Greenies Innovate and Design to Address Basic Human Needs
Expression is just around the corner, and the Greenies have been working hard on a number of different projects since the last time we spoke (you read.) Since the beginning of the Arc, Greenies have written essays on character development, studied volume, learned how to use Google Earth and Google Maps to do measurements for their scale landmarks, and gone on a number of different field trips.
One of the Explorations we’ve continued to work on throughout this Arc has been our study of homelessness. In my last blog post, I discussed the inspiring presentation Doniece Sandoval did for Brightworks about Lavamae. Since then, the Green Band had a toiletries drive and made small gift bags to hand out to the community, as well as taken field trips to the SF/Marin Food Bank where we bagged rice, and to Glide Memorial Church to serve lunch. (Fun fact, Glide buys most of its food from the Food Bank!) The Greenies also have come up with their own innovative ideas to help the homeless.
We started this project by asking ourselves “what are our basic human needs?” The Green Band brainstormed and came up with hygiene, shelter, clothes, food and water. Students voted on which of these basic human needs they’d like to dive deeper into, and then were put into pairs based on their interest. Each pair researched other gadgets, nonprofits and inventions that address their specific need, and then came up with their own innovation!Charlotte and Griffin paired up to work on hygiene. It was a little challenging to come up with an idea as good as Lavamae after seeing the amazing Lavamae presentation. However, after learning that homeless people often have to travel all over the city to make it to various medical appointments or services, the pair decided that they wanted to come up with an idea that not only addresses personal hygiene, but also addresses medical needs. They ended up creating a prototype-model of a double decker bus where one floor would be a small medical clinic, and the other would be for showers and bathrooms— “a one stop shop” as described by Griffin.
For shelter, Piper and Liam are working on a “mini-home on wheels for the homeless.” They designed and are building a trailer that would fit a standard bed frame and mattress and would be on four wheels. This idea would allow for the home’s inhabitant to not only have a comfortable, roofed mini-house, but would also be transportable. While Liam has taken charge building the shelter’s structure, Piper is adding her personal design finesse by sewing a blanket to make the house more of a home.
To address the need of clothing, Phoebe and Gita came up with “Project Foldable Coat.” They designed a coat that would be able to fold and zip up into a backpack. The wearer would not only be able to store their belongings, but also stay warm. The pair decided to demonstrate their invention in the form of a movie-advertisement. Instead of making an actual foldable coat, they used the magic of film-editing to show off their creation.
Aaliyah and Lucy were assigned food and water as a combined human need, and did research on innovations for both. For their own creation, they decided to focus on water and it’s cleanliness. Knowing that iodine is used to purify water, the pair came up with an idea to make easily accessible iodine jugs. They made a slideshow to present their idea model. By pressing the button on the jug, consumers would be able to add drops of iodine to their water. These jugs would not only be free, but be placed around the city (or wherever needed) so that clean water would be accessible to all.
Needless to say, this project has really highlighted the Greenies’ creativity, collaboration skills, and critical thinking abilities. If we are lucky, we can get these ideas patented and really put them out there in the real world!