Project Tinguely

Title: Project Tinguely

Erik van Alphen

Theresialyceum, Tilburg – The Netherlands

Introduction This project is about kinetic art. The students will be designing a kinetic sculpture that fits into an exisitng location. Along the way the students will learn about the mechanics of making things move and how to make designs for digital fabrication

This project targets students from15 to 17 years old

The students will work in pairs and follow the phases of the Design Circle. The kick-off of the project is a presentation of kinetic art and the work of Jean Tinguely. During the fieldstudy the students will go out and explore the context in which the sculpture should be placed. The ideation phase will be multiple cycles of diverging and converging ideas. A lengthy fabriaction follows the ideation to build a working prototype of the kinetic sculpture.

This project has a link with physics and arts

Pre-knowledge The student should be able to use traditional tools for crafting. The students should have a basic knowledge in working with a computer
Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

Time 32 lessons of 50 minutes
Assessment The final protoype, reflection template and collaboration will be graded on a 10 point scale. Each having equal weigth
Resources 1 teacher and 1 technical assistant

3d printer (preferably more than one),

laser cutter

traditional crafting tools

computers with digital design software

Materials  

 

Lesson 1

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

This is the introduction lesson. During this lesson the students will learn and understand what the project is about: kinetics art. The students will also get prepared of what is expected from them during this period. If needed the students can also learn how to make a mindmap
Time

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

3 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Designbrief & argumentation
Lesson goals/design output

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?

The students will have a mindmap of what they think the project is about
Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

The teacher will start with a presentation (see link) about Jean Tinguely and kinetic art. During the presentation the students will take notes in order to create a mindmap. During the second and third lesson the students will create a mindmap (visual appealing) about what they think are the important subjects for this project. During the third lesson students wil form groups of two in which they will make the end result. In sets of three groups of two the students will present their mindmap and give eachother feedback/provide questions
Materials

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

Prezi:

A3 paper

Colourpencils

Computer&printer

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

Translate knowlegde into a visual representation

Critical thinking

Structuring information

Collaboration

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

If students have never made a mindmap before it can be handy to show examples or explain how to do this (linkt to video)
Tips from an expert The mindmap is about the students getting a grip on the designbrief. There should be no ideas in the mindmap

Lesson 2

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

The kinetic art installation will become part of the context it is being placed in. A good piece of art fits well in its context. During this lesson the students wil get an understanding of the context in which the kinetic scultpure will be placed
Time

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

1 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Fieldstudy
Lesson goals/design output

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?

At the end of this lesson the students will have a map + context description of the place where the kinetic sculpture will be placed
Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

Students will go out to the location where the kinetic sculpture will be placed and take pictures and measurements of the context. The findings will be gathered in a digital document describing the location in terms of materials in the context, dimensions, what is the normal use of the context, how is the light etc.
Materials

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

 

Camera (mobilephone)

Tape measure

Notebook

pen/pencil

Computer

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

Contextual awareness

Collaboration

sense of dimensions

Student will learn to describe their observation (storytelling)

Collecting data

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Tips from an expert

Lesson 3

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

During this lesson the students will learn the basics of how stuff moves. What kind of transmissions exist and how they work.
Time

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

2 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Fieldstudy
Lesson goals/design output

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

The students will have gained more knowledge on transmissions and more specific on gears

The students will have their workbook completed

Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

At the end of this lesson the students will have fill-out an workbook containing small exercises about transmisions. The workbook contains exercises on common types of transmission and small math excersises on gears
Materials

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

Workbook()

Presentation()

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

The students will have gained more knowledge on transmissions and more specific on gears
Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Finishing the workbook can be homework assignment

If desired a test could be used to grade the gained knowledge

Tips from an expert

 

Type here

Lesson 4

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

During this lesson the students will look for existing examples of kinetic art. It is important that the students find as many examples as possible.
Time

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

2 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Fielsdstudy
Lesson goals/design output

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

At the end of this lesson each student should have at least five examples of existing kinectic art sculptures. They will present these sculptures in groups to each other. Each example should be printed on a separate piece of paper accompanied with explenatory text. It is important that the students can explain why they have choosen the shown example
Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

The students will browse the internet for existing examples of kinetic art sculptures or things alike. Half-way the second lesson the students should prepare their short presentation.

Last part of the second lesson each student has to pitch their examples

Materials

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

Computer

Printer

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

Critical thinking

Gathering information

Opinion forming

Students will learn expressing themselves

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Tips from an expert

 

Keep an eye on the time. Students can take hours but chances are the results will not be better

Lesson 5

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

This lesson is an inntroduction to digital design for lasercutting and 3d printing. The students will learn how they can use different computerprograms to transform their pencil sketches into a digital design which can be created using the laser cutter or 3d printer. There is an emphasis on gear design
Time

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

2 lesson of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Fieldstudy
Lesson goals/design output

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

Each student will have a digital design of a gear which can be 3d printed and cut on the laser cutter.

