Students will analyze mentor scientific comics, hear authentic audience feedback from Hawken US faculty, and complete a rapid comic translation challenge that introduces the driving question, target audience, critique routines, and expectations for revision-driven work in the project.

Students will gather direct audience evidence from 5th-grade readers and accessible proxies, test assumptions about what makes science comics understandable, and turn interview and survey data into an empathy artifact with quotes, patterns, needs, and persona snapshots that will guide later design choices.

Students will synthesize user research into evidence-based design directions for their scientific comics by clustering findings, drafting a focused How Might We statement, writing a concise design brief, and setting measurable success criteria for clarity, scientific accuracy, and engagement. They will use critique tools, peer feedback, and a milestone review to revise their decisions before moving into prototyping.

Students will generate multiple comic directions from their research and design brief, choose one with evidence-based reasoning, build low-fidelity storyboard prototypes, and complete two feedback-driven revision cycles with peers and Hawken US faculty so their science explanations become clearer, more accurate, and more usable for younger readers.

Students will refine their scientific comic and presentation materials through targeted coaching, final user validation, and a documented critique-and-revision cycle. They will prepare a stakeholder-facing narrative that explains how research, audience needs, scientific evidence, and feedback shaped their design choices before moving into the public showcase.

Students will present their final scientific comics and oral explanations to an authentic audience, use visual and digital media strategically during the showcase, justify their communication and design choices with evidence from research and testing, and complete a final reflection on growth in collaboration, revision, and audience-centered science communication.