Sticky Innovation
Class Reflection
Coming into this class, I was not sure what to expect. The world of art and design was completely different than my world of neuroscience; however, I was excited to step out of my comfort zone. The beginning of the class began by learning everything about bees. The substantial impact that bees have on the world is mind-blowing and hearing of the struggles that bee populations are currently facing can be very discouraging. A strong focus was initially put on "domesticated" bees, or bees that are used by farmers to pollinate crops. This field sees a ton of struggle with Colony Collapse Disorder and Varroa Mites. The class transferred into brainstorming ideas to combat the issues that these bees are facing. This began the art and design portion of the course. The class gave me the opportunity to use the 3D-printers and laser cutters in the Makerspace at the 1819 Innovation Hub. This space was used in the second half of the course to complete The Ideal Bee Project and our Final Projects.
Although maybe not an objective of the course, the effects of climate change, and how we as students can hinder them, became the most impactful lesson of the course. Through learning about bees, I realized how badly humans are treating the Earth and how the change can and must start with us. This class made me change certain aspects of my routine, such using reusable grocery bags more often and using less energy in my home. The power of research and development was also a very motivating element of the course. Because the fundamentals of science are so decided, I was not used to the creating and developing that took place in this course. With research, development, and teamwork, any wicked problem can be solved.
Please see below for the projects and experiences completed in this course!
Although maybe not an objective of the course, the effects of climate change, and how we as students can hinder them, became the most impactful lesson of the course. Through learning about bees, I realized how badly humans are treating the Earth and how the change can and must start with us. This class made me change certain aspects of my routine, such using reusable grocery bags more often and using less energy in my home. The power of research and development was also a very motivating element of the course. Because the fundamentals of science are so decided, I was not used to the creating and developing that took place in this course. With research, development, and teamwork, any wicked problem can be solved.
Please see below for the projects and experiences completed in this course!
More Than Honey Documentary
More than Honey features two main characters: a bee farmer from Switzerland and John Miller. The Swiss bee farmer lives in the mountains of Switzerland, where he keeps his small scale bee farm. John Miller runs a major bee pollination company throughout the United States. In the movie, both experience the international crisis occurring: Colony Collapse Disorder.
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Civic Garden Center Field Trip
The Civic Garden Center strives to build a body of individuals focused on gardening and environmental sustainability. Our field trip highlighted the beehives that reside at the Civic Garden Center. One beehive is indoor, surrounded by glass panels for observers to see the inner-workings of the hive. The other hive is a more natural hive in the positioned in the garden near plants needing pollination.
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Live Well Collaborative
The Live Well Collaborative is a space designed for innovators. Their mission is to provide an environment where groups can collaborate to create new products and services to best suit their consumers. Their design thinking model allows for a variety of individuals to work together on a single design. They use archetypes to show how all individuals have different barriers to overcome.
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Business of Bees Podcast
The Business of Bees Podcast describes the operations that occur in the bee industry. The podcast explains the large impact that bees have on our society. They also talk about the negative trends that are proceeding in the bee industry. They outline many causes of the bee population decline, but they mainly focus on the unknown phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder.
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How do these all connect?