Sunday, September 28, 2014

Week of Sep 29

This Week in DE 

DE classes will start understanding basic logic circuits and building working circuits. On Monday, we will learn about binary numbers and basic logic circuit design steps, followed by a soldering exercise and then briefly introduce sequential logic circuits. For the rest of this year, we will dive deeper in to those types of circuits.

Agendas for the week:
I am going to start linking the agendas for each class day of the week on this page.  Those agendas also have a link to the specific curriculum page in Canvas that contains instructions and the assignment.  You would have to have your Canvas login to access the material.  Wednesday's agenda includes a list of all of the items that need to be completed before Friday for this six weeks' grade.

Videos for this week:
Monday: Binary Numbers
Wednesday: Soldering
Friday: Finish soldering
The agenda now links to the files in Canvas if you need access to them at home.  You have to log in to access the curriculum, the the link will work once you have logged in.


Every year, we send teams to the Texas A&M University Engineering Expo, this year named the Sparc Conference. Students will form teams and compete against each other and teams from other high schools around the state in two of six competitions. The conference is held this year on Saturday, November 22. If you are interested, talk to your friends and start forming a team of at least 6 but not more than 8 students. If you can't build a team of 6 on your own, I can add you to one of our other teams or combine smaller teams. Fill out this interest form so that I can register the teams. There is no cost to you to enter the contest or even transportation. We will provide a bus to take the teams to the A&M campus.


You can choose to compete in one of the following 6 competitoins:

ReservWars - Challenge competitors to understand the structure and function of petroleum reservoirs, as well as how to “clean up” when the war is over (after an oil spill).
The Boat Float - Have you ever wondered how huge ships made of steel float in the water? Explore the principles of buoyancy and density by designing a boat that will float!
Galaxy Glider - Do you want to put your knowledge of airplanes and physics to the test? Then come and join the Galaxy Glider Contest.
Bottle Rocket Cars - Propel your way to the top of the bottle rocket car racing circuit! Design a car that is propelled by a fizzy reaction and watch it beat the clock!
Code to Survive - Survival is an unforgiving game, and it's your job to keep your organism alive. You must program a brain to gain competitive edge!
The Egg Express - Can you deliver the goods? Your engineering team must construct a casing for an egg that will withstand free fall to a hard surface from various heights, as well as have the capability to float.

See me if you have any additional questions, but I need to register teams this week before registration fills up.

This Week at RRHS
No special schedules this week; just the normal routine except that this is the last week of the first six weeks. Make sure that you are on top of all assignments and grades as I will need the weekend to get any work graded and entered before report cards come out next week. .

College Recruiter Visits This Week:
Monday - University of Alabama
Wednesday - Johns Hopkins
Friday - Southwestern University
               The University of Chicago

Check with the counselors' office to sign up if you are interested in speaking with representatives of one of these universities.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Week of Sep 22

This Week in DE
DE classes will finish the circuit analysis assignments (calculations, simulation, and breadboarding) before starting a study of digital components and how they are identified and used in circuits.  We will have a quiz over all that we have covered so far in class on Thursday.  Next week, I will teach you how to solder, and you will solder a simple little circuit board.

Videos for this week:






Every year, we send teams to the Texas A&M University Engineering Expo, this year named the Sparc Conference. Students will form teams and compete against each other and teams from other high schools around the state in two of six competitions. The conference is held this year on Saturday, November 22. If you are interested, talk to your friends and start forming a team of at least 6 but not more than 8 students. If you can't build a team of 6 on your own, I can add you to one of our other teams or combine smaller teams. Fill out this interest form so that I can register the teams. There is no cost to you to enter the contest or even transportation. We will provide a bus to take the teams to the A&M campus.

You can choose to compete in one of the following 6 competitoins:


  • ReservWars - Challenge competitors to understand the structure and function of petroleum reservoirs, as well as how to “clean up” when the war is over (after an oil spill).
  • The Boat Float - Have you ever wondered how huge ships made of steel float in the water? Explore the principles of buoyancy and density by designing a boat that will float! 
  • Galaxy Glider - Do you want to put your knowledge of airplanes and physics to the test? Then come and join the Galaxy Glider Contest. 
  • Bottle Rocket Cars - Propel your way to the top of the bottle rocket car racing circuit! Design a car that is propelled by a fizzy reaction and watch it beat the clock!
  • Code to Survive - Survival is an unforgiving game, and it's your job to keep your organism alive. You must program a brain to gain competitive edge! 
  • The Egg Express - Can you deliver the goods? Your engineering team must construct a casing for an egg that will withstand free fall to a hard surface from various heights, as well as have the capability to float.
See me if you have any additional questions, but I need to register teams this week before registration fills up.

This Week at RRHS
No special schedules this week; just the normal routine. However, be aware that this is the fifth week of our six weeks, which ends next Friday (October 3). Make sure that you are on top of all assignments.

Monday - RRISD College & Career Fair at the RRHS cafeteria
Boise State University
Wednesday - University of Arkansas
Birmingham-Southern University
Thursday - Louisiana State Univeristy
University of New Hampshire
Friday - American University

Check with the counselors' office to sign up if you are interested in speaking with representatives of one of these universities.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Week of September 8

Finish up your circuit exploration on Tuesday and then calculate the characteristics of these circuits using Ohm's law, Kirchoff's voltage law, and Kirchoff's current law.  Be sure that you are signed up on Remind.com in order to get notifications when the videos are ready for you to view.  It is very important that you watch these videos prior to class so that you are ready to take full advantage of the class time that we have.

For Tuesday, watch the video on basic circuit theory to get a background on how to calculate voltage and current at various points in the circuit.

This week at RRHS
Remember that RRHS' Open House is Monday evening and starts at 6:00 p.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony of the A Plus Credit Union branch housed in our new 1300 building followed by a brief PTSA meeting.  Parents are invited to attend the evening and then visit our classrooms.  I look forward to meeting you and to discussing your child and our the year that we will have.

College Visits This Week
Tuesday - University of Dayton
Tuesday - Texas State University
Friday - Texas Tech