For this project, we were to design an outdoor classroom to be built on the San Marin campus. There were 16 groups and we all made separate designs and presented them in front of judges consisting of engineers, teachers, architects, contractors, and the principle. The winning group was to have their design built. At this point, it has not been announced who has won. For this project, we didn't just jump into designing it, we ran some tests and labs to learn about the best materials to use and how we should design our classroom. For the first lab, we did the solar water heater lab. For the solar water heater lab, we made water heaters using home made supplies to heat up water using the sun. Then, we ran a survey to students and teachers about what they wanted out of the classroom. After this, we tested all sorts of materials about how they absorb water and conduct heat. Next, we went around the campus and selected our site for the design and then it was time to start designing. Also, we did a wind turbine lab and made an energy justification in the middle of the designing process. In all of this, we were in one group that consisted of myself, Sebastian Dow, Davis Solis, Toni Spina, and Rachel Houlihan.
Water Heater Lab
The point of the water heater lab was to learn about the angles of the sun and how to conduct heat as well as we possibly could. We made it all with cardboard, mirrors, a copper tube, wood, saran wrap, a water bottle, a plastic tube, and duct tape. We started with with two cardboard boxes, one big and one small. The small one, we put the bottle in and the big one we cut to make it an L shaped base. Then, we put mirrors on the bottom, side, and and two running diagonal to the side mirror. Then, we put the plastic tube into the water bottle inside the small box and connected it to the copper tube which we ran through the mirror space. Then, we put the saran wrap over the copper tubes and the mirrors. To test our heaters, we waited for a sunny day and then when that day came, we set it up. We put the small cardboard box above the rest so that we could run the water down hill. We cycled the water through for the 30 minute period using two cups and a funnel. The water ended up heating by about 6 degrees Celsius from outside temperature. Our wasn't the best, but it still worked pretty well.
The point of the water heater lab was to learn about the angles of the sun and how to conduct heat as well as we possibly could. We made it all with cardboard, mirrors, a copper tube, wood, saran wrap, a water bottle, a plastic tube, and duct tape. We started with with two cardboard boxes, one big and one small. The small one, we put the bottle in and the big one we cut to make it an L shaped base. Then, we put mirrors on the bottom, side, and and two running diagonal to the side mirror. Then, we put the plastic tube into the water bottle inside the small box and connected it to the copper tube which we ran through the mirror space. Then, we put the saran wrap over the copper tubes and the mirrors. To test our heaters, we waited for a sunny day and then when that day came, we set it up. We put the small cardboard box above the rest so that we could run the water down hill. We cycled the water through for the 30 minute period using two cups and a funnel. The water ended up heating by about 6 degrees Celsius from outside temperature. Our wasn't the best, but it still worked pretty well.
Survey
We issued out surveys to every fourth period teacher to give to their students about what they wanted put of the outdoor classroom. We made two separate surveys for the students and teachers/staff. We asked questions such as ,"What do you want to the outdoor classroom to be called?" and "What type of seating would you like?" Then, we analyzed the results and discovered what the people wanted. Below is a link to the results.
We issued out surveys to every fourth period teacher to give to their students about what they wanted put of the outdoor classroom. We made two separate surveys for the students and teachers/staff. We asked questions such as ,"What do you want to the outdoor classroom to be called?" and "What type of seating would you like?" Then, we analyzed the results and discovered what the people wanted. Below is a link to the results.
Materials Testing Lab
For the materials testing lab, we tested materials for their absorbing of water traits, and how well they conduct heat. We tested all the materials we thought that we could possibly end up using for our outdoor classroom. To test the conductivity, we kept the material under heat lamps and took the temperature of it every two minutes for ten minutes. We also recorded the temperature of it cooling down every two minutes. For the water absorption, we measured how much each object weighed and then poured water over each one. Then, we recorded how much it weighed every five minutes. Doing it this way showed us how much water it absorbed. Below are the links to the data. The top one is the conductivity test and the bottom one is the water absorption test.