Each student will know that they can use tinkercad to make designs for the 3d printer

Each student will have a simple shape in a vector program for laser cutting

Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

The students will follow the teacher in creating digital designs for 3d printing and laser cutting. The student will prepare their files for laser cutting and 3d printing

The students will explore the online program tinkercad

Materials

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

 

Computer for each student        Digital design manuals ()

3d printer                                    3d printing fillament

Laser cutter                                 plywood

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

The student will be able to make a digital design for laser cutting

The student will be able to make a digital design for 3d printing

The student will be able to prepare a file for digital fabrication

The student knows how the 3d printer works

The student knows how the laser cutter works

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

If available students can learn to work with more advanced programs like Rhinoceros or Fusion

Students who allready have proven knowledge of digital design can learn how to opperate the machines

Tips from an expert Depending of the level of your students you might need more lessons

Have students who are allready familiar with the digital design programs help other students

Lesson 6

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

During this lesson the students will use all the input from the fieldstudy and their creativity to sketch their ideas.
Time

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

2 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Ideation&argumentation
Lesson goals/design output

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

Each student should have at least 10 ideas

Each group should have at least 3 combined ideas

Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

Based on all the input they gathered during the previous lessons the students will make sketches of their ideas. Each student should come up with at least 10 different ideas.

During the second phase of the lesson the students will explain the ideas to their partner. Together the students should pick their best ideas and combine them to at least 3 new ideas

Materials

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

A3 paper

Pencils

Outputs from the previous lessons (mindmap/fieldstudy)

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

Creative thinking

Collaboration

The students will learn the importance of many different ideas

Communication: student will learn to explain their thoughts

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Tips from an expert

 

It is more important that student come up with multiple different ideas than making beautiful drawings

Lesson 7

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

During this lesson the students will use Lego to give shape to their ideas. This ideation has a strong focus on the technical part of the kinetic sculpture.
Time

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

2 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Ideation
Lesson goals/design output

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

Each group of students will have at least two technical ideas for their kinetic sculpture
Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

The students will be using Lego to give shape to their ideas. Through trial and error the students will built (part) of a kinetic sculpture. From each of the ideas the students should make a shor movie
Materials

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

 

Lego technics (unsorted, with many gears)

Mobile phone

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

Problem solving

Creative thinking

Collaboration

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Tips from an expert Lego has a certain form factor. There is a risk that students can’t think beyond the fixed shape of lego in the further phases.

Lesson 8

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

During this lesson the students will evaluate the ideas from the sketching lesson and the Lego lesson. Based on these evaluationg/reflections the students will choose/make a finale design. From this design the student need to make a building plan.
Time

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

2 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Ideation/reflection/argumentation
Lesson goals/design output

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

At the end of this lesson the students will have narrowed down their ideas into one final design. They need to make a detailed sketch for this design.

From the final design the students will make a detailed building plan describing how they are going to realize their idea.

Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

Through group discussion the students will reflect on their ideas thus far. They will look back at their mindmap and parts of the fieldstudy. Based on this reflection the students will converge their ideas into 2-3 ideas. Next the will evaluate those ideas and pick their final idea. The final idea will be divided in buildable sub parts. For each of the parts the students will make a plan on how to build that part
Materials

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

Paper

Pen/pencil

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

Critical thinking

Problem solving

Collaboration

Creative thinking

Making decissions

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Tips from an expert Type here

Lesson 9

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

During this lesson(s) the student will be working on realizing their ideas. Some will start with digital design others with manual crafting
Time

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

16 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Fabrication
Lesson goals/design output

What will the students have achieved after this lesson?

The students will have a working prototype of their own designed kinetic sculpture
Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

The students will be working with digital design. materials and machines in order to build a prototype of ther kinetic sculpture.
Materials

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

 

Laser cutter + plywood + cardboard + acrylic

3d printer + 3d printing fillament

nuts and bolts and screws

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

Students learn how to design for the laser cutter

Students learn how to design for the 3d printer

Problem solving

Collaboration

Planning

Self steering

Creative thinking

Dealing with failure

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Tips from an expert It is important that students regulary check if their sollution is working and refine their ideas.

Lesson 10

Introduction

Brief description of what the lesson is about

During this lesson the students will present their final results
Time

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

2 lessons of 50 minutes
Phase of the DBL model Argumentation/reflection
Lesson goals/design output

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

Presentation on the final result using the prototype and powerpoint
Activity

Description of what the students will be doing

The students will make a reflection report using the provided template.

The students will present their final product

Materials

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

Portfolio template

Computer

Mobile phone

Learning goals

·      Soft skills (21st century skills?)

·      Knowledge (theoretical skills)

·      Practical skills

 

Critical thinking

Computational skills

Students will learn to present their idea

Students will learn to give and receive feedback

Collaboration

Extra

Challenges and help you can provide students with who are either faster or slower than average

Tips from an expert Emphasise that the students should be making pictures of their process along the way