Outdoor Work space
For this project, we are going to build an outdoor work space for teachers and students to use. It gives students and teachers the chance to have classes outside where there is natural light that does not use fossil fuels. We had a very long process for this project that took about 2 and a half months. In that time, we learned about many different science concepts that helped us understand this project better. We started by learning about heat and thermodynamics. We used this knowledge to build a solar water heater. Then we learned about the different kinds of energy and how to acquire it and how it works including wind power, solar power, and more. After learning about that, we built and tested wind turbines to see which design would generate the most volts on a horizontal axis and a vertical axis. Then we designed and presented our outdoor classrooms to judges. It was a long and challenging project.
Solar Water Heater
The first part of this very long project was creating a solar water heater. We used copper pipes because they are a good conductor and heat water very well. Our water heater heated the water 9 degrees Celsius. The water started at 13 degrees and heated to 22 degrees over the course of 25 minutes. Our water heater design was to have water stored in a big pvc pipe and have the water flow into copper pipes which were connected to the pvc pipe.
Solar Angles
We learned about the angles of the sun to help us understand more about solar energy and how to use it for our classroom. We learned that it is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter because of the sun's angles. In the summer, the sun hits down more directly on the land, and in the winter, it hits at an angle. We used the knowledge of the sun's angles to know where to place and angle our shade structure on our outdoor classroom.
Energy Justification
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bFY3_1XyQnYaHe64XkJ7PyTiK26ZoMtmcsY96jM8fSQ/edit
We learned about different kinds of energy and how it works and how to acquire it. We talked about the pros and cons about each type of energy and compared them to different kinds of energy.
We learned about different kinds of energy and how it works and how to acquire it. We talked about the pros and cons about each type of energy and compared them to different kinds of energy.
Wind Turbine Lab
In this lab, we learned about wind energy and how to create a wind turbine design with certain materials. The goal of the lab was to determine which wind turbine design could generate the most power(volts) on a horizontal axis and a vertical axis. Our group created 8 designs, all made with manila folders. We made a conclusion, based on our data, that more blades generated more volts than less blades on a horizontal wind turbine.
Our Outdoor Classroom Design
This was the final part of the project, and the part that the entire project was based on. We used all the knowledge from earlier in the project, to design and create a presentation for our outdoor classroom. We based our design on the survey we sent out to teachers, students, and administrators around the school to see what they wanted the classroom to look like and more. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EQFHNU6X9jHaMICgCoxTiwbDdhbG9oIG7TqnHahVGLM/edit#gid=1437082911
We then picked the site that our classroom would be located. We chose the location based on how much shade and sun it got. We created a presentation that has all of the other information about the classroom:
We then picked the site that our classroom would be located. We chose the location based on how much shade and sun it got. We created a presentation that has all of the other information about the classroom:
Reflection
This project was very long and challenging, but it was fun and interesting. I learned a lot about heat transfers, energy, solar angles, and more. I liked my group a lot. I could have been a lot more productive and could have lead a lot more. I was very unproductive in the first half of the project, but I thought i did a lot better and was a lot more productive the second half of the project. I really think I could have been more of a leader. I felt like I was not doing anything unless I was told to do a certain task. I would really like to change that. I want to be very productive and more of a leader. I really hope our outdoor design gets chosen to be the one built because we worked very hard on designing it, and it is a very good design that would be fun to learn in. This project was very fun and interesting. It was very lengthy and difficult. I liked my group and I thought we worked well together. I am looking forward to the next project, and i hope it is just as fun and interesting as this one.