Keith's Reflection on End of year

1. What have I gained from working on this project?
I have gained experience to work with my group members throughout this project.I have also experienced expierences of difficulty which have had helped to sharpen my problem solving skills.
2.In working on this project,what subjects and topics did I make use of?
I made use of certain topics i have learnt used geography,physics and biology.I also used the topic about environmental conservation. This is because my Dad works in the
3.What new skills and knowledge have I learnt from working on this project?How can I apply this in my schoolwork or personal life?
I learnt about star self discipline,teamwork,affection responsibility and I also learnt about the environment and how I apply these in my school to understand about diversity of the nature.

Keith's Reflection on week 17-19

The currently on our hands can be also considered as done successfully but as shawn had said so our powerpoint presentation was unable to upload to our group blog which somewhat was quite of a pity. I hope those that seen our project would enjoy it.

Keith's Reflection on week 14-16

DUring this past weeks meeting, we have met up to redo the project i more time and so that we can take photos of the project to post on the blog to show others what exactly our project is about lest they are unsure or unaware. we have also decided to use cling wrap to cover the experiment.

Keith's Reflection on week 11-13

We have started about certain important factors that are related to our project. FActors such as the presence of the sun, the amount of humidity, rate of evaporation and the presence of the wind. Also we done and discussed about what material should we use in order to conduct such a experiment smoothly without any failure.Next time we will take photos of the project too.

Shawn Lai's End of Year Reflection

1. What have I gained from working on this project? 
I have gained extra back-ground knowledge about our planet from my peers and also have develop strong leadership skills.
2.In working on this project,what subjects and topics did I make use of? 
I have used a wide variety of subjects. Physics, biology and geography. Each helped us make our product better from the knowledge that we have learnt.
3.What new skills and knowledge have I learnt from working on this project?How can I apply this in my schoolwork or personal life? 
I have learnt leadership skills and being punctual for meetings. This applies when i meet my friends. Being part of this project has helped me learnt alot.

Shawn Lai's Week 17 to 19 Reflection

The photos have been already uploaded onto our blog. The product can be considered finish however, we would like to continue improving on it. There has been a slight technically issue about how to upload the powerpoint slides onto the blog.  The group has put in a lot of effort and we hope you will like our project.

Shawn Lai's Week 13 to 16 Reflection

We have meet up this week and took photos of our product and created the power point presentation. The product is very near completion just that we need another piece of material to cover around our product. The photos and will be uploaded to our blog and can be viewed there.

Shawn Lai's Week 9 to 12th Reflection

We have conducted experiments on our product. We have also established what materials we should use for this and that. The group feels that the product is more or less ready. Except that we need to touch up here and there. It is about 80% done. There will be another meeting to take photos and do our power point presentation.

Powerpoint presentation

I cannot upload the powerpoint presentation on the group blog,but I will be giving it to the group members.

kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's End-of-year reflection

1. What have I gained from working on this project?
I have learnt to work with my group members in this project.I have also gone through some expierences of difficulty which sharpened my skills in problem solving.I have also made new friends in my project.
2.In working on this project,what subjects and topics did I make use of?
I used Geography,climate,physics,biology.I also used the topic about environmental conservation.I also used the topic on reusing materials.
3.What new skills and knowledge have I learnt from working on this project?How can I apply this in my schoolwork or personal life?
I learnt teamwork.I also learnt about the environment.I can use these in my schoolwork to understand about diversity in nature.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 16-19 reflection

Today our group has been admitted into a competition.This was unexpected as we never thought that our group would make it.We jumped for joy when we knew that our project has entered the competition.I wonder how we are going to make the project more creative to win the competition. I think we should design the blog and powerpoint slides better.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 15 reflection

This week the group is focusing on methods to improve the rate of evaporation.I have also created a attendance list to note down the attendance of the group members.Today,our group brainstormed on our powerpoint presentation.I hope that the group will think of ideas to improve our project.

Pictures of our project

Poll

Dear viewers,
Our group has launched a poll to find out if you like our blog.Please vote.It is on this blog.Thank you for voting.

