The Chemistry & Sustainability of Construction Materials
Project Essential Questions
1. How does the structure of matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic and macroscopic levels determine its physical, chemical and biological properties with emphasis on their use in building construction?
2. How do the design of a building, selection of building materials, construction process and use of a building affect the overall sustainability of a building project and the user experience in the building?
1. How does the structure of matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic and macroscopic levels determine its physical, chemical and biological properties with emphasis on their use in building construction?
2. How do the design of a building, selection of building materials, construction process and use of a building affect the overall sustainability of a building project and the user experience in the building?
Reflection
Question 1: What new information did you learn through doing this project?
During this project, I learned about the importance of shielding gas in all welding processes. While the shielding gas can come in different forms it all does the same thing. The main purpose of the gas is to prevent the molten weld pool from getting exposed to atmospheric gasses, mainly nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. If the weld pool were to be exposed to those outside gasses contamination and/or oxidization may occur and you risk ruining the structural integrity of your weld. The type of gas used for shielding varies depending on the process you are using as well as the material you are welding. In MIG and TIG welding the most common gases are argon and helium.
Question 2: What new skills, dispositions, or lessons did you learn from this project?
During this project, the main thing that I learned and took notice of was my time management skills. At the moment my time management skills are not very good unless I am really interested in the topic and during this project I had a hard time finding any motivation. While I am usually not too bad about procrastinating if I enjoy the ideas, when I am not into it I procrastinate a lot. this is apparent right now as it wasn’t until my grade dropped in this class that I decided it was time to get this done.
Question 3: Next year I intend to repeat this project, with a major difference being that several student projects will actually be permanently installed in the new building. As part of the project, I intend to have this year’s juniors (aka YOU) present their prototypes to next year’s juniors as a starting point for the project. As I begin planning for next year’s fall semester and project work, what can I do to make the learning experience as engaging and meaningful as possible for those students?
As I mentioned above I was not super invested in this project as I was not super interested in my topic, and while I tried my best to pick a topic that I would enjoy I just couldn’t get there during this project. That being said I would recommend offering a little more choice within the project. I also believe that creating something more than a basic infographic will result in a lot more engagement.
Question 1: What new information did you learn through doing this project?
During this project, I learned about the importance of shielding gas in all welding processes. While the shielding gas can come in different forms it all does the same thing. The main purpose of the gas is to prevent the molten weld pool from getting exposed to atmospheric gasses, mainly nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. If the weld pool were to be exposed to those outside gasses contamination and/or oxidization may occur and you risk ruining the structural integrity of your weld. The type of gas used for shielding varies depending on the process you are using as well as the material you are welding. In MIG and TIG welding the most common gases are argon and helium.
Question 2: What new skills, dispositions, or lessons did you learn from this project?
During this project, the main thing that I learned and took notice of was my time management skills. At the moment my time management skills are not very good unless I am really interested in the topic and during this project I had a hard time finding any motivation. While I am usually not too bad about procrastinating if I enjoy the ideas, when I am not into it I procrastinate a lot. this is apparent right now as it wasn’t until my grade dropped in this class that I decided it was time to get this done.
Question 3: Next year I intend to repeat this project, with a major difference being that several student projects will actually be permanently installed in the new building. As part of the project, I intend to have this year’s juniors (aka YOU) present their prototypes to next year’s juniors as a starting point for the project. As I begin planning for next year’s fall semester and project work, what can I do to make the learning experience as engaging and meaningful as possible for those students?
As I mentioned above I was not super invested in this project as I was not super interested in my topic, and while I tried my best to pick a topic that I would enjoy I just couldn’t get there during this project. That being said I would recommend offering a little more choice within the project. I also believe that creating something more than a basic infographic will result in a lot more engagement.