Last Friday I was paired with a first grader to take on a walk into tyhe woods back behind Lockwood.I have been back there before during cross country and know the area fairley well so I knew some of what we where going to see. Howevre children of that age tend to have dcidffrent interestest s the at those of older kids and peers, I was able to point out several things to keep them interesteed. To begin with my kid was a little shy and didn't realy want to ask or reply to a whole lot, however after showing her and the surrounding children the milkweed plan and the seed pods that where almost ripe, she begun asking questions and I wcould communicate better for the remainder of the walk. Then we found crickets and showed them the diffrences between coniferous and deciduis trees. Then in the field before entering the side part of the woods we found a huge cricket that when in the dark made his sound. I also pointed out several trees and plants like oaks and autumn olive.
For our project we have settled on constructing a Hydrogen generator. We have come a long way in collecting research and planning for our generator. It will be powered by a 40lb propane of hydrogen at 30-60psi. Then it will go through an augmented 4 stroke engine that will rotate a belt connected to an elctric 3/4hp motor. The electrical DC output of this motor will go through a regulator and then a DC-AC converter to power 120v AC appliances. We hope to state construction next week as we are still doing research and finalizing our plans.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Carbon footprint:
Using Google I found a site that takes information about how you live to see how many Earth's it would take if everyone on Earth had the same lifestyle. The site asked both basic questions like how many people you have in your house, but had questions that may be difficult for young kids to answer. My footprint was only 4.06 Earth's, which in contrasts to others results isn't very high.
To help reduce this footprint I could do several things; like hanging up clothes to dry when I can and not using the dryer, to save energy. I could also have alternative sources of energy, like solar or wind power to help reduce both cost of power and using less fossil fuels. Also unplugging and shutting down my computer when not in use would help reduce energy costs.
Our school could help by using alternative sources of energy (ex. the wind turbine that will be going up shortly). We could also use more energy efficient computers, as opposed to older computer labs, and use workstations instead of individual computers.
The Eaton Rapids community could help by having gas stations support electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars, to reduce gasoline use. A hydroelectric dam could be built to replace current dams and have more bike friendly roads/routes.
Our project will help demonstrate and utilize the positive aspects of using hydrogen as a fuel source. Hydrogen can be used in place of gasoline, propane, natural gas, and even diesel. Producing hydrogen will require only three common items; aluminum (found in used pop cans), Lye (which can be extracted from ash) and water. Together they create hydrogen gas, sodium and aluminite (an anion that has several manufacturing purposes.) This new fuel source can be easily implemented to fit both cars and other machinery requiring gas or propane. This can then be used to help both our community and the rest of the world, and have a huge impact on both the economy and the ecosystem.
To help reduce this footprint I could do several things; like hanging up clothes to dry when I can and not using the dryer, to save energy. I could also have alternative sources of energy, like solar or wind power to help reduce both cost of power and using less fossil fuels. Also unplugging and shutting down my computer when not in use would help reduce energy costs.
Our school could help by using alternative sources of energy (ex. the wind turbine that will be going up shortly). We could also use more energy efficient computers, as opposed to older computer labs, and use workstations instead of individual computers.
The Eaton Rapids community could help by having gas stations support electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars, to reduce gasoline use. A hydroelectric dam could be built to replace current dams and have more bike friendly roads/routes.
Our project will help demonstrate and utilize the positive aspects of using hydrogen as a fuel source. Hydrogen can be used in place of gasoline, propane, natural gas, and even diesel. Producing hydrogen will require only three common items; aluminum (found in used pop cans), Lye (which can be extracted from ash) and water. Together they create hydrogen gas, sodium and aluminite (an anion that has several manufacturing purposes.) This new fuel source can be easily implemented to fit both cars and other machinery requiring gas or propane. This can then be used to help both our community and the rest of the world, and have a huge impact on both the economy and the ecosystem.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Week 1
Technology and how it impacts us:
Technology has been around since the
cave men roamed the earth(and the caves), it helps us do what we need
done faster and more efficiently. Just looking
at what was used to make this blog post shows off some of this
technological achievement. From the scripting languages used to
program the browser and servers (HTML, C, C++, Java, Python, BASIC) to the billions of transistors in my
processor to make it all possible. 09/07/11
Global Science:
Studying the way systems interact in
our many spheres, is as interesting as it is complex and mind
boggling. So many things working together for an unknown purpose,
except to help each other. Over the course of this trimester I hope
to extend my knowledge of these systems and hopefully have fun along
the way. 09/07/11
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