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Welcome to the Shark Tank

For students in grades 3-5, the design lab has been transformed into a Shark Tank. The TV show Shark Tank, regularly aired on ABC, inspired me to challenge students to create something worth selling and that would convince sharks to invest in. While many students created prototypes, others, like Ezra, were billionaire investors (aka “sharks”). Ezra took it upon himself to interview the designers in his class in order to get an idea of their products, past sales, current locations, offers, and valuations prior to their pitches.

The following video is brought to you by students in the fourth and fifth grade. Cooper is pitching his product, Your Home Security. Welcome to the Shark Tank!

The Three Little… Prototypes

We’ve all heard the story The Three Little Pigs, but have you read The Three Little Javelinas? In PreK, kindergarten and first grade, we read The Three Little JavelinaIMG_6880s by Susan Lowell and talked about how the two stories are similar in some ways and different in others. In both stories the first house gets blown down very easily. The second house is a bit stronger, but not by much. The third house, however, won’t budge! In the design lab, we recreated the three houses that appear in both of the stories.

We explored different materials in the design lab and created our own houses that represent the three houses in the stories. Many of uIMG_6893 (1)s noticed that by utilizing the Design Thinking tactic of rapid prototyping, we could create better, stronger structures. Rapid prototyping is used by both adults who use design thinking concepts in the workplace and children at JCDSRI! It means that we build things quickly in order to learn from our mistakes and to move onto the iteration and improvement stage of the process.

Next, we tested our structures by blowing a hair dryer on them. Of course, children gave fair warning by yelling, “I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!” Finally, we decided what types of characters (or objects) might be in our own ThreIMG_6919 (1)e Little somethings stories!

In PreK, we decided that we all wanted our story to be The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Crocodile. One of our Lego structures had some interesting safety features, including a trap station to catch the crocodile and a lookout tower.

Kindergarteners decided that they wanted to create their own story titles. In the end, however, we noticed that we liked the titles of our friends. Eden, Millie, Ben, Eshel, and Meital created a story titled The Three Little Socks and the Shoe. Nathan, Bentzi, and Zemer titled their story The Three Little Scooby Doos and the Monster. Malcolm, and Aeden decided on The Three Little Monkeys.

First graders were proud to create their own individual story titles:

Naftali… The Three Little Ships and the Big Bad Star Destroyer
Maya… The 100 Little Army Ants and the Tilting Earth
Simon… The Three Little Snakes and the Lion
Elie… The Three Little Basketball Players and the Big Bad Basketball
Jude… The Three Little Leaves and the Grasshopper
Hannah… The Three Little Dwarves and the Giant
Moshe… The Three Little Squares and the Big Bad Triangle
Ella… The Three Cupcakes and the Cake
Maor… The Three Little Snakes and the Big Bird
Ayden… The Three Little Critters and the Big Bad Critter
Hadas… The Three Little Bunnies and the Cat

STEAM Week in 3rd Grade

For third grade, STEAM week was an exciting time! We had many exciting workshops, from superhero animals to math magic. But STEAM reached into our every day math, reading, and writing in the class. Inspired by our favorite read aloud, Poppy by Avi, our class had an interest in owls. One of the main characters, Mr. Ocax, was a great horned owl and the things he was able to do were fascinating. So we embarked on a research project to learn more about these fascinating animals.

We started by learning about the different adaptations owls have, such as being able to turn their heads almost completely arphoto 1ound. Small groups researched a specific owl to find out more about the amazing adaptations they have. We discovered they are perfect hunters, and made posters to demonstrate our knowledge. We will be collaborating with the second grade to teach them about our findings.

Next we wrote poetry about owls. We used facts we found and studied other poems to get an idea for our own poems. We made these extra special by placing them on paper bag owls we made. We then uphoto 4 (1)sed our paper bag owl puppets to teach Pre-K all about owls. This turned into drawing owls, making owl perches out of blocks, and showing the Pre-K how owls hunt using the stuffed animals in the room!

Lastly, and in my opinion the most fun, we dissected owl pellets. Even though it seemed gross to many, everyone dug in, and found skulls, leg bones, and teeth! We reconstructed skeletons of their unfortunate victims to display.

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Are Artists Designers?

Even when we have “free build” in design lab, we design for a reason. We have to think: who did I design for? What problem am I trying to fix? What does my creation do? Why did I choose it? Where will it be used?

During a lively discussion about different types of designers, some fourth graders were thinking about whether artists are designers. What does it mean to be a designer? Students came to the conclusion that designers usually aim to solve a problem. So, what problem do artists solve? Eitan responded, “Artists solve the problem of not enough beauty.”

Students at JCDSRI are thoughtful and curious about how they can impact the world.

An example of the ability of the young designers and artists at JCDSRI is shown in a recent design challenge. In making cardboard chairs come to life, students were given the design challenge: “How might we design these (very plain) cardboard chairs so that they display our unique quaIMG_6820lities as humans and demonstrate our learning outcomes from this year?” Below are some photos or the chairs that bring more beauty to the world, straight from the hands of young designers.

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Full STEAM Ahead

On Friday, March 4th, the fourth grade class visited the studio of Rhode Island based artist Donald Gerola. His sculptures can be seen in various locations around Providence and around the world! We were given the unique opportunity to see where he creates and learn more about his style. We explored his amazing steel sculptures (some of which are over 30 feet tall!!), his prototypes, and paintings made with mixtures of sand, pigment, and natural materials. It was affirming to see that “real artists” use some of the same strategies we use when creating. Just like us, Mr. Gerola makes models and plans for his work, shares his ideas with other people, and works in collaboration with others to bring his ideas to life.

