Symmetry in (Programmed) Motion
In this project, my class created kaleidoscopes using a using a program called Starlogo TNG. It is a drag and drop programming program. In StarLogo, the things that move around the screen and make things happen are called agents. The plane that the agents moved on was called Spaceland. A point on Spaceland was called a patch.
A big part of this project was symmetry. Symmetry is, put simply, when something (a line, shape, etc.) is mirrored on a line. The objects have to be congruent, but flipped, and be the exact same distance from the line. We also looked into rigid motion. The three types of ridged motion that we looked into are translation, rotation, and reflection. Translation is when something moves in a straight line. Rotation is when something is moving in a circular motion, either in a circle, or just spinning around. Reflection is when something is symmetrical (mirrored on a line).
All kaleidoscopes use symmetry, so we applied it to ours. My final kaleidoscope has symmetry because of the movement, and the changing colors, both of which are reflected along all of my four lines.
A big part of this project was symmetry. Symmetry is, put simply, when something (a line, shape, etc.) is mirrored on a line. The objects have to be congruent, but flipped, and be the exact same distance from the line. We also looked into rigid motion. The three types of ridged motion that we looked into are translation, rotation, and reflection. Translation is when something moves in a straight line. Rotation is when something is moving in a circular motion, either in a circle, or just spinning around. Reflection is when something is symmetrical (mirrored on a line).
All kaleidoscopes use symmetry, so we applied it to ours. My final kaleidoscope has symmetry because of the movement, and the changing colors, both of which are reflected along all of my four lines.
Here are some screenshots of my benchmarks:
Benchmark #3
For benchmark #3, we had to:
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Benchmark #4
For benchmark #4, we:
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Benchmark #7
This is my final kaleidoscope! I had lots of other plans for it, but I ran out of time. (By the way, the colors of the circle are random, but always synced.)
This is my final kaleidoscope! I had lots of other plans for it, but I ran out of time. (By the way, the colors of the circle are random, but always synced.)
Project Reflection:
This project was really a mixed bag for me. I really enjoyed the coding, and logical thinking it required, but it was also really difficult, and time was an issue. Overall, though, there were two main challenges and two main successes for the project. One challenge was that I wasn't able to fully code the semi-circle for benchmark #4. There was an issue where if the program ran for too long, the semi circle moved downwards. I overcame this challenges by asking for a friend's help and looking at their code. Another challenge was that I wasn't able to finish all that I was planning for the final kaleidoscope. I did not overcome this challenge, but I think I could have avoided it all together by waiting until the end to add the color for the circle. Creating and debugging that ate up a lot of my coding time.
A success that happened during this project was that I was able to complete most of the benchmarks on my own. With some of the coding in StarLogo being as complicated as it was, I was glad that I was able to complete the benchmarks with relative ease. Another success with the project was that I found Geogebra to be very helpful in benchmarks #6 and #7. Using the reflect tool, I was able to reflect all of my objects off of the primary sector. With this tool, whenever I moved a point in my primary sector, all corresponding points in other sectors moved with it. This proved very helpful for finding coordinate points, and playing with the placements of things.
This project was really a mixed bag for me. I really enjoyed the coding, and logical thinking it required, but it was also really difficult, and time was an issue. Overall, though, there were two main challenges and two main successes for the project. One challenge was that I wasn't able to fully code the semi-circle for benchmark #4. There was an issue where if the program ran for too long, the semi circle moved downwards. I overcame this challenges by asking for a friend's help and looking at their code. Another challenge was that I wasn't able to finish all that I was planning for the final kaleidoscope. I did not overcome this challenge, but I think I could have avoided it all together by waiting until the end to add the color for the circle. Creating and debugging that ate up a lot of my coding time.
A success that happened during this project was that I was able to complete most of the benchmarks on my own. With some of the coding in StarLogo being as complicated as it was, I was glad that I was able to complete the benchmarks with relative ease. Another success with the project was that I found Geogebra to be very helpful in benchmarks #6 and #7. Using the reflect tool, I was able to reflect all of my objects off of the primary sector. With this tool, whenever I moved a point in my primary sector, all corresponding points in other sectors moved with it. This proved very helpful for finding coordinate points, and playing with the placements of things.