10/12/2018
This semester, 5 Black and 5 Blue have been designing and creating prototypes that solve real world problems in practical and innovative ways. The unit content focused on Electricity and Light, and the knowledge students gained in this area was evident in the problems they defined and solutions they constructed.
Students were allocated groups based on which global problems they were passionate about solving. From there, they worked collaboratively to brainstorm, design, create and improve their prototypes. Students received feedback on their designs throughout the process from peers, specialist and class teachers. They tested and improved their innovations and created a final prototype.
Finally, students used the public speaking skills taught in English to create a persuasive and informative pitch, convincing their peers and teachers that their design was a way of the future. Students presented their pitches and prototypes to a panel of experts in a ‘Shark Tank’ style feedback session.
There was a total of 12 groups which solved problems such as shark culling, over-priced haircuts, mining methods, light poverty, lack of access to clean water and inability to budget for energy costs. The teachers involved were incredibly proud of the passion, enthusiasm, confidence and perseverance shown by students for both their global community and their own learning during the project.