Written by Lucia, Year 7
On 2nd March, we took part in a design thinking challenge in which we had to design an invention that would impact the world in a positive, eco-friendly way. These inventions were created and brainstormed through various different phases that not only made us realise just how terrible things like global warming and climate change are actually impacting our own society and how the beauty of the nature that surrounds us is slowly declining, but also let us learn new skills that we could utilise in other projects and endeavours in the future.
The first stage that we took part in was the “empathy” portion. In this section we researched the causes and effects of different types of climate change and put them onto a giant fact-filled mind map. This extended our understanding of issues that plague our earth, such as plastic pollution in our seas and oceans (which is what my group covered). Did you know that the average human consumes about a credit card’s worth of plastic every week!
Next, was the “ideation” phase, where we actually started brainstorming what our invention could come to be and the mechanics involved. Our group came up with a contraption dubbed “The GreenBOT 10000”. The Greenbot (theoretically) works by sucking in plastic, using a mini suction device. The plastic from the ocean gets caught in a net, (don’t worry about fish, the GreenBOT has an intelligent computer inside it, and can tell the difference between fish and plastic!) It also filters water. When the water passes through the net, it goes through a series of filters, and is then let out through a tube so all microplastics would get filtered. It uses hydropower from the water itself as a power source. It has a propeller at the back, which moves it along the bed of the body of water. When the GreenBOT is full, it floats to the surface by using the propeller attached, and is then emptied, then the entire cycle starts again. The plastic would be used to make branded stationary and water bottles.
The penultimate phase (and frankly the most fun) was the prototype phase. We constructed a model of what we think the “GreenBOT” would look like using recycled materials, to be sustainable.
Finally was the “Evaluation” phase in which we reflected on the entire day as a whole and showcased our projects to one another while also giving each other feedback. Some things that I’ve learned from this day were new tactics for researching, many facts about climate change and pollution in the ocean, and how to work quickly and efficiently as a team. And since our groups were randomised, it gave everyone a chance to work with people who they wouldn’t normally choose, which was nice as it opened an opportunity to make new friends and see others’ strengths in action. When reflecting on the day we thought about something that our team did really well, (working quickly and efficiently to harvest information and facts) something we could improve on in the future if we did a similar task (trying to include everyone all of the time and incorporate all of their ideas as well), and lastly, what our next steps would be if our hypothetical project came to life. We would probably find a localised, sustainable producer that would produce a few prototypes that we could actually test, and then pitch the product to some larger executives.