Overview
In this passive solar design project I learned many important things to help me and my group on our project. The the first thing I learned was the earth layers which helped teach us geothermal energy and I was taught about seismic waves also since the building is in California where earthquakes happen more frequently. After that we learnd about the solar system and made a model to focus on certain part of it. Then my class and I moved on to learning about subatomic particles and the structure of an atom. Before we moved to our big project we designed a house with different solar techniques to help us understand how light waves move. Then for the final big project of the unit we had to design a model for the new STEM building at our school.
Earth's Layers and Seismic Waves
When we first started learning about the earth's layers I was like "Here we go again" since I've learned about it so many time through out elementary school and middle school. But when we started learning about it here it was actually very interesting. We learned how scientists discovered the center of the earth. The scientists found the the earth had a core because when the secondary waves would travel throughout the earth they would hit the outer core which is liquid and bounce off so the scientists hypothesized that the outer part of the core is liquid. There are two different types of waves that we learned about. The first one is the primary wave which comes first and they are the fastest waves. Also the primary waves can pass through liquids. Secondary waves come after the primary waves but they cannot pass through liquids. The Richter scale's increases exponentially by each number. For example a 7.3 o the Richter scale is 50 times more powerful than a 6.3, but a 7.3 is 2500 times more powerful than a 5.3.
Model of Solar System
So in order to understand the solar system, in class we had to make a model to model a certain part of the solar system. My group and I chose to model the orbital velocity of the planets in our solar system by using the Perihelion, the Aphelion, and the orbital period. The perihelion and the Aphelion are the closest and the farthest points away from the sun. We chose these because in the equation for an oval(ellipse) since the orbits of the planets aren't circles the equation that we found uses the variables a and b which are the closest point to the center the ellipse and the farthest point away. Thats why we used the perihelion and the aphelion. We had the orbital period because velocity is equal to the change in distance over the change in time. In this model we had difficulty finding an equation for the circumference of an ellipse because the one's that we found online did not work for any of the equations. So we had to make an equation for our group which is in the model above. Unfortunately this equation only models the orbital velocity of Mercury.
Daylighting Design Model
The next thing we did in class was explore the different day lighting techniques we could use in our next project the day lighting design model. We learned how solar tubes, skylights windows, and solar ledges were used in order to get daylight into houses. Another important part of this project was to see how the solar angels change at different times of the year. The angle at which the sun is at determines how much the sun light goes into the house and what solar techniques we will use at different places. So for our day lighting model we used a light bulb to mimic the different angles the sun will be at at different times during the day and year. So in our day lighting model we had windows and an attempt at a solar tube. An interesting fact that I found out in this project is that if all the doors are open more light will spread to different parts of he house.
Atomic Structure
This unit we also learned about Atomic structure and subatomic particles. What makes up an atom is protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons make up the nucleus which can only be broken apart by the Strong Force. The electrons are not apart of the nucleus and they are "going around" the nucleus. Also two atoms bonded together make up a molecule. Heat is generated due to the vibration of molecules. Also radiation is just heat transfering as a wave through a space.An interesting thing I also learned was how the atom was discovered. The scientists that discovered the atom did an experiment called the gold foil experiment. The scientist had a very thin piece of gold foil in a chamber. Then they shot an alpha particle at the piece of gold foil and almost every time it would go through. But the times that the particle didn't go through, it bounced off the foil and went a different direction. The percentage of the time that the particle bounced off was .000001% of the time. What the particle was hitting was the nucleus of an atom. Since most of an atom is just empty space the particle would just go through.
Science Building Design
My group and I were given the responsibility to make a design for the new San Marin science building. We had to design a science building with ten class rooms. Two of these class rooms have to be biotech labs, and two have to be chemistry labs. Then just six regular class rooms. There also has to bee a teacher prep area and a storage area. There are many other thing we had to look at when designing a building. One of those things is energy. Energy is very important. Everyone wants cheap energy. But cheap energy isn't always the right type of energy. Cheap energy is usually harmful to our environment. Below is a document that will help you explore the different types of energy.
Materials:
The materials used in a building are also very important. The materials can determine what temperature the building is at. It can even determine what it sounds like inside the building. Here are the materials we used.
1. Glass- is used for windows and other solar techniques to help get light in the building.
2. Steel- helps keep the heat or cooling in whatever room you are in. It is also flexible.
3. Aluminum- will absorb heat during the winter and coolness during the summer keeping classrooms comfortable.
4.Acoustic tiles- The tiles absorb sound waves so a room doesn't echo when people are talking.
5. Concrete- will make a stable base for the building.
6. White Paint- the white paint will help reflect more light into a building.
Blueprint and 3D Model:
In our blueprint and 3D model below you can see what we envision for the new science building.
The materials used in a building are also very important. The materials can determine what temperature the building is at. It can even determine what it sounds like inside the building. Here are the materials we used.
1. Glass- is used for windows and other solar techniques to help get light in the building.
2. Steel- helps keep the heat or cooling in whatever room you are in. It is also flexible.
3. Aluminum- will absorb heat during the winter and coolness during the summer keeping classrooms comfortable.
4.Acoustic tiles- The tiles absorb sound waves so a room doesn't echo when people are talking.
5. Concrete- will make a stable base for the building.
6. White Paint- the white paint will help reflect more light into a building.
Blueprint and 3D Model:
In our blueprint and 3D model below you can see what we envision for the new science building.
Reflection
In this project my group and I had many difficulties. One of those difficulties was that we weren't very efficient with time. Another difficulty of this project was class attendance. A certain person in my group would only show up to class a couple times a week and then say we were doing a bad job then not show up again and then come back again and tell us that. But when that was person was actually here, they were a good, hard worker. Some of the good parts of the project was that I learned how to deal with difficult people. This is a very important skill which will bee useful in the future. Another good part of this project was that learning about subatomic particles was a lot of fun. Also I got a tiny bit of experience with sketch up also. Overall, this project probably could've gone a lot better.