spiky hair challenge
Tech 8 tries something new
"There’s a new series in development called Spiky Hair and the producers need you to come up with the character design."
That’s the quest that technology teacher Evan Lucieer gave his eighth graders, and they are up to the challenge.
Along the way, students flex their coding skills in BlocksCAD, a 3D modeling tool. It builds on Scratch, which they used in sixth and seventh grades, and prepares them for AutoCAD, an application they’ll use in ninth grade Design & Draw for Production. The purposeful progression leans into the District’s Technology Commitment of preparing students to live productively and safely in a technology-dominated world.
learning BlocksCAD
Individual and team work
The students work in teams, each member oversees a different facial feature. They draw on white boards, then visualize their ideas in BlocksCAD. While all students are creating code on their laptop, only the team leader’s laptop is connected to the large display. Collaboration happens out loud.
creative decisions
diverse responses shared with whole school
One group is taking inspiration from their Fantasy Football team’s wide receiver Justin Jefferson. It’s trial and error, then success, to get their character’s cap brim, worn backwards, just right. Next up, the teeth and sunglasses.
The group next to them is creating a character with sunray hair and eyes like blocks. The coders say they were inspired by Disney, sort of. They’re working on the code that sets the width between the eyes.
Lucieer is amazed at the diverse responses to the challenge. He shares the students’ final work—of a rooster-inspired character as well as one fit for a horror film, and a lot more—on the display in the main hallway.
