Page 25 - FIS World Oct 2019 Web

“The skills students gain while working through the design thinking cycle equips them to be real prob- lem-solvers, ready to go out into the real world with the skills they need to be successful in whatever field they choose,” says Duncan Watkin, Head of the Design Technology Department.
Students are gaining a problem solving mindset, which will give them the structure and format to approach any problems they face in life.
Among the many other impressive projects students have tackled using this process is an augmented re- ality sandbox for the Primary School. Although the original request was for something that could be used for sensory play, the end result is a high-tech solu- tion that goes far beyond that. What appears to be a normal wooden sandbox can be transformed into a virtual illustration of topography and water flow with the click of a switch connected to a 3D camera, laptop and projector. The 3D camera records the depth of the sand in the box and relays information to a program running on the laptop; the projector then beams colored contour lines and water images onto the sand’s surface, creating mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers.
“The sandbox allows students to learn about topog- raphy,” says Grade 11 student, Tom, who together with classmates Daniel and Nathan inherited the sandbox project from a group of Grade 8 students. “We can also see how water travels in different land-
scapes.” Daniel adds: [The sandbox] “is cool to just play around with and is hopefully inspiring to some of the younger kids who are going to take DT in an upper grade see what they can do if they continue on this path.”
There are currently a number of exciting prototypes in progress in the DT lab, but students are always on the lookout for more real-world problems that need a creative design solution. All FIS community members are invited to submit a “problem” based on a need or design flaw in existing products to: us_dt@fis.edu. “Essentially, if students can design it, they can man- ufacture it here at FIS,” says Mr. McIntosh. But more importantly, as Mr. Watkin adds, through the experi- ence, “students are gaining a problem solving mind- set, which will give them the structure and format to approach any problems they face in life.”
Ricky Donnelly FIS World Writer
What appears to be an ordinary sandbox (above), becomes
a virtual illustration of topography and water flow (below) with a click of a switch
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