Pandemics require many resources, including personal protective equipment (PPE) in order to prevent infection. One type of PPE, face shields, creates a physical barrier between two people to reduce the transfer of a disease through the eyes, nose and mouth. That is where you as the inventor will use the invention process to solve problems and save lives.

Background:

The response to stop the spread of COVID-19 has prompted a wide range of creative and inventive solutions. In this lesson, you’ll learn about “The Shield Team” made up of teachers, students and makers from across the country who are 3D printing face shields for health care workers, as well as what universities are doing to create life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE).

Stanford University bioengineering associate professor Manu Prakash, whose work has long-focused on innovative, low-cost medical devices, started an open source project to modify full-face snorkel masks into reusable PPE for health care workers. To find out more, read How universities are developing COVID-19 solutions in real time.

NOTE: The prototype is NOT to be tested on a real person. The point of the lesson is to encourage you to think like an inventor, practice the invention process and build empathy.

Essential question:

How do new inventions in personal protective equipment (PPE) help reduce the spread of infectious diseases?

Doug Scott teaches Robotics and Information Technology at Hopkinton High School in Massachusetts and is a member of NewsHour EXTRA’s invention education advisory board. Doug started off as a business undergraduate student at Framingham State University, but was always a lifelong inventor at heart. Doug’s 17-year teaching career sprung from his hockey coaching experiences, which have been instrumental in helping him motivate students through the inventing processes. Doug and the Natick High School InvenTeam participated in the Lemelson-MIT Program’s EurekaFest in 2013. In the spring of 2014, Doug accompanied two student representatives from Natick to the fourth White House Science Fair. Just a few years later, their invention was awarded U.S. Patent US9511833B2. Doug was awarded the 2014 Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year and continues to be an advocate for invention education for all. He was a Massachusetts finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Follow Doug on Twitter @mrscottbot

Kathy Hoppe, editor of this lesson and member of NewsHour EXTRA’s invention education advisory board, is currently an education consultant at STEMisED and a former education associate at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the Office of Education and Outreach. Kathy has over 30 years of teaching experience and was a STEM/Science Instructional Specialist and Director for the Elementary Science Program at Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES in Spencerport, New York. She also taught AP Biology, Regents Biology and Intermediate Level Science at Kendall Junior Senior High School and served as a Regional Biology Mentor and STANYS Director at Large for Biology and Professional Development. Kathy is a former Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator (2013-15) who was placed at the National Science Foundation in the Directorate of Engineering, Division of Engineering Education and Centers.