Introducing three new Quests to kick off 2021!
For our next Quests—Middle and high schoolers will be working with the city of Fayetteville, GA, to build a plan to connect the golf cart paths between Fayetteville and Peachtree City. Elementary learners will be working with leaders of Trilith Studios and the Town at Trilith to help design a walking bridge between the two. And Spark learners will examine—and recreate prototypes of—the major systems of the human body.
Talk about real world learning!
More details below…
Spark (ages 5-7)
Introducing the Detective Science Quest: Examining the Human Body!
For this Quest, Spark learners will stand in the shoes of doctors, diving deeply into subtleties of anatomy and building models of the various systems of the body: Respiratory; Circulatory; Digestive; Nervous; Endocrine; Skeletal-Muscular and more.
Image via Robina Weermeijer
Over the course of this hands-on Quest, learners will use their newfound knowledge to construct and discuss models of…
Cells
DNA models
The brain
The nervous system
A skeleton
Muscles
The heart
Lungs
The digestive system
At key moments throughout the Quest, experts will provide feedback to the heroes on their prototypes and understanding.
At Exhibition, Spark learners will lead parents to build a model of their favorite body system, similar to how they built their own models.
Following the Exhibition, learners will reflect upon the experience and discuss Socratic questions like, “Who is the ultimate authority of a Hero’s health: you or your doctor?”
Elementary (ages 8-10)
Introducing the Bridge Building Quest!
The world renowned Trilith Studios, and the nearby Town at Trilith, are The Forest School’s first and strongest partnerships. Some Forest School families live in the Town at Trilith, and the storytelling that happens via Trilith Studios is a huge part of the identity of both the Town at Trilith as well as The Forest School. In addition, The Forest School often and with gratitude uses the town’s amenities for activities. Connecting the Studios and the school to life in Trilith is imperative. But, physically, how should these entities be connected? How amazing would it be to have a bridge that connects us all?
This session, heroes become structural engineers! They have been “hired” by the Town at Trilith to design a bridge that connects the Studios to the neighborhood. Learners’ designs should not only be structurally sound, but creative, cost effective, and artistically representative of the Trilith brand.
Throughout this Quest, learners will study and experiment with different types of bridges, and investigate fundamental physics skills such as equilibrium, gravitational force, weight distribution, mass, tension and torque.
Finally, at Exhibition, learners will present their bridge designs in a “Bridge Showcase” presented to the Trilith staff. Winners will be chosen based on structural integrity (weight), cost effectiveness, artistic design, and creativity.
Middle and High School (ages 11-18)
Introducing the Golf Cart Quest!
Multi-use trail systems are a key part of city design. The City of Fayetteville is in the early stages of creating a network of trails that will seek to reduce vehicle traffic in the city, increase connectivity between neighborhoods and downtown businesses, and possibly provide connection to neighboring cities as well. There are many hurdles in planning and implementing such a system. Welcome to the Golf Cart Quest, where Middle and High School learners will work in groups to research the current planned trail systems, dive deep into city planning and landscape architecture, create their own proposals for a multi-use trail system, and compete with each other to see which team(s) will present their proposals to the City Council.
How?
Learners will work in small groups of 4-5 to conduct empathy interviews, locate the problems and challenges in the project, dive deep into city planning and landscape architecture, and work on creating a compelling proposal for the expansion of a multi-use trail system in Fayetteville. There will be 12 overall groups (4 High School groups, 8 Middle School groups). These groups will present in a round-robin tournament to see which proposals will move on to the final Exhibition — a presentation to the City Council and the real possibility of their plan being implemented
When?
This project will launch on January 5th, 2021, and culminate in a live Exhibition on February 11th, 2021.
Here’s a rough project breakdown:
Week 1: Empathy Interviews
Learners first need to find and identify the problem they’re solving for. The first week of this project will provide opportunities for learners to engage directly with those experiencing this need for themselves. Possible users to be interviewed include residents, city planners, landscape architects, elected officials, local police, and business owners.
Week 2: Research and Cartography
Next, teams will dive deep into studying the current Master Plan for the multi-path system. This will include building the skills of a cartographer, learning to analyze current maps and blueprints for the proposed trail. What all goes into actually creating such a path system? Learners will highlight pain points for path implementation that their proposals must address. Learners will also begin drawing up preliminary designs.
Week 3: Business and Funding
Who funds the construction of a path like this? This week, learners will analyze the budgets for the proposed Master Plan and research the variables that will influence the cost of their own designs. Deliverables for this week will include a budget for their proposal and identifying any current funding obstacles to the existing Master Plan.
Week 4: Surveying
How do you create buy-in from the community? Learners will design surveys to gauge public attitude toward the project. It’s possible to also organize a field trip to visit potential trail sites (this will depend on current COVID numbers).
Week 5: Pitch and Proposal
Groups research how to build a compelling proposal. What are all of the relevant elements? Basic criteria for each proposal: context, problem, and solution. Groups will combine all of their previous work into a pitchable format.
Week 6: Tournament
Groups go head to head in a round-robin format tournament, pitting their proposals against each other in front of expert judges. Winners advance through stages, with the winning team being awarded a chance to pitch their design to the City Council.
Skills learners will practice and develop:
Design thinking
Collaboration
Physics / Landscape Architecture
Business
Cartography
Proposal / Pitching
Research skills
Problem solving / finding
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