Upper Hutt College
Page 1, page 2
Expert feedback from John la Roche, water engineer and ex-director of Water for Survival.
6. Emma and Rebecca's device and instructions.
7. Georgia and Michelle's song and their device and instructions on how the Water System works.
8. Moana, Ashleigh and Rachel's poster, device, device instructions and game.
9. Jade and Kaitlyn's game, game cards and rules and device.
10. Aidan and Aiden's device thing, game and instructions.
11. Alex and Sam's board game and instructions, water device and instructions and card game.
6. Effectiveness:
Your idea of bright colours to attract children and multiple compartments is well thought out. However the whole device looks probably too complicated to make and maintain in a developing country. How do you open and close the plug to let water flow? Your instructions mention an icecream container but I do not see this on the diagram. The filter is a good idea.
Durability: I am uncertain of how the device would be made and would operate. Hence it is difficult to judge its durability.
Communication: You have a nice colourful and happy message which should be noticed by the children.
7. Effectiveness: You have thought a lot about your device. Making things long lasting and durable is a good idea to save money in the long term. However in a country where there is never enough money to do all the things that are essential, making such an expensive structure that will last might be difficult. Will the building also house the toilet? Why do you need four taps? Catching precious water for other uses such as watering kitchen gardens is a good idea.
Durability :Durability in tropical climates is a good idea where timber can rot. However concrete and steel will almost certainly be much more expensive than in New Zealand and making a concrete structure will require boxing that might be used for the initial structure. A concrete structure should be very durable.
Communication: I like your song. If children sing this regularly they will remember to wash their hands.
8. Effectiveness: What a good idea to have a foot pedal that tilts the container to get water. Why do you need the water wheel? Filtering the water to make it clean is a good idea but it might be easier to do this before it enters to storage container.
Durability: I suggest it might be rather more complicated that it need be for a place like Papua New Guinea. Having so many pieces to maintain, repair and replace might be difficult.
Communication: Your game board in the form of a drip is a very well thought out innovation. Well done. Your poster of hands is very well drawn - hands are so important and clean hands necessary for good health.
9.Effectiveness: What an ingenious idea to use a rope and a bamboo stick to pull the plug out to release the water and then a rubber band to pull the plug back again. There is no mention of soap or hand cleanser. How does the bucket get filled with water?
Durability: Buckets and rope should be easy to find in Papua New Guinea. Rubber bands might not last very long and a good seal on the plug will be important to avoid wastage.
Communication: Your W game with soap and special cards is a great idea. Well done and congratulations.
10. Effectiveness: Good concepts. There is not a relationship between them and the actual gizmo ie proiding guidence for someone to build it. Such guidence words or visual and would include materials, dimensions. The right ideas.
Durability: We can't tell because the materials and details aren't described.
Communication: A clearly set out game but it needs cheering upwith some positive as well as negative commands.
11. I must congratulate the kids who have obviously put a lot of thought into their game. The cards and messages are really well thought out and I feel would be very effective in getting children to understand a remember the message about washing hands and cleanliness.
The water device to collect rainwater and clean it through filters might be for washing hands might not be so easy to operate in practice. The sketch shows a container with a mesh cover - a good idea, but in order to collect enough water for periods when there is no rain you might need to catch the water off a larger area such as a roof before putting it through the mesh. The mesh would need cleaning periodically to ensure it doesn't become blocked.
The sketch and instructions show a foot pedal to operate a plug in the end of the pipe to open and close the water supply for hand washing. This is a good idea to avoid contamination with dirty hands, but the mechanism to make it work might be harder to achieve.
Using filters to eliminate bacteria is a good idea but may be difficult to achieve in practice in a place like PNG where they may not be readily available. I did read recently that a company in India is proposing to make cheap filters that might be suitable. The use of a soap or hand cleanser with anti-bacterial properties might be a more simple option.
However the pupils have thought carefully about the problem and put forward some good ideas. I do congratulate them on their efforts.
