Who is it for (age group) 15-16 years old

Short outline of what will happen during the course/project:

In this project the students will design and fabricate a board game with which they will easily learn to identify the type of waste that goes in each container. The objective is to design a game that teaches how to recycle by playing, therefore raising awareness on environmental issues.

The students will work in groups and follow the phases of the Design Circle. In the ideation phase they will consider different possible solutions for a game and make some sketches. Students will have to agree on one design that will be manufactured in the fabrication phase. Using a laser cutter, vinyl cutter and 3D printer the different part of the game can be executed. In the end the students also will elaborate the game’s instructions.

Link to other subjects/courses? Biology / Scientific culture/ English

– Working in a team towards a common goal.

– Previous knowledge about a vector based drawing program (such as Illustrator, Inkscape or Sketchup) and also about a 3D CAD design tool (such as Tinkercad).

●      Soft skills (21^st century skills?)

●      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

●      Practical skills

–   Recognize the importance of recycling as a solution to some environmental problems.

–   Understand descriptions and opinions and express yourself in an informal conversation in a foreign language.

Research & information fluency:

–  Locate, organize, analyze and synthesize information from a variety of sources and media.

–  Evaluate and select digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.

–  Process data and report results using Information and Communication Technologies.

Problem solving & critical thinking:

–  Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.

–  Plan activities to develop a solution or complete a project.

–  Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

–  Critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.

Communication and collaboration:

–  Communicate information effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media, languages and formats.

–  Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

Creativity and innovation

–     Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.

–   Build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and developing skills in order to design and make prototypes and products.

–   Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.

6 lessons:  5 lessons of 110 minutes and 1 lesson divided in 4 lessons of 220 minutes.

–       Personal reflections at the start and the end of the project.

–       Research, production and presentation of a project proposal (group work)

–       Production of a final portfolio.

Resources

– Biology teacher / English teacher

– FabLab assistant.

Facilities (what do you need in terms of rooms, equipment etc.)

– FabLab workshop with 3D printer, vinyl cutter and laser cutter.

– ICT classroom with PCs.

Vinyl in four colours

Cardboard

A3/A4 size paper

Post-its

Meter rule / Calliper

Glue

Scissors

Brass fastener

(Instructables/Pinterest)

Tinkercad

Inkscape

MakerCase

3D Printer + filament

Vinyl cutter

Laser cutter

Camera / Voice recorder

Brief description of what the lesson is about

They also understand what they have to do  and plane the design process.

Amount of lessen + minutes per lesson (i.e. 2 lessons of 50 minutes)

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?  For instance: the student will have 12 new ideas

–       Find out students’ previous knowledge about sustainability.

–       Define the steps to complete the project.

Description of what the students will be doing

–       Answer a survey with the following questions:

1.     Generally speaking, how would you explain the meaning of the word “sustainability”?

2.     What does it mean to be an inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable city?

3.     Are cities in the world sustainable?

4.     Do you consider air pollution to be a major risk for human health?

5.     Is there a need for more public resources to be devoted to the protection of nature?

6.     Would you introduce stricter controls and more stringent penalties for those who damage nature?

7.     What could be done in your school or city?

–       Plan the exact steps of the project with the students.

Overview of what materials needed (also think about powerpoints etc)

Post-its

Pencils.

●      Soft skills (21^st century skills?)

●      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

●      Practical skills

–  Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.

– Brainstorms should absolutely be open ended but that doesn’t mean that a brainstorm should have infinite scope. It’s easy to get lost if your brainstorming session doesn’t have a clear goal.

Brief description of what the lesson is about

Students develop new insights about sustainability searching for information on the Internet.

Amount of lessen + minutes per lesson (i.e. 2 lessons of 50 minutes)

2 lessons of 55 minutes

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?  For instance: the student will have 12 new ideas

–       Produce a document with their research findings.

Description of what the students will be doing

–       Search information about what an inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable city is and share the findings.

–       Write a document with the conclusions and suggest what could be done in our city. It should include:

1.     Generally speaking, how would you explain the meaning of the word “sustainability”?

2.     What does it mean to be an inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable city?

3.     What could be done in your school or city?

Overview of what materials needed (also think about powerpoints etc)

A4 size paper.

Pencils.

Voice recorder.

●      Soft skills (21^st century skills?)

●      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

●      Practical skills

–  Locate, organize, analyze and synthesize information from a variety of sources and media.

–  Process data and report results using Information and Communication Technologies.

Problem solving & critical thinking:

–  Plan activities to develop a solution or complete a project.

Brief description of what the lesson is about

Amount of lessen + minutes per lesson (i.e. 2 lessons of 50 minutes)

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?  For instance: the student will have 12 new ideas

–       Illustrate their ideas making some sketches of the product and explain its functions.

–       Choose a final design.

Description of what the students will be doing

–       Reach an agreement and determine what to build. In this case a board game about recycling.

–       Elaborate the game instructions.

Overview of what materials needed (also think about powerpoints etc)

Pencils.

