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Locker Improvement Projects

By alkahlout1 | S Design a new school locker

Overview Instructions

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That thin metal box at school where you cram all your stuff? Lockers aren't designed for students today. In fact, the design of lockers hasn't changed since the days of your great grandparents!

But in the School of the Future things could be different. Reimagine the design of a 21st century locker you would need as a Maker. A locker you could use to keep all of your stuff for making!

Let's get started on the challenge to redesign your school locker.

This projects purpose its to improve the locker experience for students. We are collecting information on the lockers, and how students use the lockers. We are trying to find ways to make a locker more appealing to student. The opinions and data that we collect are the thing that we are are going to base our improvements on. Many students don't use lockers. One of our main goals is to make the locker look better and relate to the student so that we can make them want to use their locker more. Lockers are a valuable in education. This design project is going to make the valuable tool something every student will want to use.

Collect Instructions

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Gather more information about your existing school lockers by taking photos, sketching, conducting interviews, or doing additional research.

Think About

  • What is the purpose of a school locker?
  • How has the way you use a locker changed since you first started school in kindergarten, for example?
  • How many times do you visit and open your locker each day?
  • Do teachers or school administrators have any safety or security concerns about lockers?  What are they?
  • What types of materials is your locker constructed from?

Try This

  • Take photos of a row of your school's lockers.  Open your own locker and take a photo of what's stored inside.
  • Make a list of all the features your locker currently has. (Examples: hooks, air slots, etc.)
  • Make a list of all the items you currently keep in your locker on a typical day.
  • Next to each item, make notes about what 'needs' that item has.  (Examples: my sweaty gym clothes need to kept away from my other things; my iPod needs electricity to be charged; my winter boots need a place to drip dry)
  • Make a list of all the items you wish you could store in your locker, but don’t have room for.
  • Measure the length, height, and depth of your current locker.
  • Measure the length, height, and depth of your backpack, books, coat / shoes, and other large objects you typically keep inside your locker.
  • Measure the width of your school's hallway.  How much of this width is taken up on both sides of the hallway when students stand in front of their open lockers?
  • Read this Washington Post article to learn more about some of the complaints students have with their lockers today.
  • Visit the websites of a few manufacturers to see various types of lockers currently made.  What do you like or dislike about these examples?

alkahlout1's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
Purpose is to contain school related or personl objects under the protection of a lock, to contain stuff that is to heavy for you to lug aroung.
I visit my locker twice a day. Teachers are concerned that the students feel that their lockers are...
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Our lockers are made fully out of steel.
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The current school lockers have up to three hooks. In some lockers the hooks have broken off.
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Each locker gets an air vent
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The typical items that my locker contains on a regular day are my math binder, math book, lunch bag...
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The security that the lockers provide is basic. The locks are combination locks. The major flaw...
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We surveyed the people that use or are familar to lockers. Samar Qanadilo Butler High School said,...
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Brainstorm Instructions

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Develop sketches or models to help you puzzle through new ideas and solutions.

Think About

  • Make a list of all the things you like about your current locker.  Ask several friends for their opinions.
  • Make a list of all the things you dislike about your current locker.  Ask several friends for their opinions.
  • Think about your locker not just as a metal box, but as another type of container.  What other types of containers do you use each day to store stuff?  (Examples: containers for food, clothing, household items)
  • Many animals, insects, and plants use containers to store things (Example: bees use honeycombs).  Check out some of the images in the Inspiration Gallery for other ideas of strorage units.
  • Keep in mind that your newly-designed locker will be one of many along the hallway.  How will these individual units all fit together?  How will several students use their lockers at the same time without bumping into each other?

Try This

  • Based on the information you collected above, brainstorm a list of special features you’d like your new locker to have.
  • Make lots of sketches to get your early ideas down on paper.  Learn from each different idea. 
  • Consider what materials the locker will be made from.  What materials will be durable against the wear and tear of student use over the years?

alkahlout1's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
Based on the information that I colected ablout the lockers and what people thought of lockers my partener and I came up with various ideas to solve the problems
We were considering what we keep in our lockers on a daily basis. I keep a math book 2 binders and...
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We decided that the distace betwwen the lockers lockers would be twice the thickness of the door.
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We decided to include a usb/ 120v wall outlet. The wall outlet will give students incentive to...
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The imporvents to the body could be Durible steel finish Digital keypad lock Wider body...
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Their should be an air tight seal on the locker in case of a fire errupts in side the locker. This...
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Should be atleast 2 hooks for for a jacket and some other wearable accessory like a hat.
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The security will be more sufisticated. Each locker will have a digital lock that is time efficient.
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Develop Instructions

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Now's the time to take what you've learned from the steps above and develop your own solution for a new locker.

Try This

  • Use recycled cardboard to make a full-scale or half-scale prototype model of your locker.  You can't really understand if the locker will hold all your stuff, until you make a quick study model.  Don't worry about making a fancy finished model at this time. Instead, use cardstock, scissors, and tape to quickly create the large 3D form. See how it looks. Break off different sections, add new pieces, and try new ideas. Take photos of your model.
  • Sketch or use software such as Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, or Revit to put your ideas on paper.

alkahlout1's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
We are using the information that we collected on locker and what people think of lockers. Based on the information we made a a new and completlety revolutionary locker design.
The locker unit should be 6ft tall. Each individual locker is 3ft tall by 2ft wide 1.5 ft deep....
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To help schools save money and space the locker will have two levels for two student.
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The locker will be sort and wide instead of tall and skinny.
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The locker will have no aor vents. I case of a fire
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The locker has a digital lock
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The locker has an outlet and a USB port
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Final Instructions

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The final step of the design process is to create a more finished model that communicates your ideas to others.

Try This

  • What color or colors will your locker be? What colors have inspired you?  Add colors to the digital model of your locker.
  • What materials will your locker be made of?  Choose materials and details to add to your digital model.
  • Include a human figure in your final locker model, so we can see how big your locker really is.
  • Upload additional images of your finished locker model to the slides for your project.  Write short captions explaining your ideas.
  • Congratulations on solving this design challenge!

alkahlout1's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
The final desing is our design being built . It was created 1/3 scale design.
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