We regularly encourage students to use 4DFrame to increase their knowledge of geography as they are supported to build models of different landmarks such as the Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower, a Cathedral of their hometown, or the Atomium in Brussels.
Eiffel 4DFrame
One of the advantages of 4DFrame material compared with other traditional material such as popsicle sticks, cardboard, or recycled material is that 4DFrame makes their models more symmetrical and more mathematically correct. Observers very quickly grasp that everything emerges stronger and more stable, if they manage to build it symmetrically while respecting basic rules of geometry.
Teachers can encourage students to stabilise their structures using as many equilateral 60°-angle triangles as possible while applying the fundamentals of structural stability. Another advantage of the material is that we can work with mechanical parts that were originally hand-crafted, which is in a way more interesting than using mechanical parts that are already built and made to assemble. The 4DFrame material gives the students a chance to design objects from scratch and not simply recreate something already planned.
4DFrame as a Tool for Learning by Teaching Others
As previously described, when we discussed the different representation of the disputed Learning Pyramid models, and despite the criticism of the percentages used in the various versions of these Cones of Learning, one aspect that always serves as the foundation of all representations is the method of learning by teaching. Deemed by all those who designed such pyramids as the base of every model of knowledge retention, it is always portrayed as the most efficient form of sustainable active learning. Most models attribute the level of knowledge retention to 90% or more when talking about learning by teaching.
As there might still be some truth to this hypothesis, we will provide a relevant example of how this active learning method can bring long-lasting results for all parties involved. We will describe a learning activity where the students from 7th grade at our school were invited to teach basic engineering techniques to the pupils in 2nd grade, using 4DFrame as a pedagogical material. After learning the basic geometrical and mechanical concepts described above, our 13-year-old students were instructed to offer an introductory workshop to different groups of 8-year-old pupils in two different classrooms simultaneously. The teachers in charge assumed the role of observers, and they were continuously assessing the 7th graders on the way they were instructing the younger pupils, and on the way, they were assisting them.
The second graders were instructed to design any type of vehicle with at least two moving parts with three to six wheels while respecting the basic geometry rules provided by their 13-year-old coaches to design symmetrical and functional vehicles. The 90-minute-long creative workshop was a real success. Less than half an hour after the start of this activity, it was truly amazing to observe how the 7th grade students were already impressed with the level of creativity of the 2nd graders. The younger students were daring to try different ways of using the material while bending the tubes to create models with curves and by cutting the spongy 4DFrame wheels to invent new parts and objects that are usually not included in a regular 4DFrame kit.
By observing the younger pupils, the 7th graders felt inspired. Most of them agreed that they had learned new tricks and got some new ideas by observing how creative the second graders were while discovering this new material. The 7th graders also agreed that the younger pupils were good at following their instructions, and as the colourful pedagogical material was new to them, it created a type of excitement in the younger pupils that contributed to raise the level of enthusiasm among the members of each group throughout the workshop. The 7th graders provided help when needed, but they were told not to intervene too much. They noticed that everyone was participating to the best of their abilities and that every team wanted to preserve their creation because they were very proud of what they had built together. Furthermore, the 7th graders were also involved in the socio-emotional aspect that we described in the holistic level of integration, because they needed to deal with young and less mature individuals who needed encouragement. Some of them started to cry when their ideas did not work after the first try and they needed to be comforted and cheered up, other work groups had minor conflicts, as they were borrowing parts without asking for their teammates’ permission, and the 7th graders in charge had to resolve these conflicts while being diplomatic and constructive. Others had to enforce discipline, because some young pupils became disruptive after an hour of work and so on.
The lessons learned by the 7th graders while teaching others how to use this new pedagogical material were priceless. They helped to build bridges between the different age groups, thus contributing to a different form of integration that is partly responsible for creating more harmony and co-operation between the different departments of our school. Most importantly, the greatest lessons learned by the 7th graders emanated from observing the boundless creativity of the younger pupils and the way that they applied the things that they had learned while incorporating new techniques that were true examples of ‘thinking outside the box’.
Crane 4DFrame Prototype
As the youngsters were using the different 4DFrame tubes and connectors in unconventional ways, their ideas served as a source of inspiration for the 7th graders. Some of them have subsequently applied these newly observed techniques when they competed in the Enlightening Imagination contest later on, at the end of the school year. For example, it was the first time that we had seen the 7th graders carving into the spongy 4DFrame parts, usually used to make wheels, to design new and interesting devices or assemble tubes in new creative ways during that contest.
The boundless creativity of the second graders has had an impact on the individuals who took on the role of instructors during those creative workshops. It is a perfect example of a win-win situation, where the younger pupils were introduced to an exciting new pedagogical material, while the older students have learned to provide instructions clearly, taking care to explain complex elements in a simplified way, but likewise deal with different situations associated with the behaviour of some individuals undertaking their work in groups. Meanwhile, they were learning by osmosis as they observed creative young minds designing new types of prototypes with 4DFrame. Learning by teaching provided all the individuals involved with a satisfactory active and collaborative learning experience. Finally, the fact that the 7th graders have used some ideas borrowed from the younger pupils’ designs in a contest later on during the same school year demonstrates that it has had a positive impact on their own creativity and on the sustainability of their pedagogical experience.
