Thinking+Flexibly

=Thinking Flexibly=

__Entry One__

In Unit 3, we were assigned a task of making our own experiment and in lieu of a lab report, we would create a movie. As we carried out our experiment, many things weren't going as we imagined and we were forced to adapt our plan on the spot.

One example was the freezing of the ice cream. The original plan called for freezing the ice cream for a few hours inside a glass container, and after the freezing process was complete, then transfer the ice cream to airtight containers for a final freezing. However, we couldn't freeze anything using metal bowls and we didn't have quite enough glass bowls at our disposal. Instead, we decided to directly transfer the liquid to the airtight containers and then go through all the freezing processes using the airtight containers. This way, we avoided wasting precious time searching for bowls that were freeze safe and could hold all the material we had prepared.

Another hiccup we encountered was during the testing process. The ice cream melted too quickly on the plates so we couldn't have one group test as planned. To solve this problem, we decided the best method now was to individually feed everyone the ice cream while they were blindfolded. Although this took up much more time, we could then note every tester's individual preference and their reactions to other flavors. It also allowed us to obtain much more footage for our film, so this wound up giving us much more in return for a larger time investment.

I think this kind of adaptive thinking is key to helping experiments become successes. It's important to know beforehand that not everything will go exactly as planned, and it's good foresight to have a few backup plans in case something disastrous occurs. Accidents happen and although they may set us back, we can learn how to be more flexible and how to deal with issues that crop up on the spot. This experiment was not only a good experience in designing and carrying out an original experiment, but also a good lesson in learning how to solve issues that could be a serious setback. I'm sure in the future, when something goes wrong this will help me in quickly searching for ideas to remdy problems that arise.