Coltrane:
I, as the contractor of a wildly successful group, had the responsibility of organizing my group’s thoughts and being a decisive input into the overall design of our aquaponics model. At first, I was quite daunted by the task at hand but, after I got to know my group and their individual ideology better, I was able to choose a path that would mutually, at the very least, satisfy everyone. When beginning the creation of our aquaponics kit, our first true hurtle we had to overcome was the essential figure of our kit. There were a few prepositions and we had to rule out some as well; ergo, a kit supported by everyone. After that, everyone became more invested in their own tasks: Bradley with the design, Kris with building, Isaiah with entrepreneurship and Bryson with documenting the work of everyone. Because of the fact that most of the work that could possibly be done in regards to the physical aquaponics kit was circumstantial, my group members utilized their time by working on improving their individual skills to be used in the creation of the entirety of the aquaponics kit. Some of the trepidations we experienced as a group over the course of this project were that sometimes we had too much time on our hands so while we had around 3 hours to work, we utilized maybe only around half or it and for the rest of the time, found ways to distract ourselves. I admittedly fell prey to procrastination too, but I also found ways to fight it. Periodically throughout the project, my group and I would meet and discuss what we had accomplished, what we expected ourselves to finish at the end of the day, and finally, what we expected ourselves to have as a final product. To date, our achievements are as follows: Partial completion of the Kickstarter page, partial completion of the aquaponics kit, partial completion of the kickstarter videos, completion of the schematic of the model, completion the elevator pitch as well as a full explanation of creation. I feel that during this project, we have matured as a group and now excel in our individual selected fields. Truthfully, I was worried at the start, but currently, I am proud of the progress my group made and am happy to call each of the members accordingly, my teammates.
Brad:
This project I have been paired up with a good group and I think that everyone is doing there job very well. I have made a good amount of mistakes with the designing and my group is so good that they are rushing me which is good is sometimes just impossible to do. But the main thing that is holding back your productivity in the way of building is the siders. Your design has a slider so that it can adjust to any size tank and any body can use it. Well what I messed up on is that I did not put a hole in the design to cut so I had to make it easier to cut so that we could cut it. One thing that did come out of this is that the siders look better then before because it added some difference and it is not all plexiglass. My schematic did turn out well but of course it changed when I built it because I thought that I could cut it but it could not because the router could not do what I thought it could. The sliders were supposed to be a piece of plexiglass supported by guide slides. Instead of that I made a tube guiding a wire that is bent in to a u shape that goes into another tube and this is better because all you need to do is drill a hole is which very easy. Your basic design is very simplistic and easy to use this is going to be one of our main selling points. Also today specifically I drilled holes in the plexiglass for the slider I also did some of the slider slides and of course I worked on this. Even though I made some mistakes I think that it is going to turn out very well and I think ours is the one to be picked.
Kris K:
The main things I did throughout this project was the construction of the prototype, the sanding of the plexiglass, the starting of the gluing, the drilling of the holes, the cutting of the copper wire we are going to use for our sliders.
Some of the challenges that I overcame when building this Aquaponics kit was having pieces of plexiglass that were not straight edge, the design had to been changed, and drilling.
When we first got the pieces of plexiglass almost all of the sides did not have straight edges. To fix the edges to make them straight me and bradley helped each other sanding them down. At first we did one individually but we found out that it is a lot more effective when one person holds the straightedge while the other person sands it.
The original design had to be changed as well. Bradley had made it so that we would cut holes in the sides of the plexiglass to put our sliders into, but that was a big flaw and it could not be done because we cannot cut it ourselves because it would be uneven and probably crack and shatter. We decided that we could actually use tubing (copper) for the sliders and in turn just drill holes into the sides of our plexiglass and put the tubing in instead.
