OurWater Heater
The first experiment that we did in this project was to design a water heater that only uses the sun to heat the water. For our design we had a plastic water bottle with a copper tube inside. Behind that we had a curved cardboard sheet that was covered in tin foil to bounce the heat off and toward the tube.
Our main concepts that we went over were radiation and insulation.
Radiation: Radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium.
Insulation: Insulation is to protect (something) by interposing material that prevents the loss of heat or the intrusion of sound.
Daylighting House
In our next task we had to make a 1000 square foot house and we had to find a way to light it using only daylighting techniques. Daylighting techniques include clearstory windows, light tubes, sky lights, and etc. In this task my group struggled mightily. We ended up getting no light in our house for most of the "year." Most of this is because we had lack of windows and the lack of size of the windows.Thankfully we learned from this and used our and other group's data to help us get more light on the tiny house project.
We learned about a few daylighting techniques in this lab. We learned about light tubes, skylights, windows, clerestory windows, and overhangs and when/where to use them.
Materials Heat Testing Lab
In this experiment we tested different materials and the rates in which they heated and cooled. To do this we placed the material under a heat lamp 12 inches above. We had the lamp on for ten minutes and took the temperature every two minutes. Then we turned the light off for 10 minutes and took the temperature every two minutes. The major concept that we addressed was heat capacity.
Heat capacity: Heat capacity is the measure of how quickly or how slowly the temperature of a given material changes.
In this experiment we tested different materials and the rates in which they heated and cooled. To do this we placed the material under a heat lamp 12 inches above. We had the lamp on for ten minutes and took the temperature every two minutes. Then we turned the light off for 10 minutes and took the temperature every two minutes. The major concept that we addressed was heat capacity.
Heat capacity: Heat capacity is the measure of how quickly or how slowly the temperature of a given material changes.
Finally, we had to design our tiny house. For our tiny house we took data from our other labs and put it into the thought process for our tiny house. Our house had to be small, energy efficient, and low cost. We decided to put our house in a desert type climate due to its flat roof. For our presentation we made a budget, a 3D model, blueprints for every surface and more. Our presentation is below.
Reflection
In this project I learned many things. Most of what I learned will apply to my life later. I think that this project taught me a lot about how to plan a building or a house. I think that what I learned in this project will apply to my life later. What I contributed included some of the planning of the house but mostly the blueprints. While doing this I learned a lot throughout the process. In this process our group had a few pits and a couple peaks. One low point of the project was when we were starting the project our group didn't really communicate what we had to do. Another pit was that we were all off task at some point of the project which really didn't help us. A couple peaks happened toward the end when we begun to gel better as a group. Another peak was when we were finishing we all worked diligently to finish. I think that we had some flaws in the house but I learned from our mistakes and I really enjoyed this project
In this project I learned many things. Most of what I learned will apply to my life later. I think that this project taught me a lot about how to plan a building or a house. I think that what I learned in this project will apply to my life later. What I contributed included some of the planning of the house but mostly the blueprints. While doing this I learned a lot throughout the process. In this process our group had a few pits and a couple peaks. One low point of the project was when we were starting the project our group didn't really communicate what we had to do. Another pit was that we were all off task at some point of the project which really didn't help us. A couple peaks happened toward the end when we begun to gel better as a group. Another peak was when we were finishing we all worked diligently to finish. I think that we had some flaws in the house but I learned from our mistakes and I really enjoyed this project