Portfolio

Battle-of-the-Classes Design Competition7th and 8th grade students collectively chose something that is "old and familiar" that would benefit from a redesign. Students researched the item (online, talking to the "experts" who use the item regularly, etc.), and brainstormed nearly one hundred ways to redesign the item before building their solution by hand. Students immersed themselves in the Engineering Design Process throughout the entire competition.

Dream House Project
Students first explored Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" house in western Pennslyvania. They then learned about the traits of more than ten architectural styles dating back hundreds of years to the present. Next, they sketched their dream houses on paper before creating more formal elevation and aerial drawings. Finally, they created their dream house in Tinkercad! Students were also encouraged to consider and include sustainable elements to create a home that is energy efficient, reduces their carbon footprint, and has the ability to live "off-the-grid."

Design a Sustainable + Smart City
Students first learned about careers in urban planning and urban design. Then, they discovered how sustainability and smart slements differentiates cities around the globe and were challenged to integrate some of these elements in their city. After multiple sketches, students designed an aerial view of their city by hand. Students then saw their city transform into a 3D world via Tinkercad.

+ Fruit
Students selected a piece of fruit and photographed it two ways: 1) whole and 2) sliced in half. Then they created four hand drawings: 1) whole fruit, 2) whole fruit zoomed in, 3) cross-section, and 4) cross-section zoomed in. Hand drawing is one of the most important skills of a designer. Click here to see more!

+ House
Students were given a partial image of a house / building and determined if they think the house is symmetrical or asymmetrical in real life. Then, they completed the drawing—doing their best to match the style and design of the original drawing the best they could.

+ School
Students spent a couple periods outside and drew the exterior elevation of the school building. Coming soon!