Blogs

posted by: Hudson

Posted by: Truman

This week our app has been progressing from being just one prototype to now 3. This is hard because our group has been working around the clock to try to figure out how to use AppShed to create our app. First Prototype 1 has been focused just on the layout of what our app will look like, having many labeled tabes and an app home page. This prototype is not focused on looks or style and in the beginning, was just made to just test our ability to navigate the system. The second prototype is focused on the programming and coding to the app. It has little details and looks. This prototype has proven the hardest to make because none of our group has had any experience in coding an app. We will meet with Jim more to further our understanding of coding the app. One problem that we cannot get past is the different functions and variables that appshed has compared to different programs we have used. Prototype 3 is supposed to be a prototype to learn how to make the app “look nicer,” and be app store material. This is our last priority at the moment because we are more focused on the function of the app, not the look. One cool thing about this prototype is we were able to make an Icon for the app, which we added to all the Prototypes to make them look more appealing.
Outside of making the app. We started making the characters for the final BINz app. We have all individually worked on drawing our own characters for the app. They consist of many different genres to appeal to more kids with different interests. We have recently been making a different variety of characters. Movie characters, Sports characters, Fantasy characters, presidents, and just a bunch of random people. These characters are easy to make on our Ipads and once we finish coding the app we will add them in.
Next week we look to finish up our app. The final will just be a prototype that will not take input from the bottle codes or the trash can codes. It will only need the push of a button to get you a random character, that is if you get one. Our Video is coming along nicely with Hudson projecting it to be done before Tuesday. The poster will likely be finished around the same time as the video. So, therefore, our week looks like it's pretty covered.

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SolutionZ

4/30/2018

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Posted by: Annie

This week, we had the opportunity to interview several of our teachers. They gave us helpful ideas and comments on our solution. We had a much better idea of how we wanted to conduct our solution, Binz.

Our former solution was to have kids scan a QR code after they drank the bottled water and then they would get the characters but after the feedback, our solution made a lot more sense. Now our we have the QR code on the bottom of the bottle cap and once they scan it they can get characters or coins and win different prizes.

We also got the idea to advertise the app to different schools. The app would then be used as a way for the school to organize a competition based on recycling. The kids would be more interested in recycling because it is now a fun competition with their friends!
After a meeting with Josh, we polished our thought process of Binz. Now once you scan the QR code on the bottle, it takes you to the app and activates a randomizer with all the characters inside, then it chooses a character as a prize. That character is then saved in your inventory on your profile.
The characters now range from different subjects for kids who aren’t all interested in the same things. This will make the app fun for everyone! There is history, fantasy and so many more!
From our Google form survey, we collected data in our school on kid’s motivation to recycle. On our question, “On a scale of 1-5 how motivated are you to recycle (5 being the best)?” Out of the 45 people that responded 26.7 % were 5, 26.7 % were 4, and the rest were 3-1! This 46.6 % is the number of kids that are not motivated to recycle, meaning that there are more and more bottles every day that aren't recycled because kids are not motivated! Another astonishing piece of data is that 71.4% of kids recycle bottles often-never! A piece of data to motivate us to make Binz is that 53.3% of kids said that they would use the app!
The app is easy to use and fun to play! The questions, ideas, and concerns we received from our teachers was very useful and has made our solution a lot better. We are now very confident that our solution will help kids find recycling exciting!

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Engraving Ideas

4/22/2018

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Posted by Truman
Written by Hudson and Truman
Problem: Our group believes that the problem “Children are not motivated to recycle” is the biggest problem our country faces when it comes to recycling in the future. This is because of our interviews with experts, data, and interviews in the community. Our interviews show that Children are the main culprit for uninterest in recycling. Our interviews with Allen Company have confirmed that children are the most unmotivated to recycle. We asked Allen Company questions on who they think is the most unmotivated to recycle. They told us that as a recycling center, they do not get many children that are motivated to recycle. So, they believe that children are not motivated to recycle. Our data shows that a part of our problem is true. This shows that there is little motivation in recycling. Recycling “rates in California have fallen below 80% for the first time since 2008.” “More than 3.5 million additional containers are littered or put in landfills every day” —LA Times. Motivation is what compels you to do something. So for example, if I saw a wrapper on the ground and I don’t want to go through the agonizing effort to bend down and get it, then I do not feel motivated to pick it up. These rate that we found from the LA Time show that people (not specifically children) aren’t motivated to recycle. A quote from PLoS Biol shows that children are the culprit for the rates. “Out of the classroom, people have failed to make the link between their individual actions and the environmental condition.” So far, our data has not clearly stated that children aren’t motivated to recycle, but our interviews clearly state that children are the least motivated to recycle. Hudson interviewed his dad and the information points clearly towards children. Hudson said “I interviewed my dad who as a kid did not recycle at all then when he got to be in his late thirties he started to. He started to because he learned of how important it is to our planet's health.” This shows that children shockingly do not realize how important recycling is to the planet's health. Based on our interview with experts, data, and interviews with the community we concur that the problem Children are not motivated to recycle is reliable and indeed a problem our planet faces.
Solutions: This week our group worked really well together to come up with 5 solutions each. We all came up with some pretty amazing ideas; but we all felt really strong about two specific idea: BINZ and Bottle Raffle. Binz is a game that encourages kids to recycle in a fun way. Once you open the water bottle there will be a code on the inside the bottom of the water bottle, so you have to drink it to “scan” it. After you locate it, scan the code and collect the character! They range from common to ULTRA-rare! Some codes will have Coins (to buy clothes or other things for your characters), or powerboxs (the more powerboxs you have, the more power ups you can have for characters) Every time you scan a bottle you have a better chance of collecting a rare character. It’s a fun way to get kids excited about picking up bottles! In this way kids would have some purpose to the trash they leave behind! This will motivate kids to recycle. We also came up with another great idea, The Bottle Raffle. So the idea is every time you recycle a water bottle (plastic) in to the Bottle Raffle bin then you can get one raffle ticket worth 5-10 cents. Then the money from turning in all the bottles to a recycling plant then gets turned into the Grand PRIZE! you can have a water bottle raffle. This will be done either physically or electronically. The physical way would be use in a small community, like a school. This way would be done by having a tag dispenser on Bottle Raffle bin that you stick on the bottle then you write you name on the bottle and it becomes your raffle ticket. The electronic recycle raffle would be conducted by having a scanner scan the barcode on the water bottle then on a touch screen on the bin you type in your account name and password and the scanned water bottle raffle ticket will go to your account. Then electronically, it randomly picks a winner and their prize selection. These solutions our group came up with is similar to solutions other organizations are trying to do. To get kids interested in recycling, organizations like PepsiCo Recycle make competitions between school to see who can recycle the most. An example of a school that wins a lot of recycling “awards” is American University who has achieved 100% “no waste!” These other solutions that have been used before, inspired us to make the Bottle Raffle and Binz!

