Water Framing

Grade:

7

Teacher:

Alexandria Vaughn

Project Description: I called my project “Water Framing” because framing according to https://www.dictionary.com/browse/framing means the act, process, or manner of constructing anything. I found another definition in construction, it means “the structural skeleton of a building”. I built a house structure to help conserve water by creating a two roof design to see what angle of the roof would collect the most rainwater. Water is a scarce resource that is becoming less abundant, especially in the desert. People and animals need water to survive but Arizona is experiencing water shortages. When a problem isn’t visible people don’t think about it. Is water usage visible in homes? Are homes designed for water conservation? Do they collect rainwater? Engineering a way to make rainwater conservation visible in the design of a home is what my project and research was about. 1. What is your project about? My project was about capturing rainwater so it’s visible in the design of your house. I created a two-roof design to see what angle of the roof would collect the most rainwater. I tested five different angles, 0 degrees, 10 degrees, 20 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees. I built three prototypes A, B, and C using different materials to test my design with the following criteria and constraints. Criteria: 1. The roof needs to be able to change position. 2. Different angles of the roof need to be measured to see which angle captures the most rainwater. 3. The water container can’t leak and needs to be clear. Constraints: 1. The cost of materials needs to be affordable, my budget is $40.00 2. Material constraints on the frame of the house are foam board, wood, and metal. a. Build a frame prototype using foam board b. Build a frame prototype using wood c. Build a frame prototype using metal 1. I will have a certain amount of time to complete my project. Schedule constraints will have 8 deadlines: #1 8/27/2025: Complete Project Idea, Criteria, and Constraints #2 9/15/2025: Complete Research Paper #3 10/3/2025: Complete Materials, Procedures, and Data Collection Template #4 11/7/2025: Complete Data Collection Chart #5 11/14/2025: Complete Critique and Redesign of Prototypes, and Prototype Graphs #6 12/5/2025: Complete Solution Evaluation, Application, and Acknowledgements #7 12/12/2025: Complete Project Slideshow #8 12/15/2025: Complete Oral Presentation 1. Why did you choose this project? I chose this project because a couple of years ago I read an article about water shortages in Arizona that was so concerning that I cut it out and taped it to my science journal. The article was from Bear Essential News titled “Thirsty States Agree to Curb Water Use”. I wanted to do something to help but, I didn't know what to do then. I wrote down “Architecture and saving water”. That was on June 15, 2023. Now I know what I wanted to do this year for my science project which was an Engineering project to build a house structure to make rainwater capture visible in the design of a house and to test which angle of the roof would collect the most rainwater. 1. What was your result/ overall conclusion? I tested five different angles, 0 degrees, 10 degrees, 20 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees and proved that the angle or pitch of a roof makes a difference on how much rainwater can be collected. 20 degrees collected the most rainwater at 10.4 Liters using Prototype C, the metal frame. Two out of the three prototypes were successful because they collected the most rainwater from different angled roofs into a clear wall container. Prototype C made out of a metal frame, two metal roofs, and a metal friction hinge performed the best because it collected the most water with 10.4 liters at a 20 degree angle or pitch. It was the most accurate measurement because of the friction hinge I made to change the angle of the roof and hold it in place during testing. I tested the prototypes using a hose with a sprinkler head that simulated rain. I used a 5 minute timer to test each of the degrees to see how much rain would be collected at different roof angles. I tested a 0 degree angle, 10 degree angle, 20 degree angle, 45 degree angle, and a 60 degree angle for prototypes B and C. Prototype A wasn’t tested with water because it wasn’t waterproof. It was a helpful design because I made it out of foam board so that I could start to see how the two roofs could be angled and how I would hold the structure together using a nut and bolt. For Prototype B I improved the nut and bolt design by making a glue stick nob that would change the angle of the 2 metal roofs. The measurements were not as accurate because the glue stick nob would roll during testing because of the water pressure coming out of the hose. Prototype B collected 7.5 liters at a 20 degree angle. The 20 degree angle was the best angle for capturing the most water. Prototype B and C both collected the least amount of water at zero degrees which was 0.9 Liters. 1. Why is your project important? My project is important for anyone living in Arizona because water scarcity is already a problem. Arizona is in a tier 1 water shortage. That means Arizona is getting less water from Lake Mead. Lake Mead gets water from the Colorado River which supplies water to 25 million people in Arizona, California, and Nevada. These three states agreed to reduce their water supply by 3 million acre-feet of water through 2026. According to dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/browse/acre%20foot an acre-foot of water is “the volume of water that covers one acre of surface area to a depth of one foot which equals 43,560 cubic feet” or about 326,000 gallons. So, to calculate the water shortage it would be 978 billion gallons of water (3,000,000 x 326,000 = 978,000,000,000 billion gallons). That is a large amount of water for Arizona, California, and Nevada to no longer have access to. Engineering a way to make rainwater conservation visible in the design of a home is what I’m trying to do to help solve our water shortage. My project proved that the angle or pitch of the roof makes a difference on how much rainwater can be collected. The best angle or pitch was 20 degrees as tested in both Prototype B and C. Rainwater harvesting can help solve water scarcity by making it part of a house's design. If I extend my project, I would create pipes that would connect the water wall to the house so rainwater could be used in the house. I would start with the bathroom because you don’t need to flush the toilet with drinkable water, grey water would be ok.

Project presentation

Research paper