Glass, Steel and Concrete

- Hallmarks of civilization?
The project this week is about waste management and sustainable living, as an individual
and as a society. You will be asked to consider needs versus wants, the difference between
possible and plausible and what you consider reasonable. All while learning about science,
technology, engineering and mathematics through an applied real-world problem.

We have prepared 8 different subtopics to be distributed amongst the groups and this page
represents the starting point for one of these projects:

Problem:
Problem area:
Since we first settled down into cities, there has been an ever increasing demand for
construction work. We have always wanted many things for our homes, and over many
years we have gathered the knowledge and resources to make it a reality.
We live in fire resistant, waterproof, windproof, heated, ventilated and electrified homes
with running water and transparent walls for looking out. We can even build skyscrapers
over 500 meters high and protect them against earthquakes.
Buildings such as these use enormous amounts of energy and rare materials, some of which
are depletable, leading to the eventual depletion of resources we think of as plentiful.
The world is running out of sand to make concrete and glass, and many of the reachable
rare resources on the planet will be dug out and used within the next 20 years.
Technology might still make more resources available to us, but it is not a sustainable way
into the future, as we will still run out eventually.

Problem definition:
How do we ensure sustainable living standards of acceptable quality, for everyone going
into the future, given that we are running out of key resources?

Suggested paths and questions to pursue:

- Why do we use glass, steel and concrete? (copper?)
- Which resources are we running out of?
- What are the options for recycling? Modular building?
- Could you replace the building materials, without losing quality?
- What about the growing demand for housing, from an ever growing world
population?
Sources:
https://www.businessinsider.com/world-running-out-sand-resources-concrete-2018-6
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/an-introduction-to-metal-recycling-4057469
https://www.bigrentz.com/blog/the-future-of-building-materials

C5:DK
Criteria and specifications:
Present your findings/ideas and products to a group of smaller children on friday. You have
about 8 minutes for every round. There will be 8 rounds. Use your creativity to win the
contest, since the best group wins a present.
- In english
- 7-8 minutes per presentation
- An appealing presentation (maybe with interactive elements?)
- Use visuals and paper models or show experiments
- Understandable for younger children

C5:DK