Magnificent Modules

By: Rebecca Brackin

In PLTW, we are constantly building and creating new things. Going into this class, I didn’t know what to expect. Then, our teacher, Ms. Sauter, started talking about something that we would be doing throughout the year. Something that our whole class would basically be based off of. Our foundation- modules. When Ms. Sauter started talking about it, I had no clue what a module was. It was very confusing to me. The word module itself intimidated me (don’t ask me why, I don’t really know myself).
My first real module that we did that wasn’t really more of a practice round involved bio-medical science. My group and I’s task was to create an interactive poster that had what we thought medicine would be like in 20, 50, or 100 years. We chose 50 years, because we had the most ideas for that. The things we wanted to be on our poster were things that semi-related to teenagers, because that was the people who would be viewing the posters for the most part. So, we ended up with three medicines: Insta Acne Removal, Anti-Bleeding Gel, and Sunscreen smoothie. The instant acne removal was something we thought teens would be raving over in 50 years. We predicted it would be a cream you apply to problem areas on your face, and in a matter of minutes, poof! Your skin is clear. The Anti-bleeding gel is something that scientists have already started working on today. It’s a gel that you apply to wounds to make them stop bleeding. It makes your skin tissue bond together to help heal the wound. The last prediction was sunscreen smoothies. I know it sounds gross, but we thought it would be a smoothie you drink that has a lot of vitamins to help protect you from the sun.
Then, we drew them on a poster, in a cute, colorful manner, and got the Aurasma app to make the poster interactive. We made it so when someone gets the Aurasma app on their phone and scans the pictures, a video pops up on their electronic screen where one of our group members is talking about each prediction. It was a great way to share our ideas.
I thought that was a great module to start off with, and I’m so glad I did. Since then, my group and I have completed to many more modules, and reached so many new levels. And, if you go to Ann RIchards, be sure to go to the makerspace and check out our posters!