Design Squad

Did You Know?

• In Season 1, the teams were called the Red Team and Blue Team; in Seasons 2 and 3, they were the Green Team and Purple Team.
• Engineer Deanne Bell hosted only Season 1 before leaving for the Discovery Channel program Smash Lab.
• In Season 2, Week 8, neither team completed the task, so no points were awarded.
• Contestant Tréjonda earned no points until Week 9 of Season 2, and said in the intro to Week 4, 'Right now, I feel like the jinx.'
• The Season 3 finale, 'Escape from Misery Island,' was a two-part challenge where teams built sailboats to race across the open ocean.

Season 1 (2007)

The first season featured contestants Giselle, Joey, Kim, Krishana, Michael, Natasha, Noah, and Tom. In the episode "The Need for Speed," a professional racecar builder challenged the teams to convert kiddie toys into motorized dragsters. "Rock On" had the teams create original musical instruments—one stringed and one percussive—for the band Off White Noise, which performed at the Middle East nightclub. For "Skunk'd," a man named Skunk wanted a bike bizarre enough to impress the SCUL (Subversive Choppers Urban Legion) group, and the teams built choppers for a SCUL mission.

"DS Unplugged" required the teams to build 20-foot bridges without power tools, forklifts, or flushable toilets. In "Got Game," they competed to design remote-controlled cameras covering all angles of a basketball game. "A Collective Collaboration" challenged them to make durable, portable, low-cost peanut butter machines for a women's collective in Haiti. "Just for Kicks" involved designing a device that automatically fed soccer balls to professional player Michael Parkhurst of the New England Revolution.

"Functional Fashion" had the teams create dual-purpose clothing for a fashion debut. "Batter Up" required a machine that could cook, flip, and serve pancakes; the winning machine was tested at a busy diner. "Pumped" tasked the teams with building a pump to deliver water to an 11-foot water slide at a community pool. Finally, "Blowin' in the Wind" had them design wind-powered kinetic art from recycled materials, with the winning sculpture displayed at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Season 2 (2008)

Season 2 contestants were Dewey, Deysi, Jason, Kim, Leah, Nick, Tomas, and Tréjonda. In "Cardboard Furniture," the teams created innovative cardboard furniture for IKEA, with shoppers deciding the winner. "PVC Kayak" had them build ten-foot kayaks using traditional design but non-traditional materials for King Island Alaskan native Sean Gallagher. "Green Machines" involved designing a compost lifter for the Food Project's urban farm.

"Gravity Bikes" pitted the teams against each other to build high-speed gravity bikes for champion Tom Whalen. "Water Dancing" required specialized prostheses for an underwater performance by dancer Lisa Bufano, a bilateral leg and finger amputee. "Backyard Thrill Ride" brought an amusement park ride to the backyard of 13-year-old Andreas Hoffman. "Big Bugs" had the teams build wooden arthropods for an artist.

"Aquatic Robotics" tasked them with building a robot that would float on a river for tourists and guides. "Band Cam" involved building a flying digital camera for a live concert by African band Zili Misik. "No Crying in Baseball" required an onion-grinding machine for a hot dog vendor. "Hockey Net Targets" had the teams build targets for hockey goals.

The season finale was split into two parts: "Offroad Go-Karts 1" and "Offroad Go-Karts 2," where Dewey and Leah raced for the college scholarship. In most challenges, each person on the winning team received 100 points, the other team 0. In Week 8, neither team completed the task, so no points were awarded. Tréjonda earned no points until Week 9, and in the intro to Week 4 she said, "Right now, I feel like the jinx.

You know, at first, I thought it was the Green Team title that was the reason I was losing, but now I feel like 'If Tréjonda's on your team, you're going to lose.'" Leah won the season and a $10,000 scholarship from the Intel Foundation.

Season 3 (2009)

The third season featured contestants Ana, Annelise, Juan, Lindsey, Wes, and Zach. In "Moving Target," the teams built indestructible, remote-controlled, flying football targets for Nerf toymaker Hasbro. "Crash-Test Rugby" had them build an automated wheelchair that simulated a defensive player for U.S. Paralympic wheelchair rugby athlete Kerri Morgan. The two-part "Water Rescue" challenge required the teams to build remote-controlled aquatic pet rescue vehicles for the New Orleans Fire Department.

"Shooting for the Sun" involved building T-shirt shooters that reached the upper deck of an arena, with the winner announced live at a Connecticut Sun home game. The two-part "sNOw Problem?" challenge had the teams build dry land dog sleds for Jamaican Dog Sled team members Damion Robb and Newton Marshall. "Tour de BBQ" required a bicycle-powered rotisserie for Redbones BBQ Restaurant owner Rob Gregory. The season finale, "Escape from Misery Island," was a two-part challenge in which the teams built sailboats to race across the open ocean; the captain of the winning team received a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation.

Design Squad Nation

Design Squad Nation is a 10-episode spin-off television and web series that aired on PBS Kids Go! from January 26 to March 30, 2011, and was also streamed on the PBS Kids Go! website. It was hosted by engineers Judy Lee and Adam Vollmer, who traveled around the world and worked with children on engineering projects to "make their wishes come true through engineering" and "inspire viewers to take on their own hands-on engineering activities." In the premiere episode, "Apache Skateboarders," the hosts teamed up with 17-year-old skateboarder Ronnie from the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Whiteriver, Arizona, to build a modular, durable, weather-resistant skateboarding street course.

"It's Alive!!!" saw Judy and Adam work with young pastry chef Jennifer from Boston to create a cake for the cast party of "Young Frankenstein: The Musical," with guidance from master baker Jorg Amsler of Truly Jorg's Patisserie in Saugus, Massachusetts. "Garden–to–Go" took them to London, England, where they worked with Mariam and Bert of Global Generation to design and build a pedal-powered mobile garden for selling produce to nearby restaurants.

The two-part "A Cut Above" had them travel to New York City to work with designers Eduarda and Juan, who re-interpreted a gown from fashion designer Christian Siriano's collection, with a surprise critique from two Teen Vogue editors. In "Musical Bike," the hosts met Beatriz in Emeryville, California, and helped her design and build a pedal-powered bike organ at The Crucible, a non-profit educational foundry and metal fabrication shop.