STEM Education in Botswana: Girls Getting Geeky

                                                       Design Squad Global: Technopolis Partnership                                                                       

Partner Project

The participants of the Design Squad partnered with a science house in Belgium named Technopolis. The participants selected three Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that they would like to focus on for the final project. Teams explained to their partner club, in writing, how the project reflected the demands in their community, as well as, the reasons these topics were important. Stepping Stones International (SSI) participants selected the SDG number 3 (good health and well being), 15 (life on land) and 4 (quality education).

The partners shared their selected SDG’s and agree to one. They agreed to number 15 (life on land) under which they had to carry out interviews in the community to discover how can they as young help people stay safe?

The interviews revealed that people in Botswana are exposed to a lot of sun and heat. This is compunded by people tossing decaying trash, such as fruit peels, leaves and food anywhere, causing an unpleasant smell.

Using the design process, SSI participants created a fan cap that would provide shade to people walking in the sun. They made a normal cap and little paper fan which they secured to the front of the cap. As a person walks, the fan works like a windmill and blows a breeze on that person’s face, while the cap simultaneously provides shade.

The second design was a land fill model. Participants collected all the trash that was scattered around the public areas; layer by layer they put them into a container adding soil and water to each layer. After some days, the trash decomposed and was used as composed manure.

Graduation

After the participants had completed all their projects and shared solutions with their partner club in Belgium, they graduated. During the graduation, the participants were awarded certificates.