6th grade chair design with plenty of storage available!

As part of our Level Up Village course, 6th grade students have been learning about the Engineering Design Cycle.  I challenged my 6th grade technology students to put the cycle into use by designing the ideal chair for a student.   We brainstormed together problems that might need to be addressed through the chair’s design. For instance, is the chair flexible? Portable?  Comfortable?  Adaptable?  Safe?  Easy to clean, build, or move around?  Nice to look at?  I was impressed by the variety of problems students considered as they sketched their designs on paper.

6th grade chair with a rounded design.

After drawing their chairs on paper and conducting a critique with their partner, students built prototypes of their chairs using Sketchup.  Many students used a “subtractive” method, cutting away from a larger block.  Above you can see four of the finished designs.  Students approached the problem of creating a chair many different ways and found extremely creative solutions.  This week we are putting our Sketchup skills to the test as we design and assemble solar lamps.  Stay tuned!

6th grade chair design that features a hanging seat (the circles on top connect to the ceiling).