Design Thinking

This video provides a comprehensive overview of strategies to combat water pollution, focusing specifically on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It distinguishes between two primary approaches: prevention (keeping pollution out) and removal (cleaning pollution up). The host explains how nutrient pollution creates 'dead zones' that harm aquatic life and disrupt local economies, using real-world examples to illustrate the connection between human activities and environmental health. The content explores specific technologies and methods for each strategy. For prevention, it covers individual actions like managing pet waste and large-scale engineering solutions like permeable pavement and buffer strips. For removal, it discusses dredging, floating barriers, and biological treatments. The video emphasizes the challenges of cleaning moving water and explains why prevention is generally considered the 'gold standard' in environmental management. This resource is highly valuable for teaching environmental science, ecology, and critical thinking. It moves beyond simple definitions to explore the complexities of environmental decision-making, asking students to consider cost-benefit analyses and the competing needs of various stakeholders such as farmers, fishers, and local governments. It sets the stage for discussions on sustainability and civic responsibility.

This engaging educational video introduces young students to the concept of engineering and the engineering design process. Hosted by Jessi and her robot rat friend Squeaks at 'The Fort,' the video breaks down the complex idea of engineering into a simple, relatable definition: engineers are people who design solutions to problems. Using clear visuals and energetic narration, it transforms the abstract title of 'engineer' into an actionable mindset that students can adopt. The content focuses heavily on the four-step Engineering Design Process: Ask, Imagine, Create, and Improve. It illustrates these steps first through a theoretical example of building a bridge to connect two cities, and then through a practical, humorous real-time problem—Jessi has an itchy back she can't reach. This shift from the macro (civil engineering) to the micro (personal problem solving) helps students understand that engineering principles apply to problems of all sizes. For educators, this video serves as an excellent foundational text for STEAM curriculums. It provides a shared vocabulary ('solution,' 'model,' 'improve') and a structured framework for tackling design challenges. It effectively sets the stage for hands-on classroom activities by ending with a 'cliffhanger' that invites students to participate in the 'Imagine' phase of designing a back scratcher, making it a perfect launchpad for a maker-space project or design challenge.

In this engaging episode of Crash Course Kids, host Sabrina introduces young learners to the connection between architecture and the engineering design process. Through a relatable personal problem—the need for a quiet, private space away from family distractions—Sabrina explores how to define a problem, research solutions, and ultimately choose a design path. The video distinguishes between modifying existing spaces (engineering) and creating entirely new ones (architecture), using a treehouse as the central case study. The content dives deep into the planning phase of engineering, introducing critical concepts like "variables" (factors that change the outcome) and "failure points" (limits where a solution stops working). Students watch Sabrina evaluate different prototypes, such as a cardboard box and a blanket fort, before settling on a treehouse. She then analyzes the variables involved in building it, such as the tree's size and the structure's weight, to ensure safety and functionality. This video is an excellent resource for STEM and science classrooms introducing design thinking. It provides a clear, practical example of how abstract concepts like variables and failure points apply to real-world construction. Teachers can use this to launch projects on structural engineering, soundproofing experiments, or architectural design challenges, helping students understand that successful building requires careful planning and testing before construction begins.

This video introduces the fascinating concept of biomimicry, exploring how scientists and engineers act as "nature's detectives" to solve complex human problems. It defines biomimicry as the process of taking inspiration from nature's time-tested strategies—perfected over millions of years—to innovate new technologies. The narrative connects the biological features of plants and animals directly to modern engineering marvels, demonstrating that the best ideas often come from the wild. The video covers several distinct examples of bio-inspired innovation. It explains how bird flight inspired early aviation and the principles of aerodynamics, how the bumps on humpback whale fins led to more efficient wind turbines, and how the kingfisher's beak helped solve noise pollution issues for Japanese bullet trains. Other examples include drones modeled after bees, antimicrobial surfaces inspired by shark skin, self-cleaning materials based on lotus leaves, and the invention of Velcro (hook-and-loop fasteners) derived from burrs. For educators, this video is an excellent resource for bridging the gap between biology and engineering (STEM). It encourages students to observe the natural world critically and ask questions about structure and function. The content supports lessons on adaptation, physics (aerodynamics), and the engineering design process, showing students that science is often interdisciplinary and that nature acts as a vast library of solutions waiting to be discovered.

