Friday Assignments

Congratulations, everyone — the yearbook is headed to the printer. What were a few of the last-minute changes? A change of uniform:

Today, we will settle on our PBS Kids Design Squad entry and make the supply shopping list. We will divide up into two teams: Anya, one team will be making your design; Nikita, Jay, and Erion, you three will combine your designs into one.

Each team should answer the following questions from the entry page (first answer them in a blog post; next week, we will include them when we upload our entries):

• Tell us about your team.
  (What's your team name/story? Who's on your team?)
  
• Describe your project.
  (What activity did you build big and why? How did you build it?)

If we have time, we will watch a TED video about a 14-year-old Malawian boy who built a windmill to power his family's home. Now at 24, William Kamkwamba, who spoke at TED, shares in his own words the moving tale of invention that changed his life.

Watch the Latest Episode of DESIGN SQUAD — Judy and Adam Aim for the Sky!

Engineers and designers Judy and Adam worked with Felipe, a 15-year-old pilot, to design and build a human-powered flying machine. Their efforts — the basis of last week's DESIGN SQUAD on PBS — had a  little help from NASA.

Click here to read The Hillwood Herald's coverage of Judy and Adam with DESIGN SQUAD. Both Judy and Adam came to Hillwood to be interviewed about their jobs, television shows, and challenges.

PBS Kids Create a Soda Car

This week for the Herald, I went to PBS Kids Design Squad, created an account and sketched a soda car. To create an account is free. You have to have a password and username to log in, and answer some questions like what you favorite food is.

My soda car sketch has somewhere to sit, and a steering wheel. If it was real, you would shake the soda, and twist the cap off to make it go.

I like this website because it is fun, and you have a chance to be creative. You can give stickers online to an idea you like, such as the soda car. I got on the website and started sketching, and had a blast.

To go to the website, click on this link, and have fun!

Thank You, Judy and Adam

Read more about Jude and Adam in my post today.

Questions for Adam and Judy

Next Friday, PBS Kids' DESIGN SQUAD's Judy and Adam will be visiting The Hillwood Herald. As news reporters for the blog, we'll be interviewing them about who they are, what they do, and how they came to create all these challenges for PBS Kids.org. We're also going to be able to show them all the projects we have made with their neat ideas.

Here are some questions that I will ask them:

1. Why did our hidden alarm work with 1 AA battery and none of the others did?
2. What made you two decide to create this show?
3. At any point, did you two either get so frustrated or bored that you gave up on the project?
4. What was the hardest project you two did?
5. How long has this show been running for?

On the Sly: The Hidden Buzzer

Today Alysen and I made a hidden buzzer. We tried it with one battery and it didn't work. Then we tried it with four batteries and a battery holder. At first it worked, but it had a mind of its own and was unpredictable. We decided to hide it a magazine, so that when someone touched it it would go off.

We needed a little help to make it work reliably so Graham made some changes and connected the wire with a paper clip of course -- it worked!

If you want to try the Hidden Alarm Challenge yourself, go to the PBS Kids DESIGN SQUAD web page. You can watch videos of the experiment. Then you can go to this page for instructions and the needed supplies.

As you know, Judy and Adam are coming to talk to us and see our experiments. Here are some questions I'll ask them:

1. Do you practice the experiments before you video tape them?

2. Do you make up the experiments? If not, where do you get the ideas?

3. Where do you make the experiments?

4. What did you want to be when you were little? When did you want to become engineers?

5. Do you ever get frustrated with experiments, or are they all relatively easy for you?

I can't wait to hear wait Adam and Judy talk to us about there experiments!

Pop Fly Challenge — One, Two, Three Catch!

A Challenge from Judy and Adam

Pop Fly Challenge — More PBS Kids DESIGN SQUAD Experiments

DESIGN SQUAD is made up of Judy and Adam who create challenges and see how they work out. They have challenges like the Kick Stick Challenge and the Roving the Moon Challenge.

