Build, Build, Build! So Far This semester we have gotten our hands dirty with chicken guts and stared building and using big girl tools in the maker space.
This spring semester we have started working on our DAP by choosing our team name, selecting our joint, deciding on our team norms and lastly looking at current protection devices. My teams name is POW (Protecting Others Worldwide) and we are going to design a device that protects baseball players elbows. Not only that but we also did a chicken dissection where we studied how the elbow joint moved (hinge joint) and we also took a better look at how the different layers of tissue (skin, fat, muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage, bone) interact with the joint and its movement. Currently we are building our joint and we are using the different things around us in the maker space, like screwdrivers and hand saws but we are also using things provided by Ms. Miesner, like the pipe cleaners, the clay and tire rubber. We have done all of this so far to better understand our joint and that way we will be able to protect.
Protection devices for the elbow are very common, but most of the devices are just sleeves, which isn’t much protection for the joint. With all the knowledge we have gained from the dissection and our past notes, I think we will be prepared to make a deceived that protects the overall joint and tissues.
So far, my team has been communicating pretty well, but I do feel like there is a sense of distrust, because one of the difficulties we had while building was that our device clay started to crack and some of my teammates started to freak out. I understand that was something unexpected but I think that we need to calm down a bit and trust each other more that way, when something goes wrong we will take it in a more calm way. But I do think that over all my team is collaborating pretty well and complete the tasks on time, even if at times they do get off task and talk about things that are not relevant.
Lastly, I’m very excited to see how our protection device will turn out to look like and all the great things we will accomplish through this spring semester.
StarPathDesign 
I found it very appealing that you added information and insight about how your team was working together. I liked that you admitted to having some difficulties, but made a plan to fix them. I also liked that you talked about the project broadly and it’s many components so far. Over all I liked learning about your progress through this project, good job.