Introduction:

My project is a downscaled water turbine, capable of turning gravitational potential energy (water flow) into kinetic energy (when the turbine spins and causes the gears to spin) and finally into electrical energy (when the kinetic energy turns the dynamo, the dynamo generates electricity). It consists of three major areas, being the water setup, gearbox+turbine, and the dynamo setup.

Question 1: How does my product work? Does it work consistently?

The water turbine utilizes the magnetic fields within the dynamo motor to generate electricity, which can then be used to power a LED light. In order to power the turbine, a substantial amount of gravitational potential energy is needed, which in my case, would be the water out of a tap. My product works quite consistently, not needing any electrical power,  as well as lasting a long time, due to the dynamo being quite sturdy. However, a flaw with my project is that the turbine could only power the light when turned clockwise, and not counterclockwise. As discovered, if we turned the turbine counter clockwise, the gearbox would break, as we used glue to attach the gears onto the axles, and once twisted vigorously in the other direction, the glue would eventually break.

Question 2: What was the high and lows of your project?

A high for me would be the productiveness of my group. My group was able to work on task and efficiently during the entire span of the project, which helped our project massively—as our project was rather hard to accomplish—. However, a low for my team would be the designing of the turbine, which required vigorous work and countless discussions, in order to weigh out the pros and cons of each design. However, our group managed to work through the hard tasks, and succeeded in the end.

Question 3: What would you improve next time?

For my product, the resistance (friction) in the steel axles and particularly in the dynamo was very high, which caused our product to not work with regular school taps (water source), and requiring more water pressure to turn the water turbine. If I were to attempt this project again, I would have paid more attention to the axles and joints in our product, as ball bearings could have massively helped in terms of reducing friction. As well as the gearbox, being more negative than positive, as it generated more torque at the exchange of more friction.

Question 4: How well did your group do?

Our group did decently well, as we only worked outside of class once, and only briefly. However, every rose has its thorns. As a result of the friction, we were only able to power the turbine via our hands (hand crank), as the school water had too less pressure, and resulted in the turbine not turning.

Question 5: What impacts does your product have on the real world?

If our product would be slightly improved (less friction and torque), our product could benefit many individuals globally. It is capable of harnessing the energy of gravity, and turning it into usable electrical energy. If our product was scaled up, perhaps it could generate massive amounts of electricity, which would benefit millions worldwide.

My client’s favorite food was sushi. The reason they didn’t like to eat sushi anymore is that sometimes their sushi falls apart. My fix was an invention called “Anti-fall-apart-o-matic”. It consists of a general tube that houses the sushi, along with a slit in the sides that allows the user to push the sushi up the tube. This tube doesn’t allow the sushi to fall apart as it holds it tight and once you push the sushi upwards, the sushi will be perfectly fine and ready to be eaten.

What inspired me?

Subway trains really inspired me as I saw how they smoothly moved through their almost tunnel like tracks, which also allows the subway to be safe as it is contained by the tunnel. I later used this idea for my project.

Materials I used:

-Electrical Tape

-Cardboard Pipe

-Popsicle stick

Pictures:

Many regard earth as a beautiful planet, teeming with wildlife and greenery, however times have changed. Along with the technological development of humanity, more and more waste has been neglectfully dumped into our oceans.  

To many, plastic pollution is no bigger problem than a power shortage, however it’s the unawareness and laziness that allows plastic pollution to thrive today.  

5.1 trillion pieces of plastics exist in our oceans, killing off 100,000 sea animals and releasing 108 million metric tons of Carbon Dioxide into our atmosphere, resulting in bigger problems such as Global Warming. In fact, so many plastics exist in our oceans that garbage patches as big as triple the size of Texas are formed. However, these consequences aren’t even close to the biggest problem that plastic pollution creates for humans—microplastics—. 14 million tons of microplastics lie on the ocean floors, ranging from 1 millimeter (about 0.04 in) to 10 millimeters (about 0.39 in). These small yet deadly microplastics contaminate our food and water, and once consumed, cause organ damage, reproduction problems, blockage of digestive system, poisoning, and more. The worst part is that microplastics aren’t biodegradable, meaning that they will forever lie on the ocean floors if we don’t act. 

Luckily, as of today, many organizations and individuals have already started to fight against plastic pollution, gaining more members over time.  

In fact, as stated by recent study conducted by greenpeace.org, 36 companies here in China have already adopted the use of biodegradable products as well as eco-friendly packaging. Such change can also be seen in customers and individuals. As a result of companies adopting the use of eco-friendly materials, a recent study conducted by bussinesswire.com shows that customers are 76 percent more likely to buy products that are labelled environmentally friendly. This is great news as this data shows that great progress has been made in terms of reducing plastic waste. Furthermore, individuals can be seen acting against plastic pollution, one example is 19-year-old, Joshua Caraway. According to Global Citizen, young Joshua Caraway was spotted picking up littered trash at Miami Beach after his friends had refused to help. As a result, Joshua’s heroic actions were photographed by a police officer patrolling the area, which later went viral on the internet, inspiring people across the world. Such examples of individuals taking actions show many that they are not alone in the prevention of plastic pollution, acting as encouragement for others. 

