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🌍 Weeks 7-9: Design Thinking: Social Innovation

Unit Overview
Grade Level Grades 5-6
Duration 3 sessions (45 min each)
STREAM Focus E (Engineering), R (Religion)

Weeks 7-9: Design Thinking: Social Innovation

🎯 Learning Objectives

STEM Objectives

Students will be able to: 1. Apply human-centered design thinking process 2. Identify real community needs through empathy research 3. Ideate, prototype, test, and iterate solutions 4. Present and defend design decisions

Faith Integration Objectives

Students will be able to: 1. Apply Catholic Social Teaching to design challenges 2. Understand the dignity of every person as central to design 3. Practice "preferential option for the poor" in design thinking

Weeks 7-9: Design Thinking: Social Innovation

🙏 Faith-Reason Integration

Catholic Teaching Connection

Catholic Social Teaching — The Church's social teaching provides a framework for addressing human needs. Key principles include human dignity, preferential option for the poor, solidarity, and subsidiarity. Design thinking for social innovation puts these principles into action.

Scripture Connection

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." — James 1:27

Saint Connection

St. Oscar Romero — Archbishop who advocated for the poor and marginalized. He said, "We cannot do everything, but we can do something." Our design projects, even small ones, can make a real difference.

📚 Materials Needed

  • Design thinking process posters

  • Empathy research tools (interview guides)

  • Prototyping materials (cardboard, craft supplies, electronics)

  • Testing supplies

  • Presentation materials

  • Catholic Social Teaching summary cards

Session 1: Empathize & Define

📝 Lesson Procedure (45 minutes)

Opening Prayer & Introduction (6 min)

Prayer: "Lord Jesus, You saw the needs of people around You and responded with compassion and action. Open our eyes to see the needs in our community. Give us creativity to design solutions and courage to act. Amen."

Catholic Social Teaching Introduction:

Key Principles: 1. Human Dignity — Every person is precious, made in God's image 2. Preferential Option for the Poor — Special attention to those who struggle most 3. Solidarity — We're all one human family 4. Common Good — Working together for everyone's benefit

Challenge: "Design something that addresses a real human need, guided by these principles."

Community Challenge Introduction (8 min)

Real challenges to address (teams choose):

Challenge A: Food Insecurity

  • Problem: Some families don't have enough food

  • Design: Something that helps food access, reduces food waste, or supports feeding programs

Challenge B: Elderly Isolation

  • Problem: Older adults often feel lonely and disconnected

  • Design: Something that connects generations, reduces isolation, or supports elderly independence

Challenge C: Environmental Justice

  • Problem: Poor communities often face more pollution and environmental harm

  • Design: Something that addresses environmental challenges in underserved areas

Challenge D: Learning Barriers

  • Problem: Some students lack resources for learning

  • Design: Something that makes education more accessible

Challenge E: Student Proposal

  • Identify your own community need

  • Must connect to Catholic Social Teaching

Empathy Research (18 min)

Empathy process:

Step 1: What do we know? (5 min)

  • Brainstorm current knowledge about the challenge

  • Identify assumptions

  • Note questions

Step 2: Research (8 min)

  • Use provided research materials

  • Interview simulation (cards with "user stories")

  • Internet research if available

Step 3: Empathy Map (5 min)

  • Who are we designing for?

  • What do they SAY?

  • What do they DO?

  • What do they THINK?

  • What do they FEEL?

Problem Definition (10 min)

Point of View Statement: "[User] needs [need] because [insight]."

Example: "Elderly community members need ways to share their skills because isolation makes them feel purposeless, but they have valuable knowledge to offer."

Refine problem statement:

  • Is it specific enough?

  • Does it focus on human need, not solution?

  • Is it connected to Catholic Social Teaching?

Closing & Preparation (3 min)

Faith Connection: "When we truly UNDERSTAND others' needs, we can design better solutions. Jesus always saw people — really saw them. He knew their needs. That's what empathy is about."

Homework: Continue thinking about your challenge. What additional questions do you have?

