Technology : Evaluation of my Birdhouse

There was one specification that I didn’t meet though.  This was the ability to store food.  I changed this because I found that I was too pressed for time and the final product would have needed to be more complicated to incorporate a feeder as well.  Not to mention the extra time needed to build the feeder itself.  One other specification that I made was that the final product should have a stand or a method of hanging it up.  When I made the specification I was leaning towards making the birdhouse out of wood.  As I didn’t make it out of wood a plastic stand of says 50 by 50mm square acrylic that was about 1400mm long would not only have been outrageously expensive.  It would have been very heavy awkward to use and build with.  So I opted for the chain on a hanger.

The reasons that I chose to make it out of acrylic and not wood was the fact that it would have been far to complicated to make and be strong.  Because it would have taken so many different pieces of wood it would have had too may joins and cuts.  From my research I found that the more cuts you make the more expensive it would be.

Other more general specifications were that it should be strong and able to with stand a battering both from the wind, wildlife and in the event of it being dropped should be able to perform it role as a functional birdhouse.  I tested this by first dropping it from 300mm then 600mm then 900mm and so on.  I went up to 1800mm and the birdhouse didn’t break.  Although I did only drop it on the base I think that if I dropped it on the perch then this would snap off.  

Now looking at the way in with I used the resources and time.  In the actual making of my product I did use the available time well.  I came back after school and worked during lessons.  The materials I used were all necessary and I wasted very little.  The pieces were cut out of a large sheet so that they interlock (see detailed picture sheet no.        ).  But my time over the whole course was not used in the best way.  Far from it in fact.  I put off my research and development of a chosen idea AO2 – AO4.  This meant that I had a rusted and unfinished section in my work.  I think that I have compensated for this now.  I have done some more research from the Internet.  But this is limited and is not going to give me the wide range of research I needed.  I didn’t manage to produce a proper questionnaire.  Again I think that this will inhibit my research side of my work.  If I could go back I would try to keep to the deadlines and do more research from a wider range and present them in different ways.