Escalante High School (45)

The Escalante High School team (#45) is from Tierra Amarilla. This year they've submitted a project titled Flu on a Plane.

Team Members

 * aaron Edwards
 * Levi Dryden
 * tanner warren
 * cameron garcia
 * Jonathon Lamb
 * Lucas Dryden

Sponsoring Teacher

 * Yolanda Koontz

Proposal
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_proposal1112.php?team_id=45

Changed Topic Mid Stream

Interim Report
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_interim1112.php?team_id=45

To begin, we have changed the theme of our proposal. Previously, we were researching the migration of black bears before, during and after forest fires. Our new theme is the contamination of recycled air in airplanes.

The definition of the problem
How well airplane cabins can recycle air for use, more specifically the efficiency of the filters at removing airborne contagions and sicknesses. Also, we will be looking at the virulence of certain airborne diseases in this enclosed space.

Our plan for solving the problem computationally
We plan to input data in terms of units of people and air particles for an average size of airplane cabin. There will be “clean” air particles and “infected” air particles, both of which will move around the sealed cabin. Some air particles will be removed regularly to be filtered according to the average contagion removal rate and will then be reintroduced to the cabin. People will be put in with an approximate movement rate and randomly generated resistance to infection. As they come into contact with air particles and become infected, they can either become free of the infection, instantly or over a random period of time, or remain infected for the term of the simulation. Infected units will produce infected air at regular intervals. If a specific particle infects a person, the infected person’s output particles will be given a slightly higher level of virulence (infection success rate). Likewise, a person who resists infection will be allotted a higher resistance level. This is to mimic a real scenario in a shorter amount of time.

Description of the progress we have made up to this time
We have done background research, and put together a powerpoint. We have also constructed a basic Star Logo model for our simulation. We have a limited amount of research and progress due to our theme change.

The results we expect to get
We expect to see a high contamination level due the tight enclosed space.

Five citations of information we have referenced

 * 1) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204261704574275980659583434.html
 * 2) http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=air+ventilation+systems+model+aircrafts+&view=detail&id=B7E88C77C18E1008BCCA6B240C79E01D94102705&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR
 * 3) http://www.archbronconeumol.org/ficheros/images/260/260v43n02/grande/260v43n02-13098958tab04.gifhttp://jama.ama-assn.org/content/288/4/483.long
 * 4) http://www.archbronconeumol.org/ficheros/images/260/260v43n02/grande/260v43n02-13098958tab04.gifhttp://acer.eng.auburn.edu/partners/conf_papers/zhang_indoor_air_2005_comparison_of_different_ventilation_systems.pdf

types of planes we can use
 * 1) http://www.intertechnique.fr/en,references.html

experiments with a factor of particles expeled while preforming different movements of the mouth
 * 1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2843952

Introduction
Hi,

My name is Drew Einhorn. See the biography on my User Page.

Mentors
Have you found a mentor? If not, please contact consult for help in finding a mentor to help you with this ambitious project.

Model
When folks are infected, generally the is an incubation period, before the become contagious. This period is longer than the duration of the flight. So, people do not become (more) infectious until after they get of the plan.

Are you modeling air flow within the cabin, and the effectiveness of the filters?

Face to Face Evaluation
Your next milestone is a |face to face evaluation in February.

Rubrics
The judges will use these rubrics to evaluate your projects. Use them as checklists for what you need to communicate to the judges.


 * Expo Judges Rubric
 * Finalist Judges Rubric

Good Luck!!
You are off to a good start on an interesting project. You will have to work quickly to catch up to the other teams.