Designing a Safer Six- Pack
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SHPE Jr. Chapter March 2015 STEM Activity
Instructor resource
Designing
a
Safer
Six-‐Pack
Students work in teams to design a new six-
pack holder that would be less harmful to
wildlife. They then consider the cost of their
materials, how their holder would be
constructed, and come up with a pitch to
convince beverage manufacturers to adopt
their holder design.
Learning objectives
• Understand advantages and
disadvantages of different materials
• Understand the difference between
product and process design
• Connect engineering to resolving
societal issues
• Practice “pitching” prototypes and (Image: Discovery Engineering)
ideas to a “potential client”
Engineering/STEM areas:
Product design, physics, materials, environmental science
Materials
• Student Resource Sheets (in lesson)
• Stopwatch or timer
• For each pair or team:
• 6 full cans of soda, water, or another beverage
• Paper
• Cardboard
• Duct tape
• Wax paper
• String or twine
• Rubber bands
• Paint stirrers
• Other construction materials you think appropriate (twist ties, pipe
cleaners, etc.)
• Examples of current six-pack holders for students to examine
• Student worksheets (in lesson)
Time required
60 mins
Suggested group size:
3-4 depending on number of students
Preparation
1. Read through both the student and instructor resources so you have the
background information
2. Gather all the necessary materials. Assemble sets of materials for each
group
3. Make enough copies of the Student Resource so that each student has
one
4. Make one copy of the Student Worksheet per group, plus a few extras
5. Experiment with designing your own six-pack holder so that you have a
prototype to inspire students
Procedure
1. Print out a few copies of the wildlife photos (included in the Instructor
Resource) or if you have access to a projector, make Power Point slides
of the images and show them to students.
2. Explain that their task today is to design a better beverage-can holder that
will pose less of a threat to wildlife. In addition to designing the holder,
they will need to think about ease of manufacturing, and then make a
product pitch to a beverage maker, convincing them to switch to the new
holder.
3. Go over the Student Resource and make sure that students understand
the assignment and the parameters to consider (cost of materials,
manufacturing, client’s needs, etc.)
4. Distribute materials to each group and give them 15-20 minutes to work
on a design prototype. They should test their prototype by using the full
beverage cans. Remind them to look for spots having to bear the greatest
force, and provide reinforcements if needed.
5. Then give students 10 minutes to devise a 3-minute pitch they would use
to sell a beverage-making client on their idea. The pitch should include
how well the holder works, the budget for materials,
marketability/customer appreciation of the holder, and its safety for
wildlife. If a group hasn’t come up with a fully functional prototype, they
should still devise a pitch.
6. Invite each group up to show their prototype design and make their pitch.
Give the group a signal when they have one minute left. If you have a
small number of groups, they can give a longer pitch. Encourage all
students in the group to participate in the pitch.
7. After each pitch, allow other students to ask a few questions or suggest
improvements to the design. If necessary, remind students that critique
and improvement of prototypes is part of the engineering design process.
8. Thank students for their pitches and add that until a better holder comes
along, they should cut the rings on holders or avoid purchasing cans and
bottles tied together with plastic holder.
Assessments
• In their pitch, each group should describe:
• How their holder adapts to the forces on it in shipping, stocking,
and removing the cans.
• Why their design is safer for wildlife than holders currently in use
• How their design might be efficiently and inexpensively
manufactured
• Why the beverage maker would want to switch to using the new
design
Extensions
• Invite students to research companies or individuals who might be
interested in testing and using their prototypes. These might be local,
small-scale beverage producers, grocery store representative, a
restaurant that sells its own products, etc. With luck, some students may
actually sell their idea!
• Have students look into patenting on package designs such as theirs, and
to research the considerations engineers have to give to patenting and
other forms of intellectual property protection. You can start with the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office: http://www.uspto.gov/
Resources/Bibliography
• Discover Engineering: Harmless Holder
http://www.discovere.org/content/harmless-holder
• Design Squad: Build a Harmless Holder: http://www-
tc.pbskids.org/designsquad/pdf/parentseducators/DS_Invent_3_Harmless
_Leader_ENG.pdf
• Examples of paper-based holders:
http://www.smurfitkappa.com/vHome/us/Products/Pages/Multipack_Carrie
rs.aspx
• Patent for a recent environmentally friendly holder:
http://www.google.com/patents/US8297438
• Stories about trash and animals:
http://www.humanesociety.org/news/magazines/2009/07-
08/the_deadly_truth_about_trash.html
http://inhabitat.com/peanut-the-story-behind-the-poor-sea-turtle-deformed-
by-a-six-pack-ring/
Examples of wildlife found tangled in plastic holders
Turtle found on a beach in Missouri. She likely got caught in the holder as a baby
turtle, and grew around it. Some her organs didn’t fully develop because of the
deformation.
Goose that died as a result of being tangled in a plastic six-pack holder.
