Back
  1. Amana Delivery

    August 3, 2022 by Nada K. and Mmetla M.

    Driving Question: How might we explore innovation through robotics?

    What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?

    Our goals were to create a contactless delivery robot and pitch it to a panel of experts. With the help of the robotics team from the workshops, we learned all the basic concepts to create our own innovation.

    What new things did you learn about yourself?

    It was really interesting to realize that we were capable of coding, and we loved using our hands to create a robot.

  2. Agro Bot

    July 26, 2022 by Mat I. and Wil E.

    Driving Question: How might we explore innovation through robotics?

    What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?

    Our goal for this module was to create a working robot completed with a prototype and functioning code. We spent lots of time brainstorming and sketching ideas for this robot. We also wanted to make sure our robot was super unique and one of a kind.

    Our final prototype was a success and could perform the actions that it was intended to do. Our robot is also innovative because it is different than anything you will see on the current market.

    What new things did you learn about yourself?

    I learned that I should be more open to failures and feedback since those things could only help. My thoughts before were “get everything right” or “no mistakes,” now, I am open to failure and will welcome it with open arms.

    What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?

    The biggest lesson for me is that everything is a process, and nothing amazing can come from nothing.

  3. Documentary Filmmaking

    January 28, 2022 by Niko W. and Dhruv G.

    This project taught me the importance of collaboration and using people as a resource. Because we were able to combine our skillsets, we could create a high-quality final product, which I do not think I would have been able to achieve alone. I learned a lot from this team project, including troubleshooting Premiere Pro and maintaining our sense of humor in stressful situations.

    -Class of 2023 Student Dhruv G.

    As a personal project this term, CM2 students Niko W. and Dhruv G. challenged themselves to develop a short documentary capturing the essence of how modules work at TGS, using the Mo-Botics module as an example. They set out to answer the following driving question: “How can we use documentary filmmaking to capture the essence of PBL at TGS?

    The pair investigated different aspects of documentary filmmaking and combined their prior experience and skillsets to storyboard, plan, and execute the film. They also used a combination of student interviews and shots from module excursions as the film’s backbone.

    By dividing roles and putting in a substantial amount of post-production editing, they achieved a high-quality final product which they presented at the THINK Beyond showcase.

  4. Mo-Botics Module

    by Bido H. Luiza M. Santiago D. and Noemie T.

    Getting into the field of robotics with little hardware knowledge was both challenging and exciting. I learned that I can find ways to implement existing knowledge into a new field and that there’s always room to lead my own learning experience if I work hard enough. My biggest takeaway is always approaching any new project with a positive, open, and flexible mindset.

    -Class of 2023 Student Bido H.

    Driving Question: How can I design and build a robot – inspired by Expo 2020 and the Mobility Pavilion – that performs an action to increase our quality of life?

    Our project is an autonomous conservational technology system that aims to provide efficiency in agriculture. NutriBot goes around agricultural fields and senses its surrounding environment to measure moisture levels and the type of nutrients in the soil. It then uses this data to evaluate the minimum quantities of water and nutrients necessary to keep the soil healthy and sprays them in the targeted blocks. Implementing this system will make farmers no longer have to apply water or fertilizers across entire fields. NutriBot can conserve up to 40% of water already wasted in agriculture alongside nutrients due to human error and inefficiency.

  5. Exploring Water Scarcity and Safety in Honduras

    February 26, 2021 by Estelle Woodcock

    Driving Question: How can I address some of the present threats to global health while promoting human rights and social progress?

    Project Overview: In this module, students were introduced to the foundations of global health. They learned about basic concepts, measurements, and determinants of health, and a number of key perspectives for considering global health issues.

    For her project, Estelle explored water scarcity in Honduras, which leads to a lack of basic sanitation and clean water for up to 1.8 million people. Non-communicable diseases in Honduras attributed to water cause a DALY rate of 4,540 per 100,000 people. Disease spreads through contaminated food and water tanks, and poor management, climate change, and political unrest worsen the issue.

    Project Reflection: “Exploring the niche of environmental global health opened my mind to so many new areas of interest in this field.  I thoroughly enjoyed this module and felt like the skills will be very applicable to other modules.”

  6. Tackling Malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    October 13, 2020 by Sofia V.

    Driving Question: How can I address some of the present threats to global health while promoting human rights and social progress?

    Project Description: My project is a policy brief about the Malaria situation in Congo. It includes its nature and magnitude, the most affected populations, the socio-economic consequences, and the potential solution to reduce the burden. The policy aims to convince the finance Minister of Congo to invest in solutions for Malaria.

