What an adventure! I have now made it through two Exhibitions and each one was an experience to remember. If you dont know about my first Exabition, click here to read the post. The first one was in winter, hence the name “Winter Exabition” and the second one was considered the “Spring Exabition” which we rapped up lat week. Although both projects had the same way of presentation, they weren’t both considered a “Blue Sky”. Blue Sky is a project that us students create ourselves. Usually there are certain guidelines that are the back bone of the project as well as the theme of the Exabition. Both Exhibitions shared those traits, but the winter one was said to be a “Mini Blue Sky” instead of just a Blue Sky.
After The winter Exabition had concluded and we were informed that we would have another Blue Sky near the end of the year. Back then I thought that it would be the same treacherous experience as out first Exabition. I had that point of view for the majority of the year. Although, when the COVID19 Pandemic began and school was postponed, I realized that everything was about to change. We had already made it through one Maker project at home and let me just say that it was a rough start. It was a hard first couple of weeks but after many un-productive days I had found a way to succeed. luckily I had learned how to be productive before our first project was finished. This allowed this project to be a much smoother process.
This Blue Sky project was based around the UN sustainable goals that were introduced in 2016. We were asked to choose one of the twenty goals that interested us to base our project on. After we had a few of our favourite goals in mind, we had to narrow it down to one goal that connected with the COVID pandemic that we are facing today. I immediately thought of some previous reading that I had read about pollution levels during the time of quarantine and how much they had dropped. I wondered if there was a way to keep the current pollution levels as low as they are as cities begin to reopen. I was already eager to start building an answer to my question but I then remembered from the winter Blue Sky how much needed to be done before I could even start blueprinting. By the next week it was finally time embark on the Blu Sky journey and start the LAUNCH cycle.
This project was led by the driving question: Using one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a guide, how would you solve a problem facing our community/province/world?. The three competencies in this project were:
Research and Understand: How might I research and understand a problem, process, or challenge using different perspectives?
Take Creative Risks: How might I use technology to create in new ways?
And finally,
Revise: How might I see this as a First Attempt In Learning and revise?
I have many examples of how I best answered each competency so I will quickly provide one piece of evidence that I thought best show my understanding for each competency.
Research and Understand: How might I research and understand a problem, process, or challenge using different perspectives?
The Research and Understand competency was used for the L, A,U, and N fazes of the project where we completed all of the background research. Unlike the previous Exabition we only had one week to finish the research aspect of the project. After forming my how HMW question in the L faze, I began the research in order to answer the question. Since my HMW was: How might we keep the CO2 levels at their current state as cities begin to reopen, I began my research with questions all about CO2. We created a Need to Know document where we listed all of the questions we needed to answer before we could find a solution to our question. I somehow to had endless amounts of questions which mad it a longer process but it ended up being a crucial step towards my project. It took me many days of researching, brainstorming, and bundling my ideas before I had any idea of what my solution may look like.
The Project Pitch Form was the final product of all the research and it was were we pitched a couple ideas of what the solution to our questions would be. By the end my research, I had focused my thoughts around photosynthesis and how plants filter out the carbon dioxide. I decided that I would make Some sort of synthetic material or mechanism that would mimic photosynthesis in plants. As I said in my launch Journal, it took me a wile to focus my research and interests but by the end I had got over my problem and thought out a rough idea that I was very proud of.
- Take Creative Risks: How might I use technology to create in new ways?
The next competency that we visited in the LAUNCH cycle asked us to Take Creative Risks. This one covered the C or create faze of the Cycle. Creating the prototype is my favourite part of the process. Being able to use all the research to create something that had never been made before is pretty special. Although there are a lot of positive results in this faze, there are also many times that were hard to handle. This is where the “risks: part of the competency is put into play. Risks are risks and they don’t alway turn out the way you want them to. For me, I had a very clear idea of the material I was going to make, but it was a risk to try to make it. My first blueprint went smoothly, but when I went to see if I had all of the materials needed, the results were quite discouraging. I only had one of the parts on my list. I completely rethought what my solution would be and started over. This was definitely a huge F.A.I.L. Although back then I though I was ruined, this risk had sparked a new and even better idea for my solution.
- Revise: How might I see this as a First Attempt In Learning and revise?
The final competency for this project was Revise. With my F.A.I.L in the create faze, I had to restart the prototyping process of the project. I began brainstorming my ideas once more and did some additional research on ways to capture carbon. After a day or two of planning out the process and making sure that I had all of the materials, I began my blueprinting once more. My idea was to take a fan and put a absorbent material over the backside of the fan. The material would have special chemical called LYE that separates the carbon atom from the oxygen atom in a chemical reaction. In the blueprint I showed all of those elements as well as the fact that it was solar powered. After I had a very clear idea of how it would look, I began with a rough physical prototype that gave me a seance of how it works. The first prototype was quite large making it very un-portable and accessible. When I asked for feedback my critics mostly said how it would not be durable due to its fragile figure and material. The next prototype was much smaller and durable with a wider base. Since it was only a prototype and it wouldn’t be used commercially, I decide to make it a miniature version of my originally idea. I used a P95 mask covered in a chemical solution for the material, which made for a better filter. I attach he’d the mask to the back side of the fan, then I plugged it into its power source. Since the fan used USB chord, I was able to attach it to a solar powered battery just beside it. This prototype ended up looking very much like my original blueprint and worked better than ever before. It was then time to LAUNCH it to an audience and I was ready to do so. After I revised my work multiple times and I had a First Attempt In Learning, I had made a final product that I was very proud of. Not only did it solve my question, but it represented something bigger to myself. I had worked so hard and been so interested in what I learned, and to have completed something that I will remember for ever, feels very good.
These last months have been a long haul but this project has made quarantine bearable. I have learned a lot and I had so much fun during the course of the project and presenting it was just as exiting. Although we didn’t get to present in different themed rooms with snacks and colourful lights, we were still able to put on a show that many people will remember for a while. I got to say that I was a bit surprised on how well we performed but then as I look back on how hard our Climate Action group worked, it was understandable. Over all I enjoyed the Sustainable Blue Sky project and thought that it was a great way to end the year. Thank you for reading and make sure you comment any questions or thoughts you may have on this post.
Hey Ryder,
really good job creating a carbon capture prototype and presenting a positive solution that addresses one of the most important issues that humanity faces: climate change. A couple questions that I would have for you is first, whether your mechanism would actually separate CO2 into carbon and oxygen atoms (and if so, where would the oxygen go?) or, might it be possible to capture entire molecules of carbon dioxide instead?
And second, as the filter collects carbon over time, how and where would the accumulated carbon eventually be stored so that it stays out of the atmosphere?
I like how you designed your direct air capture device to be solar powered, thus, using renewable energy, and not more fossil fuels, to help solve the problem. It’s really smart how you looked to the intrinsic intelligence within nature for possible solutions to human-made problems and found the connection between photosynthesis and the idea of using technology to remove some of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the air.
So, thanks for your post and congratulations on your fine effort for spring exhibition 2020!