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It was such a privilege to spend the morning with Donald, and we are so grateful that he opened his studio to us!

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Maybe we don’t need bridges anymore…

As it turns out, bridges are tough to build. Especially with constraints. Students were only allowed to use 100 popsicle sticks and white glue to build their bridges! Constraints drive creativity. Third graders persevered and learned to ‘fail forward fast’ and have a ‘bias toward action.’ Fail forward fast inspires designers to go with their instinct, build fast, and evaluate effectiveness of a prototype soIMG_6672 that they can move quickly onto making a better prototype. Similarly, bias toward action inspires designers to, again, go with their instincts rather than pondering the potential effectiveness of a prototype. In design lab, we do more and ponder less.

As of now, the bridges have been built, but not with complete success. In design lab, however, children know that they learn from failure and that it will only help them with the next prototype they build.

The innovative nature of the students in this classroom is evident. While monitoring the prototyping process, I overheard a small group of students whose building wasn’t going so well talking to one another: “If we were bridge builders, we would teach cars how to swim.”

 

STEAM in Action: Laurence Humier Visit

In late January, Laurence Humier, a Be24306780639_1ff6d87552_klgian architectural engineer who works in Milan, presented to our parents on the topic “Science and Young Children.” Ms. Humier’s work has been featured at the Museum of Modern Art, and she was recently honored with the title of Knight of Merit Walloon by the Belgian government. Her work combines expressiveness, experimentation, science and art in unique ways.

Ms. Humier spent a full 24378947170_d217ae8c20_kday working with students in Kindergarten through Grade 5, leading them in an exploration of the properties of common household ingredients (such as baking powder, cornstarch, and talcum powder). After investigating the reactions and textures produced by combining various ingredients with colored water, the students created their own mixtures to construct self-portraits.

The students learned a lot, got their hands dirty, and had a ball! 24647497236_fc7bda4d3f_k

Building Up

At the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, the designers are small in size, but they can still build tall. Lately, it seems that our ceilings are too low because… well, our structures are reaching too high!

Our prototypes aren’t the only things being built up. Our confidence, cooperation, collaboration, empathy, optimism, and experimental mindsets are also growing, built upon a solid foundation of joy and excitement.

Children in kindergarten and first grade met a new friend named Harry. Harry wants to have the best view of the design lab, but there’s one problem… he is afraid of heights! We are working on empathizing with Harry and helping to create the perfect perch for him. We discussed how HIMG_6501arry probably feels scared, sad, and uncomfortable when he is in a bad spot.

With a bag full of simple and recycled materials, we created the perfect perch for Harry. We made sure that the perch was stable, not too high up, and comfortable.

In second grade, students heard the story, Jack and the Beanstalk. We wondered, “how might we build a beanstalk as high as possible, using only straws, wooden skewers, and tape?” The main focus of this particular lesson is that constraints drive creativity. This means that with limited resources, we must be extremely creative!

When class is over and it’s time to go to recess, children often ask, “Can we stay in and keep building?”

Meet Paul the Ping Pong Ball!

When you’re a kindergartner in the design lab, there’s something very important to keep in mind: teamwork. As young engineers, we know that by working together, we can accomplish more.

Students were introduced to my good friend, Paul the ping pong ball. There’s just one problem with Paul; he has TOO much energy! In order for Paul to release some energy, he needs to use his body and his mind at the same time. The children were challenged to create a maze for Paul to go through so that he is ready to focus on learning in school.

Using Legos, connecting Legos, and Keva blocks, students began designing their mazes… after some quick discoveries: “I made a Hebrew letter!” Malcolm exclaimed.

They also discovered that there are many different components that mazes can have. Nathan explained, “I’m putting in a trap.” Aeden noticed that his part of the maze was getting close to Malcolm’s. “How about if we connect them?” he asked.

Next came the testing phase, where they set Paul free in the maze. “Let’s test this baby out,” said Zemer, excitedly. The maze snaked through the design lab.

“We should be in the world records!” Ben said.

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Design Lab Update

In PreK, we designed an umbrella for Itsy, our spider friend. He was SO sick of getting wet every time it rains! We picked the materials we thought would work best. We had the choice of using plastic, tin foil, felt, or paper. Once we finished our umbrellas, we tested them to see if they could stand up to the rain. We also learned that if a prototype doesn’t work the first time, we can always build it again to make it better. Like Eli said, “It’s okay if it doesn’t work.”

Similarly to PreK, kindergarteners also designed an umbrella to keep Itsy dry. A few kindergarteners took a different approach and made our spider friend his own shelter! We learned that the plastic works best to protect Itsy from the rain.

First graders also worked together to come up with a way to keep Itsy dry. Working collaboratively helps us get lots of ideas from each other. We can accomplish so much more together! It can be so exciting when you come up with a solution as a team. “I think ours is going to work great, Moshe!” said Eliya.

Second graders are working on coming up with a solution to the design challenge, “How might we prevent habitat destruction and water scarcity in the Chihuahuan Desert so that we can protect animals?” Children in the second grade class love to build off of each other’s ideas.

In third grade, students learned about the 6 simple machines and how they help us do work. Students built structures that include at least two simple machines. Many children noticed that, interestingly, all of the structures incorporated an inclined plane.

Fourth and fifth graders began designing a Thanksgiving table made only out of 8 sheets of newspaper, an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of cardboard, and masking tape. Of course, our tables need to be able to hold a LOT of food, so we will be testing our tables’ strength by putting books on top. We can’t wait to see how much our tables can hold!

For an up-to-date explanation of what each grade is up to, come into the Design Lab and see our Bulletin Blog Board!