Rooftop Gardens
Students explore whether rooftop gardens are a viable option for combating the urban heat island effect. Can rooftop gardens reduce the temperature inside and outside houses? Teams each design and construct two model buildings using foam core board, one with a "green roof" and the other with a black tar paper roof. They measure and graph the ambient and inside building temperatures while under heat lamps and fans. Then students analyze the data and determine whether the rooftop gardens are beneficial to the inhabitants.
What are the benefits of green roofs?
To see if a system or design has the intended effect, engineers model and test it. They take measurements and analyze the results. The creation of green roofs involves many types of expertise and many factors that impact its success. Engineers apply the science and math of forces and loads, heat transfer, material properties, energy and ecology to make sure a building provides a total system that supports the ecosystem of a rooftop garden.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- List and explain reasons why rooftop gardens are beneficial.
- Predict which materials absorb more or less heat energy, showing their understanding of material and color properties.
- Predict which materials absorb more or less heat energy, showing their understanding of material and color properties.
- Describe the engineering design process.