As a result of the increased awareness of plastic pollution, more individuals strive to learn how to raise awareness and support the campaigns against plastic pollution in our oceans. 

According to seasave, an international program dedicated to the prevention of plastic pollution in our oceans, we can avoid the consequences of plastic pollution by being more responsible with our plastic products in ways such as avoiding littering, throwing them into recycling bins, and helping to pick up littered plastics. We can also decrease plastic pollution by using permanent water bottles rather than plastic one-time-use ones and using products made from biodegradable and eco-friendly materials. We can also support those in the field by donating to funds such as the UN global fund and/or Team Seas as they research specific alternatives to plastics and create machinery that can pick them up. As a result of such actions, epagov has concluded that we recycle around 35 million tons of plastics annually nowadays, which is great news compared to the 15 million tons recycled annually during the 1990’s. Furthermore, the help of individuals has led to many influencers spreading the message, leading to 90 percent of all humans believing that a global plastics treaty is necessary, as stated by a survey conducted in 28 countries by the WWF.  

Lastly, plastic pollution in our oceans is a deadly problem that has been neglected for over two decades. It’s the neglect and laziness humanity give towards plastic pollution that allows it to thrive on our earth. Therefore, it is necessary that we act now, before it’s too late, and give our future generations the beautiful earth we once knew.  

Works Cited

Batkai, Morgane. “These 19 Companies Are Ditching Plastic Packaging.” Foodtank, Apr. 2022, foodtank.com/news/2022/04/these-companies-are-ditching-plastic-packaging/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpv2TBhDoARIsALBnVnmiWW6n3xVr4Pw6LqbvhpWbEHKcTu-6Ab-Jm22XQymmQU897x-PW6waAqaiEALw_wcB. Accessed 14 May 2022.

Bradley, Georgienne. “Plastic Pollution.” Sea Save, 1 Nov. 2021, seasave.org/plastic-pollution/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpv2TBhDoARIsALBnVnmTwKnP6xELg-9Sb4uYglQ1cKy81YJSIKLIPwAcsShSgwyIGlajMWgaAip1EALw_wcB#. Accessed 14 May 2022.

Excell, Carole. “4 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution.” World Resources Institute, 6 Apr. 2021, www.wri.org/insights/4-ways-reduce-plastic-pollution. Accessed 5 May 2022.

Law, Kara Lavendar, and Richard C. Thompson. “Microplastics in the seas.” Science, 11 July 2014, www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1254065. Accessed 14 May 2022.

“Wasser 3.0.” Background and overview of microplastics, 2022, wasserdreinull.de/en/microplastics/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpv2TBhDoARIsALBnVnllqXpWUoxLfiJy6IvAQsSS_l_dfYI30IhvlSSTAZIB6qr4JoyPpOoaAv9TEALw_wcB. Accessed 14 May 2022.

During this unit, my bookclub members and I read Flesh and Blood so Cheap and took notes about the book. These are my notes for Flesh and Blood so Cheap.

Here is a brief summary of Flesh and Blood so Cheap:

Flesh and Blood so Cheap is a brilliantly written nonfiction book written by Albert Marrin that portrays the countless struggles that immigrants face as well as the demonic treatment workers received in sweatshops and factories. Throughout the story, viewers witness the horrors and struggles that many immigrants, workers, and other “minorities” face.

Here are the themes of the Flesh and Blood so Cheap:

1. Greed and ignorance caused from the opinion that labor was a product will lead to disaster
2. Poor working conditions will lead to disaster

Finally, here are my notes:

This is my humanities book talk for “A Very Large Expanse of Sea” by Tahereh Mafi.

The theme(s) of this book are one, no matter how hard times may seem there is always hope and two, you shouldn’t hide yourself because of pressure.

Thanks!

Hello! This is my first blog post in 7th grade, it is about a mini assignment on classkick. We basically had to read a paragraph about happiness and how it can affect your life and health.

The article first informs us that happiness can provide you with the best possible life also being more productive. Then the article goes further to state that happiness not only benefits yourself, but can benefit others. For example, being happy not only decreases the risks to do bad/risky things but can also help others have a better day. After that, the article explains about how money does not mean happiness. This basically translates into everyone that wants to be happy can succeed to be truly happy. Finally, the article talks about how happiness comes to limit and cannot be overestimated as a magical cure to everything.

Over the course of E-Learning, our class has been learning about habitats and food chains. This was the result, I was pretty satisfied by the result.

Link:

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1325570552751980545/editor