This past August we, alongside Ohio Soybean Farmers and Ohio Corn and Wheat, introduced this year’s design challenge:
Work as a team to imagine, design and prototype a solution to increase food security in your life, community, or world.
We invite students from all across Ohio from all grades to tackle the issue of food security. We have spent the past couple months explaining the issue, calling out resources on the topic, and ways to engage the design cycle in choosing a solution. As 2019 quickly approaches we want to start planning the details and get more excited to see solutions your students have created.
The Battelle Student Showcase is planned for May 8th, 2019 and we would like to have seen preliminary sessions by April 18th, 2019 (see recent blog on common questions addressing preliminary sessions). If you are planning on participating in the #STEMfeedsOhio Design Challenge please fill out the form below. If you are still solidifying a date for your preliminary sessions, no worries, still let us know you’re in!
Why your students should participate in the design challenge:
1: Primarily, simply, most importantly, because food security issues affect them or their classmates. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture “Ohio now ranks third in the nation for families forced to skip meals or eat less because they didn’t have the money or resources to put food on their table.” Even if your student doesn’t experience the stress of not knowing where their next meal will come from, they are most likely to be a part of the 9 billion people on earth by 2050. It will be their responsibility to reconsider how we grow, transport and consume food.
2: Design challenges offer your students a venue to think, critique and collaborate. Students engage with a problem with intrinsic motivation as the designers of the solution. We have watched hundreds of students beam with excitement when presenting a product they are truly proud of.