Cycle 4 and 5 Activities
Cycle 4 was named The Art of DesignIT. The highlights of the cycle were the Art Institute that took place during Spring Break and the gallery of DesignIT sound sculptures that were placed in RadioShack's new Store One in downtown Fort Worth. During the Institute the students had the opportunity to visit with Museum artists and talk about what goes into designing an exhibit. Free-form painting, drawing, and photography helped inspire students to create new sound sculptures using crickets for display in Store One. A trip to the Modern Art Museum provided some fun and a chance to study other artwork. The students also discussed their interpretations of different works of art. In preparation for summer Museum School classes, the teens spent some time interacting with guests on the museum exhibit floor. Some of the teens will be assisting DesignIT staff in teaching some of the activities to Museum School students.
The Choose Your Own Adventure cycle, Cycle 5 was a chance for the students to build upon what they had learned this year and complete a final project for display at the end of the year. Projects ranged from Microworlds games and music creation, to new short films and a DesignIT web site for students. The teens were asked to be on hand for the opening of RadioShack's Store One. Many were also able to show off their sound sculptures that were on display. The end of this cycle culminated in a party for staff, students, and parents to view the final projects and celebrate the successes of the students.
The Panther Boys and Girls Club branch of DesignIT premiered their movie, Leaders of Love, in March. The movie was entered into a film competition sponsored by Best Buy for the Boys and Girls Clubs. After the success of the movie, the teens began a cycle inspired by the PIE Network webpage. The group focused on circuits and crickets, finding new ways to interact with the microcomputers. They began by building light-sensitive doodlebots (drawing robots) and homemade night lights using holiday lights. The teens built their own flashlights and then turned them into decorative lanterns. They built strobe lights and displayed their creations during the Glow in the Dark Gallery Night. Finishing off the year, the students experimented with the infrared capabilities of the crickets, culminating in the Nasc-i.r. Championship Race. The teens entered their infrared powered cricket racers and competed for fame.
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The Northside Boys and Girls Club branch of DesignIT also entered a video into the Best Buy film competition. Their short film, Play Hard, was inspired by the legendary dodgeball games at the branch. A few teens (and future film-makers) began their own short film about their passion, skateboarding. The group learned about stop-motion animation and made some films with that technique. Introductions to crickets, simple circuits, and switches gave the teens the background for their next project. The teens at Northside also built infrared-powered cars using crickets and their newfound skills. Some of the designs included Hummer and low-rider inspired creations. The designers competed in a race as a culmination of their hard work.
