Student Name: Logan Bateman

Date: 08/27/2019

Portfolio Artifact Description: Truss Bridge-Create A Two-Dimensional Bridge in Order To

Familiarize One’s Self With Basic Drawing Tools.

What I Learned: I found designing the bridge a bit more of a challenge than I originally thought.
I thought this assignment would be a bit more laborious and not very engaging. However, I
found my preconceptions surprisingly incorrect. I found the challenge and interest in this project
not so much in designing the bridge itself, but more so in the variety of ways it could be
completed. After looking at the different bridge designs and the variety of options PowerPoint
had to design and I found the challenge in finding the most effective way to do so. My first
attempted I decided to forgo copy and pasting my bridge design and tried to rely on the
automatic aligning feature of PowerPoint. I quickly learned the error of my ways and through a
combination of copy and paste as well as the grouping option I was able to make a symmetrical
bridge. I was able to deepen my understand of both the drawing tools themselves as well as the
formatting options for the lines and other shapes. If I was to extend or use this idea in a high
school classroom, I would challenge my students to attempt even more complex bridge designs
and also challenge them to use a larger variety of tools that PowerPoint has to offer so that they
could try to streamline their designs. I believe they would find and interesting challenge in trying
to find more effective ways to build out their bridges.
ISTE/(NET)s Addressed:

 Standard #4: 4a Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas,
testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
 Standard #4: 4b Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process
that considers design constraints and calculated risks.

Application of Skills Learned for the Future: I found this assignment much more engaging than
expected and I am glad to be apart of it. I was rather unfamiliar with PowerPoint’s design aspects
and wasn’t even aware that the application could even be used for such things. I think it would
be an interesting and challenging project for young students and creates a fun design project.