Home, Sweet, Home

Draft STEM Unit, 2016, still being developed, 3 lessons per week, for 10 weeks, Year 8



Other units https://ahsmakerspace.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/yr-8-stem-planning/

Home Sweet Home Weeks 1 to 3       

1 lesson. Introduction. How can we house ourselves more sustain-ably?

  • Sustainable housing development, what is it? Brainstorm and look at definitions.
  • Why is housing sustainability so important?
  • Set up groups and allocate topics (see below)

4 lessons: Group work using wiki http://year8stem.wikispaces.com/   Groups research topics related to sustainable development.

  1. The small house movement
  2. Sustainable housing in other cultures
  3. Fossil fuels and housing
  4. Solar power, wind, battery, other energy sources
  5. Renewable vs non-renewable energy
  6. Housing and dignity of the human person
  7. Aesthetics of housing design
  8. Passive solar design
  9. Minimalist movement
  10. Recycled housing
  11. Housing carbon footprint
  12. Housing waste management
  13. Reducing ecological footprint
  14. “Off the grid” movement

Students read other groups’ work and make conclusions about minimum needs in a house (waterproof, light, power, security, privacy etc), see IKEA flatpack house, design aspects to include in their house to increase sustainability.

2 lessons: Guest speaker on sustainable housing design and/or QLD Museum kits on sustainable housing

2 lessons: Students design a model of a house in groups of 3 or 4, featuring sustainable housing design principles. (Max. size 60 by 60 cm base) Use minecraftEDU to design house https://ahsmakerspace.wordpress.com/2015/12/12/designing-a-sustainable-house-with-minecraft/ Make list of materials needed and start collecting. House will be made from recycled materials e.g. cardboard. Design thinking activity http://www.cooperhewitt.org/2011/09/09/ready-set-design/

Weeks 4 to 6


Weeks 7, 8   Build model of house in groups of 4 that shows sustainable principles (base max. 60 by 60 cm) made out of recycled materials. Highlight aspects of house that are sustainable e.g. using signage, labels. https://ahsmakerspace.wordpress.com/2015/12/12/ideas-for-making-models-of-sustainable-home/

Weeks 9, 10 Use choice of program e.g. Scratch, powtoon, moviemaker, to reflect on what has been learnt in the unit, and choices that can be made now and in the future regarding housing sustainability.



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