Materials

The materials that accompany Sensors in a Shoebox are meant to act as helpful guides for facilitators in after-school or summer programming, as well as teachers in either informal or formal learning spaces. The curriculum is organized into modules to reflect the fluid, non-prescriptive nature of the program, as well as the non-linear nature of the design cycle (Figure 1, below) from which it is based.

Program Description:

Youth use engineering tools and practices, as well as sensor technology, to define a community concern or problem, design a solution, collect data, and report their results. At the beginning of the program, youth investigate their surrounding community of concern (e.g. school, neighborhood, local park) in order to define a problem. Once the problem has been identified and defined, youth use engineering tools, such as scoping tables, to further delineate the problem, as well as make use of sensor technology to collect data on both the existing problem and their proposed solution or intervention. Sensor data may include: air quality measurements, pedestrian use of space, as well as other points of interest. Throughout the process, youth are at the center of investigative activities and make decisions as to what data to pay particular attention to, how effective their solution may be, and next steps. At the end of the program, youth present their process and findings to peers, community stakeholders, and others as part of a final showcase. This public communication component typically marks the end of a design cycle, but if time and resources allow, youth could incorporate findings and feedback from a final presentation into further iterations of problem definition and solution development.

To access the design blueprint, click on the file below: