Inquiry 9: How can we design apps that promote a more sustainable future?

How can we design apps that promote a more sustainable future?

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-ETS1-1 Engineering Design Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Materials needed

PowerPoint Presentation (which includes worksheets), a padlet (or some other digital sharing platform), laptops (for students to work on their app designs, pitch, etc.).

Phenomenon

Climate change is an ever-present and ever-growing problem of our time. As a society, we are more technologically advanced than we’ve ever been and therefore better equipped than ever to mitigate climate change. Germany today is at the forefront of preserving its natural environments, educating its youth about sustainability, and developing green technologies for the future. How can you, as programmers of tomorrow, use Germany’s innovations to design apps that reshape what the future could be?

Engage

Explore

What do you know about climate change? What are some ways in which human behaviors must change in order to slow down climate change?

Day 1: Students will watch videos and view pictures of Germany’s well-preserved Wadden Sea tidal mudflats and Blue Classroom. Afterwards, they will research natural sites and preservation initiatives in their local area. They will record their findings in a graphic organizer (attached inside shared lesson slides) and then share their findings with group members to facilitate their app brainstorming. Day 2: Students will watch videos and view pictures of Germany’s Klimahaus exhibits and how they inform the public about the impact of climate change on global neighbors along 8°E longitude. Afterwards, they will research the climates of their longitudinal neighbors to see how climate change would impact them. T Day 3: Students will view pictures of innovative green technologies by Gasag Euref as examples of sustainable technologies to research on their own using a graphic organizer (attached inside shared lesson slides).

Featured Sources

• Wadden Sea Tidal Flats—With a family from the USA | Discover Germany (4:43 minutes) • Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8°Ost (1:32 minutes) • “EUREF-Campus.“ • “Journey around the world.” • “Become a designer, developer or data analyst from scratch.” • “Naturally unique.” • “Richly diverse.” • “Climate change.” • Welcome to the Wadden Sea World Heritage (2:20 minutes) • Shark Tank Us | 10-Year-Old Entrepreneur Wows Sharks With Her Baby Spoon Product (7:07 minutes)

Explain

Possible apps ideas that students could generate based on their brainstorms.

Create a Prototype Students will work in groups to settle on a final idea and design an app by storyboarding, wireframing, designing a user interface, and producing a pitch.

Elaborate

Evaluate

Through designing an app that can impact the public’s perspective on climate change, they will act as future programmers of change.

Students will share their findings to their group members so that they can use the collective groups’ information to generate specific app ideas connected to their local region.

Target Grade Level: 7th Grade Target Course: Computer Science

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this inquiry, students will work in groups to design apps that encourage users to interact with the world around them in a more sustainable way. They will spend 3 days examining Germany’s preservation of natural environments (Wadden Sea tidal mudflats), global perspectives on climate change (Klimahaus), and innovative eco-friendly technologies (Gasag Euref campus) to inspire the brainstorming step of their app design process. Students will engage with these contemporary German concepts through photos and videos. They will explore the concepts further by making connections to their local environments through research. Afterwards, they will elaborate on these concepts by brainstorming ideas for apps that promote sustainability. Their apps will be evaluated on how well they target a user/audience and provide an experience/information that pushes users to think more critically about their environment locally or globally.

TEACHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The app design process will include brainstorming app ideas, user experience (UX) storyboarding, creating a wireframe, designing a user interface (UI), providing and receiving feedback, preparing a pitch, and sharing a final app design in the form of a slideshow or pdf. No coding experience is required, as this is a project that centers around the designing of an app, rather than the programming of an app.

On Day 1 of brainstorming, students will view footage of the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea tidal mudflats and Blue Classroom (see PowerPoint Presentation in Materials Needed section). Using the Blue Classroom as an example, they will brainstorm ideas for apps they could create that, similarly to the Blue Classroom, aim to educate people about the natural sites in their local area in an interactive way. They will also research local sites in their area, state, or country that they would like to highlight through their app. On Day 2 of brainstorming, students will explore the Klimahaus website and videos of Klimahaus exhibitions on YouTube to learn more about how the museum educates people on climate change through their exhibits of the climates that exist along a longitudinal spectrum. Afterwards, they will research two to four countries, along their longitude, to highlight in an app to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on global neighbors. On Day 3, students will review some of the green technologies developed by the Gasag Euref campus to brainstorm apps that can help users imagine a world that utilizes more sustainable innovations. On Days 4–6, students will work in groups to create a user experience (UX) storyboard and wireframe for an app idea. On Days 7–9, students will work on user interface (UI) design and get feedback for revision. Finally on Days 10–12, students will work on a pitch presentation and celebrate their final work.

