Whole Overview:

First, during the define and inquire stage, we came across a simple vertical version of a fountain during our research time. When our group dives deeper into this idea, P1 is found in a google search and is chosen for our final idea (non-stopping fountain). In order to make it an original project and engaging to be an educational tool, we turned it into a “bottle & straw” version. We added decorations (a box—turning it into a fancy hotel which makes sense with the fountain), which also include sticky notes that can be flipped to show the inside of the box (the fountain itself), to give students an insight of the fountain system. Seen in P2

On Day 1, I learn that……

Although we haven’t done a lot of research on the principle of the non-stopping fountain, we can get an idea of how it works by comparing it to the first simple fountain we found, which is the use of potential energy into kinetic energy. From what we know, when water is added to the fountain (P1) from A, the water will flow to C and push the air inside that section up through pipe 2, then into B. When the force of air is great enough, the water in tank B will automatically get pushed through pipe 3 and back to A, which will then go over the process again and again to form a non-stopping fountain.

In short, I learned the role air plays in this system and how it can be pushed by the water and push the water.

Second, when the blueprint is finally finished, we move on to the creating part. P3 is a picture of a half-finished product of the fountain. The time that we complete the basic foundation of the fountain, we found several issues:

  1. The most common issue is that the product always leaks water from all places
  2. One minor issue is that we miscalculated the four skewers, which makes the rush unbalanced.
  3. Similar to the first point, there are places in the product that allows the air to escape, which is a big problem because the project basically depends on the air to function

On day 2, I learn that……

Paper straws are not the best choice for fountain-making.

We need to test the product more often; in this way, when bottles or straws are not working (letting the water leaks out), we can fix it on time to prevent water from flowing out when we piece the product together, which also makes debugging harder.

Third, after fixing all the issues (using tape, cardboard, and hot glue), we notice another problem which is the fourth bottle (according to P2) is not sealed. So black clay and plastic lid are put on the bottle. However,  the fountain doesn’t seem to work during the trial. We pour water into the first cup and watch it flow through the 2 to 3 without leaking (though it did afterward), but when it comes to the 4th bottle, the water doesn’t move as what is predicted. Our group thinks that it is because the clay hasn’t sealed up the system tight enough; therefore, the air is escaping from the top. The clay plan is then abandoned and replaced by yellow tape. Before pouring water into the fountain, we first tested if the tape was tight enough by blowing into the bottle, and we actually could feel the air coming out from the final straw. Although we are certain that no air is slipping out of the fountain, the product still doesn’t work. The same problem as before, the water in the 4th bottle isn’t moving (or pushed by the air).

Last Day, I learned that……

Maybe air escaping the bottle isn’t the only problem that is preventing the fountain from working. From reflection, our group thought about other places which are possible to be the cause of the fountain not working:

  1. The size of each bottle—for the fountain to work, each bottle may need to be in an exact proportion; for instance, like what is shown in P1, tank C needs to be wider, or B needs to be narrow. Further, the thin straw may be another factor that causes the fountain to not function. From P1, we see that the pipes that connect the tanks together are much wider than the straw we use. The thin straw can stop some air from flowing through the system, thus, not having enough force to push the water back to the opening (1st bottle).
  2. The placement—looking back to P1, we can see that tank B is apparently lower than opening A. But in our project, the 4th bottle is even higher than the opening, which might be a problem as it could cause the air to not flow in the right way.
  3. Materials—bottles and straws are not the most ensuring materials to use, as they might melt when hot glue is put on them, which makes space for possible error and air splitting out the system.

At last, if the creating time is extended longer, our group will definitely do more research on the fountain’s function principle. Next, we will cut the skewers for bottle 4 to make the placement near-exact to the tank shown in P1 and change the size of the 3rd bottle bigger (wider both vertically and horizontally). Lastly, I don’t think there are any better or more suitable materials than bottles for fountain-making. Although we will definitely change the paper straw into more waterproof ones.

Success Criteria:

-it needs to stand by itself ✅

-the product is created in order and looks neat ✅

-the fountain actually function ❌

Strengths & Weakness:

According to our team’s success criteria and the rubric…

Product’s Weakness—the most major weakness is that the fountain doesn’t work. Due to many, not certain reasons, we can’t get the fountain to function; this then pulls down the success level of this project, as making it function is the basic thing to accomplish.

However, just because the fountain doesn’t do what is expected, it doesn’t mean that the project is a total failure.

Product’s strength—from appearance, the fountain looks pretty normal and even can be considered decoration, as what is said in one of the feedback. By placing the cardboard at the bottom of the fountain, the product indeed stands by itself, which also meets the first two criteria we set for our project. However, because we spent half of the work time debugging (and still failed to work), our group didn’t get the chance to do the decorating part, which is the hotel and sticky notes. Except for that, we’ve done a great job of making it look good.

Design Specifications:

For design specifications, as what is said above the fountain demonstrates energy transfer from potential to kinetic. Potential energy is presented during the process when water falls down due to the gravitational potential energy and flows through the rest of the system illustrating a movement that is also kinetic energy. What’s more, the purpose of the product is to visually help students understand energy transfer (a tool for teachers to use); and connect back to strength & weakness, if the fountain actually functions, it will be a unique and engaging tool to demonstrate potential energy—> kinetic energy. The plastic bottle enables the students to easily see through and guess what is happening during the process.

Other reflection:

What am I the most proud of?

As what is stated above, I’m proud that we managed to make the whole fountain out without any significant changes to the blueprint. The measurements are correct, and there is no need to reduce any of the parts.

What was the most challenging?

The most challenging can be the debugging part. We finished the product on the second day and spent the rest of the creating part figuring out what was wrong with the fountain. The process was pretty stressful, as every time we filled in a hole, another hole for water to leak appeared. Then, when we finally glued all the holes, the straws appear to be not waterproof and broken down. And after every visible problem is solved, the water inside the 4th bottle still refuses to go up.