Summary and Process

This project was about creating a usable and aesthetic area for a part of our school that had nothing built on it. We had a limited budget and had to present to the chairmen of STEM fund and a lead contractor. One of the fun things about this project was that if our plan was chosen, it had a chance of actually being built. Our first step was to decide how we wanted to use the space efficiently. We choose to do half volunteer garden and one half seating area. The volunteer garden would work as followed: Students would sign up with out volunteer coordinator, next our automatic drip system would water the plants on a day to day basis, after the native plants reached close to maturity, students would work with City of Novato and Marin County parks to plant the plants across town. The seating area would have Pacific dogwood tress as shade and comfortable benches for students to work. After coming up with this plan we made detailed blueprints and models to better explain our idea. Next we had to create a detailed cost list to describe each material and it's cost. Finally, we created a concise but detailed presentation explaining our work to the judges.

Content

Use of light, water, and environmental factors- As one of the main rules for this project we had to use these factors to make our space more comfortable and usable. For example we used light colored benches so that they would not be to hot to sit on in the summertime. We also used water efficiently by using a timed drip system to save money and water.

Human use patterns- We used human use patterns by making walkways in places where there is lots of foot traffic and is easily accessible for student to access our area.

Material choice- One example of a meticulous planned material choice was using tanbark as our ground cover. This was because we did a test to see what material absorbed the most water and tanbark was the winner. We wanted our material to absorb a lot of water because we didn't want the area to become muddy.

Blueprints- While our idea didn't involve any building of infrastructure we made models of the entire layout.

Budget lists- Our budget list had every detail to the pots we where going to use and the zip ties for the fences. This detail allowed us to better picture and explain what our layout would look like.

Reflection

Two things that I thing I did well on in this project was critical thinking and leading the group. Throughout this project my group and I ran into many challenging situations. For example we had to make a self sustaining garden without spending to much money. But the idea of having a timed drip system helped our project become to realistic. One example of leading that I thought I did well was making sure everyone was on task and making sure everyone understood our groups plan and schedule.

Two things that I could have improved on was my presentation skills and dividing up work. I could have done better presenting by enunciating better, and not stuttering as much. I could have avoided this by practicing more before and making a note card. I tend to put a lot of the work load on myself and this is detrimental to how a group functions. Next time, I will divide the work evenly to avoid unnecessary stress.