About

Castaway huts are made by people who are lost somewhere, like in a jungle or on a desert island. Huts protects us from the weather and wild creatures. A hut will have a place to sleep, a place to cook and eat, and a place to store things. People build huts to be strong enough to withstand the weather. They use materials that they can find, such as wood, bamboo, palm leaves, as well as whatever things they brought with them.
 

Your task

Imagine you and three friends are on a sailing holiday when your boat runs aground and is wrecked on a large deserted island. You are now castaways, and you must build a hut to protect yourselves from the weather and wild creatures while you wait to be rescued. Design a castaway hut for yourselves. Imagine that you can only use whatever you find on the island and whatever you have on the boat. Make a model of your hut using paper or card and other materials. Work on this design topic in a small team with a group of your classmates.
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Follow the design steps

To design something well, do it step-by-step and use the methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website. There are four design steps. The first step is LEARN. To design something, you must first learn about it. There is much to learn on any topic, and it is always interesting. Learning will help you to understand the thing that you are designing, so you can do a good job. The second step is DRAW. Try to think of as many different ideas as you can while you draw them with pencil on paper. Keep drawing until you have some ideas that you really like. Improve your ideas and combine them into a single excellent idea. Drawing is easy and fun. Enjoy it! The third step is MAKE. Make the thing that you are designing to show your teacher and classmates. You can only tell if your idea works by making it. Improve your idea while you are making it. Making something with your hands is fun too! The fourth step is TRY. Once you have made something, you should try it to see if it works or not. You can also let someone else try it to see what they think. When you try, you will often find ways to improve your design idea. That will make you a better designer.
 

​​​​​​​Note for teachers

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the MAKE Step for Level II to safely supervise this design task. ​​​​​​