In the past month in Maker Time we have been working on a really big year end project. We call it Blue Sky. For our Blue Sky project we had to look at a problem and design a solution for it took me a while to come up with an idea that was possible to do in the time I had. My first idea was to design a cure for sea star wasting syndrome. That would take too long. My second idea was to make a frisbee launcher. That would also take too long. My fourth idea was to design a floating city that would be self dependant. That was too big. My last idea was to use a rain barrel to water a plant during water restrictions. This idea was finally approved.

Now I only had about three weeks left until the exhibition where I would have to present my project. So, I quickly started to search for a rain barrel but sadly they where too expensive. So I bought a bucket from Rona alone with some pieces that would allow me to attach the hose to the bucket with water. I then drilled into the bucket near the bottom and siliconed a piece into the hole. I then designed a module composing of a timer and connector pieces. I attached the module to the piece in the bucket. Meanwhile, I was making the lid. I first drilled out a giant hole into the lid of the bucket. I then tried to silicone a sheet of mesh onto the lid. Sadly, the silicone was water soluble  and the mesh didn’t stay attached to the lid. So, instead I taped a bigger sheet of mesh to the underside of the lid and it worked like a charm. I then tested it by pouring water onto the lid and it held the water perfectly, no leaks.

Now it was time to add the hoses and the plant. I put it all together but when I turned on my timer nothing came out. I then discovered, after research into the specific timer I have, that it was a timer only for high pressure water which my water was not.

So, I went and bought a manual valve and attached that onto the end of the hose.

After figuring out all the rain barrel and hose stuff I still had to find out where and when is it best to water a plant and figure out a way to do that. So, I emailed my mentor, Kelly. She responded that it is best to water in the early mornings and late evenings so the water doesn’t evaporate as much than it would midday. She also said that roots are the best spot to water a plant.

So, I found clear tubing in my garage and then got a connector piece and siliconed it together. I then cut the hose so it would fit in the pot. I attached it all together and tested again and it WATERED THE PLANT!!!

Now for the exhibition. Just like the Star Wars exhibition we were split into different groups based on what we did my group was the home inventions group.

My group was off in the corner but a lot of people still came through so that was fine, but my manual valve started to leak. Luckily I jut made sure it was over top of my plant so no water went to waste.

Here is my slideshow that I used to show my process at the exhibition.