New Help and Productivity

 
 http://www.craneswebsite.com/tag/small-cranes/

Today was pretty much a day like any other. We continued to work on things constantly and to refine our project even more so. Talking with Mr. Blake today, we threshed out the idea of what we'd need to  do for our prototype. Technically, we don't actually have to build or create anything, but we do have to continue our data collection and make sure that our solution is actually doing something. The way we see it, we have a few options on what we can choose to accomplish this year: we can try to clear out as much of the stream as we can, we can try to find the source of the water and instigate it into flowing again, or we can set more groundwork for future students that work on this project. Until we get out in the field a bit more, we won't be able to choose for sure. Also, we were able to talk with Kumu Kawika and found that we had new resources and help from others. This help comes in the form of the people who take care of the school grounds. With their assistance we should be able to use larger machinery or specialized tools to clear some of the blockages. So, even though today was like most others, we still got a lot done.

Hike #2

            Yesterday our group went hiking finally!!!!!!!!! During class and a bit of lunch period, we were able to complete a successful hike on our stream. Even with time being very short we were able to complete much more than I had originally thought. Kumu Kawika was able to drive us all down and we began the hike near the heiau by the main gate. When we entered the riverbed we noticed that it was bone dry, which was a bit weird for it had rained a decent amount the night before and a bit during the day. Anyways, without the water brought upon pros and cons. The good thing was that we could now travel much faster than originally planned and without as much falling. We still tripped and slid over the mud and rocks (bruises to show for it), but a lot less than the first trip. The bad thing was that now we had no exact clue on what were the main blockades of water flow because there was no water to give us hints. Eventually we hit pools of stagnant water that gave us clues on what was holding it back.  Now with Joe assisting us on this hike, we could take down larger blockades that were in the way. Unfortunately even with Joe, we encountered a major blockade of the stream, which is a huge thicket of California grass. Overall the hike was a pretty huge success to me and we definitely cleared out blockades and know what to do for the bigger ones also. Each time we get deeper into the stream and hopefully soon we will find the main cause of the water blockade.

On My Way to the TOP Brah

The other day my group members and I made a trip up near the top of the campus close to access road. The reasoning for heading up here was to see how we would be able to get an access way to the river from the top. This way we can continue up the river from a midpoint instead of starting all the way from the beginning and going all the way up because it saves a lot of time doing it this way. Also, we can see a larger span of how far the river goes back from up here because we are high up so we can see how much further we would have to hike in order to get the entire river completed. Our group peer evaluations are also being done. I would just like to say good job to my boys in the group. Keep it up! BSB

Rainy days

Over the past couple of days, it has been raining off and on in Kalihi which also means in the valley. Even though the conditions are not considered to be "prime" for hiking into the valley I really enjoy it. At least it is not a scorching hot day but we can't control nature. As of today, we confirmed with Mr. Blake that the land ownership belongs to Kamehameha Schools and at least we know we won't get shot if we were on someone else's property, in all seriousness. Over the past week we have not made trek's into the valley because of conflicting schedules. I was supposed to go in today but I would have been the only one to have made it into the valley which is very dangerous and since it was raining pretty hard over night and throughout the day it made the conditions for hiking pretty much undoable. In the end we found some trails that can lead down into some sites of smaller pools but other than that we just need to use man power to get into the back of the valley to put our solution into effect.

What was that?!!?

            So today we had another fun filled physics class! Today our group did two different tasks to further accelerate our progress. Kaeo and Christian finished up their part of the detailed design while Joe and I went on a half hike to take a few pictures and survey the stream from the top. From the top we could see different things such as camp sites, open areas, trails down the Cliffside, and other questionable things. Regardless we are making slow improvements to our project, we still need to schedule dates in order for the entire group to be included in the hike. With two busy weeks coming up, it makes it a bit difficult to get this thing done, especially with it being mostly on our own time and everyone doing their own thing. By the next few blog posts we should have more hikes under our belt.

(pictures will be uploaded as soon as member obtains them)

Design Brah

Our group is getting our design together. We are still going strong with our solution to our problem with the river that goes down the mountain and to main gate. Our group had to get our plan and project approved from Mr. Blake to make sure that we were able to do our project, and he liked our idea so we are continuing to strive with new ways to improve the way we will solve our problem. Mr. Blake told our group to look for a water current sensor to measure the pressure and velocity at which the water is traveling so that we can get real proof to see if the streams flow is increasing and to see if our work is causing improvements to the water. We are going strong and are on our way to greatness. 

Progression

The days are counting down to when our final project is due and when we have to prepare a presentation to give in front of people that are attending through a live video feed. I would say that we are doing pretty well, we are on track to complete our project by then. We have a lot of man work and man hours we have to put into our project but I believe that by the end of this it will all be worth it. We have a lot of people interested in helping our group and I think that with all of the help these people are offering, we will have no problem in finishing. One problem that I did find is that it is hard to get access when we need to, and finding days in which we are free to go as a whole group.

