User:LiamMur/ENES-100/My Work

Write problem/project Goal
How to prepare, design and construct an igloo in Maryland

My First Task
Find suitable locations for construction.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
I decided to speak with my team about location prior to contacting college officials for approval.

Week1 Narrative
I walked around campus searching for flat grassy areas with hose access. While the most ideal location would be the Quad because of its central location, there are also suitable areas around the East and West parking garages.

My Second Task
I will be constructing a model igloo out of Styrofoam.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
The Styrofoam proved difficult to work with and almost impossible to glue. Using toothpicks to hold the blocks together worked well until the fifth layer of blocks. At this point adding an additional block would move the entire structure.

Week2 Narrative
I cut the Styrofoam into rectangular blocks and placed them in a circle. After determining my desired height, I used a string to find the angle I had to cut off the blocks to cause it to slope inward. Every block is held to the block next to it with a horizontal toothpick. Vertical toothpicks are used to hold the layers together where needed. Thirteen layers later, it became too difficult to add another layer, so a circular piece of Styrofoam is placed on top.

My Third task
I plan to refine the building process of the Styrofoam igloo. The scale will be slightly smaller and I will try a different method of cutting the Styrofoam.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
The Styrofoam cutter worked fairly well at the start. The blocks were misshapen, but precision cuts could have been made when shaping the blocks. The wire stopped heating up after the rectangular shape of the blocks were formed, but before I shaped them to fit together properly.

Week3 Narrative
The basic rectangular shape was achieved, but the wire failed to heat up.



My Fourth task
I will be compiling a list of the necessary materials for constructing the igloo that is to be built on campus.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
I was unable to fix the styrofoam cutting tool. An igloo built out of snow would require molds and water.

Week4 Narrative
The molds can be made out of kitty litter boxes. Instead of shaping each individual mold for each block and layer, styrofoam inserts can be made to create the proper angles of each block. The only other necessary material would be water (snow and liquid water). A snow saw would not be required because molds are being used rather than cutting out and shaping the blocks from a snow quarry as it is traditionally done.

Complete Team Page
Fill out the Team Form (should have already copied the form, created the team page, linked to it and started filling it out).