Drilling was a small problem but it was a really easy one. At first I didn't know how to drill good (thank god we used a practice piece) and the holes were coming out shattered, jagged, and uneven. I fixed this by drilling straight downwards and watching while drilling so they would come out straight. We also found it is more effective when you slow down at the very end so the plexiglass doesn't shatter and crack.
Isaiah:
My name is Isaiah Browning and I would like to talk to you about aquaponics. What is aquaponics? Aquaponics is a mix between hydroponics and aquaculture. This is our newest design. Our newest designs goal is to educate young families and kids about aquaponics and sustainability. How does it work? Our M.A.P. or mini aquaponics. In the middle is a big area for you to grow your plants so that you can have the luxury of growing many different plants. Between the grow bed and the bottom of the kit is a two centimeter space which holds your pumps, timers, and a filtration device which allows you to grow the healthiest plants you want. Setup is easy and quick. You simply put the kit above your aquarium. Put one side on (bottom) , put on the divider (middle part), put on the other side, then add both end caps. We also just added a really cool feature that is unique to our kit. On the end of the kit we have panels extend so the kit will fit to any aquarium size.
Here at M.A.P. our goal is to raise awareness about sustainability. Though we are just in high school we still felt like we could make a difference in the world so we set out to change it. We started our company a little over a few months ago with the goal to try and fix a problem that effected everyone worldwide which was sustainability. Through collaborating together we came up with the idea of making a aquaponics kit that would fit the need for any budget and any home. Our designers and builders came up with countless sketches but finely settled on the most reliable, cost efficient, easy to work design. After we came up the sketches we knew we had to test them out so we made models out of card board and tested it. The results were in and they were great! Not only did our kit work great but it's also the easiest to use out there. After seeing the results we knew we had to make more. Taking a step up from card board we decided that plexiglass would be the best material to make our kits because of its unique acrylic, lightweight, not shatter glass. We already made the first kit and saw the potential of greatness that it could have. There's one problem. We don't have the funds to make more kits. That's were you come in Kickstarter pledgers. With your help we can take this small idea and give every house hold in America a mini aquaponics kit!
I, as the contractor of a wildly successful group, had the responsibility of organizing my group’s thoughts and being a decisive input into the overall design of our aquaponics model. At first, I was quite daunted by the task at hand but, after I got to know my group and their individual ideology better, I was able to choose a path that would mutually, at the very least, satisfy everyone. When beginning the creation of our aquaponics kit, our first true hurtle we had to overcome was the essential figure of our kit. There were a few prepositions and we had to rule out some as well; ergo, a kit supported by everyone. After that, everyone became more invested in their own tasks: Bradley with the design, Kris with building, Isaiah with entrepreneurship and Bryson with documenting the work of everyone. Because of the fact that most of the work that could possibly be done in regards to the physical aquaponics kit was circumstantial, my group members utilized their time by working on improving their individual skills to be used in the creation of the entirety of the aquaponics kit. Some of the trepidations we experienced as a group over the course of this project were that sometimes we had too much time on our hands so while we had around 3 hours to work, we utilized maybe only around half or it and for the rest of the time, found ways to distract ourselves. I admittedly fell prey to procrastination too, but I also found ways to fight it. Periodically throughout the project, my group and I would meet and discuss what we had accomplished, what we expected ourselves to finish at the end of the day, and finally, what we expected ourselves to have as a final product. To date, our achievements are as follows: Partial completion of the Kickstarter page, partial completion of the aquaponics kit, partial completion of the kickstarter videos, completion of the schematic of the model, completion the elevator pitch as well as a full explanation of creation. I feel that during this project, we have matured as a group and now excel in our individual selected fields. Truthfully, I was worried at the start, but currently, I am proud of the progress my group made and am happy to call each of the members accordingly, my teammates.