They show more challenges on the website PBS Kids.org that are fun, but challenging. Judy and Adam are going to actually take some time out of their day to come to Hillwood, so we can interview them! We're going to be able to show them all the projects we have made with their neat ideas.

Today, Clara and I did something called a "Pop Fly Challenge." We created a device to launch ping-pong balls into the air, using: cups, duct tape, and paint stirrers. When we launched our ping-pong into the air we caught it usually every time.

For our project, we had to make a cage out of a part of one of the cups to keeps the ball in place.

Our project resembles a see-saw because when we hit one end, the ball flies up on the other. We also were able to catch our ball in a cup, much like basketball.

On PBS Kids Go there are plenty of challenges, including the Pop Fly Challenge, which we were doing this week.

Failing Buzzer — Ack!

The buzzer failed. Yes, building a working hidden buzzer is more difficult than it looks. Nikita and Zack's buzzer worked well and earlier on in our Hillwood Herald blog session, but the rest of us could not get our buzzers to work. The question now is, Why?

The tape? The batteries or the alarm? Too much aluminum or not enough. We're not sure, and we did compare our alarm set up to that of Nikita and Zack's. They looked pretty much the same, but clearly they did not work the same. Jay will be discussing the project with his dad for advice, and next Friday, we will try again.

Pop Fly Challenge

Today Alysen and I did something called the Pop Fly Challenge, from PBS Kids DESIGN SQUAD that features science and technology based projects that Judy and Adam put together.

The Pop Fly Challenge is a thing where you build a design to launch ping pong balls high enough to catch.We even caught the launched ping-pong ball in a cup.

Our launcher was a paint stirrer on top of a paper cup.The paint stirrer had a ping-pong ball on one end and nothing on the other so it looked sort of like a see-saw. At one end of the paint stirrer there was a little piece of paper. We would lean the ping pong ball on the paper then hit the other end of the paint stirrer and the ping pong ball would go flying.

At first the paint stirrer was laying on the cup when we launched it and Alysen caught it. Then we pushed the paint stirrer up a little more, it went even higher. When we finally pushed it to the highest point, the ping pong ball whacked the ceiling and I caught it.

You could try the pop fly challenge and tons of other cool experiments at the PBS Kids DESIGN SQUAD website.

On October 22nd, Adam and Judy from the Design Squad are coming in to Hillwood to talk to us and see our experiments! We will be interviewing them about their work and their experiments.

The picture above to the left is Adam and Judy's launcher. The picture to the right is mine and Alysen's launcher.

The above is a video of the Pop Fly Challenge.

Our Last Story on Adam and Judy

Students: Faryn and Camryn

This will be our last article, at least for now, on Judy and Adam. This week, you will be announcing and previewing the upcoming show on national TV.

Use the press release below, as well as information from the PBS Kids' DESIGN SQUAD website for writing your story. Remember to include links, photos, and source material. If you have time, make an Animoto video about their visit to Hillwood.



Design Squad Hits the Road with
Design Squad Nation, Premiering January 26,
2011 on PBS KIDS GO!


New Series Addresses the Need for Engineering Education by
Encouraging Kids to Dream it. Build it. Live it.
(Boston, MA, Tuesday, November 16, 2010) – Premiering Wednesday,
January 26, 2011 (check local listings), the producers of the Peabody and Emmy
Award-winning engineering and reality competition series Design Squad take their
show on the road with a new spin-off series for ‘tweens, teens, and family-viewing—
Design Squad Nation. Over 10 episodes, engineer co-hosts Judy Lee and Adam
Vollmer travel across the country and around the world, working side by side with
kids to turn their dreams into reality. Whether it is a red-carpet worthy gown for
Project Runway’s Christian Siriano, or a playground for kids in a rural village high in
Nicaragua’s northern mountains, Design Squad Nation shows that engineering isn’t
about hiding away in some lab; it’s about being active in the world, taking risks,
collaborating with interesting people, and using science, math, and technology to
solve real problems.


