Our last project of the semester was creative engineering. For this, my group and I had to take a modern day problem and find a solution for it. We decided to help solve the destruction of nature. The solution to our problem was creating a portable rooftop garden. The design of our garden helps with colony collapse disorder, deforestation, and air pollution. All of these factors are destroyers of nature.
Air pollution is the contamination of air by substances that are harmful to living organisms. An example of air pollutants are carbon dioxide, methane, smoke, and sulfur dioxide. They come from cars, factories, planes, etc. Air pollution is dangerous, for it can irritate a person's throat and make breathing difficult. It affects plants by making them more susceptible to disease and damage.
Deforestation is the destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. The trees are cleared by a process known as "slash and burn". This is when trees are cut down then burned, killing forests and polluting the air. The main cause of deforestation is subsistence farming. Subsistence farming is when farmers grow food for a profit and themselves.
Colony Collapse Disorder is a phenomenon where worker honeybee colonies disappear. The cause of this event is not yet known, but there are potential causes of CCD. The causes are mites, sublethal effects of pesticide, stressful situations, weakened immune systems, and lack of diversity in nectar.
Concept:
Engineering Design Cycle: A series of steps engineers follow to solve a problem. 1. Identify need 2. Research problem 3. Develop possible solutions 4. Select promising solutions 5. Construct a prototype 6. Test and evaluate prototype 7. Communicate design 8. Redesign 9. Repeat We used this process when coming up with a solution to our issue.
Reflection
This was a fun project to end the semester with. One major upside to this project was my group. We worked well together and were very compatible. All of the of my group mates were able to come up with good ideas and help contribute to the project in a variety of ways. I was able to help more with the hands-on construction, which was another perk to this project. One problem my group had was not doing enough research on our solution. Once we came up with our solution, portable rooftop gardens, we immediately starting constructing our prototype. Our prototype ended up being heavy and messy, the opposite of what we had planned. If we had done more research on building materials, our prototype would have turned out better. A problem I can work on is staying on task better. My friends were in my group, so we would tend to stray from the project. Even with this setback, we were able to finish the project on time and without being rushed or stressed. Overall my group and I successfully finished our project and semester.