SUGGESTED TIME FRAME

12 days, though more project days may be allotted, depending on the group of students and based on teacher discretion.

Day 1

Brainstorm app ideas.

Germany 1: Preserving environments: Wadden Sea tidal mudflats Brainstorm app ideas.

Germany 2: Thinking Globally: impact of climate change on other parts of the world Klimahaus Brainstorm app ideas.

Germany 3: Designing cities of the future: Gasag Euref Finalize app idea. What is UX design? How can we use storyboarding to clarify our app ideas? Create a wireframe.

Day 6

Create a wireframe (continued). What is UI design?

Interface design: style Interface design (continued) Get feedback on interface design and revise. Prepare pitch.

Day 11

Prepare pitch (continued).

Day 2

Day 7

Day 12

Celebration day: share finalized pitches.

Day 3

Day 8 Day 4

Day 5

Day 9

Day 10

CONCEPT LIST

User experience (UX): User experience design deals with how a user interacts with a product (e.g., an app).

Wireframe: A wireframe is a simple sketch of an app that shows how the app would look when a user interacts with it.

User interface (UI): The UI is the visual layout users see and interact with (e.g., colors, icons, typography, etc.).

Pitch: A pitch is a presentation that tells an audience (e.g., investors) about a product (e.g., an app).

MATERIALS NEEDED

• PowerPoint Presentation (which includes worksheets) (Scan QR Code) • A padlet (or some other digital sharing platform) • Laptops (for students to work on their app designs, pitch, etc.) • If laptops are not available, the work slides from the slide show can be printed and physically distributed instead.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) / State Content Area Standards

➤ MS-ETS1-1. Engineering Design Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

➤ Key Literacy Connections CCR Reading Anchor 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

CCR Speaking & Listening Anchor 1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

SL.9-10.1. “Come … having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas … make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.”

➤ Relevant Domain(s) of Disciplinary Core Ideas Technology and Applications of Science

➤ Science and Engineering Practices 6. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

➤ Crosscutting Concepts 2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation.

Phenomenon / Main Problem

Climate change is an ever-present and ever-growing problem of our time. It’s an issue that we simply cannot ignore. Meanwhile, as a society, we are more technologically advanced than we’ve ever been and therefore better equipped than ever to mitigate climate change. Germany today is at the forefront of preserving its natural environments, educating its youth about sustainability, and developing green technologies for the future. How can you, as the programmers of tomorrow, use Germany’s innovations to design apps that reshape what the future could be?

Engage

What do you know about climate change? What are some ways in which human behaviors must change in order to slow down climate change?

➤ Guiding questions to facilitate app brainstorming for Days 1–3 Day 1 prompt: Brainstorm ideas for an app that would help users learn more about a natural site or sustainability initiative in your area.

• What are some of your favorite apps that you’ve used? What are some of the ways you interact with these apps? Why do you like them? • What are some natural spaces in your local area that you like to interact with (e.g., parks, riverfronts, etc.). What do you think would make people pay more attention to those areas?

Day 2 prompt: Brainstorm ideas for an app that would help users learn more about how climate change could impact their global neighbors.

• Who are your global neighbors? • How might varying climates be impacted differently by climate change? • What kind of responsibility do humans have toward one another?

Day 3 prompt: Brainstorm ideas for an app that shares innovations with people to help them imagine a future city that is more sustainable.

• What does the ideal city of the future look like?

Explore

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Students will watch videos and view pictures of Germany’s wellpreserved Wadden Sea tidal mudflats and Blue Classroom. Afterwards, they will research natural sites and preservation initiatives in their local area. They will record their findings in a graphic organizer (attached inside shared lesson slides) and then share their findings with group members to facilitate their app brainstorming. Students will watch videos and view pictures of Germany’s Klimahaus exhibits and how they inform the public about the impact of climate change on global neighbors along 8°E longitude. Afterwards, they will research the climates of their longitudinal neighbors to see how climate change would impact them. They will record their findings in a graphic organizer (attached inside shared lesson slides) and then share this information with group members for their app brainstorming. Students will view pictures of innovative green technologies by Gasag Euref as examples of sustainable technologies to research on their own using a graphic organizer (attached inside shared lesson slides). Afterwards, they will share their findings to their group members to aid in their app brainstorming.

