On the last day of class, I had the privilege of participating in not one but two experiments. The first one involved testing different materials as insulators. To conduct this experiment, two pieces of chocolate were placed in separate boxes. One box was covered in aluminum foil and the other in black paper. The hypothesis was that the aluminum box would raise the temperature of the chocolate higher when placed under the same lamp as the black box. However, we were unable to get accurate readings with the thermometers provided as the second box temp raised with the time and the aluminum box rose at a slower rate/practically stayed the same.
The second experiment began with a video depicting a villager mixing bleach and water in a clear bottle and using such bottle to provide light to homes. These homes did not have electricity and were made from scraps/earth materials. The reaction of the bleach provided the once dark room with enough sunlight to conduct activities during the day. As the sun filtered through the bottle, it would illuminate the entire room. To simulate this, we placed the same water bottle in a box attached to the window. Just like in the movie (but on a smaller scale of course) the box was illuminated. This test showed us how people are innovating third world countries to provide people with replicas of resources such as electricity. Similarly I have seen this done with clay water filters in Africa where a group of students created water filters out of clay, providing clean water to an entire village.