Design Challenge: Build a Bridge
This design challenge will ask teams to Build a Bridge for a specific animal with the fewst parts and the maximum amount of strength. The design challenge will allow each team materials and fasteners to build a prototype bridge and test a specific weight that is a proxy for an animal at Mezzacello Urban Farm. The final test will include a test involving a live animal.
Design Challenge: Build a Biodome
This design challenge will explore the way DNA and RNA code for the building of complex proteins and elegant structures witha minimum of information. The result will be a biodome that will allow animals and plants to live safe from predators and prey.
Design Challenge: Simple Machines and You
This design challenge will explore the way we use simple machines on an urban farm. The students will each begiven a simple device that is a closed box. Each team will get a different box and they will be given 10 minutes to assemble the device. The fastest team wins.
Design Challenge: Fun With Food
This design challenge will explore the way we use the natural resources at Mezzacello to feed and care for our livestock when we can. We will be cexploring metabolic loads and nutrition profiles for four different species of animal and creating appropriate feed.
Design Challenge: Fertilizer
This design challenge will explore the physical aspects of NHCOPS. Nitrogen is key here, as is Phosphus and sulphur. We will be building the main fertilizer used at Mezzacello. Eden's Ghost.
Design Challenge: Water Sterilization
This design challenges explores how we steralize purified water to ensure safety. This design challenge is intended to extend the water purification design challenge.
Design Challenge: Water Purification
This design challenges explores three routes to collecting, cleaning, and purifying water for human and animal consumption. The three routes will include mechanical filtration, filtration and heating, and using filtration with activated charcoal.
Design Challenge: Physical Electricity
In this design challenge we will explore the basic nature of electricity and how we interact with it on an urban farm. From the low voltages of organics, to the higher voltages and amps of electronics, we will explore it all. The deliverable will be a battery, a solar panel, and the wiring that unites them.