This latest scimatics unit was about energy and how to capture it from nature. Jessie and I took on the task to create a waterwheel that would capture energy from moving water.
One thing that we got feedback on was the sequence of the transformation of energy.The mechanical energy gets turned into electrical energy from the flow of the stream. Which was explained in our video.
Apparently in our video the angle at which our generator was filmed at wast good, but it was so hard to get those shots while I was holding the generator and Jessie in the water that’s a pretty good angle if you ask me !
Curricular Competencies
Processing and analyzing data and information
+Experience and interpret the local environment:
Jessie and I were able to use a local stream/creek to power our waterwheel. We did have to fix the shaping of our water wheel a bit but in the end it fit into the local space we had.
+Construct, analyze, and interpret graphs (including interpolation and extrapolation), models, and/or diagrams:
For this project we had to create a graph that showed the amount of energy it produced. We had done the power lab earlier and used out knowledge from there to create our graph. I learned more about graphs through this because I was able to wrap my mind around what we were graphing.
Evaluating
+Evaluate their methods and experimental conditions, including identifying sources of error or uncertainty, confounding variables, and possible alternative explanations and conclusions:
This was one competency I really used during this project. We went through a few drafts of our water wheel after realizing flaws and errors in them. We made sure to learn from our mistakes and correct all the problems we came across. In the end our final product was successful and able to work because we had gone back and fixed the mistakes.
