by Hillary and Kim

As part of the 8th graders' cell membrane immersion curriculum, Hilary and Kim worked with the students in the I-Lab to help them understand and appreciate the form, design, and function of the cell (and organelle) membrane.

They began by honing their observation skills. Students created a continuum of restaurant experiences they have personally had, from superb to terrible, then grouped their observations by topic. Next they looked at a soundless video of a new, high-tech restaurant in Germany, wrote observations, and placed them on the continuum. After viewing the video again, this time with sound, they brainstormed ways to address issues raised about the restaurant. For homework that night they were asked to observe entropy during the advisory overnight camping trips, and to report back what they observed.

The next day the students broke into groups of four to determine the commonalities among a collection of items that filter. The items included 3D glasses that filter light, a coffee bag that has an air filter built in, screens, a tea infuser, sunblock, etc.  Students recorded their hypotheses.  They discovered that the words they used in their hypotheses matched the functions of a cell membrane -- filter, container, protector, etc.

Without words (written or verbal), teams tested each other's prototypes. Then the cell membrane from a chemical perspective was introduced, and they looked at the ways it mirrored their solutions.  The students were amazed at the beautiful solutions that are found in nature!

In the century of biotechnology, it is vital that students not only understand the function of living things, but that they are empowered to understand the value of reusing biological design in any field they choose to pursue.  For example, they discussed using the cell membrane design for cures for cancer and for designing force fields around space ships or planets when writing science fiction novels.  The uses are endless.

Since a key aspect of Design Thinking is "Being Mindful of the Process", the 8th graders were asked to reflect on their work after the brainstorming andprototyping sessions. Here are a few of their thoughts:

"A problem that I solved while building the prototype was the tension of the “out hole’s” passageway. Our group first had an idea that was to make two doors open with human pressure from either side. The doors would automatically close due to gravity because the doors were tilted at a 45 degree angle. However, once we started building the prototype, we discovered that there were problems with the doors which made the ball able to travel back in the hole. To fix the problem our group thought of ways to make the doors snap back to the 45-degree angle so the ball could not return."

"When my partners and I were creating the cell membrane [barrier] imitation project, we met a few challenges when we wanted to make a contraption that used popsicle sticks to allow a bouncy cube to go in and out of the box. The problem was that the popsicle sticks were constantly breaking. A few minutes later, we were experimenting with the broken popsicle sticks to see if they could be of any assistance, and, to our great delight, they really helped. We found out what we could do with them to make the spiky ball that goes in but not out do its job. The broken popsicle stick saved the day! I really like the Innovation Lab because it brings people back to their old and rusty unused LEGO skills, where one can be very imaginative and innovative."