DESGLOSE TEMAS 4ª RONDA - MATERIALES Y TECNOLOGÍA

At last! Here we are! The last project!!! (I'm going to miss you as much as you'll miss  me this summer)    :)

This time you have a lot of time to work on it. A whole week before the school pause, and then 15 long vacation days. There is no excuse this time.

I would like to remember everybody to re-read the post "How to do a good Porject" before you start. Pay attention to the bibliógraphy, don´t copy paste and don't "googletranslate" things, it's ovbious and it shortens a lot your califications.

This is the list of broken down projects. If you have any doubts contact me via mail. (The first week I will be abroad, so I won't be able to answer your mails).

1.- NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.

1.- Introduction: (history of non-renewable energies) (difference between fossil fuels and nuclear)
2.- Concept of non-renewable energie.
3.- Main types of non-renewable energies. (Description of their functioning, raw material/¿where does it come from?, treatment before use, main uses...)
4.- Impacts of non-renewable energies (Specify which ones does each energy produce)
5.- Costs (economic and environmental) of each kind of non-renewable energy
6.- Future viability. (Can we continue using this kind of energy? For how long? At what cost? etc...)

This is an extremely long and interesting subject, and you will find an overwhelming quantity of information from different sources that stand both, for and against This energetic model. You can organize your work the way you want, maybe you want to fully study each source before starting with the next. What I want you to do is read a lot of information about the subject and then, without demagogy or preconcieved ideas, try to explain the subject deeply. (I don't want any more "first-school-like" projects, please)

PREGUNTAS TRABAJO 1:
A - El carbón: extracción, tratamiento, usos y principales impactos.
B - El petróleo: extracción, tratamiento, usos y principales impactos.
1.- Nombra 3 ventajas y 3 inconvenientes de la energía nuclear.
2.- ¿Qué es la destilación fraccionada? ¿Para qué sirve?
3.- Define energía no renovable.

2.- RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.

1.- Introduction (Brief historical overview of human energetic needs)
2.- Concept of renewable energy.
3.- Main types of renewable energies (brief description of each one. Where does it come from, what is it transformed into (Please try to be accurate and cientific, ie. dont say "the wind" but "the kinetic energy of the wind", How is it transformed (different systems if there were), Sub types (thermal heating and thermal generation of electricity, thermal solar and fotovoltaic..., maybe you should explain what an alternator is, since it is used in many of them... and a long etc.)
4.- Impacts of renewable energy sources. (Main impacts of each source: on landscape, the air, water, soil, economic...)
5.- Costs (economical and environmental ones) of renewable energies.
6.- Future viability (Can we continue using this kind of energy? For how long? At what cost? etc...)

This is an extremely long and interesting subject, and you will find an overwhelming quantity of information from different sources that stand both, for and against This energetic model. You can organize your work the way you want, maybe you want to fully study each source before starting with the next. What I want you to do is read a lot of information about the subject and then, without demagogy or preconcieved ideas, try to explain the subject deeply. (I don't want any more "first-school-like" projects, please)

PREGUNTAS TRABAJO 2:
A - La energía solar: tipo de energía aprovechada, tipos, modo de conversión, ventajas e inconvenientes de este tipo de energía.
B - Explica en qué consiste la energía de la biomasa (y biocombustibles). ¿Es una energía renovable? ¿Qué problema plantea?
1.- La energía eólica: tipo de energía aprovechada, modo de conversión (¿qué es un aerogenerador?), ventajas e inconvenientes de este tipo de energía.
2.- La energía mareomotriz: ¿En qué consiste? ¿Cómo se aprovecha? Ventajas e inconvenientes de la misma.
3.- La energía hidroeléctrica: ¿En qué consiste? ¿Qué tipo de energía aprovechamos? Esquema de una presa.

