Thursday, June 7, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Our Team
Mervin Chong, Luke-John Lee, Amelia Pang and Dexter Lim. All from S202 ^^
Photo with Ms Lee:
Overview
Read the introduction, objectives and theoretical background to the project and then answer the following questions:
- What main theory or concept is the project based on?
Ans: The main idea of this project is to construct a balsa wood model that incorporates concepts like principles of building and construction trades, engineering and physics. It is a simple model representing a real water tower where majoring in structural engineering is important. Not only is the designing important, but the welfare of the people must be put in the first place.
Ans: The main idea of this project is to construct a balsa wood model that incorporates concepts like principles of building and construction trades, engineering and physics. It is a simple model representing a real water tower where majoring in structural engineering is important. Not only is the designing important, but the welfare of the people must be put in the first place.
- What do you already know about this theory or concept?
Ans: Gravity is the force of pulling matter to the core of earth and other planets.The design is important to have a bigger base to secure the foundation whilst it narrows towards the top to make it more stable, for example, in a pyramid. Engineering was comprising of construction and electronics.
Objectives
- What does the group need to accomplish by the end of the project?
Ans: Build a tower out of balsa wood and super super super super super glue, that bonds hands and eyes in seconds, to support as much weight as possible without collapsing including itself.
- How will you know whether or not your project has been successful?
Ans: Whether is withstands a great amount of weight before it collapses. If it is successful, it the supporting wood should not break under the force of the water, going to show that there is a strong foundation.Our Achievements
- What did you achieve by completing this project? When answering this question, consider both personal and academic development.
Ans: We achieved a good learning experience which has enriched us and given us a new perspective in our choice of careers in the future. Our group has also achieved the 1st place out of all the groups, with a tower withstanding 41kg of weights. We also managed to deepen our understanding on certain concepts.
Ans: We achieved a good learning experience which has enriched us and given us a new perspective in our choice of careers in the future. Our group has also achieved the 1st place out of all the groups, with a tower withstanding 41kg of weights. We also managed to deepen our understanding on certain concepts.
- Post photographs and videos that you recorded during the project here.
- Describe how the design of your experiment or the design of your product allowed you to achieve the projects desired outcomes.
Ans: Our design actually started from simplicity to complication. To get the first 10kg up for more materials, we made a simple design enough to take 10kg so we could make improvements on it later. Once we got more and more materials, we touched up our product and made many reinforcements to the base and structure of our product.
- Identify possible limitations (restrictions) to your project. When answering this question, consider the design of your experiment or the design of your product.
Ans: We had certain limitations such as time and materials, we had to construct our water tower within a few ours including planning and measurements. We were also given limited materials of 3 sticks of balsa wood each of 1 meter long.
- Suggest possible improvements that could be made in order to minimize the limitations that you have identified.
Ans: We had trial runs for our water towers, and with each 10kg extra able to be supported by our water tower, we were given 1 more stick of balsa wood, which we would later use to improve our product more. We had to use whatever materials we had and had to think through the practicality very clearly such as not to waste the limited materials we had.
Time was put to its maximum use when we concentrated on the task and completed it swiftly with quality.
Ans: We had trial runs for our water towers, and with each 10kg extra able to be supported by our water tower, we were given 1 more stick of balsa wood, which we would later use to improve our product more. We had to use whatever materials we had and had to think through the practicality very clearly such as not to waste the limited materials we had.
Time was put to its maximum use when we concentrated on the task and completed it swiftly with quality.
Discussion Questions from your Mentor
Upload the questions that were posed by your mentor here and answer them.
Ms Lee: Shouldn't the structure of one part of the tower be applied throughout the height to make the tower more stable?
Ans: Yes it should, it would reinforce every part of the tower, from the base to the top of the tower.
Ms Lee: How did your structure enforce stability into the water tower? How did you build up from all the ideas and what did you learn?
Ans: We made many reinforcements to the tower, especially on the base by adding balsa wood sticks to the higher parts of other balsa wood sticks to prevent the bending of the balsa wood. We also reinforced the areas around the cup so that it will not topple while the weights are being put on. Smaller pieces of balsa wood were used to connect all the longer pieces at different heights in the joints so that it would be more sturdy. After one of the tests, one of the sticks was bending, so we put another stick attached to it so that it will not bend.
We combined all our best ideas and put them together, taking into consideration stability, strength and durability, while putting the most use to our materials. We learnt that consistency throughout the structure is important to keep the structure's shape to ensure that the structure was stable.
Ms Lee: Shouldn't the structure of one part of the tower be applied throughout the height to make the tower more stable?
Ans: Yes it should, it would reinforce every part of the tower, from the base to the top of the tower.
Ms Lee: How did your structure enforce stability into the water tower? How did you build up from all the ideas and what did you learn?
Ans: We made many reinforcements to the tower, especially on the base by adding balsa wood sticks to the higher parts of other balsa wood sticks to prevent the bending of the balsa wood. We also reinforced the areas around the cup so that it will not topple while the weights are being put on. Smaller pieces of balsa wood were used to connect all the longer pieces at different heights in the joints so that it would be more sturdy. After one of the tests, one of the sticks was bending, so we put another stick attached to it so that it will not bend.
We combined all our best ideas and put them together, taking into consideration stability, strength and durability, while putting the most use to our materials. We learnt that consistency throughout the structure is important to keep the structure's shape to ensure that the structure was stable.
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