- Design lives here is a middle school STEM project that we use the PBS Property Design Squad Nation, which is engineering challenges.

We choose three of them for the year.

We provide all the supplies to the teachers.

It's nice to have the resources, the materials that she sends us, the ideas.

So teachers work with their students in the classroom and they do one of the challenges to learn about the design process - And the kids love it.

They love the hands-on part, they love the critical thinking.

- Each challenge that is chosen.

We do provide Pennsylvania standards.

That has been a great huge help 'cause this is not a curriculum that you can purchase.

We also work with the Engineering Society of Western Pennsylvania and try to get volunteers to help each of the schools.

- Kids today got really great hands-on experience.

I think the most important skill that the kids learn in this program is, is teamwork.

In engineering, you have to work with people of different personalities who have different skill sets and expectations.

It's great.

Okay.

There you go.

- The students will also complete a fourth activity, which is the invention challenge.

That is when they improve upon something that already exists or they create something new and they make a prototype and a video, your pet right through and your pet will be nice and new.

We hold the culminating event for the school in March.

Thank you.

Welcome to Design Lives here.

Thanks for coming today.

The students will arrive and they will do two different challenges with other students from different schools.

What you do is you're gonna build some - Sort of contraption that will launch a ping pong ball.

Onto the target, - Your challenge is to create a watercraft that floats and that will hold pennies.

- I think it's great.

The challenges are wonderful.

I think anytime kids are learning, but they think they're playing, it's a good thing.

How many pennies are in there?

- 187.

The engineers that we have volunteer for the program, most of them come to the culminating event, which is awesome.

- You wanna take that out and, and retry?

Yeah.

I'll be allowed.

I, I come here every year to volunteer and, and it's a great program because we get to look at what they're designing and not tell them what to do, but help them find it in them, in themselves to, to come up with their own designs.

- Premise of what they're doing here is exactly what I do on a day-to-day basis.

You see a problem, make a plan, you test it, you get feedback and then you go again.

- The students also bring their inventions, their prototypes to the culminating event and we do a showcase.

- We did a waterproof hat with ear holes and snap protection.

Whenever you getting just tired of spinning it like this, every time you eat spaghetti you could always get one of these and just crank this real easy.

- The challenges are completed.

The students will receive points for each of the activities that they have done.

The points are totaled and we have a winner for the day.

And then we also announce the winner for their inventions.

And if you made the necklace magnet - In former years, we only had so many school districts, maybe 10, 12, 14, and now she's going to four different locations, which I think is just wonderful.

- I'd like to impact as many students as I can.