Moving Forward

 http://www.stevenswater.com/articles/snotel.aspx

     This weekend proved pretty productive for our group. Working together, we focused more on the technical and written aspects of our plan before proceeding to plan out our work. We threshed out the ideas for our prototype a bit more, adding things to our proposal. Also we learned more about the stream itself, and the different things which we need to do concerning the science of water flow, taking into account the volume of water we are proposing to move, and working with on a smaller scale to see how things work out. Thanks to these days of technical work, we were able to plan everything out better and consider more things while working with our project.

The Next Step

            With the proposal done and packed away we move on to our next step of the project, the detailed design. Mr. Blake came around and asked every group how they were doing and what our thoughts were on the situation. Mr. Blake pointed out some good ideas about how to incorporate our project with physics material. To help with the physics aspect of the project, we were directed to seek out scientific instruments to help gauge water flow, velocity, and volume for the stream to get a before and after look at our work. This also helps to get a good sense on how much water will go through the lo‘i’s and other placements down at the heiau to see if it is enough to sustain growth and life. We need to see how much water is able to come down without rain and find the main reason for this blockade. With a few more weeks of work, major blockades of the stream should be cleared out and larger volume of water shall run through. 

Photo Courtesy: http://www.swca.com/index.php/clients/projects/stream-assessments-for-kamehameha-schools

Hike Brah

Today in class our group was working on our proposal paper. We decided to use google docs to do our paper because it was the fastest and easiest solution for our entire group to do our project at the same time. We split up the proposal questions among the group. For our group the proposal was not too hard because we already knew what we were going to do for our project a long time ago and we had the time to research our idea and get into depth for what we were going to do to solve our problem. Our entire group went on the hike up the river and we all gained an abundance of knowledge about the river and what needs to be done with it. Many blockages and problems are stopping the river from flowing freely. We are devising a plan to first get the water flowing and then to get the water flowing not only down stream, but also to kalo and other food patches located near the main gate. 

Getting work done

Welllllll time is going by really fast and we have less than a month to fix our problem that we have decided to go through with. It is a big problem because it deals with our environment but even a bigger issue, is that it deals with our Hawaiian culture. Getting a proposal done for this week is a big issue especially since Kaeo and I(Joe) will be gone on friday because of the senior picnic. Even though with all of these conflicting issues we still have to be on top of things. Tomorrow is going to be a work day and although we have sought out to go down to the valley tomorrow and try to clear things up, I don't think that it will be a sufficient amount of time to get any work down, therefore I am pitching to my group that we should work on our proposal since it is due by this friday. We will have time this weekend and I have a lot of free time to go down with people after school to get the job done. This is a prime example of how to use time wisely. Although there is a little more than three weeks left to show off our solution to our problem, using time wisely will either make or break our group.

Progress increasing

            Today in our groups we heard pitch ideas from the other five groups within our class. Some of the groups had pretty good ideas that were in fact tangible to accomplish. Though most groups had the same concepts of Akahi and pathways during rain. We over viewed our progress today and concluded that we had gotten pretty far for this time in the game. As you can see in our previous blogs we had already taken our first trip to the stream and found it very successful. Our group decided that we shall take the opportunity on Thursday to go down during the class period and see how far we can get and clear as much as possible through the debris. Another group of the class wants to sort of join up in our idea and ride one of the outcomes for our project. We shall see how this goes and keep you updated through our progress and if the other group tags along.

Photo:  Ho‘oulu iä project site

Getting Started Brah

Our Big Stick clan was up and running and was down to get to business. In thursdays class we used our time to get interviews from other teachers to get an idea for which we could use to do our project with. Joe and Mike went together to get interviews from teachers of their choice, while Christian and I tried to get interviews of our choice as well. Unfortunately Christian and I could not get any interviews of the teachers of our choice, luckily Joe and Mike got their interviews. One of the kumu suggested that we should help to make the river by main gate to have a steady flow of water like it did years ago. We liked the idea and we decided to go with that plan. Now the river only flows when rain is poured down. Our goal is to make the river flow persistent.  If the river were to be a constant flow, the kalo patches and other various plants would get water and time and money would be saved from the water flow. Classes will be able to use the kalo for field trips and other necessities as well. We also interviewed the woman in the archives Kumu Zisk. She gave us a lot of information on the river and it was a great deal of help. Now all we need to do is get the project started and soon enough the river will be flowing in no time!

Scouting Day

So, today we went out to see for ourselves the state that the stream was in. It was interesting to say the least, and I'm sure our group won't be forgetting our nature experience any time soon. We forged through the valley, alongside the stream, and managed to go pretty far back into the forest before we turned back. The way up was a bit slow for a bit, as we adjusted to stepping on the slippery rocks and such, but we soon got the hang of it. As we hiked along, we spotted a few blockages, some of which we cleared and others which we saved for a later date. So, all in all, today was a good success, and gives us valuable data with which to focus on for our next excursion. With this new info, our project can start to get going.

