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]