Today we are working on Greenpower USA applications for those who want to apply. Pete is finishing his resume, while two others are just starting on their applications. The internet has been down all day, so it has been difficult to download the applications. The internet has also causing Word to be slow and will not download outlines that they can use for the resumes. Sadie, Josh, and Aiden are creating the excel sheets and researching the prices for items and parts we need. Because of the internet situation, everything has been running slow and is causing a delay in research of the prices of the items. Sean and Ian are working on the nose cone on Solid Edge.  Will A and Will V went to the shop and found the manual, so they can see the measurements of the wheel and how to take it off. They are checking the size of the prototype to make sure it is relatively the same size.  
 
Riddle of the Day: What never asks questions and but is always answered. What am I?

​With more to come,
            Ella 

​Today the team is working on different tasks for the car. Will A, Sean, Ian, and Will V are working on the prototypes for the steering wheel and the nose cone. They have discovered that the parts on the program are connected and they cannot be seperated, so they have to work around the existing parts and build on to the prototypes. Christina and Pete are working on their Greenpower USA applications for next year. They must write an essay and a resume and answer questions. Their resume must look professional so they are using a template and are getting help on how to write the resume. The USA team is trying to work around everyone’s extracurricular activities, so they can be on the team.  Josh, Corbin, and Aiden are making an excel sheet of all the things the team wants and needs and what we need to order. The sheet is a way for us to see how much each item costs and the total cost of everything we want. Will V went to go and measure some parts on the car, so they can work around it in Solid Edge. Aiden and Josh are finding the correct parts we need to order for the car. 

Inspiration of the day: "Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.”
-Swami Sivananda
Explanation: Our team is a group of hard workers who enjoy what we do in the classroom and in the shop. Our dedication and love shows through our car and everything we do. We take pride in our accomplishments and have grown from them. We are successful in our actions and what we do even if we do not win all our races. We have won in growth and skills. We have learned a lot in Greenpower and have worked hard each day which shows are determination and love for the car and for the team.   

With more to come,
           Ella

Today we are working on nose cone and steering wheel on Solid Edge. Ian, Will, and Sean are making great strides in making these models. Some of us have never used this program before, and we are learning a lot about it. Sadie and Pete are getting the sketches from the shop because we are in the class today. Corbin and Aiden are in the shop working on the prototypes. Today is a very slow day because it is right before the break.  Some of the team is just cleaning, so we have a clean and organized room to come back to. 

Answer to yesterday’s riddle: The letter E

With more to come,
    Ella and Josh

​Today we had a team meeting about our upcoming fundraiser which is the snack cart. We had a schedule made for the team so we know when we need to run the cart. Sadie and Pete went to the principal so we know when the cart can start after school. They also are going to write a script to put on NewsCast. Will A. and Will V. are still creating the steering wheel and nose cone on Solid Edge. Ian has discovered how to use the rounding tool on the program. Using Solid Edge is a learning experience for some of the team members because they never have used it before. The drivers need to decide what steering wheel setup they want.  Corbin and Aiden are making a prototype of the side panel.  Josh is looking up tires to see if we want to improve our tires that we have now. He also is looking up new aerodynamic materials that we can add to the car.  
 
Riddle: I am the beginning of everything, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end, and the end of every place. What am I?
 
With more to come,
     Ella and Josh 

Today the team is working on making adjustments to the car and the PowerPoint. Christina and Thomas are fixing the PowerPoint as it is not finished and they need to update it with new information from the race.  Will V. and Will A.  are working on creating a new steering wheel using Solid Edge and using some sketches they’ve made. Will A. is making a new sketch that better describes what the wheel should look like, instead of the rough sketches we have right now. The drivers need a new steering wheel because our current wheel hurts their hands when they push the button for long periods of time. The drivers decided they want to make the steering wheel bigger and rounder. Corbin is creating a side panel prototype. We took a team vote on if we should use duct tape instead if a corrugated plastic side panel.  Josh is updating the pictures on the home page of our website.  
 
