arda chemistry

Chemistry Project 1

The 5th starship containing the colonies technology has not arrived from Earth and it must now be assumed that it has been lost in space. The major concern for the colony is the loss of its industrial technology. You have been the task of using the data bases available to you to research how this technology can be recreated using the resources available to you on Arda.

The new colony will have enough technology to last a few decades, but if they want to survive in the long term they are going to have to reinvent most of the technology themselves.

Step 1: Divide you class into teams to investigate key areas of technology that the Colony will need to survive.

Select one of the following areas you will want to research for the colony (pick your own advancement if none of these interest you)

Shelter: Design and construct shelter for your settlement using some of the following materials. copper and slate roofing, steel framing, concrete, tools for cutting wood, glass, vanish, sealants, plastics

Agriculture: Create the materials that will allow your settlement to farm enough land to support themselves. Steel tools and fertilizers, irrigation, pesticides,

Energy and Light: Your settlement will need a source of energy, design how how you will supply the colony with energy and light. Electrical (Battery) Hydro, gas, coal, oil

Transportation: Your settlement will need to transport the raw materials and personel it needs. Bicycles, roading materials, tar, gravel, rubber, aluminium, plastic, combustion engine, fuel, ship building

Hunting: You will probably need to hunt for some food and also to proect yourselves from predators. Gunpowder, fishing line and hooks, nets, metal alloys

Communication: You will need to communicate information about ideas and between different settlements. Ink, paper, coins, metal print,

Clothing: You will need to produce materials to cloth and protect your people. Dyes, silk, cotton

Food: You will need to preserve, transport, cook and protect the food you collect. food preservatives, salting, metal pots, pottery, glazes, fire, clay, mills to grid corn and wheat

Health: You will need to protect the settlement from infections, accidents and other health concerns anti-biotics, refrigeration, plumbing, sewers, recycling waste

Metallurgy: To produce many of the metals and other materials yo need a source of raw materials. Identification of ores, mining and processing of ores, metal working

Step 2: Working in a team of three or four, break your area of research into smaller projects.
Eg. In Agriculture brainstorm the areas within Agriculture what your team needs to research.

Clearing the plant to plant crops. (axes and saws to cut down trees meaning learning about making steel and iron tools)
Preparing the soil to plant seeds (ploughs to cut through the turf to expose the soil)
Adding fertilizer to help the crops grow (either finding natural sources of fertilizer of making your own)
Creating herbicides or pesticides to control pests (finding natural or making your own)
Irrigation to water the crops ( concrete to dam rivers and build aquaducts, water wheels and pumps to lift the water up)
Harvesting and storing the food (Tools to cut the crops, containers to store the grain etc.)

Step 3: Assign each person in your group a mini project to work on and write out a series of question you need to answer

Eg. Metal tools

What metals do I want my tools to made of?
What types of rocks (ores) contain the metals I need?
Where would I find these ores near my colony?
How do I extract the metal from the ore?
Once i have the metal do I need to process it to change its physical properties? (create an alloy perhaps)
How do I shape the metal

Step 4: Write out all the formulae of the materials you will need to produce your final project. Research the chemical reactions and processes required to create your final project.

Step 5: Write a report in the form of a website showing all your research so that the colony can use your work to create the technology they need.

Step 6: Give a presentation to the class on your project.