The Mellow Yellow conservation project is an excellent example of how a small change can add up to great gains in conservation.
For a week my housemates and I kept track of our trips to the bathroom. If we only took a pee then we did not flush, if we did more than that we flushed. The savings in water were incredible.
The power point presentation (http://www.slideshare.net/bpautzke/mellow-yellow/) lays out my findings and takes you through the project step by step.
I hope you enjoy the presentation, the toilet in the pictures is the actual toilet!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Energy Conservation Project Intro
Energy Conservation Project
Mellow Yellow
How much water can a house with three guys living in it save by only flushing when necessary?
Google:
• Toilet water consumption accounts for 40% of household water usage.
• In 1992, Congress passed regulation limiting toilet tank size to 1.6 gallons, significantly reducing water waste.
• Other options to reduce toilet water waste are dams and displacement devices.
Data needed:
• Amount of water used by our toilet.
• Amount of flushes avoided by letting it mellow over 7 days.
• Amount of flushes over 7 days.
Data Collection Methodology:
There will be a tick sheet taped above the toilet and for 7 days anyone who uses the toilet will make a mark. Either they used the toilet and did not flush, a “no flush”, or they used the toilet and needed to flush, a “flush”.
Mellow Yellow
How much water can a house with three guys living in it save by only flushing when necessary?
Google:
• Toilet water consumption accounts for 40% of household water usage.
• In 1992, Congress passed regulation limiting toilet tank size to 1.6 gallons, significantly reducing water waste.
• Other options to reduce toilet water waste are dams and displacement devices.
Data needed:
• Amount of water used by our toilet.
• Amount of flushes avoided by letting it mellow over 7 days.
• Amount of flushes over 7 days.
Data Collection Methodology:
There will be a tick sheet taped above the toilet and for 7 days anyone who uses the toilet will make a mark. Either they used the toilet and did not flush, a “no flush”, or they used the toilet and needed to flush, a “flush”.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Read/Write Web Assessment
I. Brian Pautzke bpautzke@yahoo.com 9/18/07
The Educator’s guide to the Read/Write Web by Will Richardson
II. In this day and age the internet is used for more than just information gathering, people now use it as a world sounding board where they can post their own work. It also provides the opportunity for students use blogs to collaborate with each other as well as with professionals, enriching their education. The article addresses the benefits of self-policing and self creating websites such as Wikipedia, an open forum which allows users to change the information. Social bookmarking opens the doors for teachers to create website portfolios and share those with interested teachers.
I really like the idea of a classroom portfolio blog, where students have to share their writing with others. A critical point that Richardson brings up is about the evaluation of the material, there is so much information on the web that teaching critical reading skills is crucial. He concludes that the new read/write web will provide students of disparate backgrounds unique opportunities to learn from each other.
III.
1. The Read/Write web allows students to collaborate.
2. Blogs allow easy online communication.
3. The community of wiki writers maintain a high level of accuracy and appropriateness.
4. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) allows people to subscribe to a stream of information.
5. Social book-marking sites: furl.net and del.icio.us
6. Giving the student the feeling that they are “publishing” their work can have positive effects.
7. Filtering out the questionable information will become a crucial skill.
8. Student privacy could become an issue as they publish their information.
IV. Will Richardson does not work at Bartlett. That was my initial reaction to the article. He is idealistic, thinking that high school students will get into publishing their work and going the extra mile. My students have a hard enough time turning in in-class work let alone trying to get them to publish their material. Also access is a point he did not address, a good percentage of my students do not have access to the internet, so unless we were planning on spending a lot of time in the library the idea of web writing does not work. However, I like the idea , and I like that we have an opportunity to do web writing in this class.
Blogging is not there yet, reading and writing blogs is not mainstream. I don’t have to wonder how many people have read my blog page, I would be crazy to think it is more than two. This notion of some amazing easy access new world of trading information and thought is interesting and some day it might shape how we learn and how we teach but I am skeptical that a school like Bartlett will be ready any time soon.
The Educator’s guide to the Read/Write Web by Will Richardson
II. In this day and age the internet is used for more than just information gathering, people now use it as a world sounding board where they can post their own work. It also provides the opportunity for students use blogs to collaborate with each other as well as with professionals, enriching their education. The article addresses the benefits of self-policing and self creating websites such as Wikipedia, an open forum which allows users to change the information. Social bookmarking opens the doors for teachers to create website portfolios and share those with interested teachers.
I really like the idea of a classroom portfolio blog, where students have to share their writing with others. A critical point that Richardson brings up is about the evaluation of the material, there is so much information on the web that teaching critical reading skills is crucial. He concludes that the new read/write web will provide students of disparate backgrounds unique opportunities to learn from each other.
III.
1. The Read/Write web allows students to collaborate.
2. Blogs allow easy online communication.
3. The community of wiki writers maintain a high level of accuracy and appropriateness.
4. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) allows people to subscribe to a stream of information.
5. Social book-marking sites: furl.net and del.icio.us
6. Giving the student the feeling that they are “publishing” their work can have positive effects.
7. Filtering out the questionable information will become a crucial skill.
8. Student privacy could become an issue as they publish their information.
IV. Will Richardson does not work at Bartlett. That was my initial reaction to the article. He is idealistic, thinking that high school students will get into publishing their work and going the extra mile. My students have a hard enough time turning in in-class work let alone trying to get them to publish their material. Also access is a point he did not address, a good percentage of my students do not have access to the internet, so unless we were planning on spending a lot of time in the library the idea of web writing does not work. However, I like the idea , and I like that we have an opportunity to do web writing in this class.
Blogging is not there yet, reading and writing blogs is not mainstream. I don’t have to wonder how many people have read my blog page, I would be crazy to think it is more than two. This notion of some amazing easy access new world of trading information and thought is interesting and some day it might shape how we learn and how we teach but I am skeptical that a school like Bartlett will be ready any time soon.
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