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Connecting Experience
Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Technology is constantly changing, cities are growing, and renewable energy is becoming more and more important. That’s why we need to always be innovative in planning for the future to make our societies inclusive for all.
Tasks
Innovation station
Wake up points
| Age Group: 7+ | Amount of people: 5+ |
Time: 30 minutes
Objective:
To introduce the concept of innovation, to think outside the box.
Material:
n/a
Instructions:
Set the participants a task they know how to do. For example: tie two pieces of wood together with a string or tie their shoelaces etc.
When they’ve completed the task, they should repeat it but using a completely different method to the first time.
Debrief:
- Do you know what is meant by innovation? Innovation is thinking outside of the box, creating a new way of doing things or a new version of a product based on current needs. By creating a new way to tie their shoes they are all innovators!
- How hard was it to come up with a new method?
- Which idea is the best innovation for this particular task?
- Can you think of a reason you might need to innovate something?
Time travel
Wake up points
| Age Group: 11+ | Amount of people: 10+ |
Time: 30 – 40 minutes
Objective:
To explore different inventions through history, and look towards the future.
Material:
DIY Dice per group – paper to create the cube from and marker to write the years on each side, Instruction cards per group
Instructions:
Split participants into small groups of 5 or 6 and give each group a dice and a set of cards.
The leader can cut out and create the dice ahead of time or have the groups cut and assemble their own at the start of the activity.
Participants should take turns throwing the dice and then pick up the card that matches the year shown on the die, and complete the task based on what was invented that year.
Continue throwing the die until all tasks have been completed.
Debrief:
- What invention do you think changed the way we live the most?
- What ideas did you have for future inventions?
- What do you think is important to keep in mind when creating a new product?
Full description and materials in pdf.
Inspiring Inventors
Look around points
| Age Group: 7+ | Amount of people: 5+ |
Time: 3 hours
Objective:
To learn about the life of an inventor. To try to understand what makes them create something new.
Material:
pen, paper, access to the internet or library
Instructions:
Split participants into small groups. Each group should research and learn more about an inventor they find inspiring. It could be someone famous like Gutenberg or someone they know that invented something useful, like their grandfather who is a handyman.
Each group should then create a presentation based on the information they found and share their information with the rest of the group.
From the presentations, create a wall of fame for inventors in the meeting room.
Debrief:
- Which invention is the most useful in your daily life?
- Do you think you could invent something?
Guess the innovation
Look around points
| Age Group: 11+ | Amount of people: 5+ |
Time: 40 minutes
Objective:
To learn about innovation. To know the difference between innovation and invention.
Material:
Paper, pens and bingo card
Instructions:
Begin by creating a definition of both invention and innovation.
- Invention: The act of imagining, creating something new
- Innovation: To Introduce something new to replace something old in some field, reimagining
Split participants into small groups, with one bingo card per group.
On the bingo card there are pictures of popular inventions. For each invention, teams must find an innovation that already exists and create their own.
Ex: Phone > Smartphone > Phone you can control with your mind
At the end groups share their ideas with the others.
Debrief:
- Is it hard to find new innovations?
- Which one would they like to have in real life?
- Did they find some ecological innovations? Can they make it ecological?
Camp innovation
ACT points
| Age Group: 7+ | Amount of people: 5+ |
Time: 2 – 4 weeks
Objective:
To discover ways they can innovate their own spaces.
Material:
n/a
Instructions:
In groups discuss some problems Scouts and Guides see at camp or in their meeting room, this could be water being wasted, waste disposal, a dripping tap, anything the participants see as an issue that needs to be solved.
Participants should pick one problem to focus on, and in their groups, design a product that can help to tackle this problem.
Participants should create a plan of how to create this product using things available at their meeting place or at camp (e.g. Recyclables, pioneering poles, etc.).
Depending on the group’s ideas and abilities, create a prototype of their inventions. This could be a good opportunity to collaborate with an older group to share their skills!
Create a display of the prototypes and have the groups present their ideas to other groups and leaders.
Discussion:
- What issue did you try to solve with your invention?
- Do you think your idea could help on a larger scale?
- What do you think is the greatest invention of the 21st century?
- Is your invention ecologically friendly? If not, how could you make it more ecologically friendly?
- How do you think you could encourage innovators to create more eco-friendly products?
Innovative invention
ACT points
| Age Group: 11+ | Amount of people: 5+ |
Time: 2 weeks
Objective:
To explore their own innovative ideas.
Material:
Paper/whiteboards and pencils/markers
Instructions:
Split participants into small groups or patrols. Each group needs to create their own invention.
Encourage them to work through their idea step by step, starting by talking through their ideas, sketching concepts, choosing materials and then creating prototypes.
Have them consider what problem their invention could help solve, how to create it in an eco-friendly way, the market for this invention, etc.
If there is any one in your community that is working in invention or product design, the leaders could invite them in to talk about their process with the groups.
Create displays of the groups work from idea to prototype and have them pitch their inventions to the other groups and members of the community.
