Building Background
Activity One: Introducing Design
Concepts The purpose of this activity is to
provide students with an understanding of basic design
concepts by viewing two videos.
1. Review the following
steps of the design process with your class: •
STEP ONE: Identify the problem. Brainstorm ideas. •
STEP TWO: Analyze the elements you will need to
solve the problem. • STEP THREE: Create your
design plan and presentation. • STEP FOUR:
Evaluate your design. Share your design and ask for
feedback. Discuss how you might make changes and
improvements to your design. • STEP FIVE:
Communicate. Share your design plan. 2. As a
class, watch the video entitled “ Quick Peek: Paper
Bridge Challenge” at http://ditc. missouri.
edu/designTasks/paperBridge/index. html . Ask your
students what they learned about design from this video.
3.
Watch the following video entitled “ Scrambled or
Over Easy?” and think about how you can incorporate
it into your workshop http://www. cooperhewitt.
org/EDU/av_edu. asp?v=1 . Ask your students what they
learned about design from this video.
4. Lead a class
discussion comparing the information in the two video
clips.
Activity Two: Reflecting On Design The
purpose of this activity is to help students reflect on
their understanding of the ways design is defined.
1. Ask
your students to respond to the following quotations in a
writing journal:
• “ Design is both
a verb and a noun. ”
• “ Design
allows us both to respond and invent. ” “ The
act of designing is carried out in many different ways,
from the personal choices we make when we set the table or
plant a garden, to the collective decisions made in the
marketplace or at city hall. ”
• Design
education encourages your students to see themselves as
designers in their own right as they engage in the design
process through active observation, critical discussion,
hands-on activities, visual communication and presentation,
and critique.
2. Invite students to share their responses
to each of the quotations. Compare, analyze, and discuss
students’ thoughts.
Steps for Learning
Creating a Design Workshop The purpose of this
activity is to give students an opportunity to demonstrate
what they have learned about design.
1. Divide the class
into small groups and give each group a copy of the “
Design Workshop” handout (attached). Tell the
students that they are going to create a workshop for
elementary school students to help them learn about design.
Remind the students to use the background information on
design that they learned in the first part of this two-part
lesson. 2. Have students share their design plan with the
class.