For the materials testing lab, we tested materials for their absorbing of water traits, and how well they conduct heat. We tested all the materials we thought that we could possibly end up using for our outdoor classroom. To test the conductivity, we kept the material under heat lamps and took the temperature of it every two minutes for ten minutes. We also recorded the temperature of it cooling down every two minutes. For the water absorption, we measured how much each object weighed and then poured water over each one. Then, we recorded how much it weighed every five minutes. Doing it this way showed us how much water it absorbed. Below are the links to the data. The top one is the conductivity test and the bottom one is the water absorption test.
Site Selection
To choose the site to design our classroom we made a grading rubric to determine what we wanted in a site and what was more important than other things. We had three possible places that we considered. The sites were behind the tennis courts, behind the Spanish building portables, and the rectangle concrete perimeter by the cafeteria. We chose the one by the cafeteria because it was accessible and had good WiFi which was two of the most important factors in choosing our site.
To choose the site to design our classroom we made a grading rubric to determine what we wanted in a site and what was more important than other things. We had three possible places that we considered. The sites were behind the tennis courts, behind the Spanish building portables, and the rectangle concrete perimeter by the cafeteria. We chose the one by the cafeteria because it was accessible and had good WiFi which was two of the most important factors in choosing our site.
Wind Turbine Lab
In the wind turbine lab, we were to make wind turbines that created the most power on a vertical axis and on a horizontal axis. We used fans and leaf blowers to test them and the turbines were on a very small knob-like thing that when turned, calculated the watts of energy given off. We tested out multiple designs, but the one that worked the best was the simple pinwheel design. It worked the best because it caught all the wind and dispersed it throughout it's "wing" causing it to go faster.
In the wind turbine lab, we were to make wind turbines that created the most power on a vertical axis and on a horizontal axis. We used fans and leaf blowers to test them and the turbines were on a very small knob-like thing that when turned, calculated the watts of energy given off. We tested out multiple designs, but the one that worked the best was the simple pinwheel design. It worked the best because it caught all the wind and dispersed it throughout it's "wing" causing it to go faster.
Our Design
Here is the finished product of our design explained in a slideshow.
Here is the finished product of our design explained in a slideshow.
outdoor_classroom_design.gslides |
Concepts
Atoms- basic structure of all matter
molecular structure- describes the type, arrangement, position, and direction of the bonds linking atoms within a molecule.
conduction- Conduction is the process by which heat energy is transmitted through collisions between neighboring molecules. Think of a frying pan set over an open camp stove. The fire's heat causes molecules in the pan to vibrate faster, making it hotter.
convection- Convection is heat transfer by mass motion of a fluid such as air or water when the heated fluid is caused to move away from the source of heat, carrying energy with it.
radiation- radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium.
insulate- passage of heat, electricity, or sound into or out of, especially by surrounding or covering with a nonconducting material.
pergola- an archway in a garden or park consisting of a framework covered with trained climbing or trailing plants.
Laws of thermodynamics:
0th law: If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third, then they are in equilibrium with each other.
1st law: Conservation of Energy: energy is neither created or destroyed. but transferred from one form to another. Heat is a form of energy.
2nd law: Entropy increases. Over time, everything becomes the same temperature.
3rd law: Temperature can never reach absolute zero. Heat always exists.
Solid- firm and stable in shape; not liquid or fluid.
liquid- flowing freely but of constant volume.
gas-an airlike fluid substance which expands freely to fill any space available, irrespective of its quantity.
angles of sun- The angle of the sun is the angle at which the sun hits wherever you are interested in. The angles change based on the time of the year. It can range from 28 degrees at noon on December 21 to 75 degrees on June 21.
