Month: February 2022

3D Data Visualization: Global Warming Bracelet

Ella on

Data:

Warming temperature of the Earth (in degrees Celsius)

1880s          13.73

1890s          13.75

1900s          13.74

1910s          13.72

1920s          13.83

1930s          13.96

1940s          14.04

1950s          13.98

1960s          13.99

1970s          14.00

1980s          14.18

1990s          14.31

2000s          14.51

2010s          14.73

 

Fossil Fuel increase (in terra-watt hours)

1880s-1910s         >9,000 TWh

1940s          15,000 TWh

1950s-1960s         29,000 TWh

1970s          53,000 TWh

1990s-2000s         90,000 TWh

2010s          129,000 TWh

I chose to do this project on climate change and based it on the earth’s temperature because I know that we as people can do better to protect our planet. I did some research after finding a graph that showed the earth’s temperature over the last century and found that one of the main reasons for global warming was fossil fuel consumption. the earth naturally breaks down fossil fuels, but because humans are overusing these resources, the earth does not have time to recycle them properly, causing the earth’s temperature to increase. I found this very interesting, as I had never really known why climate change was happening, and I now know one of the many reasons. Something that I may have done differently would be using yarn or crocheting rather than a bracelet because it would be easier to see.

Critical Thinking

I can ask questions and consider options.

I needed to figure out a way to effectively showcase data in a 3D way, and I considered what I was interested in and capable of showing well. I decided to show global warming and what its main effect is and what the temperatures were. I considered using the effects of forest fires, but the data that was available to me was not sufficient, so I decided to use different data. I ended up using the increase of fossil fuels over the past century and displayed that data using beads. The colour that the bead is in shows the increase in fossil fuels, and how that has made the earth’s overall temperature warmer.

I can gather and combine new evidence with what I already know to develop reasoned conclusions, judgments, or plans.

When faced with the issue of having a bracelet that was too short, I was able to think outside the box and make every two rows of string five years, rather than 10 years resulting in a longer bracelet. I also used the data of fossil fuels over the past century and showed how they have increased over time, using beads knotted into the bracelet correlating with each year of the data. I used the knowledge that fossil fuels have been a major part of the earth’s warming and found that with an increase of fuels, the earth’s temperature also increased. I planned to show the years with the most increase by placing a bead in that row. Overall, I was able to successfully show the increase of earth’s temperature, and how fossil fuel increase had been the main effect of that.

Scientific Method & Paper Airplanes and Self Reflection

Ella on

Paper Airplane Experiment

I chose to do the same paper airplane design, on three different sizes of paper. The results are as follows:

Plane #1 (11×17) had an average distance of 2.074m

Plane #2 (11×8) had an average distance of 1.418m

Plane #3 (8×5.5) had an average distance of 5.618m

The hypothesis, if I use a larger piece of paper then the airplane will fly farther because of the weight of the plane, is rejected. The data shows that the smallest plane flew the farther, rather than the largest plane as I thought. The results of this investigation are useful because if I want to make a paper airplane in the future or for a future experiment, I now know how to control the distance. I can do this by using a smaller piece of paper to create a smaller plane, as the one that went the farthest in this experiment. This investigation can be improved on by perhaps making different designs, rather than different sizes of paper, in order to see if it is the design or the size of the paper that allowed the smallest plane to fly the farthest. One question that could be taken into consideration is how to calculate and consider human error that may have occurred.

I learned that there is some human error that can occur, although the same person threw all of the planes, it is not possible to throw it the same way every time. I also learned that it can be difficult to throw the plane perfectly straight, and that could have been the design that was chosen, or human error. Next time I would try using the same size of paper and different designs, to definitively see if it was the design that I chose or the size of paper that created the results.

Scientific Method Reflection

Core Competency Critical Thinking

How does the artifact you selected demonstrate strengths & growth in the thinking competencies?

In what ways might you further develop your thinking competencies?

The paper airplane experiment shows growth in my thinking skills because I had to determine what may cause certain things to happen within my experiment and eliminate anything that may have interfered. I also had to determine what the results of the experiment meant, as well as finding that my hypothesis was incorrect and determining the results of the experiment. I can further my thinking competencies by continuing to use critical thinking during and after experiments and projects, as well as picking apart any variables that may have caused the experiment to be flawed, such as human error.