Irayma Lopez Ordonez

PROJECT ABSTRACT

My team and I are from Paul duke stem high school, and we were handed a problem by The Gwinnett Department of Water Resources. It is regarding the sudden appearance of algal blooms in the Ozora Lake, which is located in Loganville, Georgia. The area being affected would be the small body of water located past the bridge from the lake. We are trying to find one main possible solution that could potentially solve the problem. In this scenario the question would be “With the dilemma occurring as Ozora Lake, how might we prevent and remove algal blooms without harming the surrounding area?”

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Our team first looked into the issue: what are we dealing with and how is it affecting the surrounding area? We came up with our own idea of what were some reasons for the outburst of the algal and later brought it up with the team. With the information gathered as a team, it seemed as if we had more than one solution to the problem. In about the day’s we came up with our how might we question.

 

Each one of the prototypes was designed based on research we each gathered on our own. One of my team members brought up the simple use of barley straw to prevent the growth of algal but having this in mind we would have to test the water for further understanding. Other ideas regarding the use would be flocculation, aerations, and agitation of the water column. We are still setting our eyes on getting water samples. The day came where our team had the opportunity to visit the lake and see for ourselves what it was looking like. With the help of our school drone team and the university of Georgia, we had the chance to take samples to provide us with more information. The sample then determined our final solution.

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The project is teaching us how to use the design thinking module and it helps to solve real world problems. I learned something new but I also understood the importance of working together to accomplish the same goal.