Our interview was a success

          Today is my day for the daily blogpost and it was a big day. We started off our day by interviewing two kumu, Kumu Kawika and Kumu Mele during class and it was a big get off to our project. They brought to light problems with our school that at first, made Michael and I wonder how physics could be incorporated into the solution, but by the end of the interview we realized how important it would be to find a solution to these problems. One problem that my group and I got hooked on was one where it dealt not only with physics, but with our Hawaiian culture. There is a stream located near the main gate at the bottom of the hill that travels all the way back into Kamehameha School's ahupua'a and the problem is that it does not flow unless heavy rains hit the mountain. It is not exactly clear how physics can be involved within this solution, but it wouldn't be a perfect solution if there were no problems in finding it. We think we could include physics within the solution by using gravity and pressure to divert the water throughout the 'āina, over old lo'i and even up towards the hill where we can sustain ourselves with natural flowing water. Everyone I talked to so far have told me that this is a lot of work and that it's not going to happen before the school year ends but I, along with my group, believe that we could attack one specific problem right now but still have that option to go further in the future to fix and change whatever needs to be done. When I thought about this problem, I thought about Waipā on the island of Kaua'i and how it was once a barren wasteland but with the help of many people, it became a beautiful piece of land that is respected as a self sustaining 'āina and as a cultural learning place. This problem if followed through will be a hard one, no doubt about it, but if done correctly, physics would help the pua of Kamehameha Schools in a bigger way then ever imagined.

Daily Blogs now!

            So now we have to do daily blogs for our group whether or not we have class that day so here it is. Today for our group we had little progress. We just met a bit and talked about a few more things that we could add onto the bug list, which we have yet to do. Joe and I were supposed to do our teacher interview today but there was a little schedule confliction and were unable to accomplish this task. Kaeo and Christian are going to do their interviews tomorrow and I think Joe and I are going to interview also. I think our group has some good ideas to fix, its just the execution part we are having a bit of trouble on. Well this is our first daily blog so I hope its correct.

Things to Do, Stuff to Plan...

 
So, today we learned a bit more about what we have to do for our project. We got the schedule that we are supposed to shape our work around, our budget, and a few more guidelines to fit into everything. With this in mind, we can start delving into proper planning and problem solving. It's not going to be easy, most likely, but it definitely can be done. However, it's going to take our group's combined effort to be able to pull everything off. With that said, I'm sure that everyone will be able to synergize properly and get things done. So far we've come up with a few problems we can work with, and also planned out our interviewing teams which will go out and find more problems we can pool together and choose from. All in all, our time together as a group has been pretty productive and should carry us through till the end, in May. Everybody, it's time to get cracking and solve some problems!

Bug List Brah

Problems at School

. Lines at ‘Akahi

. Roof at Midkiff walking area

. fans in ‘Akahi

. more parking on campus

The Lorax Brah

The Lorax involves a creature that is the Lord of the trees, the Once-ler, and a boy who tries to impress a girl but in the end creates a vision and stands up for his vision of the new world he would like to create. In the movie the town is made out of plastic and everything is processed. Also the air is contaminated os people buy air from this big shot guy who has his own air company. This movie relates to what we are trying to do because the trees that were cut down by the Once-ler caused a problem with the air, but the boy who visited the Once-ler decided to solve the problem by taking the last tree seed and planting it so that many trees would grow and their world would be safe again. I believe that the movie had a good meaning and message. I also think that the movie was funny and cool and it was entertaining to watch. I enjoyed the movie and I would definitely watch it again.

The Lorax (Michael Ah-Hee)

            So last week I saw the Lorax with my dear friends Tati and Tyler at Dole Theater. The place was deserted and was rather eerie. But anyways, when I first heard that we had to see this movie, I was rather disappointed because out of all the good movies coming out, we had to see a Dr. Seuss movie. Although, as the movie progressed it became better and I liked it more than I thought that I would. This movie is a little reflection of our world in the near future and was greatly portrayed through a cartoon. But the whole time I was wondering how does this movie relate to our physics class, so I was trying to find physic applications to the movie, because I forgot we started this new 4^th quarter project. Trees . . .nope, talking fish and bears . . . nope, seed sprouting with only water . . . that’s biology, making fresh air without trees . . . that’s chemistry, the ridiculous pathways and slopes of thneedvile . . . I don’t think so. But then someone pointed out the quote that I missed while thinking of the items above, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Then I suddenly remembered the project and it directly applies to what we are trying to accomplish, a change in our school for the better. There are always opinions on how to make things better, the problem is voicing them out and going through with it. For our project I think that this was an excellent movie choice and gave us a little inspiration to accomplish our goals. Overall I think that this was a great choice as homework over the break.