Algae Lamp: Cole & Rafa 7C

We decided to make an algae lamp. Now, what is this you might ask? Well,
an algae lamp is a container with algae and water that uses photosynthesis and carbon dioxide to power itself. The lamp is able to capture carbon dioxide and sunlight, and form it into an algae battery to power the lamp and light it up. The lamp not only doesn’t use electricity and doesn’t produce carbon dioxide but instead does the opposite. The lamp takes in carbon dioxide, and then converts it into oxygen, just like trees. This new and incredibly great energy source could have a serious impact on the future world. We could use algae in the future to power cars, planes, etc. Instead of killing our environment, we'd make it better. We were inspired to do this project because we found it incredible that we have created an all-new energy source that could be used to help our world’s climate drastically in the future. It also interested us that we could light up our streets with only algae, and be helping our world as well. One challenge we faced was figuring out how the algae would connect with the lamp to make a sort of circuit for them so the light and carbon dioxide can pass through and let out oxygen, to start the cycle and charge the algae battery. The answers are not clear to the public yet, but we’re catching on. If we had more time, I think we could have figured it out. If we had advice for other people, we would tell them everything we learned, and how you could go off from what’s available, and try and piece things together to solve it. This project didn't cost anything yet because we got the algae naturally from Aquatic Park, and weren’t able to finish it with the time we had.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34149776/ns/technology_and_science-future_of_energy/t/paper-thin-batteries-made-algae/#.XOV_Io7Yr8khttp://www.nbcnews.com/id/34149776/ns/technology_and_science-future_of_energy/t/paper-thin-batteries-made-algae/#.XOV_Io7Yr8k

https://inhabitat.com/living-microalgae-lamp-absorbs-co2-from-the-air/

http://sustainable-nano.com/2015/03/03/algae-lamps/

http://b4tea.com/information/diy-algae-powered-lamp-how-to-make-it-at-home/

Table Made of Trash

This is a blog post on my recently completed science fair project. I was given 400 minutes (6 hours and 40 minutes) in all to finish the project. This time was spaced out over two weeks in 50 minute increments. The criteria was as follows: complete it in the time limit, spend no more than $25, and make something environmentally friendly and sustainable. This is an account of how I accomplished this, what I made, and what I learned along the way.

After some consideration, I decided to make a small coffee table out of other people's trash. I did not do this for the table itself, (Yes, making the table was necessary for me to accomplish what I hoped to do, but lots of other up-cycled things would do as well.) my real goal in making the table was to showcase how easy reusing things could be. In a very short amount of time I was able to make a working, decent looking, and (mostly) durable, coffee table. It actually wasn't designed as a coffee table, but just as a little table that could fit by your couch. Calling it a coffee table is just easier than saying, “ a little table that could fit by your couch”



My project



One of the most difficult parts of making the table was gluing the top onto the base. The tops of the large tins that serve as the main structure of the base are not flat, it is hard to get the glue to be strong with so little contact. Since there were no other adhesives I wanted to use on hand, I had to find a way to solve the glue problem. After some thought, I cut a piece of cardboard to size, and glued it onto the top on the tin. I then glued the top to both the cardboard and the edge of the tin. That worked pretty well.

If you were to try a project similar to this, I recommend that make a rough plan of your design after you get your materials but before you start building. That will likely make your process smoother and easier.

Through the process, I learned a lot about reuse, glue, and a bit about engineering. I think with my experience making this, I could do better if I tried a similar project in the future. If I had more time to work on this, my next step would be talking to others and getting them on board with reuse and up-cycling. In a way, I’m doing that with this blog.

Depending on how much you are able to find in your trash, and if you have glue on hand, this project might be free! That is one of the things that makes it so cool.

Check out our website! You can find a carpool, in AND out of school.

            

By Livia and Amber 

          Cars produce about 4.6 metric tons of carbon per year. We wanted to help parents reduce amount fossil fuels coming from their cars, so we decided to make a website so that parents can find carpools easier. Because of our limited time and that we didn't spend any money, we had to make a template on a google doc first before moving onto a real site.

          To get inspiration on how to make our website, we looked at the BPC website, so that we could do a similar format. We also did some research and found another carpool website, which we used to find out what a carpool website’s format type is. We then made 3 templates ideas of what we could do: Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3 (final copy). We interviewed teachers and lower school parents, and had them vote on their favorite template. Template 3 (final copy) got the most votes, but that was also the most complicated one, and we knew it would stretch our coding and google docs knowledge/experience. 

