Hat Storage
Finished bags
Corridor chaos
Hat brim.Diagram
Hat diagram. Crown
Engineer assists a student
Evaluation by our engineer
The Senior Syndicate
Room 8
Teacher: Judy Harrison
Room 8 worked with engineer Peter Free from MWH (NZ) Ltd.
Stage 1
The intention of this stage was for the children to define the problem and to begin to understand the technological principles of durability, functionality and aesthetics in the context of the development of the hat storage system.
Before Mr Free's visit we began to write a brief taking into account that:
- we don't want hats to get lost
- we don't want to take the wrong hats
- we want to eliminate the confusion and congestion when trying to get hats from pegs in the corridor
To find out how others stored hats we sent faxes to the local Fire Station, Alexander's Construction Company, Hawke's Bay Network Ltd.
Stage 2
During this stage it was important to develop the children's understanding of the properties of the school hat and the effect this would have on the design of the storage system. We looked at the properties of the hat, measured it and determined if it could be reduced, rolled or flattened.
Stage 3
In stage 3 we further defined our brief by identifying what the storage unit should do. What would a suitable storage unit look like? Should all the hats be together or stored separately? Where should the storage unit be – in the classroom, the cloak bay or somewhere else? Should it be up high or down low?
Stage 4
The children brainstormed some solutions and considered what a storage solution might look like, how it would work, whether it could be made and is it practical. After a review of all of the suggestions the students combined the best ideas together to come up with something that fitted all criteria. They sketched designs and voted on which system would be the best.
Stage 5
This stage involved the students in learning to draw an object and how to do dimensional diagrams. Incorporated was some graphic design and the students went on to draw the detailed design.
Stage 6
The children constructed prototypes and learned about the uses of various materials and types of fastenings. They reflected on their efforts and then considered ways to improve their hat storage system.
Stage 7
The final piece of work was to complete a hat storage system to our design.
Teacher's Comments
As the children are in an environment where they are encouraged and can take risks, this technology programme has been a great success and the children have (through research, discussion and hands on activities) produced a system for storing hats.
After the problem was identified our engineer, Peter Free guided the children through various stages. As the programme progressed it was good to see the co-operation in group work.
Brainstorming at each stage was important and children were keen to revisit previous stages to identify and explain the links between each stage. Initially the children's ideas were a bit far-fetched but when they thought about the practical and physical possibilities they developed skills and knowledge.
Comments from the children
- It has been fun having Mr Free, our Engineer
- Mr Free guided us through the process
- Mr Free helped us plan our ideas
- He provided some of our materials
- We learnt lots
- He made us think. Throughout the unit we had fun.
- All our hard work was paid off because we can use some of our ideas in other units
- He made it exciting
- He made us feel proud of what we could achieve
- We put heaps of thought into what we did
- It was good to see the finished product
- It would be good to do something like this again.
The children and I certainly valued the input from our engineer.
Engineer's Comments
I found the Neighbourhood Engineering process interesting and fun. I found I was able to connect well with the class and I believe they responded well to the structured thinking process that Judy Harrison and I taught to the kids. From a career development point of view I found I was able to extend an engineering/scientific thought process to a simple problem-solving exercise in an area of technology in which I have not studied or worked in before.
The Planning Phase
Diary (click to enlarge)
Ideas for storage (click to enlarge)
Poster (click to enlarge)
Poster (click to enlarge)