Attendance for meetings

Dear group,
I am doing an attendance for meetings.For those who do not attend the meetings,please attend the next meeting.
Meeting 1:Keith Kenneth Shawn David
Yes Yes VR Yes
Meeting 2:Keith Kenneth Shawn David
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Meeting 3:Keith Kenneth Shawn David
Yes Yes VR Yes
Meeting 4:Keith Kenneth Shawn David
Yes Yes VR Yes
Meeting 5:Keith Kenneth Shawn David
VR VR Yes Yes
Meeting 6:Keith Kenneth Shawn David
VR Yes Yes VR

VR:Valid Reason
No:Did not have any valid reason for not attending.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 14 Reflection

Today the group has discussed about the presentation of our project to the teachers.Emphasis on drawings,pictures and possibly videos has become our priority.I also realised that using special effects such as magic can also make a very special presentation.We can also bring the experiment along for the presentation to be realistic.Graphs,tables and survey results could also be included in the presentation.I also feel that if we want a good presentation,we need to also do something about the blog.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 13 Reflection

This week we thought of various ways of how to make the evaporation faster.We realised that for this period of the year,the days do not have a lot of sunlight.However,we have decided to meet up next week.I feel that this is not a very good idea because our exams are nearing and these days are not very bright days.I feel that if we meet up,we should also emphasize on taking pictures of our project to make our group blog more informative and useful.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 12 Reflection

This week,our group has posted the first of our drawings on our group blog.I feel that this is a step towards reaching our goal of being able to condense water in less than half a day.We can try to include more drawings in our group blog.

David's week 11 reflection

This week, we have used Google sketch-up to design our water-cleaning tool. All we have left to do is to meet up for a final experiment and also take some pictures and perhaps videos so that people can have a clearer idea of how this tool is made and also how it works. I hope that we can think of some ways to further improve on our project.

good work done

Good work done!

Group's first drawing of project

This is our group's first drawing of our project.Basically,a small container is held to the metal bowl by scotch tape.The metal bowl carries the dirty water.In the diagram there are two curves at the end of the bowl.The first curve is the level of the dirty water and the second curve is the bottom of the metal bowl.We are still trying to draw the layer of ice cubes and the plastic around the bowl and on top of the ice.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 11 Reflection

This week,our group did a drawing of our project and showed it to Ms Lum.I realised that drawings helped us to better imagine how our project is going to be like.Hopefully,we can use more drawing so that we can think of new ideas to improve our project.

Keith's 10th Week's reflection

Since we had to consider the factors of evaporation,Ms Lum has shown us some of the factors that affect the rate of evaporation: humidity and the brightness of the sun.I think that still have a few weeks to experiment before our group's final presentation, henceforth, we should also concentrate on the group's final presentation.

Keith's 9th Week's reflection

I have realised that in our survey, the number of people who answered the survey were very few.Resulting in having had to answer the survey a few times ourselves to test if the survey was working,which means that only about three people helped us complete the survey.However,we as a group are thankful to those who answered the survey for the group.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 9 reflection

In our survey,we have realised that the number of people who answered the survey were only a few.Unfortunately,we have also answered the survey a few times ourselves to test if the survey is working,which means that only one to three people helped us complete the survey.However,I am grateful to those who answered the survey for the group.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 10 reflection

I know that we need to reconsider about the factors of evaporation.Ms Lum has showed us some of the factors that will affect the rate of evaporation such as humidity and the brightness of the sun.I think we need to put these factors into consideration.We still have a couple of weeks to go before our group's final presentation,therefore we should also concentrate on the group's final presentation.

Experiment

Dear group members,

Please remember to take a video of the procedures for your experiment and to give an explanation for each step.

And also take a photograph of the materials that you all used to carry out the experiment.

Shawn Lai's Week 8 Reflection

We have decided to add these improve ideas to increase the rate of evaporation. We have also agreed that in order to ensure that our new design is successful. It has to at least increase the rate of evaporation by one hour. Otherwise it would be deemed unsuccessful as that day the weather might be hotter which resulted in the increase rate of evaporation.