Atoms- basic structure of all matter
molecular structure- describes the type, arrangement, position, and direction of the bonds linking atoms within a molecule.
conduction- Conduction is the process by which heat energy is transmitted through collisions between neighboring molecules. Think of a frying pan set over an open camp stove. The fire's heat causes molecules in the pan to vibrate faster, making it hotter.
convection- Convection is heat transfer by mass motion of a fluid such as air or water when the heated fluid is caused to move away from the source of heat, carrying energy with it.
radiation- radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium.
insulate- passage of heat, electricity, or sound into or out of, especially by surrounding or covering with a nonconducting material.
pergola- an archway in a garden or park consisting of a framework covered with trained climbing or trailing plants.
Laws of thermodynamics:
0th law: If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third, then they are in equilibrium with each other.
1st law: Conservation of Energy: energy is neither created or destroyed. but transferred from one form to another. Heat is a form of energy.
2nd law: Entropy increases. Over time, everything becomes the same temperature.
3rd law: Temperature can never reach absolute zero. Heat always exists.
Solid- firm and stable in shape; not liquid or fluid.
liquid- flowing freely but of constant volume.
gas-an airlike fluid substance which expands freely to fill any space available, irrespective of its quantity.
angles of sun- The angle of the sun is the angle at which the sun hits wherever you are interested in. The angles change based on the time of the year. It can range from 28 degrees at noon on December 21 to 75 degrees on June 21.
Energy Justification
Below is a link to our energy justification which we comprised as a class.
Below is a link to our energy justification which we comprised as a class.
Reflection
This whole project was interesting and I learned a lot of new things. The people in my group all worked very well together and we were very efficient in doing our work. We all split up the work for each project and that worked great. In this project, my role was as a worker. I didn't do much in the leadership realm, but I worked hard. Next time, I will try to be more vocal and a better leader. This was probably my third favorite project of the year after the Rube Goldberg one and the Hybrid Car building. I didn't enjoy this one as much because it didn't involve very much building like the other two. I really enjoy the projects that involve a lot of building. Overall, I enjoyed this project and my group worked well together.
Peak: Our model was great and it looked exactly like we wanted our finished product to look like and it was very detailed. Our slideshow informed people on all they needed to know also. We didn't leave anything out.
Peak: Our group was very good at presenting. We all seemed like natural speakers when we were informing everyone about our design. One of the things I hate when someone is presenting is when someone is too quiet. Everyone in our group was loud and clear.
Pit: We had a minor disagreement about which spot to design our classroom at. Sebastian and I wanted to build it behind the tennis court because it was very much in nature and it was secluded. Toni and David wanted it in the spot that we chose because it was close to everything and had good wifi connection. We ended up compromising and we chose the spot that was close to campus.
Pit: The first half of the project, I didn't contribute as much as I should've. It was hard to know what was going on during the designing part because everyone was working on a different part and everything kept changing. But when we started working on the model and slideshow, I put in a good amount of work.
This whole project was interesting and I learned a lot of new things. The people in my group all worked very well together and we were very efficient in doing our work. We all split up the work for each project and that worked great. In this project, my role was as a worker. I didn't do much in the leadership realm, but I worked hard. Next time, I will try to be more vocal and a better leader. This was probably my third favorite project of the year after the Rube Goldberg one and the Hybrid Car building. I didn't enjoy this one as much because it didn't involve very much building like the other two. I really enjoy the projects that involve a lot of building. Overall, I enjoyed this project and my group worked well together.
Peak: Our model was great and it looked exactly like we wanted our finished product to look like and it was very detailed. Our slideshow informed people on all they needed to know also. We didn't leave anything out.
Peak: Our group was very good at presenting. We all seemed like natural speakers when we were informing everyone about our design. One of the things I hate when someone is presenting is when someone is too quiet. Everyone in our group was loud and clear.
Pit: We had a minor disagreement about which spot to design our classroom at. Sebastian and I wanted to build it behind the tennis court because it was very much in nature and it was secluded. Toni and David wanted it in the spot that we chose because it was close to everything and had good wifi connection. We ended up compromising and we chose the spot that was close to campus.
Pit: The first half of the project, I didn't contribute as much as I should've. It was hard to know what was going on during the designing part because everyone was working on a different part and everything kept changing. But when we started working on the model and slideshow, I put in a good amount of work.