Educator Resources

Two fifty-minute class periods

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Triennial: Why Design Now? explores different design categories through the eyes of sustainable innovation. The featured projects in the Health category allow previously unable groups of the population to take part in everyday activities.  These sustainable designs also help create a cleaner environment, therefore increasing the value of daily life. In this lesson, students will gather information on health innovations presented in the exhibition and create a medical survival bag to respond to health challenges. These bags will be representative of the Health designs.

Thinking & Reasoning

Standard 5. Applies basic trouble-shooting and problem-solving techniques

Geography

Standard 8. Level III. Understands the characteristics of ecosystems on Earth's surface
4. Knows changes that have occurred over time in ecosystems in the local region (e.g., natural wetlands on a flood plain being replaced by farms, farmlands on a flood plain being replaced by housing developments) 

Visual Arts

Standard 2. Level II. Knows how to use structures and functions of arts

1. Knows the difference among visual characteristics (color, texture) and purposes of art (i.e., convey ideas)

Students will:

• explore the National Design Triennial: Why Design Now? to learn about sustainable health design

• examine the inter-relationships among health, environment, and society

• analyze the benefits of new and productive innovations
• conduct research to gather data
• create a material kit that responds to given challenges

Objects in the Cooper-Hewitt's National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Adaptive Eyeglasses. Joshua Silver, Adaptive Eyecare Ltd. and Centre for Vision in the Developing World. United Kingdom.
  

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Armadillo Body Armor and Facemask. Leif Steven Verdu Isachsen, KODE Design, manufactured by ROFI Industrier for Norwegian FORM Foundation through Design Without Borders, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Norwegian People’s Aid. Norway and Italy.

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Bodyweight Support Assist. Fundamental Technology Research Center, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Japan.

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Car-parts Incubator. Timothy Prestero, Design that Matters, Inc. U.S. and Nepal.

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Eco-Machine at the Omega Center for Sustainable Living. John Todd Ecological Design, with Brad Clark, Laura Lesniewski and Steve McDowell, BNIM. U.S.

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Ergon GR2 Bike Grips, NioxMino Asthma Monitor and Spot Guide Cane. Ergonomidesign, manufactured by Ergon, for RTI Sports GmbH and Aerocrine AB. Sweden and Germany.

• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->Modular Prosthetic-limb System. Stuart D. Harshbarger, Applied Physics Laboratory and Orthocare Innovations, Thomas Van Doren, HDT Engineering Services and Richard Weir, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. U.S.
  

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Ripple Effect. IDEO and Acumen Fund. U.S. and India.
  

• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->SOLVATTEN Solar Safe-water Purifier. Petra Wadström, Solvatten AB, manufactured by Mälarplast AB. Sweden.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->

• Zon Hearing Aid. Stuart Karten, Eric Olson, Paul Kirley and Dennis Schroeder, Stuart Karten Design for Starkey Laboratories, Inc. U.S

• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->www.kidshealth.org

• For this exercise, pick one object from each category (divided by function), this allows the supplies to vary between groups.

 

Tie	Soft	Stiff
Tin foil	Sponge	Q-tips
Pipe cleaners	Cotton balls	Popsicle Sticks
Rubber bands	Raffia	Paper clips
String	Balloons	Newspaper
Straws	Tissue paper	Coffee filters

 

 

• Brown paper lunch bag to hold materials

• colored pencils, markers

• mini poster board

• environment: the area in which something exists or lives

• sustainable design: the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability

• prototype: an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same type

The purpose of this activity is to provide students with an opportunity to analyze a problem and brainstorm ways to solve it.

1. Divide the class into three or four small groups.
2. Deliver supplies for medical kits
3. Distribute a challenge card to each group (ie. I’m at the beach, how do I protect myself from the sun?; I’m going hiking, what should I bring for safety?; I’m by a stream, what do I need to ensure safe water and protection?; I’ve come to the scene of an accident, how can I help the victims? )
4. Encourage the students to think about the designs in Why Design Now? and how their designs relate to sustainability.
5. Encourage students to invent creative supplies; it doesn’t actually have to be feasible, just innovative.
6. Provide time for students to share design inventions.

Each team should be asked the following during their presentations:           

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->What sustainable features does your health bag include?
• Does your bag contain appropriate supplies?
• Would your health bag be applicable to other conditions?

• Are there other sustainable ways to create similar medical supplies?

Cooper-Hewitt Educator Resource Center: Design for the Other 90%

• Allow other groups to give one medical supply innovation for each different challenge.

• Encourage the students to continue researching sustainable health activities.

• Discuss importance of both sustainable supplies and availability.