          When we started to work, we realized we can’t embed a map onto google docs (embedding a map means to paste a google map image into your document/site, this is used so that users can zoom in and out to find the place they are looking for on your site). We did lots of research for many classes for recommendable website makers and we tried over and over on google docs. We asked teachers, parents, and students for anything they might know on this. On the Maker Fair day, we were exploring and researching when we found google website maker, we very glad we kept searching. We learned that there are not always going to be ways to fulfill everyone's needs, but also learned that we shouldn’t give up straight away, we should keep looking until we figure something out.

          Though we did not get the fully functional, perfect website we had been hoping to make, we have a good start and learned a lot. We learned about how to format websites, and we learned many new ways to use google docs. We found out that there is another website that was made earlier this year by a BPC parent, and we are hoping to work with her and combine our ideas to make an even better website over the summer. For other people looking to do something similar, our advice would be to interview parents and teachers before doing any work, and we try to find someone who has experience making websites that can teach you a little bit about the process.

Wooden water bottle.

Our project was to make a wooden water bottle, to see if it was possible to make a world without plastic bottles. We started with two simple pieces of wood and built on by carving and materializing. We’ll have more details on it later. Our project went as we expected, we just wished that we had more time to build, because our bottle started to leak. We both care about climate change, so we thought we should start small and move on.

One of the challenges we overcame was: making the water bottle without containing any chemicals (Plastic water bottles contain bad chemicals) We needed sticky glue to glue the two pieces of wood together. We overcame this challenge by using wood glue which still has bad chemicals, though not as bad as other glue, which have a lot of bad chemicals.

In the process of learning, we learned how to carve (Chisel) meaning to shape. And the materials needed to make it drinkable. We had to decide carefully on the type of oil we would use to make our water bottle drinkable. We tried to go with simple and limited materials so that it would be easy to make than actual working machines. If we had more time, we would probably brainstorm more on how to put the two pieces of wood together. We had to use wood glue at the very end. Our project was more specific to make since we tried to use materials that were not used that common in this age. I would recommend to others that if you’re doing a project that you really do care about; go in a zone that would best fit you and your project will be outstanding.

Our estimate of money for this project was $10 for the purchase of an oil that would make sure that the water bottle would be drinkable. A link that we used that was very helpful to our project was a youtube video on the basics of carving and shaping.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-eLQEx2tDA

Simple Accessible Water Filter: DIY

Simple Accessible Water Filter

      I wanted to solve a problem that would both benefit humans and the environment, so I addressed the issue of polluted and unsafe drinking water. I know that many people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water or a good water filter. My goal was to design an easy, inexpensive, functional product that can turn dirty water into safe drinking water so that it could be remade and reused on a global scale. But first, as you always have to do, I started small.

      I started by researching what makes a good water filter. What I found was surprising to me. I didn’t realize how easy and inexpensive this would be. Most of the resources that I used to build this, I didn’t even need to buy, (it only cost about $10-15, but I had extras of all the materials, so it could be made three or four times for the same price) and it is all contained in a small plastic water bottle. Here’s how the initial design was supposed to work. Firstly, it goes through gravel, which takes out larger things, such as leaves or insects. Then the sand gets rid of smaller particles, like dirt or algae. The activated charcoal gets rid of very fine particles and chemicals through chemical absorption. Finally, the cotton balls at the bottom strain out the residue left by the other things. So I started with that design.

   
      There were more than a few problems with my first design. First of all, it didn’t work. Dirty water going in only got dirtier as it came out. Also, the top had been cut off to put the stuff in, but if it tipped over, everything would easily spill out. And lastly, the water going in started to flood it and move things around. So I went back to the drawing board. I decided it was probably the charcoal that got the water dirtier, so I added more cotton balls at the end, but they started falling out. To fix that problem, I put the cap back onto the water bottle with a tiny hole so the water could drip out. Then, I put a coffee filter at the top, just for a bit of extra straining. Finally, to address the issue of things falling out, and the issue of flooding, I poked a small hole in a yogurt cup and attached it to the top. That meant there was something to block things from falling out, and it had a constant, slower inflow into the filter so it wouldn’t get overwhelmed.

      I tested it again by mixing dirt with water and pouring it into the filter, and it surprised me. After about 20 seconds of waiting, a constant drip of clean water came out of the bottom. It looked clean enough, so I decided to have a sip. It tasted a bit earthy, but pretty fresh and good. I think if it keeps being revised and getting better, it can be made to make water clean enough to drink safely. If you do this, keep experimenting, and try to get this project to completely work!