WEEK 3 - Design Brief and Games online

In this weeks workshop we explored a design brief and online games.

Design Brief

This lesson required us to produce a design brief.
Our attempt

Problem to be solved:
Design a frog that jumps using the materials provided

Resources (Materials provided):
Picture of frog
Cardboard
Sticky tape
Rubber band

Investigate/Design:
Ideas
Stick the frog to the cardboard for more weight.
Use cardboard as a springboard.
Use the rubber band as a slingshot and propel the frog.

Produce:
Stick rubber band to frog. Stick sticky tape to the frog to increase weight of frog.
Use the rubber band as a sling shot

Evaluation:
Frog jumps in a forward motion.
Could have put more sticky tape on the frog to get more weight and therefore the frog would have been propelled further.

The use of design briefs was also expored with Peter Hope in our workshop, where we had to design a bridge using A4 paper. The bridge had to support the weight of a toy car. Here we were also introduced to the idea that there is no right or wrong answer, as there will be a variety of ways that the problem can be resolved. Just be creative.

A similar activity could be to develop a crane using lego, where students are required to design a working crane that can lift a golf ball.

Another could be the development of a boat that can travel a certain distance with the use of windpower (fan). The materials that are used to design the boat can be negotiated by the class as a whole. That way the material list is specific and does not get out of control. Another suggestion is the development at school only, so that students are designing the boats and not the parents. Having a boat race at the end makes it fun whilst also determining the distance travelled.

It also a good idea to have students share their creations even if they were not successful.

Online Games

For this activity we explored the concept of online games in the classroom using the website: www.quia.com/web

This is a fantastic resource for all teachers, as it provides online activities that will engage students, whilst also incorporating technology into the classroom. Teachers are able to create their own games or quizzes that are based on their own classroom learning content. Or they are able to tap into the large bank of shared activities that are relevant and have been created by other account users. A great way to extend the learning of your classroom, for we all know that students love games and this site has 16 different template designs of games and quizzes. It also takes a lot of the hard work out of it as you can modify it to your needs.

I have even used the quizzes and crosswords as a form of assessment. Students thoroughly enjoyed completing the activities in the integrated studies unit and their literacy rotations, and i was able to determine their level of understanding and comprehension.
Other fantastic websites are:
http://www.crosswordpuzzlegames.com/
http://www.wordfinds.net/