In my first action project for my class called “Design and engineering” we learned about different types of ways to figure out how to solve solutions for gardening tools in order to help the elderly. What made this action project different was that I had to work with a partner (MN). In this class we learned about simple machines and physics concepts which helped us with this action project.
While being the designers of this tool there were a lot of variables we had to think about. For example, while designing our watering can we had to think about empathy and how others will feel about the product. Since we based this design on the elderly, we had to think about to solve average problems that we thought would benefit for them. Some of the research that helped us figure out common problems was using the tool ourselves and seeing what problems we could find first hand.
During our research we went to home depot to see a watering can in action. We noticed certain aspects of the cans there that were useful like an angled handle to make it easier to pour, and others that were not so useful like super long spouts. While we were talking with one of the staff about our ideas and tools he said "Sometimes the product made of cheaper material works better for a specific task". This made us think about the material we wanted to use and we went with plastic in order to make the product less heavy while also not having to worry about money cost.
In the image below you will see a sketch of our Handy Can design. This sketch explains the different upgrades we made to the average watering can and what we decided to keep. Look for some of these specific qualities from our watering can.
Switchable Spouts- In order to switch from watering a narrow area to a wide area.
Box Shape- Has a wider bottom surface to spread the weight of the water inside.
Hand Grips- In order to reduce the stress on your hand and wrist while holding it.
Angled Handle- Helps the user get a better angle to pour with less work.
Tripod- Meant for the watering can to sit on while pouring to prevent holding a heavy can.
Measurements for water- Small clear strips in the watering can to let the user measure the water.
MN (2017) The Handy Can Design
The dimensions of the watering can's base are 8 in by 12 in by 6 in. In order to find the volume we had to multiply the length, width and height to the can. We got 8*12*6= 576 in³ which is equal to 319.1688 us fl oz. In order to find the surface area I had to add the area of each side. The equation we got was 2(8*12+8*6+6*12)=432.
Below is a story board of how this product would be used. This story board shows what happens to the watering can from when it starts in the garden shed and ends with a fully grown plant. Below that is a sketch of the forces used when using the Handy Can. The force we chose to talk about is the user's hand when they angle the spout towards the ground and pours water on it.
MN (2017) The Handy Can Design
MN (2017) The Handy Can Storyboard 2
MN (2017) Vector Diagram
The biggest struggle I had while making this project was getting the scanned photos of my product on to the blog. Since the pictures on my blog were the wrong type of file I needed to put the file on another website and screenshotted the pictures. I was eventually able to work it out by learning how to edit the pictures in order to make them look nice on the blog. The biggest thing I took out of this action project was empathy because it applies to most things in life.
Works Cited
Home Depot Employee. Personal Interview. 20 Sept 2017
This is my third and last action project for my class called “Cure”. In this unit we learned about different types of ways to figure out probability. We also learned about different foods, vitamins, and minerals and what they do to help the human body. For this action project, I created a fictional patient profile and I wrote down all the medical history I could inside of it. I also figured out the probability of my patient getting diabetes. My favorite part of making this action project was making the patient profile. The biggest problem I had while making this project was finding the information, because the project required an extreme amount of research in order to create my fictional patient profile. I eventually was able to work on it all night and come up with enough information on the patient to be able to finish my AP.
This is my second action project for my “Food for Thought” class. This unit was about seeing what a global food system looks like, and to understand the human and environmental impacts of this system. For this action project we created a speech and presented it to a camera. The speech was about a topic that is threatening our global food system and my topic specifically about soil depletion and salinization. My favorite part of this action project was the different ways my project that my project could have gone with all the other varieties of topics I could have chosen. The only problem I had while making this project was that I ended up changing my topic so I started working on the action project a little late.
Irrigation can be very helpful in the moment but it is a big problem because of the massive damage it can cause in the future. The global food system heavily depends on plants, and plants grow in soil. This means that soil needs to be taken care just as well as the plants. I am trying to persuade you to fix what we messed up in the past and fix to soil as well as our future.
Salinization in the earth’s soil is becoming an increasing issue because less youths know how to farm and change the soil. Soil has been ruined by farmers for a while now due to irrigation which lead to soil depletion and salinization. There is a lot less people that know how to fix soil depletion or salinization today than maybe 30 years ago when farming was bigger. Now all we can do to keep the future for the human race alive is to teach teens and children how to fix these problems with the soil.
