I Need Information on Solar Air Heaters. They Have to Be Homemade

Smith 28

Mike Smith

INFO 521

March 12, 2012

Ipl2 Project

Question #1:

Question:

I need information on solar air heaters. They have to be homemade

and I need information on only HOMEMADE ones.

location: Riverside,Illinois

grade: 8th

area: Science

school: Yes

length: Other (Research)

sourceschecked: Library, A few websites (sciencebuddies.org)

dontuse: Wikipedia

Top of Form

Greetings from the ipl2,

Thank you for your question about homemade solar heaters. I did

some research and here are some websites that can give you some

help.

Source #1) The first site I found is called “Cold Room? Heat It

Up With a Homemade Solar Air Heater”:

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/EnvEng_p028.shtml

This link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortened

version for your convenience.

http://tinyurl.com/6u6tbk6

This website explains what a solar air heater does and how to

construct one. This page is from the Science Buddies website

that you visited. Science Buddies is a non-profit (they don’t do

it to make money) organization that is dedicated to helping

students with science projects. Science is very important and

this organization wants to help kids succeed in it. Science

Buddies works with labs and agencies like NASA, so I knew that

this site would be a really good spot for you to take another

look at.

Source #2) The second source I found is called “EIA Energy Kids –

Solar”:

http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=solar_home-basics

This website gives a very nice background for what solar energy

is about. It explains how it can be used to make energy for heat

and how it can also be converted to electricity. This website is

run by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which is a

U.S. government agency that is part of the U.S. Department of

Energy. It gives a lot of information but it explains everything

in a very clear way so I think it will help you a lot.

Source #3) Even though you searched at the library, I did find a

book you might be able to use at Riverside Public Library:

Exploring solar energy: principles and projects by Allan Kaufman

Here is the citation for it:

Kaufman, Allan. Exploring solar energy: principles and projects.

Ann Arbor: Prakken Publications, 1989.

This is a book about solar energy and how it works. It has a

project on how to build a solar energy collector, which is

sometimes what a solar air heater is called.

Source #4) This book is also at the Riverside Public Library:

Sunpower experiments: solar energy explained by Maggie Spooner

Here is the citation for it:

Spooner, Maggie. Sunpower experiments: solar energy explained.

New York: Sterling Pub. Co., 1980.

This book explains about solar energy and its uses. It also

includes some projects you can do as well so that you can better

understand how a solar air heater works. It is also an older

book, so it might be interesting to compare what you read in it

with some of your more updated sources.

Both of these books will give you some more information about

solar power and some of the home projects you can do with it. I

offered some print sources because you can take them home with

you and just thumb through them and compare them to some of the

electronic information I’ve provided. If you are able to, go to

the library again and ask a librarian about books about solar

energy. You might also want to ask about books about science

projects because there might be some information on how to build

a solar air heater. Such a book will explain to you how it

works. I went to the library’s website and looked at the online

card catalog to find the two books I mentioned. Here is the

library’s website:

http://www.riversidelibrary.org/

5) The fifth source I found was from a website called “Make it

Solar Science Fair Projects and Topics”

http://www.makeitsolar.com/solar-energy-information/index.htm

This site gives some nice information about solar energy and how

it works. There is a section for different science projects you

can do using solar energy. This site is dedicated to providing

help and information for science projects, especially ones about

solar energy. This site teaches you about how to properly do a

project, so I think it is a good source to look at for background

information.

Here is a link for some information about making a solar air

heater and the information is on page 2 of the document:

http://www.makeitsolar.com/images/Solar-Energy-Projects-NREL.pdf

Let me explain how I found these sites.

Source #1:

1) I started with the search engine Google:

http://www.google.com

2) I typed “solar air heater + homemade” into the search box.

(You don’t need the “” marks). It was on the first page of the

results.