Shawn Lai's Week 7 Reflection

We have moved closer to our objective which is to speed up the process of evaporation the fastest. I have suggest to consider the factors of humidity, temperature, presence of wind and surface area. I have suggested that we find a bowl with a large surface area and choose the time frame of 12noon-1pm as it is the hottest.

Shawn Lai's Week 6 Reflection

We have made progress, but we have been facing the problem that the water has not being evaporating fast enough. We have tried different materials, situations and at different times of the day. We have will continue to research and try to see which one fits us best.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's week 8 reflection

I feel that our project has good progress but the group must think harder.If using a metal plate makes the rate of evaporation slower than that of a black container,there must be a reason.The group has to find out this reason and more importantly,how we can improve the rate of evaporation.

update on progress

This week, we have all gone to Keith's house to do the second experiment. It was a success as most of the water had evaporated and the water vapour has condensed into water that is drinkable. This is because the equipment was not placed directly under the sun. So, during the March holidays we will most probably meet up again so as to perfect the experiment.

Keith's 7th Week's reflection

After having had done the experiment in my house, I realised that the project was not as successful as our expectations as the evaporation of water was rather slow. We will discuss to make improvements.

Survey

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHF5dVBqbFdleUdjRklEaTVocUVid3c6MA.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 7 reflection

This week is going to be an exciting week.I am going to David's house to do the experiment.Furthermore,I am going to post the website for the survey on the blog.I hope that a lot of people will do our survey,it may be difficult but I believe that people will do the survey.

Keith's 6th Week's reflection

I too have realised that our group is doing faster than expected.We have already managed to discuss to meet up doing the June Holidays.Our first experiment was almost a success except that we did not condense too much water

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 6 reflection

I have found that our group is doing faster than expected.We have already managed to discuss that we are going to meet up doing the June Holidays.Our first experiment was almost a success except that we did not condense too much water.

Survey

Dear all,
there will be a survey during the March Holidays.

Week 5 reflection (detailed)

Last week, we have gathered at my house to try out the experiment. the concept worked but the experiment still failed. we figured out that we failed because the apparatus was too small. Thus, we have assigned Kenneth and Keith to get new apparatus, then we will share the cost amongst ourselves. Kenneth was to get a metal big metal bowl. Besides getting a big bowl, we wanted the bowl to be made out of metal. this is because metal conducts heat which makes the rate of evaporation faster. Kieth has stated that he would provide the clingwrap. the metal bowl that kenneth has bought cost $8, which means that each of us has to Pay $2. according to our planner, we will carry out the second experiment next week. i look forward to meeting up and doing the next experiment.

Shawn's Week 5 Reflection

Our group has decided to get together during the weekend to begin creating our condenser. Each one of us will bring the relevant materials on that day to create the condenser. We will first have mental and rough idea of how our condenser is gonna look like. But, we have to do it a few times to obtain the best result. We will then decide to on whether what are the necessary changes we need to make to the condenser. In order to improve it, and obtain the largest amount of clean water.

Keith's Reflection on week 5

What we we done so far?- Creating a condenser using a plastic container and black papeer which can condense water from unpurified dirty water into clean water.We have also managed to condense some of the dirty water into clean water but the condensed water was only half the container of dirty water we originally had.

What do we want to do next?-Replace the container with a bowl made of metal and are not going to use the black paper.

What have we learnt?-Although black is a good absorber of heat,metal is a better absorber of heat and we need metal to increase the rate of evaporation and condensation in our experiment.

Shawn's Week 4 Reflection

Our team has agreed on making the a condenser which is able to produce clean water from dirty water through evaporation. We have also agreed on who is gonna be taking on which roles in our project work. Currently, we are still in the mist of deciding what materials to use for the condenser. We have look into the internet to decide which material is the best suited for our condenser. Ms lum has also advise us to experiment and try each material to find which one suits our condenser the best.

