for the first 12 pages.  Search 2: A search for "Mackenzie B Miller" found my TikTok page (@mackenzie.b.miller) which has a total of 1 post, 10 followers and 2 likes, representing a rather small digital footprint.  Search 3: Next, I started adding some descriptors. Both "Mackenzie Miller" with "engineer" and "Mackenzie Miller" with "teacher" brought up my LinkedIn profile, but not much else. My LinkedIn profile has 323 connections, mostly professional or work related, and shows a brief about me with my job history. While "Mackenzie Miller" with "circus" found my LinkedIn and also several images of me doing flying trapeze and a couple circus-related interviews I've done over the years.  Search 4: Next, I tried some proper nouns to go with my name. "Mackenzie Miller" with "Hockaday"...

Having just completed my makerspace course at TAMUC, here are some thoughts on my journey and what comes next! What was the build that you are most proud of and why? While my dancing baby Groot project was a personal favorite, in that it both challenged me and made me smile the most, the project that I would most like to showcase is my "bathymetry" sonar scanner project . As a science teacher, the motivation for this project (to model the bathymetry work of scientist Mary Tharpe) using our Arduino kit's sonar sensor has deep roots in my passion for teaching scientific concepts through hands-on discovery. If I can get students using new technology to do science, while also learning about science, and throw in some female science role models, I feel like I've hit the trifecta! Hopefully, I'll be able to develop this activity into some practical lesson plans I can use with my Middle School students. Go back to your first week and read each week's submission with...

1. Project: For this week’s challenge, we took on the "Iron Chef Challenge" of creating something using motors and sensors. I was inspired by the idea of creating a dancing baby Groot! Embracing the true maker's experiences, I did a lot of prototyping, building and rebuilding. I played with all three of the motors that came with my kit! And ultimately, my project morphed from a dancing baby Groot to a chill baby Groot spinning his favorite record on his finger tip! Original Inspiration: Dancing Baby Groot! 2. Code: This is the code I developed this week. It uses what I learned about the ultrasonic sensor last week to turn on the DC motor (for a minimum of 3 seconds) when something is within 10 centimeters of the sonar detector. 3. Circuit Design: The following described my circuit design for the DC motor triggered by the sonar detector. Video of Circuit for Iron Chef Challenge (0:36) 4. Electronic Diagram: The following electronic diagrams were taken from my design journa...

1. Project: For this week’s challenge, I attempted to use the sonar sensor to create an array output that I can use to generate a topography map. I was motivated to try this because I've been looking to create projects inspired by female scientists. Mary Tharpe 's success at mapping the ocean floors using sonar data, leading to the discovery of the mid-Atlantic ridge, is relevant to our middle school science curriculum. Using Arduinos would give them the opportunity to practice bathymetry, following in the footsteps of this groundbreaking scientist! 2. Code: This is the code I developed to record sonar mapping data from my sonar sensor. After testing, I modified it to include lights that blink as a visual indicator when data is taken.  A challenge for students trying to breakdown / understand / modify this code could be: how would you modify for bathymetry to adjust for the speed of sound through water vs. the speed of sound through air? 3. Circuit Design: The following circuit...

  1. Project: In this week’s challenge, our goal was to learn use the random function, custom embedded functions, for loops and if statements to create a random dice roll and then count the distribution of dice rolls. 2. Code: The following code displays a random dice roll on a 7-LED array and counts the distribution of rolls for 100 dice rolls. 3. Circuit Design: For the following circuit design, the 7 LED's are arranged so a to display the typical dice number arrangements from 1 through 6 for each random number that is generated. Video of Circuit for Random Dice Roller (0:25) 4. Electronic Diagram: The following electronic diagrams were taken from my design journal. For the following circuit design, the potentiometer functions as a color selector. Turning the knob on the potentiometer will determine which color the RGB LED will shine. Electronic Diagram for Random Dice Roller 5. Video of Project: Description of Project to Create Random Dice Roller (2:52) 6. Explanation of Project...

1. Project: In this week’s challenge, our goal was to learn how to use the color-changing RGB (red, green, blue) LED and play around with Arduino C coding to learn how to use For loops and Arrays. Then combine that new knowledge to create a project. 2. Code: The following code combines my experimentation with the potentiometer and my understanding of how the AnalogWrite function can work to control the color of my RGB LED. After briefly running through the range of colors, by LED blinks off. Then the color can be controlled by turning the potentiometer dial. 3. Circuit Design: For the following circuit design, the potentiometer functions as color selector. The PWM (pulse width modulation) digital output pins control the intensity of each color (red, green and blue) of my RGB LED. Video of Circuit for Potentiometer as Color Selector (0:49) 4. Electronic Diagram: The following electronic diagrams were taken from my design journal. For the following circuit design, the potentiometer funct...