Chemistry Students Take a Dip into Hen Hud’s ‘Shark Tank’
Wrapped in seafoam green fleece and topped with a hand-sewn handle, the AirKin prototype was patterned after Hermès’ iconic Birkin bag, the hand-crafted purses made in France that can fetch five and six-figure price tags. While this new bag — presented in detail during Stephanie Geiger’s class this week — might not be so coveted, it was an example of the ingenuity of her Honors Chemistry students.
Geiger’s class at Hendrick Hudson High School participated in its annual “Shark Tank” competition, named after the long-running television show of the same name that allows inventors the opportunity to tout their products before a handful of well-funded investors. In this instance, staff members that included Principal Lauren Scollins, Assistant Principal Nick Katsaris and several teachers, played the role of investors. They jotted down notes and prepared bids using $100,000 of fictitious money after listening to the students’ pitches.
The AirKin was one group’s creation. It met Geiger’s parameters, which asked the students to create a portable cooling prototype, then discuss the design, chart and explain the energy it created, and more.
“The magic that our students possess can not always be captured in a traditional test,” Geiger said. “Giving students the opportunity to be creative, collaborate and build their understanding through trial and error allows them to show their understanding of concepts in their own unique way.”
For the AirKin, which was presented using both an actual prototype and a website accessed via QR code, the bag was lined with recycled plastic insulation and used an ice pack and a battery-powered fan to generate cool air that was blown through an opening near the clasp.
In addition to presenting their designs for the Sharks — aka the judges — the groups also answered questions from fellow students in the audience. Some asked about potential pitfalls the group encountered or design decisions that were made. Other students expressed curiosity about how the product worked, what inspired the design, and who the group envisioned as its target audience.
Other designs included Sprayeez, a personal fan and cool mist spray; the Coolephant, another fan where a bendable tube in the shape of an elephant’s trunk produced cold air; and Freeze Film, a cell phone-powered fan designed to resemble a 1920s movie camera.
Students were tasked with determining how to create cold air, how to move that air through their device, and how to ensure the materials wouldn’t be damaged by melting ice or the condensation from ice packs — all while keeping the product light and portable.
The project spanned much of the first unit of study in Geiger’s Honors Chemistry class. The students learned about heat transfer and the concepts of quantifying thermal energy through exploration and experimentation, then worked collaboratively in groups to build and test their prototypes.
The students were required to create a portfolio during the project, either in the form of a website or poster, to use during their sales pitch.
Staff members who volunteered to serve as judges could invest the money however they wanted. The team that received the largest investments will earn extra credit on the test for the unit, Geiger said.
The presentation itself was also an important part of the project.
With the project complete, the prototypes along with QR codes for the websites the students created for their presentations will be placed in a display case on the second floor of the high school.
