dissabte, 17 de juny del 2017


LAST POST

1. Ways to produce electrical energy.

There are different ways of producing energy. All of these different sources of energy add to the store of electrical power that then is sent out to different locations via high powered lines.
These are the renewable sources of producing eletricity:

-SOLAR ENERGY: it catches the energy of the sun through collector panels. Many homes use solar systems to provide for hot water, cooling and supplement their electricity.


-WIND ENERGY: Air flow through wind turbines to mechanically power generators for electric power.


-GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Produced from the heat inside the earth. High temperatures are produced continuously inside the earth's crust, the earth heats up the water that produces steam and finally the steam helps to move the turbines.


-TIDAL AND WAVE ENERGY: Tidal energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of the tides into electricity.


-HYDRAULIC OR HYDROELECTRIC ENERGY: A form of energy generated by the conversion of free-falling water to electricity (waterfalls).


-BIOMASS ENERGY: Organic matter, especially plant matter, that can be converted to fuel.


These are the non-rewenable sources of producing electricity:

-THERMAL: Coming from burning coal, oil and natural gas.

-NUCLEAR: Uranium.


POWER PLANTS

2. Some innovations about saving or producing energy.

-Printable solar panels: these solar inks can be printed on to rolls of plastic.

-Floating wind turbines: they will generate enough energy to power 20,000 homes.

-Solar balloons for refugee camps: electricity is sent back to the ground where it can be stored in a battery or used immediately.

-A renewable streetlight that fights mosquitos: it combats the climate change and fights mosquito diseases (solar panel and wind turbine)-


3. Give some advice of how to save energy at home.

There are lots of ways of saving energy. For example, put bulbs of low consumption, in summer ventile the house as much as you can in order to avoid putting air conditioner, cover the pots when you cook because it will cook faster...


4. About your solar device.

My solar device consists of a black box filled with newpaper balls inside, the top sides of the box are covered with aluminum foil to produce more heat. It has a smaller black box inside the big one and a glass on the top in order to catch the solar rays. It has been easy to make and in my opinion I think that we have done a good job and it will work. We want to cook a sandwhich with melted cheese.

5. About the subject of technology. What do you like most? What less? What would you improve for next year?

What I have liked the most about technology has been doing projects in the workshop because I learned how to cut things with the machines and a lot of more things that made me feel like an engineer. Also I liked to work in groups.
What I have liked the less have been all the things related with the scratch, because I'm not very good with this type of things so I couldn't do a lot of things because I didn't know how to do something etc. Also I didn't like that much all the problems about the voltage, current...
What I would improve would be not spending a lot of days in the computers room and learn more things about the workshop because I think that is more useful the workshop, moreover I like it more.

6. Which is your favourite software/program used this year?

My favourite program used this year has been Powtoon.
I think it's a very useful and well organised program to make presentations. I enjoyed  making the task that we had to use Powtoon!









dilluns, 1 de maig del 2017

TRY ENGINEERING


    1. What does it mean to be an engineer?
An engineer is a person who's job is to design materials, structures, and         systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and cost.
The work of engineers forms the link between scientific discoveries and their applications to human and business needs and quality of life.
In my words, an engineer is an inventor and his job is to discover and create things that will improve the world.


          



   2. How has been your experience with your team? Has all the members worked?
My experience with my team has been great! I think that we have done a good job (although in the end didn't work) and worked as a team because we helped eachother when someone didn't know how to do something or when someone had a problem.
Yes! Absolutely all the members have worked, we planned and divided the work so I think that we have been organized.


   3. Have you achieved the goal? What was wrong? How could it be improved?
No, we haven't achieved our goal because of the time and all the problems we had. Our idea wasn't exactly what we have created.
There have been several problems, some of them we have been able to solve and others no. The majority of problems we have had, have been related to the rotation of the mill blades since we weren't sure if it would work. In the end, the only thing that was wrong was that we put the blades too low so they touched the table.
It could be improved by putting the blades higher and by decorating it more.






    
4. Have you worked as an engineer? Why? How have you felt?
In my opinion and knowing what is to be an engineer I think that yes because we have created our windmill with our own idea and while we were doing it we have discovered new things.
I felt normal but with a little more of responsibility. Sometimes I was stressed because things didn't work  and sometimes I was happy because it worked.


    5. Personal opinion.
I think that this activity has been very useful and educational. Useful because maybe someone has realized that this is what he/she wants to be and do in the future and educational because we have discovered how to do new things.
I liked it!


      
SOURCES OF INFORMATION:







divendres, 6 de gener del 2017


CLEAN UP PLASTICS FROM THE OCEANS

Plastics in the ocean are a big problem.
 There are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic currently litter the ocean. Throwing a plastic in the ocean is a huge problem because we are polluting it, we are killing all the fauna (especially marine animals) and destroying the environment only by throwing a little piece of plastic in it.
I think that the most serious problem with plastics is that they don't easily degrade. They may break down, but only into smaller pieces. The smaller those pieces get, the more places they can go.
Humans are also affected by the plastic pollution.
 In 2008, our global plastic consumption worldwide has been estimated at 260 million tons, and, according to a 2012 report by Global Industry Analysts, plastic consumption is to reach 297.5 million tons by the end of 2015.

       
                       
               



 Boyan Slat (1994) is a young Dutch inventor and entreprenuer who creates technologies to solve social problems. When he was 15 he realased the huge problem of plastics in the ocean. He was so interested on that that he started to investigate.
He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, which develops advanced technologies to rid world’s oceans of plastic.
Instead of going after the plastic, Boyan devised a system in which, driven by the ocean currents, the plastic would concentrate itself, reducing the theoretical cleanup time from millennia to mere years. 




He thought a solution for this huge plastic problem.
The solution consisted of putting a coastline in the Pacific Ocean. This method would concentrate all the plastic by orders of magnitude, 100% powered by natural ocean currents.
They build the coastline in the center of the Garbage Patch.
Instead of using nets, The Ocean Cleanup uses solid screens which catches the floating plastic, but allows sea life to pass underneath the barrier with the current.Plastic will slowly be pushed towards the center of the array, becoming even more concentrated.
 With all the collection of the plastics we would be able to recycle them.





My opinion:

-I think that his work is amazing and very usefull for the world. It's incredible how this young boy has these ideas to solve this huge problem of the plastics, he has thought a great solution. I don't think eveyone has this capacity to think, understand and plan these ideas.

- One possible solution that I thought is that everyday a group of people of their country go to the beach to collect all the plastics, the government should pay them a little quantity. In the winter they have to go with a boat but in summer they can swim so they don't pollute more the ocean.

Another solution would be to form campaigns to warn people of this huge problem and make signs warning of this problem.

RESOURCES OF INFORMATION

http://www.boyanslat.com/

https://www.google.es/search?q=plastics+in+the+ocean&espv=2&biw=1440&bih=794&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOi6KfkvbQAhXhq1QKHZL-CR8Q_AUIBigB#imgrc=YSrouOj6CQdpbM%3A

https://www.theoceancleanup.com/technology/

http://plastic-pollution.org/