Michelle

G9 Science & Engineering

Define & Inquire:

I choose to make an engineering project about utilize a renewable energy source as the source and converts it into an electrical energy. Renewable energy is the energy that is collected from naturally renewable resources. There are several types of renewable energy. Wind: there are two types of turbines, Vertical- Axis and Horizontal-Axis. Wind turbines can convert the kinetic energy in the wind into electrical power. Solar energy, the energy generated by sun can also be used to generate electricity. Lastly, the water energy is one of the earliest energy sources in human history.

I choose the hydro energy or the water energy as my renewable energy source and wanted to build a water wheel as a power generator that can be used to make electricity. Many people know about wind turbines because they are huge and easier to see; however, they probably do not get to see a water wheel very often. A water wheel is very similar to the wind turbines and are basically function in the same principle; the only difference is that water wheel use water while the wind turbines use wind. The water passes through the water wheel, large amount of water in the buckets can increase the pressure of gravity and it will spin faster. The axle of the wheel will connect to a dynamo that turns kinetic energy into electricity. Furthermore, I’m thinking about making a waterwheel which is similar to China’s ancient water wheel. Because when I was study in Chinese school, I am always amazed by the things that were invented by the ancient Chinese. Moreover, I think waterwheels have a simpler instruction and are easier to build, and it’s suitable to fit with all types of water conditions. But the disadvantage is the rotational speed should be as low as possible to avoid fast emptying of the buckets due to greater centrifugal forces.

Develop & Plan:

Here is the draft stretch of my idea. This blueprint is based on the design from ancient Chinese time. There were many applications in waterwheel during that period, such as transfer water from a lower landscape to a higher landscape to water the farm (water-lifting irrigation), fulling cloth, or milling of grain. The movement of waterwheel is driven by the pressure exerted by the water dropped onto the paddles. This makes the waterwheel continue to spin, as a result, the motor connected to the waterwheel then produce the electricity which light up the lightbulb. This is a typical change of energy. From the hydro energy to potential energy, then kinetic energy, then mechanical energy, and at last, the electric energy.

Material List:

1 x plastic bottle, 1 x Motor, 1 x transparent plastic box, 1 x pump, 2 x strews, 2 x tooth, and a plastic wheel.

Create & Improve

First class:

This class I collected all the materials that I need for the project. Then, I made research on the concept and technique I would use for making the project. I was researching the information from Wikipedia and watched some YouTube video of DIY the waterwheel to learn the concept and the stature basic help me build on my knowledge.

Second class: I started connecting the motor with tooth and then prepare all the parts, glue the water bottle with strews.

Third class: This class I was glue all the parts into the box.

Forth Class: This week I faced a big problem: the water cannot flow back from the strew. But Mr. Michie helped me with add a pump under water to achieve water recycle. In real life, for example, the builders usually set a waterwheel to grinding grains into flour. In the nature environment, the water will flow down from higher place, which will create more water pressure to push the motor create more electricity.

Last Class: I adjusted the wires and used the tip to make them stick on the box wall. It’s made the project clearer easy to carry and safer than before.

Here are the websites:

Wind energy:

https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work

https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/energy-and-the-environment/renewable-energy-and-electricity.aspx

water wheel:

https://greenfuture.io/sustainable-living/water-wheel-generator/

https://www.britannica.com/technology/waterwheel-engineering

Reflect and Share:

This project didn’t work successfully because of a wood piece stuck in the water wheel and stop the spinning of the paddle. After research more, I learned that the distance of the wheel needs to be extended longer to avoid this kind of problem. The wheel’s force is enough, and the tooth parts are all ready to go. To make sure they stay safe. I used the tip to make the electric wire remain on the box wall. I need improve on working process with choose the materials more carefully, especially the size of every piece. The function of the waterwheel is as a green technology concept, basically there is no negative effect on the environment. I would improve the tooth part, change the waterwheel tooth into a smaller one. In addition, the size of the strew I would like to change into a large size, because larger size of the strew can bring more water pressure to hit the wheel.