Announcement

As David have assigned me to buy the metal bowl,I have already bought it.David,please take note.
Kenneth

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 5 reflection

What we we done so far?-We almost have created a condenser using a plastic container and black papeer which can condense water from dirty water into clean water.We also have all finished our week 1 to 3 reflections.We have managed to condense some of the dirty water into clean water but the condensed water was only half the container of dirty water we originally had.

What do we want to do next?-We are going to replace the container with a bowl made of metal and are not going to use the black paper.

What have we learnt?-Although black is a good absorber of heat,metal is a better absorber of heat and we need metal to increase the rate of evaporation and condensation in our experiment.

Apparatus for purification of dirty water

Perhaps you all can use a bigger container for the purification of water.
Do look at some of the useful Internet resources whereby you can retrieve the information on how industries perform the water purification process.

Keith's 4th Week's reflection

I have suggested many ideas of how to solve the problem of decomposition of the umbrella.I have also got the group members to think of suggestions of how to curb this problem.On the meeting last week, due to shawn's failure to arrive, we stopped the umbrella project for the time being.
I have agreed with David's idea to go on if it succeeds.It is a condenser of dirty water,hence we decided to start a project on the purification of all waters.

David's week 5 reflection

This week, we have decided to forfeit the project of the eco-friendly umbrella. This is because instead of making things more convenient, the umbrella would be inconvenient and not portable as it cannot be closed. Thus, we have moved on to the new project which is the turning of any form of dirty water into clean, drinkable water. we do this by using a black bowl and putting dirty water into it. Then, we place a small container in the middle of the bowl, and cover the bowl with clingwrap. Lastly we place ice on the clingwrap to depress it directly above the small container. This works because only the clean water will evaporate and condense on the clingwrap. The clean, condensed water will then travel along the depressed clingwrap and drip into the container. The ice aids in lowering the temperate of the clingwrap to make condensation quicker.

Our group has came to my house and tried this project. The project failed because the apparatus was too small. Therefore, little water has evaporated and condensed.

On the day of our presentation, we will make sure the project is successful by experimenting again with bigger apparatus.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Week 4 Reflections/Contributions

Reflections:
The umbrella is still pending to be created.I believe that it will be created one day.If it fails,I will tell my group to try other creations that they can think of.The project has gone quite far.I hope that the project will be a successful one and I will work hard to achieve this with my group members.
Contributions:
I have suggested many ideas of how to solve the problem of decomposition of the umbrella.I have also got the group members to think of suggestions of how to curb this problem.
Ideas:
I have decided to allow David's project to go on if it succeeds.It is a condenser of dirty water.

Week 2&3 reflection

I am so sorry i could not post as my internet at home is down. I cannot post in school too due to the infringement of AUP.

Week 2 reflection

Some questions that are still going around in my head…
1) how to not let the leaves decompose
2) how much to sell the umbrella
3) how many leaves does it take approximately to make one umbrella?
4) how do we connect the leaves together

3 things I learned…
1) The public will have to be convinced to buy this product as it is made out of leaves and might not be very presentable though usefull and eco-friendly.
2) we can glue the leaves together to as a method of putting them together
3) In order to score well, we should have more teamwork and not let each person do just his own work but do a little of everything together as a group.

Ideas i have to agree with
1) using the superglue to put the twig and leaves together as to form an umbrella
2) make the umbrella tilted to an angle so water flows one way down.

Week 3 reflection

Right now our progress has been rather far. we are planning to start on the practical part this saturday. We have decided to meet up as a team at my house to do the shelter of the umbrella. However, i have just discovered an extremely big problem that i have to voice out to everyone. It is that the umbrella that we are going to make is not portable. it cannot be closed/opened like normal umbrellas can. This is a very big problem about the convenience of this tool. So, I thought that we should not attach it to a bag because its not convenient. i would appreciate it if all of you could voice out your opinions so as to solve this problem.

Shawn Lai's week 3 reflection

Some questions that are still going around in my head-

What can I use to prevent leaves and twigs from decomposition? Is it possible to make the product cheap so that it can be mass produced?