This has been happening for too long. In fact this has been going on since Mesopotamia and before. They have faced large problems with salinity as well. Mesopotamia is what Iraq used to be in the past. Mesopotamians used to have sudden floods from the highlands of Anatolia, so they decided to create an irrigation system that would not only help their crops but also solve flooding. Their irrigation system started in the Euphrates and drained out into the Tigris river. They would use some of that water to drain into their farms. It worked really well but that was because they never had a drought.
We can learn from the Mesopotamians and stop irrigation. We don’t think that anything will go wrong until it does but maybe we should start thinking about the future. The Abbasid Caliphate started to expand itself into other places around Europe around 762 AD. One of the places they traveled to was Mesopotamia where they saw the many flaws of their irrigation system. The only way they could think of to fix it was to tear it down completely and renovate it. We can show that we learned from this by not using irrigation or at least have certain laws that protect the soil from salinization and soil depletion. I’m not saying that what the Mesopotamians had wasn’t a good idea though.
To compromise losing irrigation we can use fresh water sources like certain rivers or lakes to give the plants something to drink. While the salinization in the soil deteriorates we should plant plants that don’t need too much water to survive that way if the salt takes the water from the plant the plant won’t mind as much. An example of some of those plants are may different types of common beans.
It’s not that hard to make these small changes. All you need to solve these problems is a commitment to help save the future for our children and the earth itself. Salinization is like a poison to plants. Like my teacher says, It sucks, meaning that it is sucking the water and the life out of plants. We want to keep on living and the best way to do that is to help other living organisms. Plants are the only reason that we have lived for so long so why not return the favor and keep them alive. It’s the Humane thing to do.
Works Cited
Ancient Irrigation. (1999, May). Retrieved May 13, 2016
USDA. “Soil Quality Resource Concerns: Salinization”.nrcs.usda. January 1998. May 13 2016.
"Irrigation Salinity." Office of Environment and Heritage. State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 May 2016.
This is my second action project for my “Food!” class. This unit was about different chemical reactions that occur while cooking or baking, like leaving for example. For this action project we conducted a lab experiment to see what would happen if we were to change the leavening agents in two types of bread, while we kept one the same. I made my document using isuu which is a website that turned my pdf to look pretty good.. My favorite part of this action project was doing the baking, because I don’t ever bake which made me appreciate the project so much more. The only problem I had while making this project was that a classmate forgot to time the yeast bread which may have affected the experiment.
For my second action project in my water class I was told to create a water filter. My filter had to get rid of contaminants and particulates, as well as changing the pH level of the water to a 7. To figure out the pH level of the water I used a digital pH reader. To show my proccess and results I took pictures and showed the change in the pH level of the water. It was't hard to build the filter and it worked pretty well. The only thing I had a problem with was getting materials, but I solved that problem pretty easily by going to Pet Smart and getting them.
I wanted everything in my filter to be completley snaitized which is why I bought all my materials. I believed that if I found all my materials then my results wouldn't work as well as store bought materials.
The filter will work since it is the same proccess the earth that filters ground water. Larger gaps will filter larger particles and smaller gaps will filter smaller particles. I layered my materials so that the largest gaps are at thetop and the smallest are at the bottom. The water slowly trickled through the filter, the natural strainer left the particlulates behind.
Materials List:
A plastic bottle
A knife
A coffee filter
Activated charcoal
Sand
Gravel
A container for the water
A digital pH reader
Steps:
First cut the bottom of the plastic bottle so there is a hole to pour your materials into.
Place the coffee filter between the the cap of the bottle and the bottle.
Poke some holes in the cap to let water drip through when you use the filter.
Make sure the the side of the water bottle with the cap is facing downwards and add a layer of Activated Charcoal into the bottle that fills about a third of the bottle.
Add a thick layer of sand
Add the final layer of gravel
I tested my water filter three times.
The first time I filtered it the water was translucent from the side (almost transparent), clear with slight grey color, cloudy, and no odor.
The water was transparent,clear, no odor.
The last time I tested it the water was transparent,clear, no odor.
Before I tested the waterit was Nasty, Dark Brown, had particulates and smelled like coffee.
Works Cited
"How to Make a Water Filter." WikiHow. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
