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[Narrator] How is this project different than other projects you've done in science classes
or ? [Kid 1] Its different because for me, more
interesting and fun. [Kid 2] I think the best part was messing
around to get all the ideas together, it was really fun trying to like figure out what
would work best. [Kid3] We don't usually get to do this like,
we don't usually get to create. [Narrator] Here at the New York Hall of Science,
we are interested in the design process along with developing an exhibition for the museum
called the Design Lab, we're also working with teachers to help bring design into the
classroom. In the summer of 2011 we held a work shop with teachers about doing just that.
[Women] We have about 20 teachers who we've recruited this year from the Metropolitan
area to really help us co-design and co-develop engaging design activities for their students.
[Narrator] Each teacher designed a project and prototyped it in the workshop. The idea
was that they would take it back to their class i the fall and give it a try with their
students. So a couple months into the school year we wanted to find out how some of this
projects went. Mrs. Diane C, she's a fourth grade teacher at C.Cliff Elementary. Diane
developed a really get project and so we headed up to C Cliff to talk to her and some of her
students about how it went. [Diane C] The question that was posed to them
was how can we harness the summers energy to each food and they had just certain materials
that were available to them, which was a challenge to use to create their designs and they worked
through the process of first asking the question then planning out a design then creating that
design, improving and going through varies iterations and they came up with these.
[Kid 4] Well, It still needs a few improvements but we have the door, we have a little reflector,
basically silver Styrofoam and then we have the glass little window so the sun can enter
and they we have the tray, we should of made it black so that's what we are gonna do for
our next prototype. [Kid 5] We started with, we couldn't really
find. [Kid 6] We started with garbage bags and then
we realized that garbage bags covering a shoebox does not work because it does not get hot
inside. [Kid 2] So we covered it on the outside of
the black paper and inside all that you cant see it like behind this black paper there's
folded bubble wrap so we could insulate the heat more and like trap it.
[Kid 5] We kind of learned how to like work together better.
[Diane C] Right, I mean these are the finished products but when we started out the um looked
nothing like this. they began to experiment with materials and to think about how they
could use those materials to serve the purpose of you know heating up food and they were
you know, playing with garbage bags and they realized that the garbage bags were too shiny
and they were going to reflect the light and they were learning about reflection and refraction
of light and you know then even started testing certain materials and as they went through
all those different iterations they began to think about other materials that they would
like to have and they would like to use for their designs and we collected a couple of
different materials and realized that you know, with the limitations they could just
do so much but they actually did you know, a lot more as they began to build on their
previous designs. [Kid 4] Like its like a process that helps
you create like something that benefits everyday life
[Kid] You don't want to do the next test? Come on the tests are fun!
[Kid 5] We kind of had an idea what we were gonna build but at the time we had no clue
what it was actually gonna do so like my original idea was like way different from this and
the same so as her. [Kid 1] Our Ideas changed, we didn't really
need the coals one, we thought the black and like the tin foil reflecting the light up
letting heat up so on the insulating could just like trap the heat inside so we didn't
really need the coals or fire. [Diane] I'm always looking to stretch their
thinking to work on those 21st century skills, letting them not only be creative - giving
them opportunities to be creative but also opportunities to communicate their learning
and to show others what they've created and why they created it and how it is really working
towards solving real world problems.