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Developed by IdeaCo, City X Project is a CCSS-aligned 3D modeling, printing, and design thinking program for students between the ages of 8 and 12. With the support of the program's curriculum, students design and prototype solutions to meet the needs of fictional citizens building the first city on another planet in the future. While the program aims to support the development of students' global awareness by highlighting the possibility of interplanetary travel and collaboration, a stronger emphasis appears to be placed on developing students' creativity. Design projects in this program are pursued individually, rather than in collaboration with other students, and prompts aimed at fostering connections between the futuristic narrative and students’ real world community issues are not explicitly addressed.
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The Launch Cycle is a Design Thinking framework aimed at K-12 students, with the goal of using Design Thinking to “boost creativity and bring out the maker in every student.” The authors John Spencer and AJ Juliani sell several Design Challenges and Maker Projects (such as Design the Ultimate Roller Coaster and Create a City for Superheroes) through their website. An emphasis on the final, Launch to an Audience stage is notable, as it requires students to share their designs with the larger community for feedback; however the emphasis on empathy seems minimal as compared to other established Design Thinking frameworks.
Henry Ford Learning Institute Schools
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HFLI is a network of small urban K-12 schools located in the Detroit area in which Design Thinking plays a fundamental role in school curriculum and culture. HFLI works in partnership with the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford d.school) and embraces an approach that “promotes empathy, authentic hands-on learning, skills in critical thinking and problem solving, and connecting the world of school to the world of work and community.”
LANDSCAPE AUDIT
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This website contains a huge selection of curricular resources aimed at teaching design thinking to children, developed by the K12 Lab Network at the Stanford d.school. The included materials primarily represent stand-alone lessons and workshop activities as opposed to ongoing programs or units. Many of the activities--especially those which focus on building empathy--involve partnership work, where participants conduct research to discern a partner’s personal pain points and then develop a design that address that set of specific needs. Collaborative approaches which require a synthesis of different student needs and perspectives do not appear to be a major feature.