Tag: design

Architecture in Year 11

Post author By Andrew
Post date December 14, 2021

Architecture in Year 11 Real-life Projects With Impact

I initiated the Year 11 Architecture unit as a way for students to build upon the technical and creative skills we have developed over the course of the previous stages of our Technology and STEM programs, but to also to give students a real-world project wherein they would be introduced to working professionals who can give them insight and perspectives we can’t.

In this project students are required to interview a full spectrum of stakeholders for the design challenge we are undertaking that year. They research existing solutions and seek out inspiration for new ones, then develop those ideas further. For skill-building, students study graphical modeling for architecture, learn to use Finite Element Analysis features within Fusion 360 to predict reactions in structures they are proposing, build scaled card architectural models, and finally present their proposed solutions back to project stakeholders. Students also present their work in two phases to guest architects, once at the graphical stage in order to gather feedback on their chosen directions for development, and once when their scaled models are approximately 70% complete, allowing them time to still make adjustments before presenting back to stakeholders.

Tags Architecture, CAD, collaboration, design, students, year 11

Projects

Animal Masks

Post author By Andrew
Post date January 12, 2020

Animal Masks Linking Art and Anthropology

This Year 9 (Grade 8) Art project was inspired by a life-long love of masks and mask culture and by a recent visit to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa. I have collected masks in my travels, and have constructed several of my own. Recently, I made two masks from cardboard – a Krampus mask based on the European tradition, and a lion mask inspired by The Lion King’s Scar character and a mask I found online. In the school project, students were asked to find a culture or mask maker who uses animals as inspiration for their designs. They then completed an artist study, found reference images, and created sketches to help them in constructing individual masks, which could be copies or extensions of what they found in their research. Following a reflection activity, final works were displayed in a four-class collection.

Learn more about the Canadian Museum of History and the First Nations of West Coast Canada at https://www.historymuseum.ca/event/grand-hall/

Tags animals, art, cardboard, design

Projects

Student Entrepreneurship

Post author By Andrew
Post date December 17, 2019

Student Entrepreneurship Research >> Design >> Sales

Founded by former DCB Head of Design, Natalie Stevens, the DCB Enterprise Fair is an opportunity for our STEM and Business Studies to pitch their big ideas the local community. Each year, our Year 10 STEM students research, design and produce products to market and sell. Our Year 11 STEM students then take on “the other side of the coin” – they are tasked with organizing the fair, including attractions, advertising, sponsors, customer flow, and a thousand other tasks they learn “on the job”.

For the 2019 Fair, I was the lead teacher organizer, and we (all) continued our growth and learning in myriad recognizable and rewarding ways.

See more write-ups about our work with student entrepreneurship here:

Header image from DCB’s Winter Edition of their public magazine.

Tags design, entrepreneurship, marketing, students

Projects

3D Design: Bobbleheads

Post author By Andrew
Post date November 25, 2019

3D Design Bobbleheads Identity and Expression

I’m super proud of this 3D design unit I created and the end products my kids produced in house. The idea of this unit was for students to look at their family history and design a 3D printed head for a bobblehead chess piece as part of a class set for an ancestry mapping company. I made the chess board to accompany the pieces and we have outside judges (including preschool kids) give blind feedback to make it even more authentic. In the first rotation of this unit my students did very well, learned a ton, and had fun doing it.

At the time of writing, the next iteration of this unit is already underway and we are all learning from past mistakes and finding ways to improve.

Tags 3D printing, design, grade 7, year 8

Projects

Marvel Flair

Post author By Andrew
Post date November 1, 2019

Marvel Flair Upgrading the Learning Environment

The idea to add some superhero flair to my classroom design space came out of a combination of being a bit of a comic geek, some free time one day after school and knowing that adding some of the more recognizable superhero and super villain logos to our otherwise plain stools would be a big hit with my students and fellow design teachers alike. I started with Captain America, and as soon as I showed it to people I knew I was going to end up with a full classroom set. Pretty quickly, students joined in, and we now have 21 unique superhero chairs and a couple others just for fun.

Students use 2D digital design software to render the logos, laser cut the stencils, and then spray paint the stool tops. The stools still age over time, adding character to the logos, and opening the door for future adjustments.

Against my better judgement I caved in and allowed a DC chair to be created recently, but that will have to stay in the next door classroom to avoid the two comic universes colliding.

Tags chairs, classroom, design, marvel, students