Intention

I created this music box to teach children about the effects of various materials on solar power.

Process

Solar power was the the driving idea behind this design. As our global society trends towards one that depends on reusable resources, a generation of children that are familiar with this idea becomes a priority to create. I know that children like to try new things, which is something I really wanted to encourage with my design. The idea of it playing music at a speed proportional to the amount of sunlight just seemed like something that would be intuitive to children.

Product

This design is a music box that plays music at a speed based on how much sunlight the solar panel in the bottom receives. Children have to experiment by putting different materials in the bottom to see if they can get the song to play faster.

Reflection

The biggest issue with this design is that the materials at the bottom cover the panel, rather than acting as the panel. If I were to take this design further, I would include solar panels made of different materials that children can experiment with in the product.