This project was a long one with many smaller components in it. We were to design an outdoor space for San Marin to use. Each group would design their own space, and then a panel of judges would decide which space was the most plausible and useful. We decided as a class, that the space would be directed for classroom uses.
Atomic Structure, State, and Heat: Atoms are the basic structure of all matter. There are three parts to an atom, protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons are positively charged, neutrons have no charge, and electrons are negatively charged. Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of an atom, while electrons are found in electron shell surrounding the nucleus. When two or more atoms are linked together, they become a molecule. Molecules make up the elements and are another, bigger, building block of all matter. Molecules are the more common elements we know like: H2O (2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen), CO2, C6H12O6 (sugar), O2, etc. A compound is a molecule that is made up of different elements, such as CO2 or H2O, but NOT O2.
Solar Angles Throughout Seasons: The next thing that our class looked at, was the angles of the sun throughout the seasons. We wouldn't want our outdoor space to be in the sun in the hot summer months, but we still wanted the occupants to be warm in the winter. We conducted a lab to see why it was hotter in the summer and colder in the winter; eventually we came to the conclusion that: Earth's axis is tilted at a 23.5° angles. When Earth's orbit has that angle tilting the Northern hemisphere towards the sun, we have summer. Below are a couple photos helping to better explain this conclusion.
States of Matter: This was another concept that my class went over in order to help us design the outdoor class space. Solids - molecules are bonded firmly to one another and held densely (least energy/heat) Liquids - molecules are bonded to one another, but can change which molecules they're bonded to, still held densely (more energy/heat) Gases - molecules are very rarely bonded to one another, approx. 1/100th as dense as liquid (most energy/heat)
Laws of Thermodynamics: 0th: Explains temperature - if 2 systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. A=B and B=C, therefore A=C 1st: Conservation of energy - energy is neither created nor destroyed, but transferred from one form to another. Heat is a form of energy. 2nd: Entropy increases - disorder increases. Overtime, everything becomes the same temperature. 3rd: Temperature can never get to absolute zero. Heat always exists.
Why we would want to use less electricity in our daily lives: The whole class worked on answering this question. Each group got a separate section that would help answer the question. This is the final document we made to answer the question "Why should we use less energy?"
Reflection: I didn't like this project as much as I have like previous ones, because it was very long and I felt we did a lot of labs that didn't have anything to do with our outdoor space. I did enjoy designing my own "classroom" and blueprints and having to find materials. Overall, I think my group and I worked well together. We all have different ways and paces of working, but in the end we did a really good job. I think that we could work on listening to each other. I know that I found myself asking the same question again and again, because no one was answering me, and I'm sure I did the same to my group at one point. I learned that it is a lot harder to find materials to build something than you would think, spending a lot of time on home depot's website helped me discover this. I also learned that when we are behind on a project, I can get really stressed. At one point, Mr. Williams gave a tangible due date for the project, and I thought my group had a lot of work left to do, so I was freaking out that we wouldn't get to finish in time. Thankfully, one of the people in my group pointed out that we had most of the project done, we only had to finish a couple things. For the next project, I will work on my empathy. I will also get better at doing things on my own. I had to make a lot of decisions about small parts of the classroom, and I would always ask another person in my group to make sure they approved. In the future, I will be more decisive, and if someone doesn't like the result, they can tell me then.