Solve a World Problem

Our Task

In this project, we went through the steps of the engineering design cycle to select a world problem and develop a solution for it.

My group consisted of Izzie, Sahana, and Katie. We selected the problem of drought, specifically the impact of agriculture on drought in California. Our chosen solution was to reduce crops that need a lot of water, such as almonds and alfalfa, and replace them with drougth tolerant crops that use less water, such as persimmons, agave, oats, peppers, and tomatoes. Our prototype took the form of a campaign, and we created a series of video advertisements and social media campaigns to communicate our idea to a wide range of audiences.

Engineering Design Cycle

1. Identify the need

First, we brainstormed a list of ideas for world problems. In the end, we selected the problem of California drought, because it is a relevant and important issue in our community

2. Research the problem 

Each person in the group researched, read, and annotated three different articles and one graph on the topic of drought. 

3. Develop possible solutions 

We brainstormed and created a list of possible solutions to California drought. Some ideas we came up with were desalination, rainwater collection system, and recycling water, as well as many other ideas that obviously would not work.

4. Select most promising solution

In the end, we decided the most promising and practical solution would be focusing on California agriculture and changing it to grow better, more water efficient crops. 

5. Construct a prototype

Our prototype was in the form of a campaign, with video ads as well as social media posts created with Canva. The goal was to promote drought tolerant crops such as persimmons, tomatoes, peppers, oats, and agave, to reduce the consumption and growth of water hungry crops such as almonds and alfalfa.

6. Test and evaluate

Since our prototype was a campaign, we decided that to test and evaluate it, we had to get support. We showed our campaign to different audiences, and got their signatures on a petition to show support for the campaign.

7. Revise and redesign

Originally, our prototype was only video ads. We thought this content was not enough, so we used Canva to design social media campaigns. In the slideshow, we added information about the benefits of consuming each food, as well as the negative impacts of almonds and alfalfa. 

Data Analysis

Reflection

Overall, this project was very enjoyable because of the amount of freedom we were given. However, this meant that much of the organization and time management was left to us. The final product and presentation could have been of higher quality. 

During this project, my group was successful at cultural competence. We were able to look at the problem from both a physics/scientific perspective and a social perspective. We created campaigns that were not only informative, but also engaging and humorous. Another strength we had in this group was critical thinking. We were able to come up with many different creative solutions for our problem. Instead of looking at drought only from a rainfall/precipitation point of view, we were able to find solutions based in agriculture. 

However, there were also a few things that we could have done better. First is time management and planning ahead. The original plan for one of the video commercials was to film in the freezer section of a local Safeway. However, we found out that it was against regulations, and we had to get pre-approved in order to film. In the end, we made the video in one of our houses instead. Another thing we could improve on is conscientious learner and staying on task. Since our group got along very well, we did not stay on task as well as we should have. This resulted in having to do some of the work at home, and was also reflected in the quality of our presentation.