Design Squad Nation takes a kid’s passion, combines it with engineering, and shows
how to create an array of engineering feats—a cake that is part delicious, part
electronic, and part mad scientist for the cast party of Young Frankenstein: The
Musical; a pedal-powered bike organ; a human-powered flying machine, and more.
Wish you could help the world conserve water? Have a dream of an
invention that can improve someone’s life? Design Squad Nation shows kids
that if they can dream it, they can build it.


In the series premiere, “Apache Skateboarders,” Judy and Adam team up with
Ronnie—a 17-year-old skateboarder from the White Mountain Apache Reservation in
Whiteriver, Arizona to build a skateboarding street course. Engineered to be modular,
durable, and weather-resistant, the skate park includes a pyramid deck, hubbas
(ledges to grind on), and “The Wave” (an angled grind box). With the help of Design
Squad Nation, Ronnie and his friends create a skate park of their dreams.


“More than a TV show, and more than a website, Design Squad Nation is a growing
community built around the belief that with creative problem-solving and engineering,
any kid can make a difference,” says Executive Producer Marisa Wolsky. “Through a
network of more than 5,000 engineering and education partners around the country,
we are working to make this community bigger and stronger, inspiring a new
generation of engineers to dream big and change the world.”


“Kids will see Design Squad Nation and be absolutely amazed at all of the different
ways that engineering can be a part of their world,” says co-host Adam Vollmer. Adds
co-host Judy Lee, “We hope the show and website will get kids thinking about what
sorts of problems and challenges they would like to solve, and to see engineering as
a way to have fun while innovating for the future.”


Design Squad Nation builds on Design Squad’s mission to increase student’s
knowledge of engineering and to improve the public image of engineering, especially
among girls and minorities. The project is a direct response to the critical societal
need to attract more students to engineering and technology studies and careers.
From Design Squad to Design Squad Nation


A reality competition show that was launched in 2007 by the producers of Zoom and
FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman, Design Squad had the goal of getting viewers excited
about engineering. It worked. After researching the impact of the TV series, website,
and educator’s guide, an independent evaluator found a significant jump in young
people’s learning and a uniformly positive, enthusiastic response from viewers,
educators, and kids. Design Squad aired for three seasons and was hosted by Nate
Ball.


Shifting away from the reality competition format of Design Squad, the Design Squad
Nation spin-off takes the engineering and building fun of the original series and
brings it directly to kids around the country and the globe. From conception to
finished product, Design Squad Nation combines engineering know-how with kids’
passions to create amazing things that improve people’s lives.
Design Squad Nation Online at pbskidsgo.org/designsquadnation
The Design Squad Nation website is a destination for creative ‘tweens and teens,
promoting the message: You are creative and can solve problems. You can make
things that help people. We want you to join the Design Squad Nation. Let's dream
big. Let's build something together.


On the site, kids can work alongside co-hosts Judy Lee and Adam Vollmer, posting
real-life solutions to real-life problems and responding to challenges from the show
by sketching and building their own prototypes. The Design Squad Nation Blog
features inspiring engineering and DIY content from across the Web. The blog will
engage with the Design Squad Nation community directly by including calls to action,
how-to challenges, aspirational examples of kid-made content on the site, and firstperson
video and messages from Judy and Adam—sharing both the fun and the
failures that are a part of the design process. Already, more than 12,000 kids are
engaged, actively creating and sharing content in our online community. Design
Squad Nation invites the next generation of great thinkers to get involved at
pbskidsgo.org/designsquadnation. Viewers also can follow Design Squad Nation on
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DesignSquadNation and on Twitter at
twitter.com/designsquadnation.


About Co-Hosts Judy Lee and Adam Vollmer
Directing the action of Design Squad Nation are mechanical engineers Judy Lee and
Adam Vollmer.


