Well I can now say that this has been the most bizarre Blue Sky project that I have ever done. Not only did each student in my class and in the grades above and below create their own unique inventions to solve problems around here, we also managed to pull off a completely different exhibition as well. We got involved in the UN Sustainable Goals as well and found out how we can help them achieve their goals by 2030. I had a lot of fun with this new type of Blue Sky so without any more interruptions, here is my experiences throughout the last month.
To start off this project we created a LAUNCH journal just like last year ( link HERE ). This is where we would track our progress by putting examples and images of what we had been doing with our individual projects. It was quite handy to have a place to record all the points of my project and in the end it is a great example to show what I have done.
In the Launch phase I chose the UN Sustainable goal that I would be working with during this project. Our task for the entire project was to create a product that solves one of the UN goals and also solves a problem that our community/Provence/ world is facing during COVID-19.
I thought that I could focus on the clean water and sanitation goal because there are quite a lot of people around my community who are trying to find different ways to keep as clean as possible and I knew I could help somehow. With an idea in mind I created my how-might-we form which explains my idea for my product.
For this part I had the original idea to create a filter to help people sanitize their water because some parts around my Provence still have to boil water to make sure water is clean, and because of that I thought that this would be a good idea. Unfortunately my teachers helped me realize that there is a lot more I could create to help people around me, so I created another how-might-we pitch form. During this time I was able to reflect on what was a bit over the top in my first pitch form and then adapt what I had to create a new idea that would be good for the second pitch form.
This time I had the idea to create a portable hand washing station so people could wash their hands anywhere anytime. It also beats washing your hands somewhere like a public washroom because there is no way those are sanitary these days, so if with my product people could feel safe when they are around others. To pull it all together I did some research into hand sanitizer and found out it was no where as good as washing your hands. There are parts of soap that pull apart the fat molecules that surround the germs and protect them, which leaves them easy to kill. Unfortunately people no a days rely on hand sanitizer because it is much more portable, well not anymore.
After some more research on this topic I designed my first prototype. When I was looking through the internet I could not find a single product that did the same service as one I wanted to create, so I had no reference for a design and created one that came to my mind.
The first part I completed was just the outline part, so the box that would hold all the contents. My plans were to finish the boxes and then attach them together with two metal brackets so they could open outwards. This part was tougher than I though because I had to change the measurements in the wood as one of them was not the correct size, but when I changed the way it was facing, I could line the other pieces up with it then attach them using wood screws.
The next step was where I reviewed what I had done and tired to find out what I could to improve my product to make it the best version. Of course I knew I had to now place all of the sanitization tools such as soap, a fan, and water into the box so people could actually use it.
I found a camel pack in my basement and then adapted the water feature so it would just spill out water. I had to take out the spring feature that only let the water out if someone was trying to drink from the mouth piece at the end. This way as mentioned before I could turn the open tap and then the water would just spill out.
I got a two handheld fans from the dollar store and then took them apart to see if I could make them better. I tried attaching the two batteries to increase the amount of power the fan had, unfortunately I could not get the correct parts to do this so I just took one of the fans and carved out a spot for it in the box.
I then took a pool noodle which was also from the dollar store and cut it into pieces so that it could fit just inside the box. I then used it to prop up the camel pack so the water could flow easier, and so the fan and soap container would stay still.
Finally I had everything ready for the exhibition.
About a week before the exhibition we got our groups that we would present with. I was assigned to the home group as my project fit into that category along with the UN goals 2,3,11.
We had a bunch of work that we had to do quite quickly during the time we were with our group, things like backgrounds, a story that our presentation would follow. The presentation had to be interactive with the audience so they would not lose interest, and I found this part the most difficult because we had to show our inventions within about a minute while also trying to entertain our audience.
My group decided that our presentation would be a company releasing their new products. This way we could keep the audience engaged by giving them roles like reporter or fan boy so with each different role they could comment different things in the chat based on their character. Then we could show our products as if they belong to the company.
We started practicing quite quickly and got the hand of things after a short amount of time, but we were only about one day away from the exhibition.
Then before we knew it we were already at the exhibition presenting our products. I think my group did really well and pulled off everything we practiced. I really think the audience was engaged the whole time, not to mention they had some fun with the roles as well.
Overall I think every put on an amazing exhibition this year despite the challenge of having it online. I had a good time trying this new version of our exhibition, but I still think I prefer presenting in person and explaining what my device does.
That’s all for now.