Exploring Hydroponics with Design Thinking

Our 7th graders recently completed a three-week Engineering Design Intersession (EDI).  Students interviewed school staff and peers to identify design challenges around campus and then chose which problem they could work in teams to solve. This Intersession took place in the BCS FabLab, so students had access to a variety of technology including 3D printers, laser cutters, design programs (i.e. TinkerCad) as well as power and hand tools.

BCS MakerSpace teacher Mick Coleman wanted to develop a hydroponics system that would allow him to grow plants in a space-efficient manner in his classroom.  Our 7th grade guest bloggers, Andy, Caleb, Naomi, and Noah, describe how they approached this challenge:

Please define the problem you were given and your proposed solution.

(Naomi) Our given prompt for our EDI 'Future Farm' project was that Mr. Coleman needs a hydroponics table, that water can flow through, for the MakerSpace on the BCS South campus. Using the Engineering Design Process, we first interviewed Mr. Coleman to gain his perspective and needs in order for our group to make a solution that would fit to his necessities. Mr. Coleman wanted to have a vertical table that he could hang lights on and one that he won't have to bend down, so our group created a prototype that suited what he wanted. Our solution was to create a taller vertical table with a frame and a top so lights could hang from them by a clip.

Can you describe the Ideating and Prototyping process?

(Caleb) The Ideating and Prototyping process took up a lot of our EDI time. We changed our design multiple times to fit Mr. Coleman’s requirements. This step in our EDI project made us more empathetic to Mr. Coleman’s desires for the hydroponics system. This was also the step where we encountered one of our major difficulties: cooperating. One of my teammates was very uncooperative because he/she disagreed with basically everything the rest of our group wanted. Eventually, this worked out, but the other three members in our group had to do most of the planning by themselves. I think the prototyping process was very useful in getting our ideas out; however, I would have liked more time to make a more detailed rapid prototype.

What did you learn during the testing phase?  How did that impact your final design?

(Noah) During the Testing phase of the project, we tried out our different ideas in the form of a physical model (prototype) as well as a SketchUp model. Afterwards, we would troubleshoot and redesign based on what we found out. Changes we made as a result included:

1. We had to change the design from being a layered cabinet to being completely PVC
2. We changed the PVC design to a wooden one in the shape of the PVC to be more aesthetically pleasing
3. We gutted out all of the wood to make a frame because it would be easier to build and cheaper on the budget
4. We had to put planks underneath our table to keep it from sagging
5. We changed our one-sided table idea to a two-sided table idea

All of these changes led to the final design of the 'Hydro Grow'.


What were the challenges you faced in your group and as a group?  How did you resolve them?

(Andy) During Intersession, one of the challenges we faced, especially in the beginning, was working together effectively. We resolved this challenge by figuring out our individual skills and created roles for everybody based on their individual skills.

What do you think was the most valuable thing you learned during the Engineering Design Intersession?

(Andy) I think the most valuable thing I learned in EDI was how to cooperate. One of the many challenges our group had, and certainly one of the biggest, was to work well together. After over five hours together every day during the first week of EDI, it was hard to cooperate.

(Naomi) I feel like the most valuable thing I learned during EDI was that ideating was a very important step in our group's process. When we met a problem, such as how we couldn’t get our project through the door, we would iterate on our design until we solved the issues.

The "HydroGrow" team presents about their design to visitors

The Hydroponics Team project is a wonderful example of how students at BCS are honing their 21st century skills: working through problems, using the design thinking process to collaborate, iterate, prototype, and evaluate in order to develop creative and innovative solutions.

BCS Middle School 8th Grade “Design Challenge” Intersession

Imagine an environmentally sustainable school that includes a roof top garden where crops are harvested for school lunch, a grey water system to flush toilets, and solar panels that harness the sun’s energy for electricity. Picture buildings with expansive windows that invite in an abundance of natural light, moveable walls to create multi-purpose educational spaces, interactive furniture that encourages high energy students to focus, and ramps leading to every classroom to accommodate students and staff with disabilities.

You would expect this utopian learning environment to be the work of an experienced architectural design firm, but these are the innovative features Bullis Charter School eighth graders incorporated into their school designs during their recently completed “Design Challenge” Intersession. For three weeks,
students worked in small groups to develop comprehensive “School of the Future” designs. They were instructed to use green design elements, to incorporate educational philosophy, and to leverage community connections. Students interviewed various
experts in the fields of architecture, interior design, and education, and visited a zero-waste home in Palo Alto. Upon the completion of the Intersession, these same experts sat on a panel to hear the students’ presentations, look over their models, provide constructive feedback, and select the most innovative school design. The winning group will submit their digital designs, laser-cut models, presentations, and essays about their design to a competition called SchoolsNEXT, run by the Association for Learning Environments. Last year, the winning BCS team advanced all the way to the final round of this international competition.


"Eighth graders are at an age when they are forming strong opinions about how society should function," says eighth grade teacher Rebecca Witmer. "Creating the ideal school engages them because they enjoy critically examining school, breaking down institutions as they currently know them, and designing a place where they want to spend their time."


This year, the students were tasked with the special focus to create a campus that would meet the needs of underserved students, who make up one in five children in our larger community. The students mapped out areas of poverty in the Bay Area and studied struggling school districts. Students discovered that not everyone learns in the same way and that some students have different needs, whether physical or mental. Empathy-building is a critical element in the design thinking process, and conducting this research opened the students’ eyes to different learning styles as well as to the experiences of others.

The Design Challenge Intersession supports the development of 21st century skills, including critical thinking, creativity, time management and perseverance. Students are challenged to work collaboratively in groups and produce concrete results in a short time frame. When they
enter the classroom or the Fablab, they know what they need to do and on which aspect of their project they need to focus. The students conquered a variety of real world challenges, such as technical difficulties, and yet every group met the tight deadline. BCS eighth grader, Kat, learned something powerful about her own capabilities, “It really is possible to get this done in three weeks and it was amazing to see it all come together in the end.”

