You've Never Seen A Wheelchair Like This
From Mark Rober
17 min4th5th6thScienceSocial-Emotional Learning
Summary
Mark helps engineer an all-terrain wheelchair so a friend can go places a normal wheelchair can't. It's an engineering-design story rooted in empathy and including everyone.
Viewer safety
Ages 7+
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
Good design starts by understanding a person's real needs. This wheelchair was engineered so its user could reach places others take for granted — engineering with empathy.
- Whose needs did the design have to meet, and how did the team learn them?
- What did the new wheelchair let its user do that a normal one couldn't?
- Why is understanding a person's experience an important first step in design?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: accessibility, empathy, design, needs.
Try it: Look around your school for one spot that's hard to reach with a wheelchair. Sketch a change that would help.