Brad:
This project I have been paired up with a good group and I think that everyone is doing there job very well. I have made a good amount of mistakes with the designing and my group is so good that they are rushing me which is good is sometimes just impossible to do. But the main thing that is holding back your productivity in the way of building is the siders. Your design has a slider so that it can adjust to any size tank and any body can use it. Well what I messed up on is that I did not put a hole in the design to cut so I had to make it easier to cut so that we could cut it. One thing that did come out of this is that the siders look better then before because it added some difference and it is not all plexiglass. My schematic did turn out well but of course it changed when I built it because I thought that I could cut it but it could not because the router could not do what I thought it could. The sliders were supposed to be a piece of plexiglass supported by guide slides. Instead of that I made a tube guiding a wire that is bent in to a u shape that goes into another tube and this is better because all you need to do is drill a hole is which very easy. Your basic design is very simplistic and easy to use this is going to be one of our main selling points. Also today specifically I drilled holes in the plexiglass for the slider I also did some of the slider slides and of course I worked on this. Even though I made some mistakes I think that it is going to turn out very well and I think ours is the one to be picked.
Kris K:
The main things I did throughout this project was the construction of the prototype, the sanding of the plexiglass, the starting of the gluing, the drilling of the holes, the cutting of the copper wire we are going to use for our sliders.
Some of the challenges that I overcame when building this Aquaponics kit was having pieces of plexiglass that were not straight edge, the design had to been changed, and drilling.
When we first got the pieces of plexiglass almost all of the sides did not have straight edges. To fix the edges to make them straight me and bradley helped each other sanding them down. At first we did one individually but we found out that it is a lot more effective when one person holds the straightedge while the other person sands it.
The original design had to be changed as well. Bradley had made it so that we would cut holes in the sides of the plexiglass to put our sliders into, but that was a big flaw and it could not be done because we cannot cut it ourselves because it would be uneven and probably crack and shatter. We decided that we could actually use tubing (copper) for the sliders and in turn just drill holes into the sides of our plexiglass and put the tubing in instead.
Drilling was a small problem but it was a really easy one. At first I didn't know how to drill good (thank god we used a practice piece) and the holes were coming out shattered, jagged, and uneven. I fixed this by drilling straight downwards and watching while drilling so they would come out straight. We also found it is more effective when you slow down at the very end so the plexiglass doesn't shatter and crack.
Isaiah:
My name is Isaiah Browning and I would like to talk to you about aquaponics. What is aquaponics? Aquaponics is a mix between hydroponics and aquaculture. This is our newest design. Our newest designs goal is to educate young families and kids about aquaponics and sustainability. How does it work? Our M.A.P. or mini aquaponics. In the middle is a big area for you to grow your plants so that you can have the luxury of growing many different plants. Between the grow bed and the bottom of the kit is a two centimeter space which holds your pumps, timers, and a filtration device which allows you to grow the healthiest plants you want. Setup is easy and quick. You simply put the kit above your aquarium. Put one side on (bottom) , put on the divider (middle part), put on the other side, then add both end caps. We also just added a really cool feature that is unique to our kit. On the end of the kit we have panels extend so the kit will fit to any aquarium size.
Here at M.A.P. our goal is to raise awareness about sustainability. Though we are just in high school we still felt like we could make a difference in the world so we set out to change it. We started our company a little over a few months ago with the goal to try and fix a problem that effected everyone worldwide which was sustainability. Through collaborating together we came up with the idea of making a aquaponics kit that would fit the need for any budget and any home. Our designers and builders came up with countless sketches but finely settled on the most reliable, cost efficient, easy to work design. After we came up the sketches we knew we had to test them out so we made models out of card board and tested it. The results were in and they were great! Not only did our kit work great but it's also the easiest to use out there. After seeing the results we knew we had to make more. Taking a step up from card board we decided that plexiglass would be the best material to make our kits because of its unique acrylic, lightweight, not shatter glass. We already made the first kit and saw the potential of greatness that it could have. There's one problem. We don't have the funds to make more kits. That's were you come in Kickstarter pledgers. With your help we can take this small idea and give every house hold in America a mini aquaponics kit!
Bryson: