Preliminary Projects require finding and evaluationg available inflrmation from internet, library and possibly expert people and other sources. The idea is to get a good start on locating and indetifying useful information and posting your results on the web site. This could be the final results or the starting point for more in depth work. Sometimes preliminary projects will identify other needed projects.
Example: Search the internet for information on making rope and books or articles on making rope. Identify the information you believe is most appropriate for a post collapse invironment. This would include hand methods for making rope from fibers and identifying simple machines that could simplify this task, make better rope or require less skill to make good rope. Write up a synopsis of this with references to relevant material.
In doing this one would identify the various natural substances likely to be useful in making rope such as hemp, linnen, cotton, leather and others as well as material on rope making machinery. This would identify additional needed projects areas such as:
1. How to obtain useful fibers from each raw materials (e.g. Linnen from flax plants) can be identified as project areas.
2. Building and testing winding machines for making rope could also be identified as potential projects.
3. Identify the best kinds of ropes for the various uses.
Basic Projects require learning how to do something and writing it up so others can learn. The first steps are usually either doing or reviewing a preliminary project. The next step is learning how to do the process and finnaly getting good enough at it to get good results. Teaching others how to do it would also be most useful. Keep notes on each miss-step by yourself or your students so you can save others the effort of making the same mistakes. Write it up with illustrations if possible.
Example: Obtain raw materials and learn how to make rope from them. Experiment and practice until you can make good rope, taking notes as to what you larned along the way. Write up your process and notes on lessons learned so that those who follow can avoid some of your missteps and profit from your insights. Include sketches illustrations and pictures if possible to make things clearer. Also include information on evaluating materials if you had the opertunity of trying different types and qualities of materials. Teach others or encourage others to try your methods, be available for questions so you can note and include material to avoid missteps by students. Edit your writeup to include lessons learned.