November 14

Science Assessment 8

Project and ePortfolio Submission

14/11/2023

1.0 Representation of the project

1.1 What was the task you were given?

We were given the task of designing a building that would withstand a major earthquake. We needed to design, build and test a small-scale model.

1.2 What was the problem you tried to solve?

The problem is casualties of earthquakes increasing due to the lack of earthquake-resistant buildings. An example would be the Nepal earthquake in 2015 when there were no earthquake-resistant buildings. Because Nepal is an earthquake-prone country and there is constant destruction, the risk of people getting injured or killed in an earthquake is increased, meaning earthquake-resistant buildings need to be designed and built.

2.0 Overview of the engineering process

2.1 What changes would you make to the process that would improve the outcomes for your group in the future?

2.1.1 Change to the design step of the process

A change I would make in the design step of the process would be measuring the length of the spaghetti before drawing our diagram of the building. I would make this change as I thought the spaghetti would be 30 cm long, meaning we would only need two levels in the construction to meet the required 60 cm. To reach the required 60 cm, we would need to use more spaghetti, meaning we would have to use less blu-tack to fit the budget. Our original diagram was a cube-shaped structure and we had to change our design to be a triangular-shaped structure to fit the budget, reach the required 60 cm and be able to withstand the earthquake-stimulator test.

2.1.2 Change to the creation step of the process

A change I would make in the creation step of the process would be making sure that all the pieces of spaghetti used were the same length. I would make this change as the spaghetti on one side of the building is shorter than the other side. This has made our building lopsided. This would improve the outcomes for my group in the future as the building would be less shaky when undergoing the earthquake-stimulator test.

3.0 Collaboration

3.1 Provide a brief summary of the investigation components that each of your group members was responsible for.

My group members were Stacie and Muskan. The three of us worked well together as we equally split up the work. I was responsible for doing the research, creating the diagrams for our design and some of the construction. Muskan was responsible for most of the construction. Stacie was responsible for some of the construction and making sure we had the materials necessary without going out of our budget.

Project Manager: Scarlett

Organisation to make sure that everyone understands the projects and is on track.

Equipment Manager: Stacie

Can efficiently clean up our station after each session and make sure the equipment needed is accessible.

Speaker: Muskan

Able to understand and analyse the task and is able to ask for assistance from the teacher or other students or research any information.

Reporter: Muskan

Organisation to make sure the task is completed and of high standard before the submission date.

3.2 Comment on how the strengths of each group member contributed to the engineering challenge.

I was responsible for doing the research because I am good at researching and summarising information. I was also responsible for creating the diagrams because I like drawing. I was not responsible for a lot of the construction because I am not good at tedious work. Muskan was responsible for most of the construction because she is good at tedious work and she enjoys creating things. Stacie was responsible for some of the construction because she likes creating things. She was also responsible for making sure we had the materials necessary without going out of budget because she is organised and she is good at calculations.