Water Filter
Define the problem
We made a gantt chart so we can manage our time during the project and make sure we complete all of the steps on time. If we see that we are behind on one of the steps, we will work harder to catch up. We somewhat divided the responsibilities so we can get the steps done faster.
We split some of the responsibilities to speed up the process on this project. I started most of the weebly things first such as the gantt chart and the design brief while Liam started brainstorming. After completing some parts of the weebly, I started to help Liam brainstorm. We each made a sketch and then we worked together for the majority of the rest of the project.
Brainstorm
Research and Generate Ideas
Grind up banana peel with a coffee filter
A pro for this design would be that no one else is going to use a banana peal so this object will be unique. A con for this design would be the use of a banana peal is sorta gross. |
Empty liter bottle of water, sand, gravel, cotton balls or cloth, and charcoal
A pro for this design is the use of sand, cotton balls, and the bottle of water because they are easy objects to get. A con is we cannot use charcoal since someone has taken that material. |
Milk carton, layers of cloth, and gravel
A pro for this design would be the accessibility of the objects and the simplicity of the objects used. A con would be making sure the objects all work well since they are not many. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-made-a-cheap-homemade-water-filter/ |
Explore Possibilities
Select an Approach
1-5 (bad-good)
We decided to go with the top three materials from our decision matrix to design our final product (sand, tissues, and the blue netting).
Develop a Design Proposal
Make a Model or Prototype
Test and Evaluate the Design using Specifications
Our design that we created ended up working the first try and resulted in a turbidity value of 39.5 NTU. We did not need to do any further work for our prototype because it achieved the goal of a turbidity value under 50 NTU. Our design worked so well because we used the best materials from our testing and the most reasonable ones. Using sand, tissues, and the blue netting turned out to be the best design and happened to be the first try.
Refine the Design
We did not have to make any revisions to our design because we were successful with our first attempt. Our solution satisfies the design criteria because we did not use coffee filters or cotton in our final design, we did not use anyones unique materials, we used our own unique idea of sand, we did not use a part of a pre-made water filter, and we got the turbidity level under 50.
Communicate Processes and Results
The presentation is on our powerpoint.
Conclusion/Reflection
This project turned out to be very successful in the end for my partner and I. Our design worked the first time and we did not have any problems while working. I was absent one of the days so my partner Liam had to work on the project without me, but he got a good amount of work done that day. Liam and I worked very well together on the project because we stayed in touch of what still needed to be done. I have learned many time management skills from this project because there were a lot of things that needed to be done in a short amount of time in class. I have also learned more about turbidity values of water and different materials used to filter water. Everyday we were in class we worked very hard the whole class and got things done. I honestly would not have done anything different about our steps, but I would have sped up how fast we worked at the beginning because we had to cram some things in at the end. Overall, I was very happy about the success in our product and next year I would just suggest not as much on the weebly:)