This is the final product of my project prototype, on display in the hall of my school.
Modified Prototype
My plan for the final piece is to mount it on a wall, so I rotated the wheel to be in the same plane as the waves. To do that I had to create a string sorter so that each line follows its own path without touching any other lines. I also motorized the movement because eventually I want to plug this into a wall and let it run on it's own. I learned a lot by modifying my initial prototype, and I now just need to re-cut parts out of my final material and assemble it all.
Prototype
This initial construction was made of pine, birch plywood, kite string, and various bolts and staples that I had in the shop. I only made this as an experiment and in order to get an idea of whether this would be an engaging school project.