By Jenny Brackin, Second Grade Lead Teacher
Teachers who incorporate design into their classrooms tend to hoard cardboard. I collected for weeks before starting our recent International Baccalaureate (IB) Unit of Inquiry in my second grade class. My students renamed the closet in our room “The Cardboard Mine” once it was full from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Anytime someone went to open the door, they would be warned by a thoughtful child, “Watch out! It’s perilous in there! You might get buried in a cardboard avalanche!” Everyone would laugh and smile, knowing that the cardboard cornice, ready to slide, was the sign of a fun project coming up.
Biomimicry is a hot topic in the design world these days, and at Mackintosh Academy Boulder it’s also a hot topic in the second grade. Our second graders spent six weeks studying how nature inspires creative expression and scientific discovery. This is integrated into every subject through writing, reading, math, science, and the arts. Students created “storms” using musical instruments, reflected on their personal growth in paintings mimicking trees’ growth rings, wrote and recorded songs about the different types of clouds, and choreographed their own dances inspired by elements of nature. They wrote nature poetry, examined and created fractals and tessellations in math, and learned about scientific inventions inspired by nature. However, when asked, almost every student will tell you that their favorite project of this unit is the biomimicry fashion show.
For the biomimicry fashion show, students began by learning about what biomimicry is. We looked at previous year’s fashion shows and even at professional fashion designers that were inspired by nature.
Students were then broken up into teams to intentionally teach collaboration and teamwork skills including learning what to do when you don’t agree with your team. Throughout the design process, students had a chance to practice these collaboration skills in a safe environment, where teachers had ample opportunities for authentic teachable moments.
Each team then selected a photograph of something in nature to inspire their fashion design. The goal, however, wasn’t to make a costume of the object in their photograph. Rather, they looked at colors, patterns, textures, and the general feel of their image to inspire their outfit. They planned their fashion design through drawing and group discussions.
Then came the moment they were all waiting for – the building! Tubs of fabric, dozens of rolls of duct tape, paint, pompoms, glitter galore, and of course, a mountain of cardboard, were utilized to create incredible designs.
Students stepped back with furrowed brows and tongues poking out between their lips in concentration, looked at their creations, held their photographs out to see if it resembled their design. They worked through conflicts together, and in the end, they showcased their work to the entire school in a community fashion show. Students beamed with pride as they narrated the event and modeled their carefully crafted designs for the world to see.
Mackintosh Academy Boulder has 36 unique Units of Inquiry similar to this one in the Lower School (K-5) alone. There are many lessons embedded in every project we design. The biomimicry project allowed important lessons in teamwork and giving/receiving peer feedback to naturally unfold. Equally important, students learned to see themselves as designers, innovators, and creators. When you work at a school that provides you the freedom to be creative as a teacher, it’s easier to inspire students to discover life-changing and inspiring realizations through meaningful hands-on projects. It also helps if no one judges you for hoarding cardboard.
Check out a video of the 2019-20 second grader’s biomimicry fashion show!