Marker pens.

Meter rule.

●      Soft skills (21^st century skills?)

●      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

●      Practical skills

–   Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.

Problem solving & critical thinking:

–  Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

Knowledge: To engage students in learning about the environmental benefits of recycling.

Give pupils enough freedom to choose the solution.

Brief description of what the lesson is about

Students transform their digital designs into mockups and prototypes.

Amount of lessen + minutes per lesson (i.e. 2 lessons of 50 minutes)

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?  For instance: the student will have 12 new ideas

–       Transform their designs into physical products using different materials and machines.

Description of what the students will be doing

–       Choose suitable tools and materials.

–       Cut the boxes where we will keep the board game with the laser cutter.

–       Cut the stickers in triangular vinyl pieces for the roulette in different colours (orange, blue, yellow and green) using the vinyl cutter.

–       Fabricate the die and the arrow of the roulette using the 3D printer.

–       Cut the board and the cards using the laser cutter.

–       Print the photos of the recyclable products on paper and glue them on the cards.

–       Test and modify prototypes.

Overview of what materials needed (also think about powerpoints etc)

Tinkercad

Inkscape

MakerCase

Vinyl in four colours

Meter roule / Calliper

Printer and A4 size paper

Marker pens

Laser cutter

MDF board 3mm and 5mm

3D printer + filament

Glue

Scissors

Brass fastener

●      Soft skills (21^st century skills?)

●      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

●      Practical skills

–     Evaluate and select digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.

Creativity and innovation:

–   Build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make prototypes and product.

–    Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.

Knowledge:

–     Recognize the importance of recycling as a solution to some environmental problems.

Tips from an expert

–       It is important to make different prototypes with different materials.

Brief description of what the lesson is about

Amount of lessen + minutes per lesson (i.e. 2 lessons of 50 minutes)

2 lessons of 55 minutes

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?  For instance: the student will have 12 new ideas

–       Improve communication skills.

Description of what the students will be doing

–       Twinning with other students.

Overview of what materials needed (also think about powerpoints etc) 

PC with Internet access.

Recycling board game prototype.

●      Soft skills (21^st century skills?)

●      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

●      Practical skills

–       Process data and report results.

Problem solving & critical thinking:

–       Critique and test their ideas and products and the work of others.

Communication and collaboration:

–       Communicate information effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media, languages and formats.

Knowledge:

–       Understand descriptions and opinions and express yourself in an informal conversation in a foreign language.

–       Try to be self-critical and do not be afraid to show your points of view.

–       It is important to note that after critiquing the plan, the team may recognise that the plan that they have developed is not going to work at this phase. This is where you can return to the other ideas listed at the ideation phase and develop a prototype around another idea which may be a more effective solution.

Brief description of what the lesson is about

Amount of lessen + minutes per lesson (i.e. 2 lessons of 50 minutes)

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?  For instance: the student will have 12 new ideas

–       Get feedback.

–       Know which aspects can be improved in future projects.

Description of what the students will be doing

–       Collaborative dialogue among them and with the partners twinning.

Overview of what materials needed (also think about powerpoints etc)

Pencils.

●      Soft skills (21^st century skills?)

●      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

●      Practical skills

–  Evaluate their ideas and products and the work of others.

Communication and collaboration

–  Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

– The students are able to see the problem from their perspective.

CHALLENGES

– Be able to find out students’ previous knowledge about a problem or situation.

PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD LEARNING

– Real-world based learning.

– Brainstorm individually and collaboratively.

SUCCESS CRITERIA

– The students are able to find solutions to a problem.

CHALLENGES

– Redefining and focusing the task based on found insights.

PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD LEARNING

– Activate learners’ background knowledge.

– The students are able to work collaboratively on a task.

– Illustrate the design to resolve the task.

PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD LEARNING

– Work in cooperative groups.

– The students are able to transform digital designs into physical products.

– Know the different materials and their possible uses.

– Test and refine.

SUCCESS CRITERIA

– The students are able to ask specific questions about what worked well and what still needs improvement.

– Accept and learn from one’s own errors in the final product.

– Improve communication skills.

– Give prompt feedback.

– The students are able to try new projects.

– Know which aspects can be improved in future projects.

PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD LEARNING

– Be critical and reflective.

– Encourage contact between students and teachers.

–       We can provide specific solutions to real problems.

–       We are able to use trial-and-error approaches.

–       The work is interesting, rewarding and challenging.

–       We are able to build physical, tangible objects.

–       The final design is presented to the users for their feedback.

–       Be able to reach a compromise between different viewpoints.

–       Be able to autonomously use graphic design software.

–       Be able to correctly determine the materials that are most appropriate for the design, as well as the machines that will be used.

–       Be able to apply logic in solving or finding solutions to problems.

–       Learning anytime/anywhere.

–       Listen, consider and respect others’ ideas.

–       Develop one’s own initiative and creativity.

–       Increase students’ participation and motivation.