21 March 2024
Project overview
We challenge our oldest students to apply all they have learned about sustainability and impact entrepreneurship throughout this academic year into one final, demanding, real-world project.
In order to do this, learners need to understand user needs and sustainable design concepts and flex their entrepreneurial muscles - collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Project timeline
Our students started this term by studying three different designs of an object and tried to answer the question: which one is the best? They also explored some ‘bad’ product designs and found that they are quite frequently occurring around us…
Then, they chose 9 sustainable design principles (SDPs) to focus on and apply in their products:
Dematerialization
Recyclability
Repairability
Reusability
Disassembly
Longevity
Efficiency
Modularity
Influence
Watching documentaries and visiting museums helped learners revise the concept of life cycle analyses. They were also poked to investigate object form and function by prompting questions: Why they wanted to redesign the object? How they were doing it? How it improved the product?
After finding commonalities between interests across the class, students formed groups to make upcycled clothes, handmade skateboard deck, family card game, comic book, bedside cabinet with pet bed, repaired indoor growing station. They also decided which SDPs they will apply while making their products. Dematerialisation, recyclability, and repairability are all useful considerations.
Besides working on their product sketches, students identified their customer base and created questionnaire to ask real consumers in the West End shopping mall about the products they are developing. After analysing data from their market research, they moved on to write a clear step-by-step making plan with tools, needed materials and estimated budget.
As they moved to Making phase, students started to grasp the challenges of physically constructing something. The teams are supported by the design and making expertise of the Makerspace team, helping students overcome problems and streamline the making process. Working through a model is the best way to troubleshoot and build valuable skills, but it also triggers the most common issue plaguing humanity: conflict. It's a part of life, though. And we are proud to say our students has learned to fairly manage work, communication, expectations, and accountability to continue meaningful progress in their project.
Product prototype feedback expo
After months of effort, our students collated all their work into a product pitch and presented their sustainable product prototypes to the whole school community. Gaining valuable feedback from this expo, they will move on to the Re-do phase of our Dream to Reality process. Next term, our students will mass-produce, brand, market, and sell their products. Stay tuned!