Bullis Charter Middle School Intersessions

Intersessions are one of the most unique tenets of the BCS middle school program. During these three-week sessions, students move beyond the classroom and engage in active learning in the real world. Students develop real life skills as they work through problems, helping them to become well-rounded students with the 21st century abilities needed to be successful in university and in the modern workplace.

For three weeks each trimester, the daily schedule is suspended while students engage in an extended inquiry process of an assigned focus area. Projects are organized around a driving question, requiring students to investigate, collaborate, design, and construct actual solutions to real-life problems. 21st century skills are more than academic, and hands-on Intersessions provide students the opportunity to practice and refine important ‘life’ skills such as empathy, creativity, rationality, determination, and resourcefulness.

The first seventh grade Intersession combines sewing, cooking, and woodworking. While not typical middle school content, these pursuits integrate math, design, problem solving, and fine motor skills.  “At BCS, we expose all, not just some, of our students to the arts, to making, to taking risks, and to trying things that they might not attempt to learn on their own,” explains Lisa Stone, a BCS seventh grade teacher.

In the second seventh grade Intersession, students tackle Engineering & Design in the school’s

FabLab, where they have access to a variety of technology and tools including 3D printers, laser cutters, design programs, power drills and more. As part of this intersession, students interview staff members and peers to learn more about real problems found in the school. They then choose which issue they want to work on and begin to devise solutions for this problem.  Solving a problem at this level encourages students to use their critical thinking skills and to continuously plan and reevaluate, as they tackle different issues that arise along way. For example, one group of students was tasked with how to transport rolling backpacks across wood chips. As a solution, the students designed and built a “backpack gondola.” These projects are what Intersessions are all about: finding solutions and working through problems, just as one does in real life.

For their third and final Intersession, seventh graders are asked to stage a 100% student-led performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In addition to learning Shakespearean history and dialogue while performing the play, the students serve as the directors, casting crew, and light and sound engineers. They also build upon their previous Intersessions by sewing the costumes and designing and constructing the sets. Teachers are on-hand as advisors only and are part of the audience when the students perform their production on a professional stage at the Bus Barn Theater in Los Altos.

“Intersessions reinforce the students’ full year studies”, explains Ms. Stone. “At BCS, we focus on the interconnectedness of subject matter and integration. Even though students aren't going to their "regular classes" during this time, they can see that there are components of math, writing, and science in constructing a device to solve a problem. Intersessions help students understand the interconnectedness between the subjects.”

In addition to reinforcing regular studies, Intersessions extend the learning of skills and concepts through authentic, real-world applications.  For example, seventh graders learn composition in weekly music classes and are then required to score The Midsummer Night’s Dream production during Intersession.  Eight graders learn coding as part of the core curriculum and then apply those skills when designing educational apps at Intersession.  Students are encouraged to consult with industry experts as they seek to refine and improve their outcomes, and these same experts often provide feedback at the end of a project.

Intersessions are a critical part of the BCS curriculum. They offer the middle school students the opportunity to gain exposure, interact with experts and audiences, and be accountable for their ideas and projects. 



BCS Founding Principal/Superintendent Wanny Hersey explains the thinking behind these authentic learning opportunities, “We believe that in creating connections, relevance and meaning are discovered, and the rate of retention improves dramatically. Our students are empowered to design and lead their own education, thereby developing adult leaders with the ability to thrive in an ever-changing world.”

Intersessions are Underway at BCI!

Seventh and eighth graders started their first round of intersessions, and the excitement from the students is palpable on the BCI campus!  

Intersessions are a unique tenant of the middle school program at BCS -  regular instruction (with the exception of math) is suspended for three weeks, allowing students and staff to take a deep dive into a particular area of study.  

Students participate in three 3-week intersessions during the year, designed to engage students and maximize their learning in a real world environment.

Students plant bamboo at Panda Valley

Here’s a look at what the two grade levels are engaged in these next few weeks:

Seventh Grade: Engineering and Design Challenge

• Students are tasked with solving a real world problems ranging from how to stop the crows from digging through trash cans near the lunch tables at BCI to designing a landing pod and lunar buggy for space exploration

• Seventh graders are using the FabLab@BCS and guidance from our FabLab Director David Malpica and FabLab Assistant Nafiisah Renshaw to design, prototype, test and finalize their models

Click here to see what one student made in woodworking!

 

Seventh Grade: Cooking/Woodworking/Sewing

• Students rotate through three workshop style classes in cooking, woodworking, and sewing,  throughout the day. These classes are led by experts in their respective fields

• All students complete a finished product by the end of the intersession in each class, and students use these skills again at the end of the year when they put on a performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in which students are responsible for creating everything including the set design (woodworking) and costumes (sewing), and and refreshments (cooking)

Eighth Grade: Civic Responsibility, Animal Enrichment, Organic Gardening

• Students began by participating in a design thinking challenge to create animal enrichment devices for moon bears - an endangered species in China that are often inhumanely treated and hunted for their body parts

• Students traveling to China will take these designs to Animals Asia moon bear sanctuary and work with Animals Asia staff to implement them. Students will record the results and use their experiences to increase awareness about moon bears upon their return. They will work collaboratively with the students who studied animal enrichment at Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose.

• Students also engaged in learning about organic gardening and sustainable agriculture practices by meeting with various groups in the community, and also taught BCS second graders about organic gardening

• Students will regenerate the BCI garden with donations from Orchard Supply Hardware to be able to grow organic food to donate to Mountain View CSA

Eighth graders teach BCS second graders about organic gardening