Originally posted by Laurie Bottiger, Head of School
Jan 16, 2014 12:59:08 PM
A few weeks ago, an article in The New York Times caught my eye, and as I walk around The Country School campus, it keeps bubbling to the surface. In “Solving Problems for Real World, Using Design” (The New York Times, December 19, 2013), reporter Nicole Perlroth writes about Stanford University’s D.school, where students are challenged to identify real world problems and then find solutions through tinkering, creating, and testing.
As Head of School at The Country School, I’m proud to say that something similar is taking place here as well - in our two STEAM Labs, in our art studio, in our science labs, and even in our regular classrooms. Our students may not yet have found a way to end infant mortality or combat malnutrition, but just give them time!
Every day, Country School students, ranging in age from 3-14, engage in the same process that students at the D.school do. They identify problems that need fixing, they tinker and test, and ultimately they come to a solution. Here are a few recent examples:
In Louise Jackson’s Integrated Algebra/Geometry class, 8th Graders are designing houses for the year 2075, taking into account population growth, urbanization, energy efficiency, and future design trends. In a couple of weeks they will share their learning – including models of their houses – and present mini “Ted Talks” about their designs.
Fifth Graders recently finished a Rube Goldberg Design challenge in which individual teams of students had to design, build, and test a contraption capable of accomplishing a task using a simple machine such as levers, pulleys, inclined planes, wedge, and so forth. Challenges included Watering a Plant, Applying Hand Sanitizer, Shooting a Ball through a Hoop, Pressing an EASY Button, and Applying Toothpaste to a Toothbrush.
Over in 4th Grade, students have turned their year-long recycling project into a design challenge for their peers in PreSchool through Grade 5. They have challenged each grade to design and create a building out of all recycled materials. When the buildings are complete, they will be exhibited as part of a “Trash City” to help raise awareness about the problems of pollution and the need to recycle. In part, they were inspired by a recent visit to the Connecticut Trash Museum. The 4th Grade's recycling awareness design challenge comes on the heels of a similar awareness campaign by last year’s 4th Grade. Members of the Class of 2017 opted to make a movie, Recycle!, about the problem of trash and the need for recycling.
A few months ago, Kindergartners turned a discovery in The Country School garden into a multi-pronged design project of the culinary sort. When, just before the first frost, they noticed a surfeit of tomatillos in the school garden, they brainstormed about what they could do with the little green fruit. They tasted them, tested them, and tinkered in the kitchen. Eventually, with the help of their teachers and parent volunteers, they produced a delicious salsa verde.
Kindergartners bottled their creation (complete with TCS labels) and sold it during the school’s Fall Festival. They opted to donate the proceeds from sales to two worthy causes, one of which may have helped alleviate hunger, while the other could end up underwriting similar design challenges in the future. The nonprofits they selected: The Connecticut Food Bank and The Country School’s Annual Giving Campaign.
Even our robotics teams are in on the action. When, in preparation for the First Lego League Robotics Competition, members of the Wise Guys Robotics team had to come up with an innovative solution to a problem related to the theme of this year’s competition – Nature’s Fury – they brainstormed about something they knew firsthand. They thought back to last winter’s big blizzard, and one of the students interviewed a Madison town official about what could have a made a difference to the town in terms of recovery. Their solution: a plow which would scoop up snow, turn it in to water, and empty the water into a safe, designated area. The students were so articulate and convincing when they presented their idea at the state Robotics Championship (they were among 51 teams in Connecticut to qualify) that they were awarded a $200 cash prize from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
We’ve all heard U.S. education officials lamenting the fact that Americans are falling behind in the areas of math and science. According to the U.S. Department of Education, just 16 percent of American high school seniors are proficient in math and interested in working in STEM fields. Among those who do study science, technology, engineering, and math in college, only about half end up working in STEM fields.That obviously has implications for how our country will be able to innovate in the future. And so, in 2011, President Obama called on the United States to invest in innovation. ”We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time,” he said. “We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world."
At least at The Country School, I’m happy to report that innovation, education, and building are alive and well. Indeed, our students give me great hope for the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment