GREAT LAKES SCIENCE CENTER
WELCOMES PBS’s DESIGN SQUAD

November 19th, 2009

CLEVELAND (November 19, 2009) – From creating remote-controlled flying football targets to engineering dry-land dog sleds for the Jamaica Dog Sled Team, Design Squad’s new generation of innovators take on challenges that task their creative reserves. The Emmy Award-winning PBS reality show, which can be seen Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. on WVIZ/PBS ideastream®, is making its first appearance at Great Lakes Science Center this Saturday, November 21 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. in a free event that is open to the public in collaboration with WVIZ/PBS, SMART, Cleveland State University Transportation Center, Westlake City Schools, and Cleveland HUB.

The event will celebrate the idea that engineering is everywhere with a sneak preview of the two-part episode “sNOw Problem” airing locally in Cleveland on WVIZ/PBS in February (the episode is currently available on pbs.org/designsquad). In this episode, the Design Squad teams were challenged to design dry-land sleds for the world famous Jamaica Dog Sled team. One of Jamaica’s celebrated athletes, Newton Marshall, who served as the episode’s client, will be at the event to talk about the episode, answer questions, show clips and take photos with local kids and families.

According to Design Squad’s host Nate Ball, “What a ride! Traveling to Jamaica to film this episode was a lot of fun, and helped the teams experience a key element of good design; absorbing your physical surroundings and designing with the elements in mind. Newton and his teammates helped the cast hone their ideas, make adjustments, and lead those dogs to the finish line. We’re excited to share the episode and some fun engineering challenges inspired by the show with Cleveland kids and families.”

“We’re proud to support the Jamaica Dogsled Team, and are thrilled that they are featured in Design Squad’s special two-part episode,” said Jamaica’s Director of Tourism John Lynch. “We are also excited that the program shows its viewers a glimpse of Jamaica that offers more than sun, sand and sea. Viewers may want to look out for our musher Newton Marshall as he races in the 2010 Iditarod.”

Saturday is an open-house event with activity stations throughout the building to bring out the inner engineer in all of us. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore hands-on activities based on challenges that appear on the show. Activities include:

Water Craft – Design and build a boat from simple materials that can hold a “payload” – 25 pennies – for at least 10 seconds before sinking.

Paper Table – Build a table eight inches tall out of rolled newspaper that can hold a heavy book.

Pop Fly – It’s football with a twist! Invent a way to send a ping pong ball flying high enough to catch it.

Touchdown – Create a platform that can safely cushion “astronauts” when they land on a table.

Adds Dr. Linda Abraham-Silver, president and CEO of the Science Center, “Great Lakes Science Center’s mission is to stimulate interest and increase understanding of the sciences. Design Squad allows us this great opportunity to leverage our trademark – hands-on learning – with their engineering expertise.”

For more details on this event, visit www.greatscience.com. For more details on the show, visit http://pbskids.org/designsquad/.


About the Show
Design Squad is a reality competition show aimed at kids and people of all ages who like reality or how-to television. The program was launched in 2007 with the goal of getting viewers excited about engineering and the design process. And it worked. After researching the impact of the TV series, website, and educator’s guide, an independent evaluator found a significant jump in young people’s learning and a uniformly positive, enthusiastic response from viewers, educators, and kids.

Major funding for Design Squad is provided by the National Science Foundation, the Intel Foundation and the Lemelson Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Noyce Foundation, United Engineering Foundation (ASCE, ASME, AIChE, IEEE, AIME), National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, ASME, the IEEE, Northrop Grumman, and the Intel Corporation.

About Great Lakes Science Center
Great Lakes Science Center is one of the nation’s leading science and technology centers, featuring hundreds of hands-on exhibits, themed traveling exhibits, daily demonstrations, the awe-inspiring OMNIMAX® Theater and the Steamship William G. Mather. The Science Center is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with discounted parking available for guests in the attached 500-car garage. Great Lakes Science Center is generously funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. For more information, contact the Science Center at (216) 694-2000 or visit www.GreatScience.com.

About Jamaica Tourist Board
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), founded in 1955, is Jamaica’s national tourism agency based in the capital city of Kingston. The JTB was declared the Caribbean’s Leading Tourist and Convention Bureau by the World Travel Awards (WTA) from 2006 to 2009, while Jamaica earned the WTA’s vote as the World’s Leading Cruise Destination, the Caribbean’s Leading Destination and the Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination, for three consecutive years. JTB offices are located in Kingston, Montego Bay, Miami, Toronto and London. Representative offices are located in Düsseldorf, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam and Tokyo. www.visitjamaica.com

About ideastream®
ideastream is a multiple-media public service organization with a mission to strengthen our communities by providing distinctive, thought-provoking programs and services that enlighten, inspire, educate and entertain. The organization was formed by the merger of public broadcasting stations WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN in July of 2001. The organization operates public television and radio stations in Cleveland with an audience of some 2.8 million viewers and listeners, an Educational Service group serving schools with nearly one half million students and manages the Ohio Public Television and Radio Statehouse News Bureau and Ohio Government Telecommunications in Columbus.


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