top of page

SUMMER PETERSON

PLTW

I am currently a senior at Santa Monica High School, and I am in year 4 of the Project Lead the Way program: Engineering Design and Development. My goals for this year in capsone would be to lean more about product design, and how you transition from an idea to an actual product. I personally am very interested in the design process and the process of conceptualizing a product that can actually be of service to those using it. My contact information is as follows:

​

Email: sep@smmk12.org

Student ID: 133794

​

Resources

Syllabus

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Engineering Design and Development (EDD) is the capstone course in the PLTW high school engineering program. It is an engineering research course in which students work in teams to research, design and develop an original solution to a valid open-ended technical problem by applying the engineering design process. At the end of the course, student teams must submit a final written report as well as report and defend their final solution to outside reviewer panel (trade show). In addition, students will complete smaller projects during first semester.

DONATION REQUEST

State law requires us to provide a public education free of charge. Subject to certain exceptions, the right to a free public education means we cannot require students or their families to purchase supplies. Santa Monica High School will provide all necessary supplies for your child to have a quality educational experience. Students enrolled in Santa Monica High School are not required to pay any fee, deposit, or other charge for participation in an educational activity offered by the school or the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, except as authorized by law. Donations are sought and accepted for various activities and supplies, and are at times critical to the continued success of classes and activities, but donations are voluntary. Due to limited funding for necessary materials/supplies we ask that parents/guardians make a donation to the PLTW Engineering Class to purchase materials for the replacement of our current FPGAs and to update other class materials so that “PLTW kits” can be sent to each student for distance learning. We are requesting a donation of $100 per student, but any amount is greatly appreciated. These funds will make the 3rd year engineering class better for all students. You may send this donation by check made out to Santa Monica High School ASB and write “ PLTW Digital Electronics” in the memo. I thank you in advance for your willingness to help support the program.

EXPECTATION of STUDENTS

Students are expected to follow all classroom procedures as well as the school wide policies for behavior.

• Synchronous expectations (Synchronous Instruction shall be defined as a student or a group of students engaged in learning at the same time using technology that allows the teacher and student to connect in real-time to deliver): Timely actionable feedback to students, Direct instruction to students through video conferencing, Teacher guided peer-to-peer learning, Whole or small-group instruction. Students are expected to participate in class with both audio and video and complete all assigned synchronous work. Student attire must be school appropriate. Student Backgrounds (virtual or real) must be school appropriate and not a distraction to the learning environment

• Asynchronous expectations (Asynchronous Instruction shall be defined as): Learning is done on student’s own time or schedule. Students work independently. Self-guided instructional modules. Pre-recorded lessons. Discussion, emails, or chats that aren’t happening in real time. (Students are expected to complete all assigned asynchronous work.)

• Late Work Policy: Students can submit work up to 5 school days without a late work penalty. For students with IEP/504, extended time is based on the assignment’s due date per the IEP/504 plan for legal and compliance purposes.

• Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class periods and will be marked “absent” if not in attendance. If you are absent it is your responsibility to check google classroom and complete the work that you missed. You may get additional help for a missed class during flex time or office hours. The best way to get missed work is to download the work from Google Classroom. Work not turned in while you were absent will not be counted as late as long as it is turned in the day you return to school. If you are absent on the day of a test/quiz you must make-up the test or quiz on the day you return (after school or during lunch). If you are absent on the day of a lab or activity you must make up the lab during a teacher scheduled time.

CLASSROOM POLICIES

• Assignments (Asynchronous & Synchronous): Assignments will be assigned daily and will be submitted on Friday of each week. I strongly suggest that you circle any problems that you get wrong in the homework and complete these problems again when studying for an assessment

• Labs (Asynchronous & Synchronous):  Labs are an integral part of a chemistry class and will take part frequently. If a student is absent on the day of a lab then they can make up the lab on a designated day determined by the teacher and still receive full credit.

• Assessments (Synchronous): The dates of upcoming quizzes/tests will be found on the unit calendar posted in Google Classroom. If a student is absent on the day of a quiz/test, then they can make up the missed quiz/test on the day of their return.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Samohi believes that personal integrity is basic to all solid achievement and that students will reach their full potential only by being honest with themselves and others. Samohi also believes that academic integrity is basic to the progress of the school community toward rich learning and the respect of outside communities. Samohi expects all students to respect the educational purposes underlying all school activities and also expects administration, faculty, and staff to provide an environment that encourages honesty. Students must know that their teachers will not ignore or condone academic dishonesty and that every such incident will be penalized. Faculty and staff members who witness or suspect an incident of academic honesty are expected to report it to the Advisor and/or Administrator. Consequences include, but is not limited to, a grade of zero on the compromised assignment, completion of a comparable assignment for no course credit, parent notification, RJ circle, academic probation, the loss of honor society eligibility, final grade of W or F in the course.