3 things I learnt-

I have learnt that we have to cultivate a positive mind-set and not let a little set back deter us from our goals. I have also learnt that in order to achieve and produce our product we should keep and open mind to new ideas and advice from teachers.

Ideas that I agree with-

We should not use materials which cant be recycle. As we want to be environmentally-friendly.

Shawn Lai's Week 2 Reflection

The final product: An umbrella that is made of leaves and twigs which would be able to be attached to a bag. It would be able to shelter a man on rainy days.
What do I already know about the topic?
-I will use leaves and twigs to make objects. Leaves and twigs are also
environmentally friendly materials. We would not be using materials which are not bio-degradable as it would not be environmentally friendly.

What are the questions I want to ask about the topic?
-Is the product able to withstand the downpour of rain and still be able to shelter the man from the rain? Is the product safe? Does it dangers to the consumers?

What are the subjects/skills I can make use of?
-I can make use my understanding of biology which is taught by ms lum to aid us in our attempt to make our product successful.
-I am can make use of leadership skills to help us have teamwork in our group.


Where can I go and find information for the project?
-I can find information from books in the Media Resoure Library or from websites on
the internet and by watching documentaries relevant to the subject. I can also look up 

What do I prepare to tell others about our project?
-I prepare to tell others that the project is on the team's cooperation and our 
brainstorming skills. I also hope i am able to sell my products for the good of others

Keith's Reflection on week 3

Some questions that are still going around in my head-

What can I use to prevent leaves and twigs from decomposition?Is there a link

which we can find everything the group needs to research on?

3 things I learnt-

I learnt that I have to use the problem solving skill as constructing the product

needs thinking.I also learnt that I need to distribute the duties to different team

members so that work can be carried out.I also learnt that I must

collaborate with my friends to come up with ideas for the product to be

successful.

Ideas that I agree with-

Use superglue to connect different parts of the umbrella together.Connect one

twig with another to make it the size i want.

useful website

hi all,
found a useful website on making umbrellas from different materials.

http://umbrella.treehugger.com/umbrella/the_biodegradeable_umbrella.php

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's lesson 3 reflection

Some questions that are still going around in my head-What can I use to prevent leaves and twigs from decomposing?Is there a website which we can find everything the group needs to research on?
3 things I learnt-I learnt that I have to use problem solving as constructing the product needs thinking.I also learnt that I need to distribute the duties to different team members so that teamwork can be carried out.I also learnt that I must collaborate with my friends to come up with ideas for the product to be successful.

Ideas that I agree with-Use superglue to connect different parts of the umbrella together.Connect one twig with another to make it taller.

Comments

I think the umbrella may serve as a useful material for camps or a shelter for a person getting off a car in the case of rainy days.

One of the concerns is whether the twigs or leaves will last long as they may decompose.

Keith's 2nd Week's reflection

The final product: An umbrella that is made of leaves and twigs which would be able to be attached to a bag. The umbrella will be able to shelter the person carrying the bag on rainy days.


What do I already know about the topic?
-I able to use leaves and twigs to make objects. Leaves and twigs are also
environmentally friendly materials.Other man-made materials such as plastic would
not be suitable as our topic is on using materials that concern the 3Rs.

What are the questions I want to ask about the topic?
-Are leaves and twigs strong enough and safe for consumers to use?How long can my
products last if I use environmentally friendly products?Will and harm be brought to
the consumer??

What are the subjects/skills I can make use of?
-I can make use of the Biology because I am using environmentally friendly products.I
can make use mind-maping and problem solving method to help in my research. I am
also able make use of the teamwork skills and cooperation because I need to work
with my team members to complete the project.

Where can I go and find information for the project?
-I can find information from books in the Media Resoure Library or from websites on
the internet and by watching documentaries relevant to the subject.

What do I prepare to tell others about our project?
-I prepare to tell others that the project is on the team's cooperation and our
brainstorming skills. I also hope i am able to sell my products for the good of others

Final product

The final product will be an umbrella that is made of leaves and twigs attached to a bag.The umbrella will shield the person carrying the bag on rainy days.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Guiding Questions/Research Questions

1.Where can I easily get the items I need to construct the final product?
2.Which websites can I use to find the information I need?
3.Which books can I get to find the information I need?
4.Who is going to collect the leaves and twigs in the project?