➤ Featured Sources • DW News. (2013, September 7). Wadden Sea Tidal Flats—With a family from the USA | Discover Germany.

YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfign-jRh-c. (4:43 minutes) • Erlebnis Bremerhaven GmbH. (2021, June 27). Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8°Ost. YouTube. Retrieved

September 1, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FryIHzbPC6I. (1:32 minutes) • EUREF-Campus_en. EUREF AG. (2021, October 28). Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https://euref.de/en/eurefcampus_en/. • Journey around the world. Klimahaus Bremerhaven: Home. (n.d.). Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https://www. klimahaus-bremerhaven.de/en.html?no_cache=1. • Katherine Lu’s project. Become a designer, developer or data analyst from scratch. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://careerfoundry.com/en/portfolios/katherine-lus-portfolio/. • Naturally unique. Wadden Sea World Heritage. (n.d.). Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https://www.waddenseaworldheritage.org/naturally-unique. • Richly diverse. Wadden Sea World Heritage. (n.d.). Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https://www.waddenseaworldheritage.org/richly-diverse. • Transatlantic Outreach Program. (n.d.). Climate change. Goethe-Institut. Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https:// www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/spr/unt/efd/top/sus/ccu.html#i7902573. (videos for each station at the Klimahaus are available here) • Wadden Sea World Heritage. (2020, October 4). Welcome to the Wadden Sea World Heritage. Retrieved

September 1, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuJH6SL9f3w. (2:20 minutes) • Shark Tank Us | 10-Year-Old Entrepreneur Wows Sharks With Her Baby Spoon Product. (2021). YouTube. Retrieved

September 4, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaUkuszb7dg. (7:07 minutes)

Explain

Possible apps ideas that students could generate based on their brainstorms:

Brainstorm Day 1: An app that helps users locate their closest green space, an app that uses augmented reality (AR) to help users zoom in on the physical landscape and provides an overlay of information on the types of organisms that exist in those areas, etc., or an app that helps users find their closest green initiative to volunteer for

Brainstorm Day 2: An app that helps users locate their closest global neighbors and provides insights on the impact of climate change in those climate zones, an app that shows before and after pictures of the impacts of climate change, or an app that shows interviews with people from various climate zones to show how they are impacted by climate change

Brainstorm Day 3: An app that uses AR to show users what alternative sustainable technologies could look like in their environment, an app that helps users find sustainable technologies they can replace their everyday objects with, or an app that shows how much energy users could save with the implementation of sustainable technology

➤ Create a Prototype / Investigating Solutions After the three days of brainstorming, students will work in groups to settle on a final idea and design an app by storyboarding, wireframing, designing a user interface (UI), and producing a pitch.

Elaborate

Through the app design process, students will be producing a storyboard and wireframe to design the user experience (UX), followed by designing the user interface (UI), as well as creating a pitch for their finished app design. Through the initial brainstorm process, they will understand how other countries (e.g., Germany) have responded to climate change. Through researching the issues and innovations in their local area, they will assess what they learned and connect the information to their own lives. Finally, through designing an app that can impact the public’s perspective on climate change, they will act as future programmers of change.

Evaluate

After independently researching solutions on each of the three brainstorming days, students will share their findings to their group members so that they can use the collective groups’ information to generate specific app ideas connected to their local region.

VIRTUAL EXCHANGE

A virtual exchange could take place during multiple points of the app design process: first, during the storyboarding phase, when students will settle on a finalized app idea with their groups. A class of students from Germany could view storyboards and provide digital feedback on the app ideas. They could also provide feedback after students complete their user experience wireframes or after they complete their UI designs, as well as during the last day’s celebration event, giving feedback on pitches.

CAREER CONNECTION EXPLORATION

Designing a sustainability app could lead students to several career pathways, including but not limited to UX designer, UI/ graphic designer, computer programmer, and environmental educator. Part of this project could include getting app design feedback from industry professionals (e.g., UX designer) who could speak with students about the pros and cons of their job.

MODIFICATIONS FOR DIFFERENTIATION

Included in the attached lesson slides are resources to help students get started when completing independent research on brainstorming days (e.g., on Day 1, when students are asked to research local green initiatives, links have been provided for New York–based initiatives like the Billion Oyster project). Sentence starters for feedback and graphic organizers are also provided throughout.

Sylvia Kwon (TOP 3, 2022) teaches Humanities and Software Engineering at the Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria in New York.