Inventive Thinking Update

The ELPers have been busy!

Our Inventive Thinking unit is off to a rollicking start. The kids began the unit with an invention chronology challenge. They were given 18 inventions and asked to order them from oldest to newest as best they could. I then revealed the real order, which provided for plenty of surprises (like, for instance, the fact that the submarine was invented more than 100 years prior to the ballpoint pen). A caveat here is that many inventions are difficult to peg for actual dates of invention, especially the older ones that predate governmental patent offices. Some debate rages about some of the dates, though that provided for some good discussion, too. This activity help set the compass for us in the work we'll do in the unit, as we will look at inventing, but also historical inventors and their creations.

The first inventive challenge was in the form of some hovercraft construction. We talked about the criteria for what constitutes a hovercraft: hands-free floating, sustained floating, and so on. The kids were given one plastic plate, one empty film canister, a wad of poster putty, and a balloon for their work. It looked like this once built:

My expectations were differentiated according to grade level (like with how many hints I gave at the outset, and with how stringent I was in approving of designs), though all the kids had a similar progression:

1. Use materials to draw up plans.
2. Present plans to me.
3. Back to the drawing board if need be.
4. Build from design after approval.
5. Evaluate results and talk variables.

Variables included things like test surface, size of balloon, shape of balloon, size of holes in plate and film canister, number of holes in plate and film canister, and many more. We can't realistically test all of these, but they will help guide our thinking when we return to this later for a look at improving through redesign.

As a culminating activity, we watched some segments from The Discovery Channel's MythBusters. There is an archived episode in which the crew builds various versions of a hovercraft to test. The designs, while more advanced, had striking similarities to our own. It was neat to see our ideas on a larger, more expensive scale.

The kids have since moved into looking more closely at inventions around them, some that are used every day, and some that have more historical significance. We talked about the various inventions that have come about to serve needs and wants, which has led to discussions about motivations for inventing. We will soon delve much more fully into a few inventions and their broader social impacts, such as the impact of the cotton gin's invention on southern cotton farmers, northern textile factory owners, and slaves.

The "pause" button has been hit with all of this momentarily, as my time has been spent doing yearly ELP screening at my various buildings. April is always a month for this, and ELP alterations/cancellations result. Things get back to normal at the end of the month, and we will pick right up where we left off, with an eye toward accomplishing as much as we can with what remains of the school year (which is not much!).

Check back!

Futures Update

The kids have been busy wrapping up our studies of the future, and we have recently begun work on our final project.

The project will have the kids writing their own Scenario Forecasts, a futurist tool we recently explored in class.  Scenario Forecasts are used to articulate future probabilities/possibilities about a central issue. Many science-fiction stories can be considered Scenario Forecasts, as can more deliberate examples, each of which we took a look at in class. Issues explored by futurists with their forecasts include education, transportation, technology, work, leisure, and countless others.

The kids will use the future invention they have spent time studying as their central issue. They are to imagine a future in which this invention has become commonplace. They are to include a healthy dose of the “probable” in their forecasts, with splashes of “possible” thrown in for fun. They can take any approach they want, from humorous to more earnest looks at the future they envision. 

We’ll keep you informed as we go about how they are coming along. Right now, the kids have a first draft due to me by Wednesday, January 26th. We will soon be talking about how we want to share these when they are done, and will be looking at some creative ways of doing so. We want our audience to be more than just those kids with whom we come to ELP.

The creative floodgates have been thrown wide, and I am excited to see where these forecasts go. Check back for updates!