March 2015 SHPE Jr. Chapter STEM Activity Student Resource Designing a Safer Six-‐Pack The flexible, plastic six pack holders we’re familiar with work well to hold a set of beverage cans together and still allow a person to pull one off fairly easily. But when those holders become trash, they can also become a big problem for animals. The Ocean Conservancy estimates that 3.7 million pounds of trash wind up on beaches in the U.S. every day. Animal rescue workers around the country report a steady stream of animals trapped in six-pack rings as well as the cans themselves. In 1993, this turtle was found on a beach in Missouri. Her caretakers named her Peanut. Peanut got tangled in a six-pack holder when she was small, and then couldn’t get out of it. Her body grew around the holder, and some of her organs didn’t fully develop because she was so deformed. Peanut’s finders brought her to a zoo where she was taken care of and is still alive today. Many other animals haven’t been so lucky. Designing a solution Engineers have an important role in solving problems like these. An engineer will be called upon to design alternatives to a six-pack holder that don’t avoid these problems with wildlife (and might be greener in other ways). There’s more to the task than coming up with a workable solution, however. The engineer has to consider how much the new holder will cost to produce and how to manufacture it easily. In addition, a beverage maker will have their own requirements for the
holder, and the engineer will need to learn what those are and design with them
in mind. Finally, the engineer must be able to explain the workings and
advantages of the new holder design, and present a solid argument to the
beverage maker about why they should adopt it.
In this lesson, you’ll take on the task of doing all of these things.
Product design and process design
The first stage of your holder design
project is the product design. Product
design involves making a prototype of
the design that you can test and show
to others. The focus of product design
is coming up with a product that will
function well and meet the needs of the
client. You’ll need to use the materials
available to you to design a six-pack
holder that meets the following
requirements:
• Can hold six full beverage cans
• Has a handle for carrying
• Provides a way for a consumer to easily remove one of the cans
• Is made of readily available, affordable materials
• Doesn’t pose a danger to wildlife
In addition, the beverage maker will want to be sure that your design allows for
the kind of marketing that’s needed. The design will also have to:
• Have an area for graphic branding. The branding can either be printed on
the holder itself, or the holder can allow for the branding on the cans to be
visible
• Be noticeable and easy to see on a stocked store shelf
• Be efficiently manufactured and placed on the cans
• Be inexpensive to make
The last two items on this list are part of process design. Process design
involves figuring out how a product can be mass-produced efficiently and for a
reasonable price, essentially figuring out that the production process will look
like.
Your task here is focused mostly on product design, but you’ll need to take some
process design into consideration so that you can promote your design to a
beverage maker.Mar. 2015 SHPE Jr. Chapter STEM Activity
Student Worksheet
Designing
a
Safer
Six-‐Pack
Activity Procedure
Your task is to come up with a functional design for a new six-pack holder that is
greener and safer for wildlife than the current design, and to pitch that design to a
group of beverage makers (your classmates).
Before you begin, make sure you have the following materials from your
instructor:
• 6 full cans of soda, water, or
another beverage
• Paper
• Cardboard
• Duct tape
• Wax paper
• String or twine
• Rubber bands
• Paint stirrers
• Any other construction materials
your instructor has provided
• A current six-pack holder to
examine
Product design
To begin, inspect the six-pack holder, and think about these questions:
• What works well about this design?
• What makes it appealing to a beverage maker?
• In what ways could this design be improved upon?
• What other materials besides plastic might be a solution?
Next, keep your answers to these questions in mind as you experiment with
some new designs. Feel free to use the box on the next page to sketch ideas.
Once you’ve got a design, be sure to test it with the six cans you have. As with
any engineering problem, you’ll probably have to make some improvements to
your original idea in order to make it work.Remember that your design has to include these things:
Can hold six full beverage cans Has an area for graphic branding. The
branding can either be printed on the
Has a handle for carrying holder itself, or the holder can allow for
the branding on the cans to be visible
Provides a way for a consumer to
easily remove one of the cans Is noticeable and easy to see on a
stocked store shelf
Is made of readily available, affordable
materials Can be efficiently manufactured and
placed on the cans
Doesn’t pose a danger to wildlife
Is inexpensive to makeMaking a pitch
Next, come up with a pitch for your design. Even if you haven’t come up with a
fully functional design yet, you can make a pitch for it. Your audience of beverage
makers might even have some helpful thoughts.
KEEP IT SHORT AND TO THE POINT. Remember your audience: they want to
clear, straightforward information about the product.
You’ll have three minutes to make your pitch. If you have the time, rehearse the
pitch with a timer.
Be sure that each person in your group participates in the pitch. Your pitch
should describe:
• How your holder adapts to the forces on it in shipping, stocking, and
removing the cans
• Why your design is safer for wildlife than holders currently in use
• How your design might be efficiently and inexpensively manufactured
• Why the beverage maker would want to switch to using the new design
Make some notes in the space below and organize your pitch.You can also read
