When brainstorming with my group we first tried to think of any ideas that we might have. We could not really think of anything creative or interesting to do. Our next step was to try the internet, we proceeded to googling “cool science projects” and found some websites that had lists of ideas. After looking through many websites we decided on three interesting ideas that we would like to explore further. The ideas were
1. Making energy from potatoes
2. Using rubber bands to make energy
3. Using a wind turbine to make energy
Next we looked up videos of all of these ideas on youtube to get an idea of how much work it would take to build each project and how it would work. We decided that both making energy from potatoes and rubber bands was too easy and we felt as if we did not have to put much effort into both of those projects. We had to just get a potato/rubber bands and some cords and nothing else. Because of this we decided to go with option number three, and make energy using a wind turbine.
Since this is an important project we did not want to just make one wind turbine and see how much energy it would make, because again we felt that taking that approach would not take much effort from our part. So we decided to make three different kinds of blades for the wind turbine and to compare them to one another. Our ultimate goal is to see what kind of blade (different shapes) will produce the largest amount of energy when keeping everything else constant. We will have the air (a fan) and the duration of measuring energy constant throughout all three trials. The only variable in the trials will be the different blades that we will switch on the wind turbine.
During this meeting we set up times that we are able to meet outside of class to work on the project. We also divided our jobs in order to be more efficient with the project. One member will build the turbine and the different blades, another will write the final blog, and the third will create the powerpoint and the handout for the class. We felt that dividing the jobs up will allow us all to have an equal opportunity to contribute to the project. This meeting was productive and I think that we were able to set the basis for our project.