About

Human beings need to exercise to stay healthy. Exercise has many benefits, it helps us grow, it improves our strength, it helps us lose weight, it prevents ageing, and it is good for our heart and lungs. We also exercise for enjoyment, to play sports, and to be with other people, which makes us happy. Home gyms have become popular as more people want to exercise for their health. A home gym has some of the equipment that you will find in a professional gym, such as weights, machines, treadmills, and so forth. But, home gym equipment is normally more compact and cheaper, as professional gym equipment can be expensive.
 

Your task

Design a home gym apparatus for your family. Your home gym apparatus can be any combination of equipment used in a professional gym, such as weights, machines, treadmill and so forth, as you like. Think about the materials that would be used to manufacture your home gym. Your home gym may be electrically operated if necessary, but it must safely enclose the electric parts. Build a full-size model of your home gym and test it. Work on this project in a small team with a group of your classmates.
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The design thinking stages

Follow the five design thinking stages to ensure that you think of everything and do everything necessary in order to succeed in your design project. First, you must UNDERSTAND the design topic and the needs of the users. With that understanding, you can DECIDE what is important to your design solution and what is not so important. Then you CREATE to come up with ideas and improve them. Then you BUILD your chosen design idea in a physical form and improve it through trial-and-error. Finally, you TEST your built design idea to get the opinions of users. ​​​​​​​Use the methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website as you follow the design thinking stages.
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​​​​​​​Note for teachers

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the BUILD Stage for Level III to safely supervise this design project.