GRADES 6-8 STUDENTS at Tecumseh Public School combined multiple subjects to design and build elaborate eco-friendly communities that made for an engaging and involved hands-on learning experience.
Linking Language, Math, Design and Technology, and Geography curriculums, students at the Burlington school built green projects made of paper, cardboard, cotton balls and virtually any kind of construction material they could get their hands on. They constructed cities that theoretically ran on solar and water power, incorporated light rapid transit systems, used bins to catch rainwater for the town’s water supply, and tilled community gardens as the municipality’s sole source for food.
Students worked in small groups to create a sustainable community. Each community needed to use green initiatives such as geo-thermal energy, green roofs, solar panels, fly ash concrete, green transportation, greenspace and natural lighting. Communities also consisted of a variety of housing options, employment, transportation and recreation.
The school displayed the dozen projects for school staff, students, parents and Halton District School Board educators to see and ask students questions about their creation.
“The sustainability community project was a hands-on learning opportunity for my intermediate students to show their understanding of natural resources, environmental sustainability, design and community,” said teacher Jan Bays, who led the project. “I was incredibly proud of their final products and how hard they worked. I asked my students to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and they not only met that challenge, they exceeded it.”
A key function of the sustainability project was interweaving various curriculum units, creating a more engaging lesson for all students, she said.
“The ability to connect multiple subjects into one project is ideal,” she said. “The students enjoyed the hands-on aspect of the project and seeing their communities develop from concept drawings to models.”
Specifically, Bays explained the project made “excellent connections” to Math, Grade 7 and 8 Geography, Art, Science and Technology and Language curriculums. Students created 2D and 3D sketches of their community feature with all measurements required for the actual building. They needed to cut and measure the wood required for the frame of their structures. Their measurements needed to be precise as they only had a certain amount of room within their community to create the desired feature.
For example, Grade 7 students researched sustainable natural resources while Grade 8 students researched sustainable energy methods. In their final written explanation and in one-on-one conferences, students were required to explain their choice of sustainable building materials and energy sources for their feature and community.
“I hoped students learned how to persevere through challenges they encountered, to work collaboratively with group members, as well as taking pride in their amazing accomplishments,” Bays said. “Seeing their communities develop from concept drawings to models was very exciting for my students. As a teacher, it was amazing to watch their vision come to life.”
Students Chloe (Grade 8) and Dominik (Grade 7) said this kind of interconnected activity made learning more fun and relevant. They learned about teamwork, collaboration and adhering to timelines.
Chloe’s group created a community as a large rectangle with a river running through the middle, and with light-rapid transit and bike lanes.
“Everyone had an opportunity to contribute their ideas before we started planning the community,” she explained. “With light-rapid transit, you have a way to travel if it is too far to walk. There are greenspaces everywhere so people can take walks and enjoy nature. We have solar panels on roofs to catch the sun’s energy to power buildings. The best part was the project was fun and it was great to look at everyone else's ideas and buildings to see what they came up with.”
Dominik’s group project included many greenspaces, homes with green roofs and walls, and community bike rentals.
“People can live and work in the same community,” he said. “We made sure our building was sustainable by putting solar panels on the roof and making some parts of the roof green by adding vegetation. I learned a lot about sustainable building materials and how tricky sustainable building can be.”