End of the Design Activity

We are reaching the end of the first Design Activity.We will be starting the second one after Easter. All the group work is represented on their wikis at www.wikispaces.com. Each student is also a member of the Sample7Tech Wiki which gives them explicit instructions on what they are supposed to do on each page of their own wiki.


They should now be working on page 5. Best Solution. They were told to bring materials to their last class to work on their prototype. They have been told (and they were told to write it on the homework board of their classrooms) that they have to have their prototype finished by next class. If they are able to take photographs during construction, that would be great, but they only have to have a picture of their completed prototype for their wiki page. Anything else is gravy! If they are unable to do that outside of class, we will take the picture and post it to the wiki first thing next class.


Their next tech class will be presentation preparation. Each group will have to present their wiki and their final solution (prototype) to the class. Here are the instructions as they appear on page 6. Evaluation & Presentation on the Sample7Tech Wiki:

We will not have time to do a proper evaluation of your prototype and finish this project by the Easter break, so you will not have to write an essay for this project (you will for your next one!!). Use this page to plan your presentation. Make jot notes about who will cover each part of the presentation. If you want to use actual notes for your presentation, you will have to write them out, because you must not show us this page during your presentation.

Your presentation to the class must take them through your wiki to your best solution. Do not read your wiki to the class!Summarize what you did for each step and how you decided on your best solution. Show the class your prototype and how it works. Then, evaluate your prototype for the class using the questions below as a guide. Tell them what you would do differently if you had more time.

1. How well does it meet the criteria outlined in the design brief?
2. What does it do well?
3. How could it be improved?
4. What would you do differently if you had more time and unlimited access to the ideal materials.

Be honest and forthcoming with both the good points and the flaws. A good designer admits the shortcomings of their design and, if they have time, would work on overcoming them.

Your presentation should be about 3-4 minutes long.
Mr. Forsey's class will prepare on Monday, March 26 and present on Friday, March 30.
Mrs. Stuckey's class will prepare on Monday, April 2 and present on Wednesday, April 4. 

Report Card #2

Preparations for the second report card are underway. Here is a list of assignments – blog posts and wikis – that we have completed since the first report card:

On the 7F and 7S blog

1. An example of a communication system
2. A design brief for the compost bin lid problem
3. A list of questions they need to find answers to in order to design a new compost bin lid
4. Answers to those questions and the sources of those answers
5. An isometric drawing of the tub with the lid including all the lines they learned about - visible lines, hidden lines, and dimension lines
6. 4 journal entries describing what work their group did during that class and an evaluation of how their group is working

On the wiki

1. An introduction page telling the reader a little about their group and a little about the problem they are working on.
2. A Possible Solutions page (or they may have broken it down into several pages with a possible solution on each page) that includes a drawing of the possible solution and a brief written description of it. There must be at least 3 sensible possible solutions
3. A Criteria List page complete with a design brief and a list of 8-10 questions/statements that they will use to rank their possible solutions.

All of this work should be complete by now. If they have some work to do to catch up and would like a grade other than 0 to show up on their report card for that work, make sure it is posted to the blog or the wiki NO LATER THAN SATURDAY, MARCH 10. Any work not submitted by then will receive a score of 0. They may submit it later than that, and it will be graded and included on their final report card, but if they don’t want a 0 dragging down their average on this one, they must submit all late work by MARCH 10th.