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All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 The Need for Speed

    • February 21, 2007
    • PBS

    A professional racecar builder challenges the DS teams to convert kiddie toys—a red wagon and tricycle—into motorized dragsters. Fasten your seatbelts for Design Squad's racy debut!

  • S01E02 Rock On

    • February 28, 2007
    • PBS

    The teams compete to create original musical instruments—one stringed and one percussive—for Off White Noise, a local band. The instruments are put to the test when Off White Noise rocks out at the Middle East nightclub.

  • S01E03 Skunk'd

    • March 7, 2007
    • PBS

    When a guy named Skunk comes looking for a bike bizarre enough to impress the members of SCUL (Subversive Choppers Urban Legion), well, you give him what he wants. The rubber really hits the road when DS parades their newly created choppers (bikes) on a SCUL mission.

  • S01E04 DS Unplugged

    • March 14, 2007
    • PBS

    The teams take a crash course in pre-industrial building techniques, as they compete to build 20-foot bridges—without the aid of power tools, forklifts, or...flushable toilets. It's a show for the (Middle) Ages!

  • S01E05 Got Game

    • March 21, 2007
    • PBS

    Challenged to come up with a way to cover all the angles of a basketball game via remote-controlled cameras, the teams dive into action and compete to prove who's got (the whole) game!

  • S01E06 A Collective Collaboration

    • March 28, 2007
    • PBS

    The teams set their sights on designing the most durable, portable and low cost peanut butter making machines for a women's collective in Haiti. Powered by human hands and inspiring to the human heart, DS shows that engineering really can change lives.

  • S01E07 Just for Kicks

    • April 4, 2007
    • PBS

    The challenge: design a REVOLUTIONary device that automatically feeds a stream of balls to Michael Parkhurst, a professional soccer player with the New England Revolution. Here's one Design Squad's episode that's sure to be a ball.

  • S01E08 Functional Fashion

    • April 11, 2007
    • PBS

    It's a marriage of high tech and haute couture (well, sort of!) as the teams compete to see who can design the best dual-purpose clothing. Join DS on the runway as the garments/gadgets make their fashion debut.

  • S01E09 Batter Up

    • April 18, 2007
    • PBS

    How to make a perfect pancake? The DS teams seek the right ingredients for a machine that will cook, flip, and serve up delicious flapjacks at the flick of a switch. The winning machine is put to the (taste) test at a busy diner.

  • S01E10 Pumped

    • April 25, 2007
    • PBS

    An 11-foot tall water slide will be a cool addition to the community pool...once there's a pump to deliver the water. See which invention makes the biggest splash with YMCA campers.

  • S01E11 Blowin' in the Wind

    • May 2, 2007
    • PBS

    The teams tap into their inner artists as they compete to design and build wind-powered kinetic art from recycled materials. The winning sculpture is put on display at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

  • S01E12 Bodies Electric

    • May 9, 2007
    • PBS

    DESIGN SQUAD-ers take a shine to hip-hop artist Wyatt Jackson when they try to create a sound and light show triggered by Jackson's moves and grooves. In a live performance, it's DS night at the Strand Theatre!

  • S01E13 Winner Takes All

    • May 16, 2007
    • PBS

    The season concludes when Continuum (a design consulting firm) asks the DS teams to develop and test a "summer sled" for retail giant L.L. Bean. It's a bumpy, downhill slide to the finish line!

Season 2

Season 3

  • S03E01 Moving Target

    • October 7, 2009
    • PBS

    The Design Squad teams reach new heights by building indestructible, remote-controlled, flying football targets for Nerf toymaker Hasbro. Future football stars judge the designs for the kick-off episode of season three.

  • S03E02 Crash-Test Rugby

    • October 14, 2009
    • PBS

    U.S. Paralympic athlete and wheelchair rugby player Kerri Morgan asks the teams to track her every move on the court by building an automated wheelchair that simulates a defensive player on the attack.

  • S03E03 Water Rescue Part 1

    • October 21, 2009
    • PBS

    The Design Squads build remote-controlled, aquatic pet rescue vehicles for the New Orleans Fire Department.

  • S03E04 Water Rescue Part 2

    • October 28, 2009
    • PBS

  • S03E05 Shooting for the Sun

    • November 4, 2009
    • PBS

    It comes down to the buzzer when WNBA players Lindsay Whalen and Tamika Raymond challenge the Design Squads to build T-shirt shooters that reach their arena's upper deck. The winning T-shirt shooter is announced live at a Connecticut Sun home game.

  • S03E06 sNOw Problem? Part 1

    • November 11, 2009
    • PBS

    Come along for the ride as the Design Squads build dry land dog sleds for Jamaican Dog Sled team members Damion Robb and Newton Marshall.

  • S03E07 sNOw Problem? Part 2

    • November 18, 2009
    • PBS

  • S03E08 Tour De BBQ

    • November 25, 2009
    • PBS

    The competition heats up when Redbones BBQ Restaurant owner, Rob Gregory, challenges the teams to build a bicycle-powered rotisserie.

  • S03E09 Escape from Misery Island Part 1

    • December 2, 2009
    • PBS

    In the final showdown, the teams test their sea legs by building sailboats to race across the open ocean. The captain of the winning team is awarded a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation.

  • S03E10 Escape from Misery Island Part 2

    • December 9, 2009
    • PBS

Season 4