For the past few weeks in science, we have been creating machines that generate electricity from nature. Our assignment was to use hand generators and modify them in a way that allowed energy to be captured from nature. I was in a group with Adlih and Lucas, and we decided to power our machine using rain. Here is our finished project video!
Contribute to finding solutions to problems at a local/or global level through inquiry
We improved this core competency through research and prototyping of our machine. It uses rainwater to solve power outages. We decided that this would be an important real world occurrence that our machine could solve. We did this by creating a machine that collected rainwater and then briefly turned a hand generator in order to light up a string of leds. This machine took a lot of time and thought to make, because we had a lot of difficulty figuring out how to best design it.
Consider social, ethical, and environmental implications of the findings from their own and others’ investigations
Through our project, we focused heavily on the impacts of eco friendly energy. Through our research and previous knowledge, I understand how clean energy is much better and more important for our world. Clean energy can reduce air and water pollution, and is healthier for our world to use. These hand generators are an effective way of powering small electronics and can make a big difference if used enough.
Collaboratively ans individually plan, select, and use appropriate investigation methods, including field work and lab experiments to collect reliable data
We worked both in groups and individually to plan out and design methods to create our prototype. While I recognize that our machine wouldn’t be very effective in long term use, I still am very proud of what we made. It took a lot of thought and problem solving. This was a very entertaining machine to build, even though some of it could be very tedious.
Reflecting on our project
Overall, I would definitely do this project in a different, more effective way next time. However, I still learned quite a bit and would be interested in doing more projects about renewable energy in the future.
Here is my project end mind map to show my knowledge!