The American Revolution Brought to You by Taxation

March 29, 2021 / Michelle / 3 Comments

I have learned a lot by studying American Revolution and Russian Revolution. My own understanding is that in revolution or war people should good at use strategy. In the American Revolution, I think the American Revolutionaries have found their own way to change the war to the way they can control. For historical ideas are, Life and liberty everyone is equal. Furthermore, I noticed that in Revolution or war spirit of unity is pretty important!

January 22, 2021

“I am Malala” is a book wrote by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb that explores how Malala raised up education, religion, courage, and women’s right. The story of the book depicts Malala’s memory. When Malala was still a teenager, Malala knows how education matters to her. Therefore, when the Taliban arrived in her hometown and started burn things and ban girls from going to school, Malala spoke up against them. But she got shot by the Taliban on Thursday morning when she went to school by school bus. Lucky, Malala was alive and she and her father were able to provide a lot of force to support education.

Two themes of this book are women’s rights and education.

The first quote comes from page 265 “one child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world”. The second quote comes from page 263 “5.1 million children don’t even go to primary school even though in our constitution it says every child has that right.” Part of the story is that Malala’s father was encouraging her to attend school and taught her to begin on her writing. Those 2 quotes show how education is important to people. We need to be thankful for our life today. I believe that one of the motivations that let Malala have the courage to spoke up against the system is because of her father’s supports. This has finally led to Malala spoke up for women’s rights, education.

Finally, I highly recommend this book to people who like to read inspirational books. By far for me “I Am Malala ” is the most inspirational book I’ve read. It was so interesting to know what happens to her and her’s country. Moreover, It describes some sad problems that are still happening today. It is happening in the world that many children didn’t have their right to education, courage, religion, and women’s right. This book also mentioned that we need to focus on the “world problem” and we need to fix it to make our “family” become better.

All in all, two things I learned from this unit are: I can have a deeper understanding of non-fiction books and I really enjoy teamwork, and we can have a conversation about the book. The most interesting part was the debate section! it really practiced our way of thinking and our presentation skill.

Good Boxers? No, Bad!

December 4, 2020 / Michelle / 0 Comments

CER

Boxer deserves a bad reputation in my case when looking at the following facts. Firstly, when the eight-nation expeditionary force invades Beijing, boxers pretends to be ordinary people, resulting in many innocent civilians being killed. Secondly, Boxers acted as a catalyst of the war after boxers are introduced to Beijing. Boxers cut the railway line connecting Beijing and with Tianjin and the coast on June fifth. Afterward, Boxers keep messing around with foreign affairs, such as killed Clemens Von Ketteler and burned legation district affairs. As a result, foreigners in legation called help from their domestic countries, which led to the occurrence of 8-national expeditionary force invasion. Thirdly, China assigned Boxer Protocol on September 7^th, 1901, resulted in 450 million taels of silver to be paid over the 40 years as indemnity. The Unequal Treaties were signed as well, which has badly influenced China’s Economy and international state afterward. As said above, boxers are the major reason for all the chaos. Since many innocent people were killed due to what boxers did, they earned a bad reputation. The unequal treaties and the invasion have caused China’s unwellness at that period of time, increasing more poor situations to Chinese people. Therefore, Boxers deserve a bad rap.

To know more about the Boxer Rebellion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l4C3vZudZI

Welcome to Your New Blog!

November 17, 2020 / Michelle / 0 Comments

When you blog you create posts and posts are categorised according to your subject. Some categories have already been set up for you. If you need more categories you can add them as needed. It’s important that your posts have the following:

An engaging title – this should not include the name of the subject since this is referenced in the category.
Body – this is where you share your learning. This can include text, images, embedded videos from Dragons’ Tube or elsewhere. You should always consider how your post looks to your audience. Is it engaging? Do they want to keep reading?
Category – select one that has been set for you or add a new category. Posts can have more than one category e.g. Humanities and Myself as a Learner

Click on the images below to learn more about blogging: