Our driving question for this project was how to create a house that stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer without the use of electricity.
Before we even thought about how to start to design our house, we designed a hot water heater. We built it using cardboard, aluminum (to reflect,) copper tubing (that the water went through,) plastic rap (to keep the heat from escaping,) packing peanuts (to insulate,) and lastly we spay painted the bottom of the cardboard box as well as the copper tubing black (to absorb the heat.)
After that we researched the Solar Angles and how it Changes During Seasons. We found that we have seasons because of the earth's tilted axis, which is a 23.5 degree tilt.This causes for more direct sunlight in the summer and slanted sunlight in the winter.
Before we even thought about how to start to design our house, we designed a hot water heater. We built it using cardboard, aluminum (to reflect,) copper tubing (that the water went through,) plastic rap (to keep the heat from escaping,) packing peanuts (to insulate,) and lastly we spay painted the bottom of the cardboard box as well as the copper tubing black (to absorb the heat.)
After that we researched the Solar Angles and how it Changes During Seasons. We found that we have seasons because of the earth's tilted axis, which is a 23.5 degree tilt.This causes for more direct sunlight in the summer and slanted sunlight in the winter.
Then we conducted a daylight and design activity. We designed cardboard houses with windows and tested how much light they got throughout the different seasons using a lightbulb as the sun during different seasons. We got a understanding of what the best orientation of the windows should be to utilize the most light.
For this step in our project tested all the materials that we were thinking about using for the interior and exterior walls, the floor, roof, and insulation. We set up a time consuming lab. In this lab we used a lightbulb as a heat source to measure how fast the different materials heated up, later we also measured how fast the cooled off.
Finally we had started the research of our passive solar home. After we found the best materials for our purposes we looked up the quantity we needed and the cost of all of it. While we were making the materials list we also were deciding where we wanted our house to be, which we ultimately decided would be the open area by the bleachers and basketball courts. We also were working on making the blueprints and models of our house. And that was that.
Finally we had started the research of our passive solar home. After we found the best materials for our purposes we looked up the quantity we needed and the cost of all of it. While we were making the materials list we also were deciding where we wanted our house to be, which we ultimately decided would be the open area by the bleachers and basketball courts. We also were working on making the blueprints and models of our house. And that was that.
our site
The last piece of our project was generation of energy. For this we designed wind turbines out of wooden dowels, an axis and manila folders to cut blades out of. We cut the folders into what shape of blade we thought would generate the most power and attached them to our dowels. We then designed a horizontal axis wind turbine as well as a vertical axis wind turbine and placed them both in front of a fan to measure how much power they both created with the blades we had designed. Our group had found that the horizontal axis wind turbine was the most energy efficient.
Physics Concepts
Radiation: the emission of energy in the form of rays, waves, particles.
Convection: the movement caused within a fluid, consequently resulting in the transfer of heat
Conduction: transfer of heat through a material
Insulation: protect something that prevents the escape of heat
Reflect: "throw back" of heat or light without absorbing it. We took reflection and absorption into consideration when considering that color we wanted to paint our house, as well as what roof we wanted on our house and wether we wanted the roof or walls to absorb or reflect.
Absorb: take in or soak up (heat, light, sound, liquid) Thermal Conductivity: The concept that heat travels from warmer places to cooler places.
Fluids: a substance, as a liquid or gas, that is able to flow and has the tendency to assume the shape of its container. Ex: water, blood, oxygen
Heat Absorption: Heat absorption is the absorption of heat through a substance. As a result the object changes in chemical physical appearance. Heat Reflection: this means that an object that reflects heat denies to absorb heat and doesn't take heat in quickly.
Thermal Conductivity: The concept that heat travels from warmer places to cooler places.
Laws of Thermodynamics:
0th: the temperature of two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system. They are also in equilibrium with each other. .
1st: conversation of energy- energy is neither created, nor destroyed. Heat is a form of energy.
2nd: entropy increases and disorder increases
3rd: temperature can never get to absolute 0. Heat always exists.
Reflection
For me this project was my favorite so far, it was the most entertaining and challenging which I throughly appreciated. It also was the most relevant to jobs and the real world than any other project we had done in my opinion. During this project we came across some challenges, as expected. My biggest difficulty was staying focused for the whole time given the project was a such a long one, and during the final minutes of class instead of buckling down our group started to get distracted and wonder away. Another challenge we faced was having civil disagreements. People our group started to get annoyed with each other if one person had an idea that the others disliked, but we made it work in the end and our disagreements became a lot less frequent. Despite the differences we had I'm really proud of our group. We were really good at not giving up when things got a little bit harder, for example all the extra work and research we had to do when utilizing the green roof. In my opinion the green roof was totally worth it and set ourselves apart from the other groups, which was a big key in this project. All together I'm really happy with the work our group did and definitely enjoyed this project, it is something that will definitely make my high school years memorable.
For me this project was my favorite so far, it was the most entertaining and challenging which I throughly appreciated. It also was the most relevant to jobs and the real world than any other project we had done in my opinion. During this project we came across some challenges, as expected. My biggest difficulty was staying focused for the whole time given the project was a such a long one, and during the final minutes of class instead of buckling down our group started to get distracted and wonder away. Another challenge we faced was having civil disagreements. People our group started to get annoyed with each other if one person had an idea that the others disliked, but we made it work in the end and our disagreements became a lot less frequent. Despite the differences we had I'm really proud of our group. We were really good at not giving up when things got a little bit harder, for example all the extra work and research we had to do when utilizing the green roof. In my opinion the green roof was totally worth it and set ourselves apart from the other groups, which was a big key in this project. All together I'm really happy with the work our group did and definitely enjoyed this project, it is something that will definitely make my high school years memorable.