3.- MATERIALS

1.- Historical introduction: different materials that human beings have used throughout the ages.
2.- Properties of materials.
3.- Main kinds of materials and their origins. (Natural, artificial, transformed, sinthetic, recicled...)
4.- Minerals, rocks and metals. (differences, different processes of extraction, especially for minerals and metals. Coltán "the haunted mineral")
5.- Plastics (brief description of it's types, because it's very complicated), origin (how are they made?), advantages and disadvantages of their use.
6.- Wood and paper.
7.- New materials. (include nanotechnology: definition, applications...)

PREGUNTAS TRABAJO 3:
A - Haz un esquema de la clasificación de los materiales en función de su origen, indicando qué es cada categoría y poniendo ejemplos.
B - ¿Qué es el Coltán? ¿Para qué se usa? ¿Dónde están sus reservas? ¿Qué problemática crea? Propón alguna solución al problema del coltán.
1.- ¿Qué es la nanotecnología? ¿Cómo se fabrican estos materiales? Nombra algún ejemplo.
2.- ¿Qué es el plástico? ¿De dónde procede? Nombra al menos 3 tipos de plásticos.
3.- La minería, tipos de minas, ventajas e inconvenientes de cada tipo.

4.- COMPUTING I: HARDWARE.

In this project I dont want to guide you very closely. I leave you freedom to expose it the way you feel is best. Of course, you need to put time into it and read a bit (a lot) about the subject. Your goal is to explain in an organized way the general structure of a computer and the way it is connected. After that you should do a detailed description of every part of a computer and their function. (CPU, motherboard, processor, graphic and sound cards, memories (different types), connexions... and peripheric equipment (screen, keyboard, mouse, speakers, printer and a big etc).

For the exposition you should do it in a way that everybody in the class understands what the internal structure of a computer is and what each piece is for. You could bring an old computer and disassemble it piece by piece to show them and explain their function. Remember you only have 55 minutes to do this.

Computers are the future. It is important to understand how they work to make a good use of them. Each day it is more important.  I hope you enjoy the project and learn a lot with it.

PREGUNTAS TRABAJO 4:
A - ¿Qué es la placa base? ¿Qué elementos tiene? ¿Por qué es tan importante?
B -  ¿Qué es la memoria RAM? ¿Qué es un disco duro? ¿En qué se diferencian?
1.- Nombra una conexión de audio, dos de vídeo y una para periféricos.
2.- ¿Qué es un puerto USB? ¿Qué lo caracteriza?
3.- Indica la función de los siguientes periféricos: monitor, teclado, ratón, modem e impresora.

5.- COMPUTING II: SOFTWARE.

Define software. What is it? What does it do? How does it work? How does an operative system work? (windows, mac-os, linux). Relationship between software and hardware. (How does software make hardware function?)(This is the most important and complicated part) Drivers, códecs, commands, programation languajes...  And also software aplications: main types, what are they for? and examples. Be careful here. This is not the most important part of the project. I don't want a list of programs you like and a childish description of what they are used for. Keep this last section small and simple.

Software advances, grows, develops and reproduces at a wild pace generating new aplications and uses for computers, and mobile devices. How could ever the dead and cold hardware dream of such wonders?
Learn and enjoy why you study this fascinating and almost newborn subject.

PREGUNTAS TRABAJO 5: 
A - ¿Qué es y cómo funciona un sistema operativo? Nombra los 3 más importantes.
B - ¿Qué son los drivers? ¿y los códecs? ¿En qué se diferencian?
1.- Nombra al menos 3 programas de aplicación, indicando su función.
2.- ¿Qué es la interfaz de un sistema operativo? 
3.- ¿qué es un lenguaje de programación? ¿cuáles conoces? ¿Por qué existen diferentes lenguajes de programación?


6.- THE INTERNET.

