Outdoor Classroom Pt. 1
Project Description
This was the first of two parts of our Outdoor Classroom project. In this half, we learned about many of the basic building blocks that would help us successfully complete the project. One of these was learning about atomic structure and heat. To start off, we learned about the different states of matter, why materials will change their state of matter, the known structure of an atom, and how atoms will combine together. This led into the next phase of the project, solar angles. The Earth has seasons because of solar angles and the tilt of the Earth's axis. When it is winter for the northern hemisphere, it is summer for the southern hemisphere. This is because the Earth's axis tilts the northern hemisphere, so when the sun strikes the Earth, the same amount of heat is dispersed over a larger area. In the southern hemisphere, it is summer because the same amount of heat is striking on a much more concentrated area, so it is hotter. Below is a graph of the solar angles at San Marin. We also learned about the four laws of thermodynamics, the 0th, the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd. All of this information helped us design and model our outdoor classroom.
This was the first of two parts of our Outdoor Classroom project. In this half, we learned about many of the basic building blocks that would help us successfully complete the project. One of these was learning about atomic structure and heat. To start off, we learned about the different states of matter, why materials will change their state of matter, the known structure of an atom, and how atoms will combine together. This led into the next phase of the project, solar angles. The Earth has seasons because of solar angles and the tilt of the Earth's axis. When it is winter for the northern hemisphere, it is summer for the southern hemisphere. This is because the Earth's axis tilts the northern hemisphere, so when the sun strikes the Earth, the same amount of heat is dispersed over a larger area. In the southern hemisphere, it is summer because the same amount of heat is striking on a much more concentrated area, so it is hotter. Below is a graph of the solar angles at San Marin. We also learned about the four laws of thermodynamics, the 0th, the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd. All of this information helped us design and model our outdoor classroom.
For this part of the project, we also had to design and create a solar water heater. This is when we used our knowledge of heat transfer and solar angles to make the most efficient solar water heater possible. Our design similar to the one below, but didn't work as well. Our design ended up getting 5th out of 8, and the water temperature went up 9°C. We used our knowledge of the types of heat transfer and the laws of thermodynamics to design this. For the last part of the first part of our Outdoor Classroom project, we had to pick out our site. First, we went out on campus and picked out possible locations. This was just really to get the lay of the land, not to make a definite decision. When we came back in, we made a list of criteria and weighed those on a scale of 1 to 3, three being the most important and one being the least important. We then scored our sites based off of these criteria. We used score of the criteria and multiplied that by the score we gave the site, and then added them all up. This made it a lot easier for us to pick out site, especially since we were impartial and based our scores only based off of facts. The winning site was behind the art building and next to a tree.
We did a water and heat test to find out what materials we should use to build our outdoor classroom. We took the data from the experiment and put it into the spreadsheet below. We then graphed the data, and used this visual representation to decide which materials would be the best. Already knowing where we were going to build, this helped even more because we knew what the conditions in that area were. It made designing our site that much easier.
We did a water and heat test to find out what materials we should use to build our outdoor classroom. We took the data from the experiment and put it into the spreadsheet below. We then graphed the data, and used this visual representation to decide which materials would be the best. Already knowing where we were going to build, this helped even more because we knew what the conditions in that area were. It made designing our site that much easier.
We also did a lab on wind turbines, in both the horizontal and vertical axis. We tested many different designs, to see which one could generate the most volts, and then we gad to come to a conclusion about our data. We tested the classic windmill design, with three long blades. When the time came to form our conclusion, we came up with the conclusion that more blades generates more volts than less blades. Our reasoning was that there is more surface area with more blades, so the wind has more to push on, so the blades can spin faster, generating more volts. Our evidence also proved this, showing that at all three wind speeds, the design with more blades generated more volts than the design with less blades. We also crested a document as a class about why we should use alternative forms of energy. You can find that below.
Terms and Definitions
Atom: The basic unit of a chemical element.
Proton: The positively charged particle that resides in the nucleus of the atom.
Neutron: The neutrally charged particle that resides in the nucleus of the atom.
Electron: The negatively charged particle that is found on orbiting the nucleus of the atom.
Molecule: A group of atoms bonded together.
Element: The most basic building block that cannot be broken down anymore.
Conduction: The transfer of heat through a solid.
Convection: The transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or gas).
Radiation: The transfer of heat through waves/rays/particles.
Insulation: The opposite of conduction; bad at transferring heat.
0th Law of Thermodynamics: If two systems are in equilibrium with a third system, then they are in equilibrium with each other. If A = B, and B = C, then A = C.
1st Law of Thermodynamics: Energy is neither created or destroyed, but is transformed from one form to another.
2nd Law of Thermodynamics: Over time, everything becomes the same temperature.
3rd Law of Thermodynamics: Temperature can never get to absolute zero.
Fahrenheit: A way of measuring temperature where the freezing point of water is 32°, and where it boils at 212°.
Celsius: A way of measuring temperature where the freezing point of water is 0°, and where it boils at 100°.
Kelvin: A way of measuring temperature where absolute zero is 0°. There is a 273 degrees difference between Kelvin and Celsius.
Atom: The basic unit of a chemical element.
Proton: The positively charged particle that resides in the nucleus of the atom.
Neutron: The neutrally charged particle that resides in the nucleus of the atom.
Electron: The negatively charged particle that is found on orbiting the nucleus of the atom.
Molecule: A group of atoms bonded together.
Element: The most basic building block that cannot be broken down anymore.
Conduction: The transfer of heat through a solid.
Convection: The transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or gas).
Radiation: The transfer of heat through waves/rays/particles.
Insulation: The opposite of conduction; bad at transferring heat.
0th Law of Thermodynamics: If two systems are in equilibrium with a third system, then they are in equilibrium with each other. If A = B, and B = C, then A = C.
1st Law of Thermodynamics: Energy is neither created or destroyed, but is transformed from one form to another.
2nd Law of Thermodynamics: Over time, everything becomes the same temperature.
3rd Law of Thermodynamics: Temperature can never get to absolute zero.
Fahrenheit: A way of measuring temperature where the freezing point of water is 32°, and where it boils at 212°.
Celsius: A way of measuring temperature where the freezing point of water is 0°, and where it boils at 100°.
Kelvin: A way of measuring temperature where absolute zero is 0°. There is a 273 degrees difference between Kelvin and Celsius.