Source #2:

1) I started with Internet Public Library

http://ipl.org/

2) I selected the “For Kids” link:

http://ipl.org/div/kidspace/

3) I selected the “Math & Science” link:

http://ipl.org/IPLBrowse/GetSubject?vid=12&cid=3&tid=4278&parent=0

This link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortened

version for your convenience.

http://tinyurl.com/2d255se

4) On the left hand side, there is a link for “Technology and

Industry:”

http://ipl.org/IPLBrowse/GetSubject?vid=12&cid=3&tid=4318&parent=4278

This link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortened

version for your convenience.

http://tinyurl.com/78bnfzq

5) I selected the EIA Energy Kids link:

http://www.eia.gov/kids/index.cfm

6) I then selected energy sources:

http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=2

7) I chose solar energy from the choices:

http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=solar_home-basics

Sources #3 & #4

1) I went to the Riverside Library homepage:

http://www.riversidelibrary.org/

2) I selected the card catalog:

http://swan.mls.lib.il.us/search/

3) There is a link to the right of the search box for subject

headings:

http://swan.mls.lib.il.us/search/d

4) I typed in “solar energy” (no quotes needed) and I also

selected Riverside from the dropdown menu in the search box since

this your town library and this gave me the list of books to

choose from:

http://swan.mls.lib.il.us/search~S129?/dsolar+energy/dsolar+energy/1%2C4%2C11%2CB/exact&FF=dsolar+energy&1%2C6%2C/indexsort=-

This link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortened

version for your convenience.

http://tinyurl.com/6pg8wps

Source #5

1) I began at Internet Public Library’s

‘For Kid’s Section” under “Math and Science Resources” as I did

with source #1:

http://ipl.org/IPLBrowse/GetSubject?vid=12&cid=3&tid=4278&parent=0

This link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortened

version for your convenience.

http://tinyurl.com/2d255se

2) However, this time I selected the link for “Experiments and

Science Fair Projects” on the left:

http://ipl.org/IPLBrowse/GetSubject?vid=12&cid=3&tid=4317&parent=4278

This link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortened

version for your convenience.

http://tinyurl.com/y9kvqoq

3) I selected “Make it solar; Science Fair Titles:”

http://www.makeitsolar.com/

4) I selected “Solar Energy Information:”

http://www.makeitsolar.com/solar-energy-information/index.htm

5) You can also select the link for “Science Fair Project Ideas:”

http://www.makeitsolar.com/science-fair-ideas/index.htm

6) Finally, there is a link at the bottom of the “Science Fair

Project Ideas” page called “Energy Quest Projects” that will give

you another explanation of the solar air heater and how to make

one. After you open the document, just go to page 2 of it:

http://www.makeitsolar.com/images/Solar-Energy-Projects-NREL.pdf

Thanks for your question. If you need more help, please email us

again. Thanks for visiting ipl2.

9: Set STATUS to ANSWERED Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:26:01

by Michael Smith ()

10: Re: Quota: SCI: youth: Information on homemade solar air heaters (need by 1/27/2012) Post-A-Note message (only visible to IPL librarians) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:30:40

by Michael Smith ()

Dear Sir or Madam:

I'd really appreciate any suggestions you have, especially for

giving a patron a clear path to an answer. It was a hard

question to find the answers to, especially since some of my

search pointed back to some sources that the patron had already

searched.

11: Set STATUS to FEEDBACK_REQ Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:30:40

by Michael Smith ()

12: Re: Quota: SCI: youth: Information on homemade solar air heaters (need by 1/27/2012) Post-A-Note message (only visible to IPL librarians) Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:47:30

by Mark Popielarski ()

Hello Michael,

You did an excellent job providing resources which this patron

should find useful. Answering youth questions can pose their own

unique challenges and I think your response appropriately handled

the question.

Reviewing your response, I think that you found several practical

resources which could address the student’s need. I understand

your concern about citing resources that the patron had already

consulted. However, if that’s the direction in which your

research is pointing you, it is appropriate to provide her/him

with information from these resources. Remember that even if a

patron says she/he consulted a particular source and could not

find relevant information, it is possible that the information

could be present and that the patron just missed it. This can be

especially true when dealing with a youth patron who probably has

yet to develop the ability to formulate effective search

strategies.