CONCEPT CATEGORIES

Students will be assessed for the following EDD Concepts listed below.

SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2: Personal Website/Blog, What’s the Problem?, Individual Research and Presentation of an innovative solution, Capstone Project, Research a Problem, Design a Solution

Capstone Project: Create a Prototype & Testing Plan, Evaluate & Reflect on the Design Process, Present the Design Process, Beyond EDD, Patent Research

GRADING

Grades will be broken down into four grading categories: 60 % Assessments (Projects + Presentations) 40 % Assignments (Website/Blog + Homework)

SERVICES

Blog Post #3

For me, the picture I inserted below describes my current mental/emotional state. I have been feeling this way because school has been becoming very overwhelming for me and I have become quite swamped with everything in general in my life right now, to the point where it feels hard to do anything.

download.jpg

Blog Post #4

Now that I am close to completing my college applications process, I wish someone would have told me how each of the applications works, specifically the UC application and the Common Application. I had trouble navigating the common application specifically, as some of the more open-ended questions can be unclear and for certain classes, they don't always give you room to put summer school courses or college courses that you have taken, and you need to find other ways to include them. However, I am very excited to hear back from the colleges I applied to, and I am looking forward to studying psychology and having more freedom. I'm unsure how to insert a gif, so I will put an image describing my feelings instead.

download-1.jpg

Blog

Blog Post #1

Over the summer break, I was able to learn and do a few fun activities. I learned how to make jewelry, sew clothes, repair and tailor clothes. I was also able to go to the beach (socially distanced of course) which was really fun and nice to get out of the house. This year I am excited to learn about the design process of engineering, and learn about the process of turning an idea and concept into a physical product. In general, I am looking forward to graduating and finishing my college applications, as well as hopefully being able to take the SAT in order to get it out of the way.

Blog Post #2

So far, we have been doing well in terms of brainstorming a bunch of ideas that we can continue to research to determine whether or not they are valid, but at least our well of ideas hasn't dried out. We have also been discussing what skills we will all need to learn in order to execute some of our possible ideas, which helps give us a sense of direction.

I assume as we continue throughout the Capstone Project process, we will likely begin to encounter a lot of ideas that we have being already implemented or created, and I predict we will have to rebrand/redesign quite a bit before we are able to settle on our final product/project. 

In terms of my college application progress, I have begun working on the personal insight questions for my UC applications, as I plan to only apply to UCs. I wish someone would have told me that the SATs were likely to be cancelled, so I would have been able to spend more time working on my actual college application rather than continuing to study for my SAT just for it to be continually cancelled. :(

ABOUT
PROJECTS

Completed Projects

Unknown.jpeg

Engineering Ethics

For my engineering ethics case study, I chose to focus on the disaster of Chernobyl. To see my analysis on this case study, see the link below:

State Machines Phone Number Project

This project was my favorite from last year (despite it frustrating me from time to time), as it was really fun to be able to work directly with the breadboards and be very hands-on when designing my state machine to display my phone number. 

CLIENTS
CONTACT

Works In Progress

Capstone Project

Our group is focusing on the topic of distracted driving, particularly as it relates to texting and social media use. At the moment, we are honing in on the design of our physical product and the complementary application, and finalizing our conceptual design so we can determine whether or not it is actually practical and helpful in decreasing the risks of

distracted driving. 

Prototype Design Documentation

Our Prototype Sketch

Screen Shot 2020-12-11 at 8.44.15 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-12-11 at 8.44.28 PM.png

3D Design

Screen Shot 2020-12-11 at 8.47.22 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-12-11 at 8.47.31 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-12-11 at 8.47.37 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-12-11 at 8.47.15 PM.png

fig. 1 A sketch of our physical product. Overall dimensions included.
fig. 2 A sketch of the cell phone the sleeve will fit into. Specific dimensions were taken on all parts of the phone (ports, speakers, screens) to enable us to create a CAD prototype that will fit the model phone. We drew a birds-eye view of the phone screen and of the bottom. (Samsung Galaxy S7)

fig. 1 A birds-eye view sketch of our physical product. Overall dimensions included.
fig. 2 A sketch of the bottom of the cell phone sleeve. Specific dimensions were taken on all parts of the phone (ports, speakers, screens.) (Bottom view)
fig. 3 A sketch of the left side view of the cell phone sleeve. Specific dimensions were taken on phone (edge, corner, extrusion.) (left view)
fig. 4 A sketch of the backside view of the cell phone sleeve. Specific dimensions were taken on the phone (edge,charging port, extrusion, audio jack.) (left view)

Cost Analysis

I will estimate the prices based on the two ways we could go about producing the product, the first of which being us taking an already manufactured cell phone case and altering it to fit our design, and the second being us producing our own silicone mold and silicone case.

In order to view the detailed cost analysis, see the link below:

bottom of page