SESSION 5 PARTNER PROJECT: BRAINSTORM AND DESIGN Now that you and your Partner Club have decided on a topic for the Partner Project, the next step is for each club to brainstorm specific issues related to the topic. Then you ll come up with engineering solutions to address them. OVERVIEW 1. Partner Exchange (10 min.) Two Truths, One Lie Game: (5 min.) Last time you found out your Partner Club s guesses about your truths and lies. This time you ll find out how well they did at guessing yours! Emergency Shelter: (5 min.) Check out your Partner Club s emergency shelters both their prototypes and life-size shelters. World of Questions: A quick Q&A with your Partner Club. 2. Brainstorm (30 min.) Introduction (5 min.) Why Brainstorm? Brainstorm Issues (10 min.): Brainstorm a list of issues in your community related to your Partner Project topic. Brainstorm Design Ideas (15 min.): Then brainstorm designs that could address these issues. 3. Decide on Design Ideas (20 min.) NUF Test: Evaluate your ideas: are they New, Useful, and Feasible? Break into teams: Each team chooses one brainstormed design. Sketch and fill out Design Specification form: Describe your design on paper and begin sketching it. DSG Videos: An Exercise in Teamwork. If you have more time, watch related Design Squad videos. GOALS OF THIS SESSION Engineering Gain a deeper experience of the design process by focusing on brainstorming. Connect kids designs with real-world needs by having them explore issues in their communities. Present engineering as creative problem solving. Promote communication and teamwork. Global Competency Compare cultural perspectives with Partner Club in Two Truths, One Lie game and emergency shelter designs. Encourage kids to see themselves as active agents of change: they ve identified a need in their community and can come up with solutions to address that need. 2
SESSION 5: PREPARE AHEAD OF TIME 1. Collect Materials chart paper and marker Design Process poster World of Questions graphic Power of Brainstorming poster NUF Test handout Design Presentation form Power of Teamwork poster 2. Check in with Your Partner Leader Set aside a time to talk about the upcoming session with your partner. In this session, kids will brainstorm specific issues related to the topic the Partner Clubs chose to work on and then brainstorm design ideas (inventions/engineering solutions) to address them. Then kids will break into teams and each team will choose one idea to develop. Get Ready for Brainstorming! Brainstorming is a great way to generate ideas and come up with solutions. It lets kids think creatively without fear of criticism and encourages them to collaborate. As the facilitator, you ll be guiding and encouraging them while you are recording their responses on a flip chart. With your Partner Leader, go over the two brainstorms you ll facilitate: 1. Brainstorm Issues: Kids will take their Partner Project topic and break it down into smaller, more specific issues, based on the research they recorded on their Partner Project: Interview Your Community handout. 2. Brainstorm Design Ideas: Kids will come up with design ideas for inventions/engineering solutions to help solve these issues. Brainstorm Issues relies on kids research over the course of the past week and the Interview a Client handout they filled out. Brainstorm Solutions is a more spontaneous and creative exercise kids will be challenged to come up with design ideas that solve the issues they identified. You ll want to have two separate pieces of chart paper handy, one labeled Issues and the other Design Ideas. Kids may alternate between brainstorming issues and design ideas and then back to issues again. Brainstorms are high-energy and free flowing. One idea won t necessarily build on another an idea may feel like it comes out of nowhere. Go with the flow, capturing their ideas as they tumble out. 3
Do a Mini Brainstorm With your Partner Leader, think up some issues and solutions related to the Partner Project topic (see example below). That way, if your kids get stuck, you can give them a few ideas to get started. Brainstorm Example Sample Topic: How can we as young engineers in our community make older people s lives better? Brainstorm Issues Older people sometimes have trouble: lifting, carrying, or moving things picking up things that dropped staying balanced while walking keeping track of medications seeing, hearing, remembering locating items keys, glasses, phone, wallet with aching bones or arthritis getting in and out of chairs getting exercise protecting themselves from thieves keeping in touch with relatives Brainstorm Design Ideas We could design:! a cane with compartments for carrying things! a purse with a strap that won t slip off and fall to the ground! a fold-up helping hand that lets people pick things up without bending down! a cushion with a strap so you can carry it with you wherever you go! a pouch for keys that is attached to your clothing! an exercise obstacle course that is easy to set up and take down TIP: Although you ll encourage a free flow of ideas, steer kids to engineering ideas rather than ideas that don t need designing and building. Kids may suggest making posters to let their community know about issues that older people face, for example. Ask them to focus on an engineering solution a practical device they can build rather than something that feels more like an arts and crafts project. Brainstorming Rules Review these rules with your Partner Leader. You ll display the Power of Brainstorming poster during the club session. Brainstorming Rules 1. Everyone participates. Encourage even the quietest kids to participate. The more participants, the more perspectives. Involving everyone creates a welcoming atmosphere in which everyone s ideas count, and lets everyone feel they ve contributed to the solution. 4