Reading your response, I think you did a fantastic job tailoring

your language to an appropriate level for an eighth grade

student. When responding to patrons, even outside of the youth

category, it is important to look for cues in the patron’s

question and personal information in order to identify how

complex the language and information can be.

I liked how you provided electronic and local print resources

which can help the student. Since the student already visited

the library, we know that returning to the same library to check

out these books is a possibility.

In terms of formatting, the response portion of your question looks good. In regards to your search strategy, while we want to provide sufficient information for the patron to be able to find the information on their own, if necessary, you do not need to include a link to every subpage in your search strategy. For example, when you describe your search of the ipl2 site, it is appropriate to link the ipl2 homepage, but then you just identify each subpage you navigated through in order to reach the actual result. So for your second search strategy, you would start with the ipl.org link, list the subpages, and then provide the

http://www.eia.gov/kids/index.cfm

link. Additionally, if you listed a specific link in your response section, e.g.

http://www.riversidelibrary.org/

, you only need to reference it, if appropriate, in the search strategy; you do not need to provide the actual link a second time.

If you have any questions concerning how to format a response, it

can be helpful to consult with Module 1 of the training manual.

http://training.ipl.org/backroom/refvols/students/module1.html

Overall, I think you did an excellent job answering this

question. You found quality resources, described them using age

appropriate language, and properly structure most of your

response. A few formatting mistakes are typical for students

during the early stages of the ipl2 project and these usually are

easy to fix. Keep up the good work and I hope you enjoy

volunteering with the ipl2.

Best,

Mark

Question 1 Log:

Amount of time spent on question:

I had a hard time with this question. I did a lot of jumping around in my search for some sources. I ended up spending a little more than four hours on this question. It was really tough for me.

Sources consulted and strategies used:

I began my search with the ipl2 website. I started with the “For Kids” section and I selected the “Technology & Industry” link from the Math and Science Category. I picked the link for “EIA Energy Kids,” which is a website run by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. I tried searching for the term “solar heaters” but I couldn’t find anything. I went back to Math and Science and tried “Science Museums.” I checked TryScience.org but I couldn’t find anything on solar air heaters in the search box. By changing the field to all sites, I was directed to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory but it really wasn’t an answer either. I decided to check the EIA website again and I found that I could use that site for a nice background on solar energy and how it works. I felt like this would give the user some nice background information for his inquiry.

I decided to perform a Google search for <solar air heater + homemade>. The search lead me to the “Science Buddies” website which is a very interesting site for science projects. I found a nice description of how to construct a solar air heater and also a good description of how it works as well as background information on solar energy. I noted that my user had already visited the site, but I redirected him to a more specific location on that site that offered him the information he was looking for. I found some of the other sites that I found through Google to be a little too difficult for an eight grader. For instance there were some videos and descriptions of more complex homemade solar air heaters that involved using hardware and piping. I decided that the simple cardboard one that was described on the Science Buddies website was more appropriate.

The Science Buddies website was also available through ipl2. I searched some more through ipl2 by searching through its Science Fair Project Resource Guide. I checked some of the other sites, but I couldn’t find anything that pertained to solar air heaters.

I decided to move beyond electronic sources. Since my patron had mentioned he checked out his library, I decided to do a little checking of my own. I used ipl2’s “library locator” resource to find the Riverside Public Library. I checked their card catalog for some books. I started my search with a subject search for science projects, but I found that search to be too broad. I decided to look up books on solar energy instead and I found two which also included science projects. One was Exploring solar energy: principles and projects by Allan Kaufman and the other was Sunpower experiments: solar energy explained by Maggie Spooner. Although the latter one was from 1980, I felt it would serve as a good comparison to the electronic sources I offered the patron. I used amazon.com and a Google search to get an idea of what these two books covered.

Finally, I returned to ipl2 Kids and the Experiments and Science Fair Projects site. I chose the link for Make it solar; Science Fair Titles. The website gave a lot of nice information about solar power and its history, including its uses and some of the technical terms associated with it. It also gave some examples for science projects having to do with solar energy. It gave a link at the bottom that serves as a handbook for a few projects. One them is a solar air heater that serves as a verification of the example from Science Buddies.