Another interesting aspect of this interdisciplinary approach experimented with as part of this integrative and active learning method was in 8th grade, when the students were learning about the Industrial Revolution. They were not only learning about the objects during a lecture or while reading a textbook, but they also got to learn to build gearboxes, pistons, differentials, cogwheels, and even eventually, in 9th grade, started to work with 4DFrame Mechatronics to create robot cars or other vehicles.
Water Pump 4DFrame prototype
The knowledge of how to build solid and stable structures will become very useful in 9th grade when, at our school, every year the students are asked to build bridges made from dried pasta. Each team gets 1 kilogram of pasta and hot gun glue sticks, and the bridges are subsequently put to the test using weights, until they collapse. One of the knowledge criteria for the students is that they need to reflect on the different types of material used and their relative function. This is a reason to encourage students to use many different types of materials in order to test all the knowledge criteria required. After practicing building da Vinci bridges using ice lolly sticks and learning how to build solid truss bridges using 4DFrame material, our students can now build much stronger bridges out of dried pasta, and they have ended up using much less glue than previously, as they now comprehend more of the basic principles of engineering.
DaVinci Bridge
It is important to awaken the pupils’ curiosity and to develop their interest in technology early on. It is crucial to encourage creativity when they are presented with new material, because they will not learn as much, if they are only supposed to follow instructions and simply repeat the same process as given in an instruction. Although it is great to be able to use LEGO®, for example, to recreate a construction by following instructions, and being able to assemble IKEA flat-packed furniture, that is probably not the most important skill that we need for the future.
Warka Water Tower
4DFrame Warka Tower
Another very enriching hands-on learning activity that some of our students have had the chance to participate in during two events related to the IMSCC competition in Seoul, South Korea in 2018 and 2019, was the construction of Warka Towers with 4D Super Frame (large scale 4DFrame) in teams made up of participants from different countries such as the Philippines, China, Mongolia, Israel, Indonesia, and Sweden. The activity was very interesting from the point of view that the students were encouraged to find ways to communicate with other students from different countries who spoke different languages. It was enriching to watch the students manage to communicate despite the language barriers. Obviously most of the communication was done in some very basic English, but despite the limited vocabulary of some students, each and every one managed to contribute actively to the construction of the Warka Tower. This is a perfect example of an activity that fosters team spirit and helps to build bridges between different cultures through co-operation.
First of all, it is important to describe what Warka Towers are. They are light, vase-shaped structures that extend about 5 to 10 metres high, conceptualised by the Italian architect Arturo Vittori. It is essentially a water collector that has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people who inhabit Africa, the Middle East, and most of the arid regions of the world. Surprisingly, the Warka Towers are able to extract on average up to 100 litres of potable water per day by transforming the humidity of the air in arid rural areas, where access to drinkable water is scarce. They can, for example, be made of natural materials such as bamboo stalks strung together. They are simple structures that can be easily replicated using 4D Super Frame.
As previously mentioned, some of our students had the privilege of partaking in the building of a few full-scale prototypes in a schoolyard in the suburbs of Seoul. They are quite intuitive to assemble. Once the outer structure is created by crisscrossing interconnected rods, a fine weave, like a fishing net, collects the water drops in a drip tank. Specifically, as the droplets grow larger, they descend on the surface of the net, owing to gravity, until they reach the bottom of the tower, where they are collected in a container. It works even during dry periods; the humidity contained in the air is trapped by the aquafuge fabric net that stretches inside the structure. Surprisingly, even hot and dry parts of the world have water vapour in the local atmosphere. The water then slides along the ropes of the hemp or polyester net before being collected in a cistern. Collecting clean drinking water with Warka Towers requires next to no effort, does not consume energy, and costs very little to build. The playful activity associated with its construction makes it possible to instil the problem-solving approach to environmental challenges with the help of the integrative STEAM approach.
It is simple to assemble a 4D Super Frame tower with a small group of students. As mentioned before, the real functional Warka Water systems are bamboo towers capable of capturing moisture from the air, no matter where they are built. Even if they were invented for the most arid regions of the world, they can be adapted to any country and almost every climate. Indeed, it is amazing that such a simple structure can collect water from thin air. It represents a perfect example of a creative solution to real-world problems, and it serves as a paragon for the sustainable and active learning approach promoted in this book.
When geometry, engineering, science, and art are used in an integrative fashion to provide a solution to some of the UN Global Goals, while employing a collective educational approach, students learn that it has the potential to improve the quality of life of millions of people around the world. This is a very important asset for communities, who otherwise might only have access to polluted water. As contaminated water causes the spread of disease and affects the health of millions of people – especially children – this activity helps to provide a genuine sustainable active learning experience.
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