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Next Generation of Recycling

4/17/2018

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Posted by: Annie
Written by: Truman

This week, our group worked on refining and soothing out our problem. We started with plastic, a broader problem, knowing we were going to have to dig deeper. We finally decided on focusing in on recycling. We then thought about why recycling is a problem and realized it was still too broad. Our group saw that to really make an empowering problem, we needed to find a issue affecting a community or group. After an extensive amount of research, we found that this generation of children are uninterested in recycling. Therefore, our problem that we will strive to solve is: children’s lack of interest recycling.
We have been trying to contact people over the weekend but it has been hard because most company and people don’t answer emails and calls to “children with strange questions.” We did manage to get one phone call with the Allen Company, who is a recycling company that has a factuality located in Santa Monica and other locations. During our call we told them about us and the science project and what we hope to accomplish. Then we asked them questions. The most important one that we asked was, “Do you feel that children are interested in recycling?” They talked about how usually children don’t seek out recycling centers like them and generally not involved with recycling. This is important information because it shows that even the people the work in “the field” of recycling think that children aren't as involved.
Our research shows that our problem is true and reliable. First, children are the biggest danger to recycling according to recent polls from the ISRI, showing that 18-34 are most likely to be less “environmental.” You’re probably thinking, “What? Why would children be the focus if young adults are interested the least in recycling?” The answer is, children are the most important to fixing recycling because they are the future generation of adults. The young adults or children may be educated in recycling, but they have been shown to be less interested to recycle. Recently, the rates in California for recycling have fallen below 80% for the first time since 2008! Hudson interviewed his dad who as a kid did not recycle at all then when he got to be in his late thirties he started to. He started to because he learned of how important it is to our planet's health.
One of the reasons for this shortage in recycling is because many recycling centers in California have gone bankrupt. The is due to the exchange rate for recycling bottles has gone down in the last couple years.
After more additional research, we believe that because children aren't interested recycling causes them to also not retain the education taught on recycling. We found that more than 3.5 million additional containers of recycled material are put in landfills every day. This is because people are less educated in what can and can’t be recycled. Another form of data proving this is that
Our problem is an important issue because if adults of tomorrow (children right now) are uninterested in recycling today, then there is little hope of solving recycling in the future...

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Not Fantastic, Its Plastic!

4/10/2018

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Posted by Hudson
Our Group consists of Hudson B, Annie S, and Truman P. Our group members work and intermingle to identify the most hidden problems. The diversity of skills in our group increases the creativity in our group. We are devoted to limiting Waste in the world. We started by making a mind map and branching off from a broad topic, Waste; then we narrowed down to a smaller topic, Plastic. We each had different reasons to choose plastic as a start topic, here is what our group member Hudson who felt strongly on the topic had to say:
Hudson: “I feel like plastic waste has been a big issue in the world for a long time, and it needs to be resolved.”
Since we have chosen plastic as one of our topics, our group has learned that plastic is human-made chemical material that is durable, lasts long, and inexpensive, which make it globally made on a large scale. There are many types of plastic but PVC is the most commonly used form. PVC is built into tubes, wrappers, and even clothing! But this “amazing” unnatural maturely is awful after being thrown away. Our group from the start has been interested in the aspects of how to make plastic easier to dispose of. On the other hand, our group is not interested in the aspects of replacing plastic because our group believes that plastic is a key ingredient to human life and cannot be replaced.
Plastic waste can contaminate natural underground water storages by breaking down until it reaches a water supply, thus contaminating it. Plastic waste can also disrupt the ecosystem by getting in the food chain. For example, plastic waste in the ocean, when it is broken down is eaten by plankton then it eventually could make its way into the human diet! A fun fact about plastic and oceans is: “In our oceans alone, plastic debris outweighs zooplankton by a ratio of 36-to-1.” Another problem with plastic is it tends to not ever “disappear.” Plastic was designed to hold foods and liquids for long periods of times, but because of this plastic survives for a long time outside our trash bins.

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Our Video!

posted by: Hudson

Lotz of work for BINz

SolutionZ

Engraving Ideas

Next Generation of Recycling

Not Fantastic, Its Plastic!