Design Process Activity
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The Sun Curve Challenge
ISKME announces the Sun Curve Design Challenge, a partnership with INKA, the creator of the Sun Curve aquaponic garden and laboratory and ISKME's OER Commons project, to challenge teachers and students to produce new OER materials and incorporate green design thinking into the classroom. More information on the Sun Curve Design Challenge is available here: http://wiki.oercommons.org/mediawiki/index.php/Sun_Curve_Challenge
Discuss the Design Challenge
The Sun Curve Design Challenge: How can you grow food using sustainable processes, following the design principles
- The design must meet a need for their school community
- The design needs to be made of affordable/recycled/repurposed materials
- The design must support plants and animal life (insects, fish)
- The design must use renewable energy (wind, solar)
The Design Process
Present the design process used by engineers.
- Identify the Challenge: To grow your own food using sustainable processes.
- Research and Brainstorm
- Design a Solution
- Test Ideas
- Evaluate
- Build It
Hand out materials
The groups will each be given easel pad paper, markers, pencils, scissors, and a container with molding clay, pipe cleaners, different shaped craft sticks, and small cups to plan and build design ideas.
Brainstorm and Prototype
Participants identified the challenge and have done some research. Now they have 15-20 minutes to brainstorm ideas and design prototypes that address the design challenge in groups of 2-3.
Sanchez Elementary School teachers prototype their Sun Curve Design Challenge idea
Presentations
Participants present their designs and answer questions.
Teacher Comments
- It would be great if you could break the circuit in the solar component so students could learn about circuits.
- It should be lower to the ground, maybe a dome, so kids could get in and crawl around.
- It’s got to keep going for the two months we’re not here.
- [during presentation of model] We wanted fish and worms but haven’t figured out how to put them in.