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Lesson 2 reflection.

What is our topic?-Our topic is to use environmentally friendly materials to create items.

What do I already know about the topic?-I know that I can use leaves and twigs to make objects leaves and twigs are also environmentally friendly materials.Other materials such as silk which are environmentally friendly can also be used.

What are the questions I want to ask about the topic-Are leaves and twigs strong enough and safe for consumers to use?How long can my products last if I use environmentally friendly products?

What are the subjects/skills I can make use of?-I can make use of the subject Biology because I am using environmentally friendly products.I can make use of the skills of brainstorming for ideas and problem solving because I need to think about what I can construct for the project.I can also make use of the skills of teamwork and cooperation because I need to cooperate with my team members to complete the project.

Where can I go and find information for the project?-I can find information from books in the library,from websites on the internet and by watching documentaries relevant to the subject.

What do I prepare to tell others about our project?-I prepare to tell others that the project is not easy to complete because it needs a lot of brainstorming for ideas,teamwork,cooperation and problem solving skills to complete it.

Table

Facts- I know that the Earth is warming up due to Green house gas emissions,for an example water without the use of fuels. As this will result in the emission of greenhouses which could further pollute the environment.

Ideas- using natural material to create some thing we use in daily life,using only the sun heat to power our device. The device will then be able to produce clean water, and then the water would be drip onto your water bottle, where all u have to do is put it there and let it collect water

Information- research on ways to reduce lesser emission of green house gases , a material which is light affordable at the same time. Something which also is water-proof, bio-degradable, and does not turn rotten easily.

Action-Conduct experiments, to test out the material in different weather conditions.

Find where sells the most affordable material, and choose the cheaper one.

My Reflection

What I know- Facts-

As we all know, the earth is warming up due to the emission of greenhouse gases, and from the burning of fossil fuel. This project is to find a way to produce for an example water without the use of fuels. As this will result in the emission of greenhouses which could further pollute the environment.

What I think-My Ideas-

I think that we should build a device that is able to produce pure water. Through using only the sun heat to power our device. The device will then be able to produce pure water, and then the water would be drop onto your water bottle, where all u have to do is put it there and let it collect water. It should also be portable, so that people would have water to drink when they go for picnic and other outdoor activities. It should also be light so it easy to carry around.

What I want to find out-Information-

Is there a way to build a device so that it gets maximum amount of light energy directed to an area? Is there a material which is light and not bulky, but affordable at the same time. Something which also is water-proof, is bio-degradable, and does not turn rotten easily.

Action plan-what I can do-

Conduct experiments, to test out the material in various weather conditions.

Try to find where sells the most affordable material, and make a comparison.

Get people to try out the device on a small-scale first to see whether it works or not. Then improvise and improve on it.

Posting of reflections

Group members,you have to post your reflections on this blog.Please do not forget to post your reflections.If you forget or if there are many problems with your reflection,I will write your names at the bottom of this post to remind you.

Keith:EOY
David:12th,13th,14th,15th,16th,17th,18th,19th week reflections and EOY

EOY:End Of Year reflection

This is my week 1 reflection.

Keith's reflection on first week

I think that the first week of GRACE did not ran as well as i thought as it was our first meeting.
No doubt things did not run well,we still managed to come out with the idea.
I think we can do better the next time we meet.

Kenneth Choo Qi Yuan's Lesson 1 reflection.

Group Name

I am proud to announce that our group name is Eco maniacs.

Announcement

Team,please remember to download the worksheets to be completed during next lesson and the powerpoint presentation from the GRACE 2010 website.

Announcement

Team,we are going to discuss what we are going to do for GRACE 2010.Please think of all possible ideas you can think of.

Name and register number of team members

Team members-Keith Fong(21),Kenneth Choo(22),Shawn Lai(23),David Lee(24).

Announcement

Team,remember to sign up for box.net and google docs.Also rememberb to enable RSS Feeds.