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MYP Design Introduction

Aims of Design in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme

The aims of all MYP subjects state what a teacher may expect to teach and what a student may expect to experience and learn. These aims suggest how the student may be changed by the learning experience.

The aims of MYP design are to encourage and enable students to:
  • Enjoy the design process and develop an appreciation of its elegance and power
  • Develop knowledge, understanding and skills from different disciplines to design and create solutions to problems using the design cycle
  • Use and apply technology effectively as a means to access, process and communicate information, model and create solutions, and to solve problems
  • Develop an appreciation of the impact of design innovations for life, global society and environments
  • Appreciate past, present and emerging design within cultural, political, social, historical and environmental contexts
  • Develop respect for others’ viewpoints and appreciate alternative solutions to problems
  • Act with integrity and honesty, and take responsibility for their own actions developing effective working practices
All sixth grade students take a quarter of Design each year. All seventh and eighth grade students take one semester of Design each year.

**Please Note: These course descriptions are in the process of being updated for the 2024-2025 school year.**

Courses

Design 6

The sixth grade Product Design Lab meets 18 times during the school year, completing three projects that each last six days. Students will apply the Design Cycle—a process that engineers, designers, and problem-solvers in many fields utilize—to create models and/or prototypes of products and systems.
 
  • For the introductory unit, Engineer with Empathy, students  create prototypes of adaptive equipment for people with disabilities and physical challenges.
  • Students work in groups to create a Rube Goldberg Device by changing the form and function of a cause and effect system for our second product design project.
  • Our final project, the Zipline Marble Drop, is inspired by NASA’s LCrOSS mission. Students construct an apparatus to carry a marble down a zipline and drop into a lunar-like target zone.

Design 7

In seventh grade, Design students will solve problems and complete tasks by using technology and the IB Design Cycle, which requires students to investigate a problem, plan a solution, design and create the solution and then evaluate the success of that solution. This will be an engaging, hands-on class, which will allow students to apply the problem-solving and collaboration skills that they are gaining throughout the IB program to real-world situations. Every Design class will meet the IB design curriculum standards and will incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) best practices and community partnerships.

Design 8

In eighth grade, Design students will solve problems and complete tasks by using technology and the IB Design Cycle, which requires students to investigate a problem, plan a solution, design and create the solution and then evaluate the success of that solution. This will be an engaging, hands-on class, which will allow students to apply the problem-solving and collaboration skills that they are gaining throughout the IB program to real-world situations. Every Design class will meet the IB design curriculum standards and will incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) best practices and community partnerships.