Sudoku Project Tina Wu Santa Maria College Introduction The project is about making a Sudoku game board and solving the puzzle using the iteration method. It is important to investigate this area of science as this technique can be applied to many situations in science. I expected physics to be hard and that physicists had to go back and forth to try and solve a problem. Through completing this project, I realised that solving the puzzle with the game board was much more harder. The iteration method helped us eventually solve the problem and this reflects the problem solving skills physicists have to use during difficulties in science. Aim/Motivation Our aim was to: To produce a Sudoku game board that exhibits and replicates the process involved in explaining diffraction situations. To discover applications of the iteration method and how it relates to other problem solving aspects of science. The motivation that guided us throughout the project was how we can interactively solve this puzzle. By understanding the knowledge required we will be able to select a career pathway that best expresses our interests. Being part of GTP has changed my appreciation for physics as we got a better opportunity in the labs which made physics more interesting. My point of view hasn’t changed regarding that physics is difficult, however, the Sudoku project was really fun as I learnt that being a physicist you need to keep going back to your problem. Learning physics has opened many career pathway opportunities. Throughout this experience, I have learnt that many people who learn physics choose other pathways that might not even relate to science. However the concepts developed in physics can be useful in many other careers. In this experience, we had to put a lot of data onto excel and by learning some new skills, I can apply them to other IT careers. Conclusions I have learnt that science have contributed to many applications in our world. What has changed in me is seeing physics from another perspective which is enabling us to apply knowledge in many areas. What I have learnt about physicists is that there are also many female in this industry and many male physicists don’t necessarily look nerdy. I might be doing physics in VCE as it has become more interesting to me from this experience. Acknowledgements School of physics The Growing Tall Poppies Science Partnership Program: Hayden, Dr B, Olivia, Harry Quiney Other job opportunities physics can bring are: -engineer -lawyer -marketing -teaching -physicist (and many more) Knowing what jobs to choose in order to choose the right subjects is really important as it guides you to where you want to be. It also gives you a wider opportunity rather than focusing on one career. However, there may be changes to subjects during the process but it is important to know your future career. Group members: This project relates to the real world as there are many applications which use the iteration method. The project can be related to the enigma code, DNA, and holograms. Challenging Stereotypes of what I thought physicists were like Male vs female stereotypes The stereotypes of physicists are mainly old men with white hair, however, there are also several successful female physicists. I think I am pretty capable of doing science in the future. Although physics is hard, I would be able to use new skills to solve problems. Although I do like physics, I am more interested in biology and chemistry as I find them easier to understand. Physics do teach me many skills where I can apply in other areas and daily basis activities. Our group made a Sudoku game board and we had to prove the relationship between diffraction and the project through a set of Sudoku puzzles using the iteration method. The iteration method states that we have to work through the puzzle following a set of instructions that we apple repeatedly until solved. Working with scientists was different from a classroom environment as we gained a better understanding from practical experiments and demonstrations. We were able to access equipment that would not usually be provided by our school. We collected many data which represented the wavelengths of different lights. Also, we measured the angles of where we can see particular colours from different gases. The aim of these experiments were to help us gain a better understanding of diffraction. Tina Wu, Hayley Turnham, Isha Patel, Jacinta LiDonni, Emily Cvetanoski, Amelia Kustra