2. The more ideas, the better! Go for quantity over quality. Record every idea. 3. There are no wrong answers. Keep the ideas flowing rather than slowing down to evaluate them that comes later. 4. Wild ideas welcomed! Not all ideas have to be practical wild ideas sometimes lead to new ideas that ARE practical! 5. Respect every idea no criticism. Fear of judgment or criticism can shut down creativity. Later on, you can improve on those ideas or abandon them. 6. Build on or expand other people s ideas. Not all ideas have to be original or new; kids can improve on existing ideas. LEAD THE SESSION (60 min.) 1. PARTNER EXCHANGE (10 min.) Begin the session by talking about your Partner Club s response to the Two Truths, One Lie game and their emergency shelter prototypes and final designs. Two Truths, One Lie (5 min.) Tell kids: In the last session you played Two Truths, One Lie and guessed which of your Partner Club s statements were true and false. Now you ll find out how good they were at guessing which of YOUR statements were true or false! After sharing your Partner Club s responses, ask: What do you think was the most surprising thing they got right... or wrong... about you? What do you think you have in common with your partner? What don t you have in common with them? Did playing the game change what you think about kids in your Partner Club or about their country? (Have kids use this format: I used to think... but now I think... ) What do you think your Partner Club understands about your community and country? What do you think they still might not understand? What else would you like your Partner Club to know about your community? Emergency Shelter (5 min.) Share what your Partner Club sent and say: Check out your Partner Club s emergency shelters both their prototype and the life-size version. 5
Who did your Partner Club build their shelters for? Were they building them for the same reason you were building them? Compare your Partner Club s prototypes to their final product: what do you notice? What did you notice when you compared your own prototypes and final life-size shelters? What materials did your Partner Club use for their prototypes and their final shelters? Were they the same or different than the ones you used? If their materials were different, describe whether you think their materials changed the way they designed and built their shelters. Why do you think it might be helpful to have engineers from different parts of the world work together to design emergency shelters? World of Questions Display the World of Questions graphic. Answer questions: Have kids read aloud any questions your Partner Club sent about your club, community, or country, and ask kids to answer them. Get answers to your questions: Have kids read aloud the answers your Partner Club sent to your questions. Ask new questions: Using the graphic, encourage kids to ask two or three questions about the kids in their Partner Club or about their community or country. You ll include the answers and new questions in the Partner Exchange. 2. BRAINSTORM (30 min.) Tell kids that for the remainder of the club they ll be working on the Partner Project. Introduction (5 min.) Now that you and your Partner Club have decided to work on [TOPIC] together, the next step is to break that big topic down into smaller, specific issues. We re going to brainstorm a list of issues about [TOPIC] and then brainstorm engineering design ideas to help people faced with these issues. Tell kids that brainstorming is a great way to generate ideas. It s creative and lots of fun. Then go over the Brainstorming poster. Brainstorm Issues (10 min.) Read kids the question they researched last week: How can we as young engineers in our community help [TOPIC]? Using the Interview Your Community handouts they filled out, have kids talk about their experiences investigating problems and needs in their communities. Ask: 6
Who did you interview? What issues and problems did they tell you about? Why do you think it was important to interview people? What other needs or issues can you think of that people didn t mention? Write down kids' ideas about issues they want to address on chart paper. Label it Issues. Brainstorm Design Ideas (15 min.) Then have kids brainstorm design ideas (inventions) that could help solve some of these issues. Go down the list of issues they just brainstormed, and for each one ask: What solutions could we design to address this issue? Write kids' ideas on chart paper under the title Design Ideas. Encourage them to think of engineering design ideas practical devices they could design and build. 3. DECIDE ON DESIGN IDEAS (20 min.) Tell kids: Now that you ve brainstormed a list of design ideas, you ll narrow down the choices and decide on the ideas you want to design and build. One way to narrow down ideas to decide on the best ones is to give them the NUF test. Pass out the NUF Test handout and have kids rate each design idea according to whether it s: New: Has the idea been tried before? Is it different from designs that have been tried before? Useful: Does the idea solve the problem or address the need? Does it solve it partially or completely? Feasible: can your team build it? Or is it too expensive, too time-consuming, or too difficult? Score each design idea the higher the number the better. Using the NUF score, have kids decide which designs they d like to start designing. You may end up with one, two, three, or possibly four engineering solutions/inventions. Team Up Break kids into small design teams according to which invention they want to build. Show kids the Power of Teamwork poster you introduced them to in session 3 and tell them: Teamwork is an important part of being an engineer. Engineers know that a team working together often comes up with more creative and effective solutions than people who work alone. 7
TIPS ON TEAMS Too many teams will be hard for you to manage; too few means bigger groups and won t give kids as many opportunities to participate in designing and building. If you have 15 kids, breaking them into 3 or 4 teams would be ideal. If lots of kids want to build the same design idea, divide them into smaller teams so everyone has a chance to be hands-on. The smaller design teams will then create different versions of the same invention. Start Designing! 1. Pass out the Design Specification form and explain that engineers use design specs to describe the details of an invention. Help kids fill out the form if necessary. 2. Have kids sketch possible designs in their DSG notebooks. Then have them discuss their sketches as a team and decide on one design to work on. In the next session, they will create a prototype of it. Have design teams store their sketches and design specs they ll need them in the next session. 3. Discuss materials needed for prototype. Go around to each design team and discuss what materials they might need to build their prototypes in the next session. You ll supply the materials, but encourage kids to contribute as well by bringing in some of the materials themselves. During the week, if they think of additional materials they could use, tell them to bring those in as well. AFTER THE SESSION: NO PARTNER EXCHANGE THIS TIME This is the first session where you won t be exchanging any material afterwards the next exchange will happen after Session 6. 8