In term 4 of year 9 science, I worked with my peers to create an earthquake-resistant tower. This project was based on the online learning tool of Stile. During this process, we were supplied with $60. With this $60, our mission was to create an earthquake-proof tower made out of spaghetti and Blu tack. We were only given a limited number of resources to complete our model which included spaghetti ($1 per 10cm), Blu tack ($1 per gram), scissors or retractable craft knife and a ruler. The aim of the project was to design a building that would withstand a major earthquake. We would be given time to design, build and test our model in class to create a final structure. We would be given 2 trials, the first one with our first design and our second trial to improve on any limitations that occurred in our first trial. Through the stages of designing, building, and testing, a small scale model would be created to meet the following criteria:

• Is quick and easy to assemble.
• Has a minimum height of 60cm.
• Had a maximum base of 30cm x 30cm.
• Remains standing after an earthquake, as simulated by shaking a table for 10 seconds.
• Is constructed by the material supplied by your teacher.
• Costs less than $60 to build, given the material costs listed below.

When designing a building, completing an engineering process is an important series of steps to have a positive outcome in any design. The engineering process is a sequence of steps that engineers use to help them develop and test potential solutions to challenges. Through this stage, my partner and I had a process of steps that we followed to complete our engineering process. The first important part of our task was to define our problem. To define our problem, reading through our stile task sheet thoroughly was the only proper way to get a true understanding of what exactly our problem was. After defining our problem, we started to brainstorm the new ideas that we had thought over when first beginning our design. Our brainstorm ideas were not perfect, so research was the next important process. My group and I researched many different designs and structures that had been previously used by architects around the world.

The research process was mainly constructed with texts, photos and drawings, and architectural notes to discover a solution to our problem. From the information and sources we discovered, these were then presented on our notes that were then submitted onto Stile. After our research and brainstorming ideas, it was time to design a solution. My partner and I had both drawn many different ideas that had been either previously shown in our research or ideas that we thought of in our brainstorm. Through these 2 engineering processes, we eventually developed a design that gathered different structures and designs into one. Cross braces, fixed edges, isolated building base and a triangle shape all came together to make a final design. To properly plan all of our design, sketches were created to create measurements of our Blu tack and spaghetti to make our design as even as possible and to make sure these measurements added up to our budget of $60. When finally completing our design, it was now time for the most important step, creating the prototype. Starting of the build consisted of gathering as a group, collecting our equipment, and measuring our correct proportions. When beginning the build, my partner and I both realised that it wasn’t so easy to build a prototype. We had many challenges with spaghetti breaking, Blu tack not sticking enough and an overall failed design. We then had to repeat our creation many times to achieve a positive outcome.

When finally creating a design that worked, it was time for the test. Testing was done by shaking the table for 10 seconds to mimic the actions of an earthquake to see how well we designed our building to be earthquake-proof. When completing the testing, evaluating was done to see how successful the trial was or if it failed. Improving your design for the next step could help increase the success of the design. This could include going over your brainstorm, research, and design for the next trial. Sharing your solution with your peers and teacher if successful is a good idea to help others in your class struggling or to receive feedback from a teacher if needing improvements on your design.

During this design project, I demonstrated the use of communication throughout this assessment to receive a positive result. During the process, my partner and I had contributed very well together because of our use of communication demonstrated throughout the group project. To communicate properly together to receive a successful outcome, we had to list the outcomes of the engineering process that we wanted to both achieve. This happened by writing our notes together to show our ideas to each other to get a good understanding of each of our designs and thoughts that we had in mind. After receiving our results, we discussed together as a group our success and limitations and how we could improve from our first trial. I demonstrated communication through explaining my ideas of designs for my group and putting in my input of improvement to our second trial. Using communication in a group is an important role that both my partner and I had demonstrated throughout the whole task to achieve a positive outcome.

I also demonstrated the capability of teamwork in our group by organising our group roles. In my group of 2, we decided that organising roles for each of us and then contributing together with information and ideas that we discovered would help organise us to achieve our goals. I displayed teamwork by encouraging my group member when our building process was not so much working and we kept struggling to make a successful design. Our teamwork was also displayed with how our engineering process was constructed and how gathering each of our research and ideas into one main idea that then developed our final design. I was very focused on completing the research task, the design and creation of the prototype with my partner completing the improvement and help of design and creation. Therefore, teamwork was demonstrated evenly and developed well in my group with me and my partner each contributing to the challenge that we faced as a team.

To conclude on this project, my first tower was successful because the time we put into the creation of our building and creating it as a team sped the process up and had more positive effects on the group. Our first tower was successful in the first trial as before the earthquake started, the tower had a height of 64cm. When the earthquake was applied, the tower managed to stay together without any destruction. When the earthquake finished, the final height was 61cm. Overall, our first test was successful because of the communication and teamwork that my partner and I produced and because of how well we accomplished the design process. My second tower was not so successful in the second trial. I believe this is because of how limited our time was to build a second tower as it was only 2 periods to come up with a final design. Our time management was not so efficient as when building our design, we had setbacks with spaghetti continuously breaking. Our second design was built to mimic the first tower because of that success, but this trial was not so successful. My partner and I had to change the design as at that moment, the tower was not great and was not a good structure. Changing the design this late then caused a failure in this second trial. Our initial height of the structure was 61cm when beginning of the earthquake. When the test was over, the tower managed to survive with it still standing but the height had decreased to 58cm, unfortunately not making the correct height. Overall next time I would make sure to have a plan of time management between my group to make sure we are using our time effectively with a planned timeline.

If I could change one thing about the engineering process, it would be the fact of only having 2 trials to come up with a final design. Only having 2 trials does not give you a chance to scale your designs and measure what worked best and what design was the least effective. Given this chance would help my partner and I improve on our outcomes as it could increase the chance of success in the tower building. Something that I have learned from this project is that it does not matter how well your building went and if it was successful or not, rather what capabilities were used and if you have shown them through the process as well as reflecting on past outcomes to improve on future developments.