Today, we came up with a few alternatives for our exhibit design. A major focus was the concept of thermal mass and how that affects the stable temperature of the earth. One idea is to have a telephone booth-sized space that has walls filled with dirt and grass on top, keeping the space relatively cool in comparison to the outside. People can walk in, feeling the difference between the two environments. We also discussed potentially using that same concept for a bus stop. Half of the bus stop could be surrounded with dirt and the green roof while the other half would be kept normal. Perhaps facts about geothermal energy can be placed on the walls. Another idea was to have varying masses that people could stick their hands in to see which stays the coolest.

Our next step is to come up with exhibit aspects that are more interactive. After all, the exhibit is catered towards children.

[Grace]

Concept Sketch

Last Wednesday, our group began to brainstorm ideas as to how our exhibit might look like. Within the refrigerator, we came up with separate exhibits such as a model house on the top shelf and lower shelfs acting as the lower levels of the earth. We also discussed using various materials such as ceramic tile, plastic, metal, wood and having people burying them into dirt to compare their different temperatures.

Today after talking to the professors about our ideas, we have decided to come up with more alternative ideas that stray away from the refrigerator analogy. From the beginning, we realized that the analogy might be misleading. More ideas to come.

[Grace]

make your own geothermal heat pump!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-Geothermal-system/
pretty cool stuff. (get it) [dcswaim]

For the Parents

With our exhibit we may want to include information about using geothermal technology for one's home. Including a part that answers some questions and directs them to a local business. We could use information from these links:

http://www.donbelmanhomes.com/geothermal.htm

http://www.geothermalnorth.com/questions.html

http://www.pasoroblesheating.com/

I couldn't find a specific exhibit that does a similar thing, but I'm sure we could be creative with a "for the parents" section, probably located up higher on our exhibit.

Benefits of Geothermal Heating and Cooling

A simple video that shows how geothermal pumps work.

[Grace]

Heat Pump Hand Crank

This exhibit transfers heat from one copper coil to another using a hand pump using compressed air and pressure, like a refrigerator.

More information: http://exs.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/heat-pump-hand-crank/

Signage

This sign is from the Sausalito Children's Museum. Not only is the design of it simple, clean, and easy to read, but the text is in multiple languages, broadening the appeal of the exhibit.

[Grace]

The Senses

At the Boston of Museum of Science, there is a large focus on appealing to the audience by tapping into their senses. It would be good to do the same in our exhibit, even though it may not be possible to hit them all.

[Grace]

interactive, sustainably themed ehibits

http://www.lorneperrydesigns.com/exhibits.html

energy quest exhibits seem to along the same lines of what we will be able to do. These exhibits use examples in nature to help explain sustainable technology. Drawing natural paralells is a technique we want to explore in order to help explain the geothermal properties of the earth. [dcswaim]

Layers of the Earth

At the San Jose Discovery Museum, there is an exhibit with a ball course mounted on the wall, showing the concept of gravity. Because our exhibit has to do with the layers of the earth, it would be interesting to have some sort of large mounted display similar to the one shown that depicts the progression of the layers and how they change as one moves downwards.

[Grace]

underground exhibit

http://www.metstudio.com/exhibition_designers/portfolio_museums/portfolio_underground1.html

pretty cool underground themed exhibit. a larger scale than what we have to work with, but still a cool immersive kind of experience. I wonder how they make fake dirt? that may be usefull for our geothermal exhibit. [dcswaim]

Interactive Energy Exhibit

Well this is far from renewable...this museum in Texas does mention the whole interactive idea to audiences. Can we "harness" geothermal heat?
http://www.fwmuseum.org/energy-blast
[Alison]

Questions and Interactivity

In the "Energy City" center at the Connecticut Science Center, there are exhibits that ask the visitors questions and have them answer by pushing buttons that light up. I am not sure how feasible it would be for our exhibit to have light-up buttons or other features involving electricity because of the mechanics of it all, but the idea of challenging the visitors pulls them in, making them want to learn more.

http://www.ctsciencecenter.org/exhibits/energy-city/default.aspx

[Grace]

Geothermal Game

I lost the url but there was this museum where you shoot this at pictures of arms (covered with mitts, rings, boxing gloves, etc) to see which one is warmest. I'm sure we could do something similar. Amazon's price is pretty cheap:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-TLD100-Thermal-Detector/dp/B001LMTW2S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303753057&sr=8-2
[Alison]

portable exhibits

http://ellisassociates.ca/portable.shtml

A nice exhibit design firm. This section of the website relates to our assignment in that it shows portable exhibits. The example above might be similar to how we would demonstrate a geothermal heatpump system. [dcswaim]

Renewable Energy Robot Band

I found this one exhibit that "uses" all types of renewable energy to power a robot band:
http://www.exhibiteers.com/pdf/electricity.pdf

It's a great simulation of creating energy
[Alison]

Geothermal Map Mat

Imagine a mat on the floor in front of the fridge that shows the geothermal hot-spots of the world!
[Alison]

water table display

This display shows the water table. the same layered earth model may be used to demonstrate geothermal phenomena. [dcswaim]

Smart Home: Green + Wired

The "Greenest Home in Chicago" is featured at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. The site (http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/smart-home/) shows innovative ways that this house is being energy-efficient. For our geothermal exhibit, I think it would be beneficial to link our concept back to the house because it is relatable to most people.

[Grace]

How Refrigerators and Heat Pumps Work

We would like to include a basic explanation of how heat pumps (especially in refrigerators) work, and then relate it to the earth. Although not exhibits, the following websites have fairly simple explanations that can be useful:

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/how_it_works/refrigerator.html

http://www.geojerry.com/heatmovesfromcoolertowarmer.html

We would use a similar diagram to the one in the first link, except that we would relate to inside of the fridge to the inside of your house, while mentioning that a geothermal system is more versatile, allowing cooling AND heating.

Absorbing Heat

I had trouble finding many exhibits that were similar to our idea, however some exhibits, such as the following ones, use related principles.

The photos show exhibits demonstrating surfaces that absorb heat and a user can easily feel the difference. We may do something similar showing the earth's ability to insulate.