The purpose of this project was to create an outdoor learning environment. In order to accomplish this, we did many labs and tasks to educate ourselves about everything that a functional outdoor classroom requires.
Solar Water Heating Lab
The first lab we did was designing and building a solar water heater. Doing this educated us about the suns angles and how successful heat transfers work. My group, (Tara, Joey, Casey, and I) designed a bowl shaped base for our heater that we covered with Mylar Foil (which is a reflective foil which reflected the sunlight onto our copper wire which held the water. We chose copper wires because we learned that they were ideal for conducting heat. Unfortunately,, our design was flawed because all of the water heat that was gained through the copper wires was lost due to human error. A picture of our design and lab results.
Solar Water Heating Lab
The first lab we did was designing and building a solar water heater. Doing this educated us about the suns angles and how successful heat transfers work. My group, (Tara, Joey, Casey, and I) designed a bowl shaped base for our heater that we covered with Mylar Foil (which is a reflective foil which reflected the sunlight onto our copper wire which held the water. We chose copper wires because we learned that they were ideal for conducting heat. Unfortunately,, our design was flawed because all of the water heat that was gained through the copper wires was lost due to human error. A picture of our design and lab results.
Client Needs Surevy
After we had learned the basic need-to-knows for our outdoor classroom, we designed a survey to consider the needs and preferences of the students and faculty who would use the classroom.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EQFHNU6X9jHaMICgCoxTiwbDdhbG9oIG7TqnHahVGLM/edit#gid=1437082911
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EQFHNU6X9jHaMICgCoxTiwbDdhbG9oIG7TqnHahVGLM/edit#gid=1437082911
Site Selection
The next step in designing our outdoor classroom was choosing a site on campus. This site would be where the outdoor classroom would be located. A lot of factors went in to selecting our site. The results of the client needs survey showed us that the majority of students and faculty would like a classroom in a space with shade, natural light, and was wifi accessible. Using that information, my team and I went around campus and evaluated potential sites. We ended up choosing the box in between the cafeteria and art building. This site had plenty of natural light, strong wifi connection, and was in a central and accessible part of campus. The only thing this site did not have was natural shade, but my group and I decided to design a shade structure to make up for it.
Materials Testing Lab
After we decided where we were going to build, we had to decide what materials to use for our design. In order to do this, we ran a series of tests on different materials.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ddypjn9ikkl8zxYncXGBVuCyJaUOLF9J8zEToDIvsR4/edit#gid=0
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ddypjn9ikkl8zxYncXGBVuCyJaUOLF9J8zEToDIvsR4/edit#gid=0
Wind Turbine Lab
The next lab we did was to educate ourselves on the wind, and how to gain energy naturally from it. During this lab we designed a series of turbines(in both the HAWT and VAWT styles) using either paper or sheet metal for the blades. We tested our designs with different "wind" strengths, using a fan and a leaf blower to simulate the wind. Both the HAWT (horizontal axis wind turbine) and the VAWT (vertical axis wind turbine) showed the same results. Sheet metal worked better for high speeds, and the pinwheel design was very effective.
Content
Here are some more topics we had to learn in order to have a successful classroom design.
The suns angles change throughout the year. In class, we did a lab angling flashlights differently and graphing the changes. This simulated the changes of the suns angles throughout the year. The graph below better explains how the sun's angles work.
- Atoms are made up of protons (positive charge,) neutrons (neutral charge,) and electrons (negative charge.) The number of protons in the nucleus determine what type of element it is. When the atoms bond together they make molecules and molecules together can create compounds. To find the atomic mass, ass up the number of protons and the number of neutrons. Molecules have 3 states: Solid, Liquid, and Gas. In solid form, they are firmly bonded together. In liquid form, they are still bonded but can move around much more and bond to other molecules. In gas form they are rarely ever bonded together.
- Conduction the transfer of heat between two parts of a stationary system,caused by a temperature difference between the parts.
- Radiation the process in which energy is emitted as particles or waves.
- Convection the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.
- Insulation to protect by interposing material that prevents the loss of heat or the intrusion of sound
The suns angles change throughout the year. In class, we did a lab angling flashlights differently and graphing the changes. This simulated the changes of the suns angles throughout the year. The graph below better explains how the sun's angles work.
Laws of Thermodynamics
0th: If two systems are in equilibrium with a third system then both are in equilibrium with each other.
1st: energy cannot be created or destroyed
2nd: entropy will always increase
3rd: nothing will ever reach absolute zero
1st: energy cannot be created or destroyed
2nd: entropy will always increase
3rd: nothing will ever reach absolute zero
Pros of conserving Energy
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xNlfcVQ0EfdhCoEf6vTE0RzP6w0dYkSAyULe8hU66TA/edit
Reflection
Overall, this project was a success. I felt like I learned a huge amount of very useful information throughout the course of this project. The one thing that I didn't really enjoy about the Outdoor Classroom design project was it's length. We were working n the same groups focusing on the same topics from January until mid March. Personally,I liked to switch things up, and by the end of the project I was very ready to move on. Despite the time frame of the project, however, I thought a lot of things were great. For example, I thought all of the labs we did to educate ourselves about the topics needed to make our outdoor class pace were very helpful and interesting. I also thought my group and I overall worked pretty well together. We were always kind and supportive of each other's ideas, and we collaborated well. However, we had some challenges too. Occasionally, wee would get off task, which lowered our productivity rate. For example, towards the end of the project when we were preparing our presentations, it was harder to keep focus for long periods of time. This effected the quality of our final presentation, so for the next project i would like to improve on leadership skills, so I am more capable of keeping the group focused, and on track. Despite these challenges, I still believe our group had a great, clear, and simple design. Watch the presentation below for further details on the design of our outdoor classroom.