As a child growing up in Cary, North Carolina, Judy loved taking things apart to see
how they work. With the support of her family (her dad is a civil engineer), that love
eventually led to a mechanical engineering degree at North Carolina State University.
After college, Judy harnessed her engineering skills on a wide range of projects—from
designing children’s toys to creating medical devices to providing clean water to
slums in Kenya to testing and destroying products to ensure their safety. Prior to her
work on Design Squad Nation, Judy was profiled on WGBH’s Engineer Your Life and
will appear in an upcoming segment of NOVA’s Secret Life of Scientists and
Engineers Web series. Judy now works at her dream job as a product designer at
IDEO, an international design and innovation firm in Palo Alto, CA. When she’s not onair
brainstorming and building, Judy can be found in San Francisco remodeling her
new home, growing fresh fruits and veggies in her garden, riding a big wheel down
the nation’s windiest street, or playing with her pug, Rosie.


Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Adam wanted to be an astronaut, a LEGO engineer
(before he knew what an engineer was), or…a dinosaur hunter. Thanks to a BS in
mechanical engineering at Stanford and a MS at MIT, Adam has been able to do
most of these things and more. “I played with LEGOs all the way up through grad
school. I worked with NASA during the filming of Design Squad Nation. But I’m still on
the lookout for dinosaurs. I hope to find one soon.” Adam is currently a mechanical
engineer at the international design and innovation firm IDEO in Palo Alto, CA. In
previous jobs, he’s worked in biotech, designed micro electro-mechanical devices,
programmed (and driven) semi-trucks, and built parts for the one of the world’s
biggest physics experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Outside of
work, you’re likely to find Adam on his own handmade bicycle, climbing up a
mountain (or skiing down one), or exploring new corners of the world.
Funding for Design Squad Nation


Design Squad Nation is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for Design Squad
Nation is provided by the National Science Foundation. Series funding is provided by
the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA), Northrop Grumman
Foundation, and The Lemelson Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Noyce
Foundation, United Engineering Foundation (ASCE, ASME, AIChE, IEEE, AIME),
Motorola Foundation, and IEEE.

Write a Feature Story About Adam and Judy

Think back to last week. What were the highlights from The Hillwood Herald interview with Adam and Judy? What were the most memorable parts for you?

Write at least 15 sentences reporting on their visit to the classroom. Include photos, and remember to answer the five W's of a news story. You may also want to consult the PBS Kids DESIGN SQUAD website for background information.

We will be making a thank you video for Adam and Judy. Think about one aspect of their work or visit for which you would like to thank them.

Report on the White House Science Fair

Listen to President Obama's speech below (you may also want to watch Judy and Adam's video below, as it's related). Go to the website of the White House for additional information. Then write a news story about. Remember to answer the five W's of a good news story. Also, do not forget to include labels, links, video, and photos in your post.

Adam and Judy spent a week in Boston working with three kids for Design Squad Nation's Trash to Treasure competition.  MaryAnn, Lilly and Daniel were the three grand prize winners for this year’s competition.  

The following is from Judy. Write an article about the contest, embed the video, and then include information from below. Remember to put it your own words. 
But wait it gets better!

MaryAnn and Lilly had the great opportunity to take their inventions to the White House Science fair on Monday, which brought together winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and math competitions from around the country.

The White House chose to showcase MaryAnn and her Smarter Toilet. MaryAnn’s trip to the White House Science Fair was an amazing success!  Every White House staffer that spoke with MaryAnn said that “The Smarter Toilet” was their favorite invention at the fair.  MaryAnn also got to meet the new head of NSF and his family.

To top it all off, at the end of the day, both MaryAnn and Lilly got to shake President Obama’s hand, and MaryAnn even got the President to sign a note excusing her from school that day!  

Report on the Adventures of Adam and Judy

Adam and Judy spent a week in Boston working with three kids for Design Squad Nation's Trash to Treasure competition.  MaryAnn, Lilly and Daniel were the three grand prize winners for this year’s competition.  