    Project Reflection: “I enjoyed hearing from my peers how the health care systems function in different countries. A challenge was writing in the concise and precise way required for the policy brief.” -Sofia W.

  7. POLITIC(S)

    October 9, 2020 by Theo A.

    Driving Question: How might I use photomontage as a tool to foster socio-politic reflection?

    DUTS

    What was your initial idea and what did you want to do/learn with this project?

    I like to know what’s happening around the different corners of the world. Thus I read and watch a lot of the news. Then I thought: why don’t I make something out of it? That’s how I started it. It’s an ongoing project, and I’m mostly developing my research and multicultural literacy skills. Also, I have been improving my photoshop skills a lot, but it’s not my main focus.

    SO WHAT?

    Did your project development and change from your initial idea, if so how?

    Initially, I did not know the topics I would work on; I just figured it out as I researched through newspapers and magazines. I also visited museums and memorials around different countries in Europe, which worked as an inspiration for some of my montages, which will be available next term.

    What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?

    It’s possible to transform a cabbage into a flower: raw and boring news can become interactive and interesting art pieces.

    BROTHERHOOD AND UNITY

  8. Creating a Rube Goldberg Machine

    October 8, 2020 by Hanna Westphal

    Driving Question: How can I learn about physics through designing and creating a Rube Goldberg Machine?

    What was your final product?

    My final product was a functioning Rube Goldberg Machine. A RGM is a machine that preforms a function with many pointless steps to get to it. In my case, my function was to feed my dogs. 

    What are you passionate about that led you to choose this project?

    I chose to do this project because I wanted to learn about basic physics laws and how they relate to everyday actions.

    What do you hope people will get from looking at your page?

    I hope people will watch the video of my machine and try to think about what physics it took to make it happen.

    Did your project develop and change from your initial idea, if so how?

    Although I always knew I wanted to make an RBM, the process changed quite a few times. Originally I was going to make it be vertical on a board, but after hours of failed attempts to make anything stick to the board, I decided to make it on a table instead. 

    What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?

    My biggest takeaway from this project is probably patience. It was very frustrating when every time I tried to run it something different would go wrong. I really had to persevere to complete this project.

  9. Groceria

    by Effie H., Rachel C., Sarah R., and Teddy F.

    Driving Question: How might we collaboratively implement a design-thinking process to meet the needs of the community we serve?

    Explanation of Summative

    Our summative product is the concept design and layout for an app designed to help households cut back on their domestic food waste by providing them with an interface to better manage the contents of their fridge, their dietary needs, and trips to the grocery store. The app would address some of the main reasons for domestic food waste that we identified – overbuying of food in general and poor storage of it in the house (i.e. forgetting about it in the fridge, letting it exceed its expiry date and having to throw it away, etc).

    What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?

    Our primary goal as a team was to learn how to collaborate effectively online, especially when deprived of the intimacy and information exchange of real human contact. Our meetings were casual yet productive, and we made the most of our situation by calling each other frequently in between to compensate for the lost opportunities we would have had if we were physically together. Another of our goals was to learn how to properly conduct interviews with users – we achieved this first by researching the nuances of good and bad interviews and then interviewing members of our families, the TGS community, etc.

    What did you learn about yourself or about your creative process or about your medium?

    A large part of our creative process had to do with accommodating various people in our team. This meant scheduling meetings, which included keeping in mind a distance of 7 hours between two of the members’ timezones. In another sense, though, this involved designating roles based on different people’s abilities and expertise, largely to do with technology and software design. Therefore, we learned the importance of using the strengths of the people on our team and assigning them to the areas that they’d be most effective in.

    What did this project mean to you?

    This project was meaningful in that it brought a group of us students together who didn’t necessarily interact very much outside of school before; it also taught our team much about the real nature of collaboration as something that can be both online and in person.

  10. Squad App for Online School

    October 7, 2020 by Yeli K. Nila N. and Malak B.

    Driving Question: How might we collaboratively implement a design-thinking process to meet the needs of the community we serve?

    What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?

    Our goal for this module was to find a solution to help teens in online school keep in contact with their friends. We wanted our final product to be easily implementable and useable. We achieved our goal by following the steps design process and consulting students in our community. 

    What did you learn about yourself or about your creative process or about your medium?

    As a group, we learned the importance of hybrid brainstorming in collaboration. It allowed us to connect different ideas when problem solving to create a better overall product. 

    What did this project mean to you?

    This project is important for us because we made something to positively impact our community in these difficult times.

    We made this notion webpage to teach students how to use the app in the TGS community: https://www.notion.so/How-to-Use-the-TGS-Squad-App-457a4343c11249268bba41f19cc18f6d

Sign up if you would like to receive occasional news from us.

Subscribe