Session 2: Ideate & Prototype

📝 Lesson Procedure (45 minutes)

Opening Prayer & Review (4 min)

Prayer: "Creative God, spark our imagination today. Help us dream big and think creatively about how to help others. Guide our designs to truly serve human dignity. Amen."

Review: "What is your team's Point of View statement?"

Ideation Phase (12 min)

Brainstorming Rules: 1. Quantity over quality (at first!) 2. No criticism during brainstorming 3. Build on others' ideas 4. Wild ideas welcome 5. Stay focused on the problem

Individual Brainstorm (4 min):

  • Each person generates 5-10 ideas (sketch or write)

  • Don't evaluate — just generate

Team Sharing (4 min):

  • Share all ideas

  • Group similar ideas

  • Build on each other

Selection (4 min):

  • Which idea best addresses the need?

  • Is it feasible to prototype?

  • Does it align with Catholic Social Teaching?

Prototype Planning (6 min)

Plan your prototype:

  • What will it look like?

  • What materials do you need?

  • What will you test?

  • What questions will the prototype answer?

Remember: "A prototype doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to help us LEARN."

Prototype Building (18 min)

Build time!

Prototype options:

  • Physical model (cardboard, craft materials)

  • Storyboard (drawings showing how it works)

  • Role-play script (act out the solution)

  • Digital mockup (if tools available)

Teacher circulates:

  • "How does this address the user's need?"

  • "What's the most important thing to test?"

  • "How does this reflect Catholic Social Teaching?"

Testing Preview (5 min)

Plan for testing:

  • What feedback will you seek?

  • What questions will you ask?

  • How will you measure success?

Faith Connection: "Jesus didn't just feel sorry for people — He acted. He healed, fed, taught, and served. Your prototypes are beginning of action. Small solutions can make real differences!"

Preview: "Next session: testing, iteration, and presentation!"

Session 3: Test, Iterate & Present

📝 Lesson Procedure (45 minutes)

Opening Prayer (3 min)

Prayer: "Lord, help us receive feedback with humility and improve our designs with wisdom. May our final solutions truly serve others and honor You. Amen."

Testing Phase (10 min)

Peer testing:

  • Present prototype to another team

  • Get feedback using provided questions

  • Record specific feedback

Test questions:

  • Does this address the user's need?

  • What works well?

  • What could be improved?

  • What questions do you have?

User perspective:

  • Would the user understand this?

  • Would they use it?

  • Does it respect their dignity?

Iteration Phase (10 min)

Improve based on feedback:

  • What one improvement will have the most impact?

  • What feedback will you incorporate?

  • What will you change?

Make improvements to prototype.

Document changes:

  • Original → New

  • Why the change?

Presentation Preparation (5 min)

Prepare 3-minute presentation: 1. The Challenge (What need are you addressing?) 2. The User (Who are you designing for?) 3. Catholic Social Teaching Connection (Which principles guide you?) 4. Your Solution (What did you design?) 5. Evidence (Why do you believe it will work?) 6. Next Steps (What would you do with more time/resources?)

Presentations (15 min)

Teams present (3 min each):

  • Clear, organized presentation

  • Demonstrate or show prototype

  • Answer questions

Audience response:

  • One strength of this design

  • One question

Closing Celebration (2 min)

Celebrate the work!

Final Faith Connection: "St. Oscar Romero said, 'We cannot do everything, but we can do something.' Your designs may be small prototypes now, but they represent big thinking about human needs. Keep using your God-given creativity to serve others!"

Closing Prayer: "Thank you, God, for the creativity to design solutions. Thank You for Catholic Social Teaching that guides us. Help us always see the dignity in every person and use our talents to serve the common good. Amen."

✅ Assessment

  • Completed empathy research and defined problem

  • Generated multiple creative ideas

  • Built prototype that addresses need

  • Iterated based on feedback

  • Connected design to Catholic Social Teaching

  • Presented clearly and persuasively

📎 Home Connection

"We completed a social innovation design project! Ask your child: 'What challenge did your team address?' 'Who were you designing for?' 'How did Catholic Social Teaching guide you?' 'What solution did you create?' Discuss how your family can apply design thinking to help others in your community."

Unit Version: 1.0 | Last Updated: 2025-12-05