What I want you to do in this project is that when you end your exposition everybody in the class knows exactly: What is the internet? How did it happen? How does it work? (This one is tricky. Protocols, connexions, different nets...) What services does it provide? (Dont make a list of websites and their service, but try to group them and organize their contents).
These are just suggestions. You know a lot about the internet, however less than what you think. If you don't know something search for it... on the internet!!
Any doubt contact me by mail. (Not the last week of course)
I hope you enjoy and learn while working on this subject. If you spend enough time and efforts in it I'm sure that you'll learn tons of new things about the internet (beyond what does the fox say? and minecraft)

A - Historia de internet.
B - ¿qué es internet? Nombra dos modos de conexión y alguna característica de los mismos.
1.- ¿qué es el protocolo TCP-IP?
2.- Nombra 5 servicios que ofrezca internet.
3.- Imagina lo que se podrá hacer con internet en 10, 20 y 100 años. (hacer un debate en clase, o mejor, después) ¡por supuesto que no entra en el examen! :)



7.- CODIFICATION OF INFORMATION. SOUND AND IMAGE DIGITALIZATION.

Codification of the information: decimal system, binary systen (conversion between them). How do we transform reality into ones and zeros? Analogic and digital signals. Different kinds of digital codification. What is a codec? How does it work? What is a modem? How does it work?
How do we (or the phone) transform an image into digital information? Quality of images, factors that affect it, different formats, pixels...
How do we transform a sound into a series of digital figures? Conversion mechanism, Quality of digital sound, formats...

Computers, blessed madness! They are all different and all the same. They comunicate with each other, with other machines and with us. They can even get sick with virus! How does all this happen? What language do they speak? Do you want the red pill or the blue pill, Neo? :)
Do you know how does a digital camera work? Or the "almighty" photoshop that fixes celebrities faces in the press? Do you know how an ipod works? Or your headphones? I believe you don't. Well, then search for the answers!!

A - ¿Cómo se transforma una imagen en datos digitales?
B - ¿Cómo se transforma un sonido en datos digitales?
1.- ¿qué es un códec?
2.- ¿Qué es el sistema binario? ¿Por qué lo utilizan los ordenadores?
3.- ¿Qué es un pixel? ¿y la resolución? 


8.- THE MEDIA, THE MASS MEDIA AND GLOBALIZATION.

I will just give you some hints on what the work should be, but you will have to decide (as a group) how the project will be organiced. It's a very broad and interesting subject.
What is a "mass media"? What is a digital mass media?  History of media (and mass media and digital mass media). Advantages and disadvantages of digital mass media.  Importance of mass media in modern society. Who controls mass media? Influence of mass media in society and education.
I leave the door open for any new sections, or to name them as you will.

Closely related to mass media is Globalization (or globalisation).
Refering to globalization, I would like you to explain what it is (differentiating it's different scopes of aplicability: economic, cultural, political, social, biological...) Brief history of globalisation (how it began and spread) Influence of new technologies in it. Advatages and disadvantages of  globalisation (specify each aspect of it: economical, cultural....) Globalization or americanization?

This project Is complicated. You can easily get sidetracked or lost in it. Try to contact me on the mail for orientation. The exam questions may guide you a little bit.

PREGUNTAS TEMA 8:
A - ¿Qué es un mass media? Influencia de los mass media en la sociedad y la educación.
B - ¿Qué es la globalización? Nombra y explica brevemente sus tipos y descríbelos brevemente.
1.- Nombra 3 mass media tradicionales y 3 mass media digitales.
2.- Las redes sociales y youtube y la globalización. (explica brevemente la relación entre ambos).
3.- Piensa en 3 películas americanas y 3 películas chinas o indias, piensa en 3 presidentes americanos y en 3 presidentes chinos, indios, o africanos... reflexiona. Reflexiona sobre lo que sabes de los Estados Unidos y de otras partes del mundo. ¿Por qué crees que es? (háblame de mass media, poder económico y globalización/homogeneización cultural). (Hacer debate en clase o mejor aun fuera de clase) (tampoco caerá en el examen, obviamente)

) Influence of new technologies in it. Advatages and disadvantages of  globalisation (specify each aspect of it: eco
As you may have noticed, this time the projects are less specific. That is because I want you to learn to organize your ideas and expose them. This time is more important than ever to get together as a real  workgroup to discuss and decide how do you want to organize your ideas. To do this correctly everybody in the group mus have read and have an idea of all the points of the project. Don't hesitate to contact me on the email.
Good luck.