Holiday Project Update

1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, wether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over break with your senior project? 

Unfortunately their is no major drag racing events in the area to attend so not many people race this season, including my mentor. Wether or not I need research or not over break I read up and informed myself on many automotive power adders. Over break I focused my research specifically on Turbos since it is what I believe the best potential answer for my EQ.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why? What was the source of what you learned?

The most important thing I learned was tuning your car, I still do not have the skills to tune a car iI learned the power of it over break. As some racers explain you can have all the power in the world but if you cant transfer it to the ground its all wasted. I also learned lots of factors like every car has different sweet spots, like for example some cars can only handle 15 Psi of boost while other cars can push the 45 psi range and in some cases the car with the lower boost psi wins the race, which shows how its all  in the little adjustments made by computer tuning.

3. If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related too answers related to answers related to your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

If I had the opportunity to talk to anyone I would talk to Dom "The Snake" Prudhomme because he has been in the racing industry before it was an industry. Few people his age continue to be on the top of drag racing. Throughout his years he has tried every single set up one can possibly think of, is one of the top names in drag racing, and has a modern race team that still competes today. Since he went up in the racing industry he should be able to give the best option for a race car that fits my budget.

December Blog Post

 Racer prepares his 5 second drag bike to race risking putting himself on the ground at over 150 mph

 Mike Garrett stages and launches to make one of the fastest passes during that thursday night thunder.

Speed Hunter's Mike Garrett first generation blown Nova makes a 5.61 pass that is great for its gasser roots when competitors are doing 7 seconds and higher.

Essential Question

1. Essential Question

"I reviewed the rule of 3 for an EQ."

2. Review the following EQ's (State if each meats the rule of three and why or why not)

• What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss? (Does not provide a good framework for more studies)
• What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation? (Works because has different points to be covered in research) 
• What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer? ( Does not allow for further research investigation by saying most it asks for only one answer)
• How can an anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain? (Does not allow for depth in research is asking for only one answer)

3. What is the best way to build and race a drag racing car, that can consistently win races?

       

Lesson 1 Refection

1. Positive Statement 
What were you most proud of in your lesson 1 presentation and why?

I am most proud of my overall skills to explain things relatively aren't easy to comprehend. Usually Drag Racing is something relatively hard to understand since it goes against everything most people already know about cars, but from the feed back I received people said they had a good idea of what I was explaining, and the fact I used no pictures or video to explain makes it that much better. It also nice to hear people say that they are exited for my next presentations.

2. Questions to Consider
a) What assessment would you give yourself on lesson 1 presentation (self-assessment)?

AP+

b) Explain why using lesson 1 component contract. 

I think I deserve an AP+ because regarding body language and volume I think I did great but I had trouble with sources since lots of the information is just basic car knowledge that I didn't really get from anywhere I didn't use sources as I should have, I know my information is true but the audience doesn't but I will work to improve that for my next presentation.
3. What worked for you in your lesson 1?

I think the flow of the overall presentation did well and I think I covered enough to where my audience has a basic understanding of the topic but still has a lot to learn regarding details. I also think i covered enough to where the audience is not overwhelmed as i have overwhelmed people with my topic.

4.(what didn't work?) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your lesson?

I think I should have had a little bit more time with timing as I finished what I need to say but I thought i hadn't made time so i continued talking when i should have finished. I also might try using sources in my presentation to keep it creditable, and work on making it a little more interesting for the audience with visuals.

October NMCA

This month i went to NMCA Flowmaster street car nationals with my mentor. This event was huge with hundreds of racers from all over the country. I was fortunate to learn a lot about racing, when one of my mentor's close friends car went out on test and tune day and I learned the dark side of racing where its not always fun and sometimes stuff goes wrong.

I also learned the reason behind the safety rules and all the different regulations. On saturday the 25th their was three separate crashes on the track each person was fine, although their cars weren't. It really showed safety is also a really big part of racing and it should be the top priority even before going fast.

Research and Working EQ

1. What is your working EQ?
2.What is a possible answer to your working EQ?

EQ: What is the best way to build and race a drag racing car, that can consistently win races?

• You should constantly check your car and improve on it, make sure every part is in good working shape and never run the with any mechanical issues.
• Sharpen reaction skills at the line by practicing and make sure you know the car well.

3.What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with your answer to your working EQ?

The biggest helpful source to me has been the book "The Fast Lane" by The National Hot Rod Association or the NHRA

4. Who is your mentor, or where are you doing mentorship, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?

My mentor is a very experienced drag racer that has been involved in many competitions, although he does not do this for a living he has decades of experience in all aspects of drag racing. It relates to my EQ because i learn skills of maintaining and preparing a drag car, i also learn some aspect of driving the car.

Independent Component 1 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for 30 hours.

My dad is a transmission mechanic and usually gets anywhere from 2 to 3 transmissions a month to rebuild from home. I usually am with him helping by handing tools and grabbing parts but as a more improvement i can get more hands on, he has gave me options to let me do the work while he attempts to help so id think this is a great way to learn a little more. My dad also has experience rebuilding engines and it would also be a good idea to get into doing some of that work.

2. Discus how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence. 

The expectation of 30 hours is not to big of a task i can probably complete them in one transmission rebuild since its very time consuming but as a plus id probably do a few more of these hours to get the hang of how stuff works and observe different cars.

3. And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

Rebuilding transmissions, and engines  would help to better explore my topic because it will help me better understand the basics of an engine and transmission. It will also help because a hands on learning works best with me, its one thing to read a manual but its another to physically do something.