First activity

You need to create your Personal Design Notebook (a digital document or hard copy document that you are responsible to keep and will be used also for the Summative assessment).

Prompt

The goal of brainstorming is to create a generative list of ideas for potential projects you can continue exploring. Our mission in this studio is to construct sci-fi and futuristic vehicles while learning about renewable energy systems. You will imagine the systems and infrastructure that will change the way vehicles move, how they are designed, who they will transport, and then design new modes of transportation based on your wildest imagination. 

Instructions

Review the Brainstorming deck below to get started with the brainstorming process, and think back to all of your discussions, precedent analysis, and field research thus far. 

Things to consider:

• What problems would exist in this world, and how could you solve them?
• What energy solutions would exist?
• What modes of transit could be harnessed to aid these problems?

Part 1:  Individual Brainstorm

Individually, come up with 10 (or more!) ideas for futuristic methods of transit based on your world-building environment. Explore mass transportation opportunities. Consider transportation for individuals (or animals!). Think outside of the box. This is the time to engage in wild ideas! ( 5 min!) 

Part 2: Partner Brainstorm

The initial list from Part 1 is going to seed the rest of your brainstorming process and facilitate the idea-generation process. Your task is to narrow your list down to 5 project ideas to share with a partner. Let your partner know which of their ideas you think are particularly exciting. Feel free to come up with a few new ideas once you hear about your partner's ideas. Maybe something new occurs to you now. Run with it!  (10 min)

After you rapidly share with one another,  sketch 2-3 of your favorite ideas (5 min!) 

Part 3: Whiteboard Brainstorm!

Now it's your time to shine. Share 2-3 of your favorite ideas with the class using sticky notes on the whiteboard. We need to categorize ideas in clusters based on similarity. 

Note: At this stage of the design process, brainstorming project ideas are shared amongst everyone - no matter who had the idea initially. 

Deliverable and recording

You need to record your choices on your Personal Design Notebook (a digital document that you are responsible to keep and will be used also for the Summative assessment).

At the end of the Collective Brainstorming exercise, you will record on your Personal Design Notebook the idea you would be most excited to pursue. 

Now we will form teams of two after this step. Moving forward, teams will decide which idea to pursue for the remainder of the studio. and record their decision. 

Upload on the Task a copy of the Personal Design Notebook

Description 

Now that we've explored the possible futures and developed strong project ideas, it's time to create your first prototypes (remember: prototypes are rapidly-made models created with easily-manipulative materials that demonstrate the simplest version of your idea in physical form). 

 This is an opportunity to test out design shapes, sizes, and techniques of making before we create our final prototypes!  

Instructions 

Begin by sketching the pieces needed to construct your project. Then assemble the materials needed and create quick mock-ups in paper and cardboard.

Deliverables

Photograph your sketches and cardboard prototypes and assemble them in your Design Journal to record your first creations. Add your thesis statement to the description in your Journal. 

Purpose: In this activity, students will be introduced to basic strategies and tools used to imagine and construct future worlds. These worlds will be used as a framework for imagining boundary-pushing transit solutions that harness renewable energy to deliver safe and innovative transportation solutions that meet the needs of its users.

Instructions:

Part 1: In pairs, students look through the inspirational images from the slides above.

Part 2: Next, envision your own future world think about what the logistics of it would look like (using the questions below as a starting point). 

Part 3: Create a collage of your future world using magazine and printed images, or using a digital photo-editing software. The more details, the better. 

Part 4: Design a morning storyboard (template attached) for a student like you living in the future world. How would they get from point A to point B in this world? How would their daily tasks be impacted by a futuristic transportation system? 

Things to consider:

• Is there access to water? Fresh water? Salt Water? 
• How is water utilized or not utilized in this world? 
• What is the landscape like?
• What is the climate? Is there extreme weather?
• What kind of animals and plants live here? 
• Who holds power and resources here? What resources are the most valuable? 
• What forms of entertainment exist in this world? Is art important here? 
• What kind of foods and drinks are most consumed here? Why? 
• What do people do for work here? What are the most common professions? 
• What technology do people use to communicate? Do our current communication tools work in this world? 
• How do people get around? What forms of transportation are most useful? 
• What powers technology in this world? Water? Wood? The Sun?

DELIVERABLE:

All work should be added to the Responses tab in the form of a slide deck. It should include the following:

1. Your future world collage or drawing. 
2. The storyboard developed from your future world. You are welcome to sketch it or develop it digitally. There are many templates on Canva that are helpful for this. 

Prompt

Students will work in their project groups to generate initial ideas about their concept in the form of sketches.

Instructions

Part 1: In your group, begin discussing your possible concepts. Each group member should participate to get their ideas heard. Settle on an overall concept that encompasses the project criteria.

Part 2: Next, students should begin to develop initial sketches. Each group member should do their own sketch to communicate how they picture the concept. These initial sketches should be used to record initial ideas, gain consensus within your group, and demonstrate specific aspects of an idea. 

Part 3: Once each sketch is complete, share your sketches with your teacher.

Prompt 

As a studio, we will take a look at some of the most interesting transit systems around the world. Then, every student will select a transit system to provide an in-depth analysis of your findings to the rest of the class. You may choose an example from the presentation in NuVu or find a different system that interests you (suggested websites for research can be found at the bottom of this post)

What does it mean for something to be "in transit"? Can it be more than simply getting from point A to point B in our day-to-day life?

Instructions

Every student will create a slideshow that contains the following information about your transit system:

• Where is it located? Is this method used elsewhere in the world?
• How does the transit system relate to the area and its unique setting/environment? (write 2-3 sentences)
• What is awesome vs. awful about this transit system? 
• What are potential ways that this transit system can be improved? (Be imaginative!)

Deliverables

Submit your presentation with the following requirements:

1. Images of the transit system you've researched (include captions describing the images)
2. Answers to the 4 questions above in the text field
3. One sketch proposing ways this system could be improved

Websites for Research:

Prompt

Research is a crucial part of the studio process and can help you generate lots of new, creative ideas and solutions. To get as much access to useful information as possible, we'll each take on a small portion of the research and then move on to brainstorming!

Work in small teams and choose from the following list: solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, biomass, or tidal. 

Each group will have about 20 minutes to research and learn about their renewable energy system. Then, you will share your knowledge with the rest of the class. This will be a casual share-out. This research will be quick and collaborative. 

Instructions

Research your selected energy source. 

• Great resource: http://www.landartgenerator.org/LAGI-FieldGuideRenewableEnergy-ed2.pdf
• Another great resource (with more resources at the bottom): United Nations: Renewable Energies
• There are a few high-quality videos linked in the Resources tab above.

Next, in your groups, you will make a poster of your energy system to share out to the class. On a larger piece of paper (at least 11 X17), make a poster that includes:

•  3 key takeaways (useful information, things you didn't know before).
• A sketch or diagram of how the system works, describing how the energy source works. Try to make your drawing clearly convey the process of energy generation and transmission. Use arrows, labels, and colors to add to your sketch.

Share your poster with the class.  Then, together, reflect:  How does this research inform your ideas about the future of transit and personalized mobility? What are you most excited about for the future of transit? Are there opportunities you think should be explored? 

Deliverables

Post your an image of your poster in the Responses tab above. 

zachs car