Answer to yesterday’s joke: He wanted to see time fly
 
Inspiration of the Day: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” -Milton Berle
Explanation: The team cannot expect to win the race; we must work hard for what we want. The team makes great strides and achieve much each day. Although we need to plan ahead, the team should not live in the future and not focus on our current issues. We may not always have great opportunities but we create opportunities for our team.
 
With more to come,
    Ella and Josh

The race was last weekend. Our team scored a 100 on our presentation and we got 6th on our race. It went well and we are proud of our achievements. Although we got a 100 on our presentation, we can still improve in some aspects. The race was a great learning experience, and the team would recommend it to anyone who wants to have a career in a stem program. Today we watched the presentation. The team had some critiques that we would like to work on and improve our speaking skills. The team is changing tires and unpacking our toolbox.  We need to change the tires, so they do not run flat when we practice. The team had to move the car, and put it on saw horses so the tires could be changed and inflated. 

Answer to yesterday’s riddle: Ton

Joke of the day: Why did the student throw his clock out of the window.

​With more to come,
    Ella and Josh 

​This weekend we had our first race of the year. We came in 6th place out of 11 teams, even though we were 7th in qualifying. Our battery ran very efficiently and we stayed consistent on our lap times around an even 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Our presentation won the best presentation award by scoring a perfect 100. Today we are working on orthographic projections for the new steering wheel, that we are planning on 3d printing. The team is researching new tires so that we can have better traction on the track which will make us go faster. Our build team is researching a more aerodynamic body cover for our car. Our team is researching new wheel covers so the car can go faster when racing. We took our old wheel covers off for the race because they were trapping air in the spoke which was not as aerodynamic as we thought.

Riddle of the day: What is backwards not, but forwards heavy?

With more to come,
           Josh 

Today we practiced our presentation numerous times, and worked hard on knowing our lines. We had a funny moment and had to restart the entire presentation again. Josh was absent was today, so Josh’s partners on the slides he covers had to present his part as well. We also prepared for the race and scrutineering. We organized the toolbox and relabeled some parts on our car. We fixed the duct tape and made sure we had a smooth line connecting the different parts and to the car. Yesterday we aligned the car’s tires, so we do not have unaligned tires on race day. We fixed the camber on the front left tire and practiced presentation.  

Answer to yesterday’s Joke: in the dictionary

Inspiration of the Day: “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love what you are doing ” -Pele
Explanation: In Greenpower, we are faced with many challenges. Some days are rougher than other and we feel like giving up. The team powers through it and we rise to the occasion and face our challenges with a brave face and determination. Each team member loves what they do here and enjoy the work and the rest of the team. We have fun every day and our happy to be here.

​With more to come,
             Ella

 Today we are doing our final 90-minute practice.  While the driver is practicing, the rest of the team is presenting the presentation in preparation for when we actually present on raceday.  During the presentation the rest of the team gives advice and helpful suggestions. Corbin and Thomas are helping with blog while the Josh is presenting today. Christina is keeping time and laps.  During our last practice we got 111 laps and hopefully we can get more today.  Corbin and Josh have to hold the signs out for the driver. This is an important job because it tells the driver when to pit. 

Answer to yesterday’s riddle: dozen

Joke of the Day:  When does Friday come before Thursday

​With more to come,
          Ella 

Today we are discussing next weekend’s plans for the race.  Will, Sean, and Ian are doing scrutineering and checking out the car and fixing everything that seems off. Pete is teaching the new drivers what apex means and how to do it during the race. Corbin is helping Josh and Thomas with his script and is giving him constructive criticism. Pete is now making inside wheel cover prototypes.  We decided to take off our outside wheel covers because we could not finish our inside wheel covers. If we did not have both then the air would get caught in the tires and slow us down. Thomas and Corbin are folding our new brochures that we will pass out.

Riddle of the Day: I know a word; six letters it contains. And yet if you take one away, twelve is what remains.

​With more to come,
           Ella