The following is from Judy. Write an article about the contest, embed the video, and then include information from below. Remember to put it your own words.
But wait it gets better!

MaryAnn and Lilly had the great opportunity to take their inventions to the White House Science fair on Monday, which brought together winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and math competitions from around the country.

The White House chose to showcase MaryAnn and her Smarter Toilet. MaryAnn’s trip to the White House Science Fair was an amazing success!  Every White House staffer that spoke with MaryAnn said that “The Smarter Toilet” was their favorite invention at the fair.  MaryAnn also got to meet the new head of NSF and his family.

To top it all off, at the end of the day, both MaryAnn and Lilly got to shake President Obama’s hand, and MaryAnn even got the President to sign a note excusing her from school that day!  

Write a Bio About Adam

Use the following information and write a story — a biography — about Adam. Include an image of him from the PBS Kids site. At the end of your article, include five questions that you would like to ask Adam.

Adam is a mechanical engineer in IDEO's Palo Alto office. As a member of the Health, Wellness and Social Impact group in IDEO's design community, Adam brings to bear years of expertise in medical device design and biotechnology, as well as a passion for designing considered products and services that responsibly address pressing human needs. Highlights of his career with IDEO include the design of consumables for a breakthrough genetic sequencing company, design of a suite of groundbreaking spinal surgery instruments for a local medical startup, participating in IDEO's Ripple Effect project to improve access to clean drinking water in the developing world, and a variety of other innovations in personal care and hygiene products. Prior to IDEO, Adam was a principal R&D engineer at the Palo Alto biotech startup Theranos, Inc. Theranos is developing a transformative point-of-care diagnostic device. Adam’s contributions at Theranos included inventions in the areas of whole blood separation and automated sample processing, disposable design, and user-interaction. Adam received his BS in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and his MS from MIT where he studied microfluidic design of biological sensors for lab-on-a-chip applications. Hailing from Portland, OR, Adam has been fortunate to live, travel, ski, bike, and hike in many beautiful and fantastic places of the world, but he will always have a soft spot for the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.n of a child. As a grad student, one of her designs was accepted for 2006 production by IKEA.

Write a Bio About Judy

Use the following information and write a story — a biography — about Judy. Include an image of her from the PBS Kids site. At the end of your article, include five questions that you would like to ask Judy.

Judy is a product designer and mechanical engineer in the IDEO Palo Alto office. As a member of the Design Community, she contributes to projects through human factors, concept development, design thinking, prototyping and engineering. Her projects have ranged from packaging designs of medicines to food and children’s toys to pet products. Her background combined with her experience in rapid prototyping and creative design exploration makes her versatile in both engineering and multidisciplinary projects. Before joining IDEO, she worked as a Mechanical Engineer for Underwriters Laboratories designing and building automation equipment. Judy studied at North Carolina State University, where she earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Masters in Industrial Design. Her graduate research studies focused on children’s flexible, unpredictable play patterns and created transformative toys to stretch the imagination of a child. As a grad student, one of her designs was accepted for 2006 production by IKEA.

PBS Kids: Get Ready to Interview the DESIGN SQUAD's Adam and Judy

You will be doing the Moon Walker Challenge (remember to watch the video and follow the project instructions — and to link to these pages). You will also be writing a bio about either Judy or Adam. Review your interview questions, as well.

Adam and Judy have helped with several of the show's episodes, and together, they created several challenges for kids. Click to the PBS Kids site, and play around on the website. 

Read the ABOUT page, and write a story about what the DESIGN SQUAD website is trying to do. In your article, you should introduce who Adam and Judy are. Include the information that they will be coming to Hillwood either in person or by iChat to be interviewed. 

If you finish early:

• Make an Animota video highlighting your DESIGN SQUAD work.
• Or make a Halloween picture using Picnik. (See image of Clinton, the albino cat, above.)
• Use the website Flower Power to make an illustration, or image, for The Herald.