This engaging video from Crash Course Kids introduces students to a critical step in the engineering design process: defining success. Host Sabrina Cruz shifts the focus from identifying problems to evaluating solutions, explaining that a solution is only "successful" if it meets specific criteria relative to the problem. Using a mix of historical examples like the telephone and lightbulb, alongside a humorous hypothetical scenario involving a canyon and a tent, the video makes abstract engineering concepts concrete and relatable. The content explores the concept of 'criteria'—the specific standards a solution must meet. Through the narrative of trying to cross a deep canyon, students learn how to create a checklist of requirements: safety (getting across alive), accessibility (using available resources), and reusability. The video contrasts a fantasy solution (Superman) with a practical one (a hang glider made from a tent) to demonstrate how engineers must work within constraints rather than relying on impossible fixes. For educators, this video serves as an excellent launchpad for STEM challenges and design thinking units. It provides a clear framework for students to judge their own designs, moving them beyond just "building something cool" to building something that actually solves the defined problem within given constraints. It effectively bridges the gap between brainstorming and prototyping by introducing the necessary step of evaluating potential solutions against a rubric of needs.

This educational video introduces the fascinating concept of biomimicry—the practice of looking to nature for inspiration to solve human engineering and design problems. It begins by explaining the role of scientists and engineers in creating solutions, then pivots to present nature as the ultimate research and development lab, having refined survival strategies over millions of years. The narration seamlessly connects biological adaptations, such as an owl's silent flight or a gecko's sticky feet, to potential human applications. The video provides several concrete, historical examples of biomimicry to ground the concept in reality. It details the famous story of George de Mestral inventing Velcro after observing burdock seeds stuck to his dog's fur, and explains how the aerodynamics of the Kingfisher bird's beak inspired the noise-reducing nose cone of Japan's high-speed Shinkansen trains. It further explores how aquatic animals like whales and sharks have influenced the design of wind turbines and swimsuits through their streamlined bodies and unique skin textures. For educators, this resource serves as an excellent bridge between biology and physical science/engineering. It illustrates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) concepts regarding structure and function, adaptation, and engineering design. The video concludes with a call to action, encouraging students to identify local problems and look to the natural world for innovative solutions, making it a perfect launchpad for STEM design challenges.

In this engaging episode of Sci Kids!, host Anthony Brown helps two puppet friends, Bill and Web the ducks, resolve a disagreement about an engineering challenge. The ducks discover a mysterious red button high up in an observatory that they cannot reach, prompting them to use engineering skills to solve the problem. Through their attempts to build a "button pusher," viewers are introduced to the fundamental steps of the engineering design process: identifying a problem, designing a solution, and testing it. The video explores key themes of problem-solving, material properties, and the importance of iteration and collaboration. It contrasts the ducks' two initial designs—one that is strong but too heavy, and another that is lightweight but too flimsy—to teach students about analyzing strengths and weaknesses in a design. The narrative also includes a historical connection to the Wright brothers, illustrating how real-world inventors test and improve their designs over time. For educators, this video serves as an excellent hook for STEM lessons focused on the engineering design process or properties of materials. It models constructive feedback and shows how combining different ideas (collaboration) can lead to a superior solution. The content is specifically tailored for early elementary students, making abstract concepts like "engineering" and "iteration" accessible through humor, clear visuals, and relatable characters.

In this engaging episode of SciShow Kids, host Jessi and her robot rat friend Squeaks explore the final steps of the engineering design process: Create, Test, and Improve. Faced with the relatable problem of an itchy back that she cannot reach, Jessi demonstrates how engineers take their plans from paper to reality. The video recaps the initial "Ask" and "Imagine" phases before diving into building prototypes using household items like rulers, forks, modeling dough, and tape. The narrative focuses heavily on the value of failure in the design process. When the first two prototypes fail—one is too short, and the other falls apart—the video frames these moments not as mistakes, but as data points for improvement. This introduces young learners to the concept of iteration, showing how combining the best features of previous designs (the length of a ruler and the strength of tape) leads to a successful solution. This video is an excellent resource for introducing early elementary students to STEM concepts and the Engineering Design Process. It demystifies the abstract idea of engineering by applying it to a simple, tangible problem. Teachers can use this video to launch a classroom design challenge, encourage resilience during hands-on activities, and model how to analyze why a design failed in order to make the next version better.