the school? What advantages does each offer? What are the trade-offs? With some time for free exploration, your student designers can be challenged to add functionality and pizzazz to their initial creation. As they share their work, they can gather criti- cal feedback and exchange tips with each other on what they have discovered. Online SketchUp tutorials from Google can be used to extend their design repertoires. You can provide another dimension to the project by asking the students to consider
how effective the design is for a variety of applications. The model they build by fol- lowing the tutorial directions suggests that a 17" bench is a good height. Is that a good height for your class? What is a good height for a kindergarten class? For an NBA team? (As always, challenge the kids to show you: How do they know? Can they back up their argument with data?)
From the Immediate Environment to the World
Good design involves meeting users’ needs. Measurement and data organization skills can be developed as the students do research and make their case for why their design is appro- priate for the intended users. Extensions might include a challenge to determine how many benches would be needed to set up an outdoor learning space for the class or for the whole school. Given the average size of the class mem- bers, how many students can reasonably sit on each bench? Is there an optimum length for a bench? Again, data and measurement come into play in addressing a design challenge. A great culmination would be to gather some tools and volunteers to help students build real benches that match their designs. The bench example is just one possibility for
a project. A flexible tool like Google SketchUp can be used for a number of projects if it is in your students’ repertoire. As they are built, designs can also be exported for use in Google Earth, giving a real-world anchor to the work. If your students are considering local issues, they can model scenarios like how a proposed new superstore would change the landscape. If your program has a more recreational focus, students can develop design skills while they have fun. One student in a class I led showed his support for the St. Louis Cardi- nals by placing his house in center field at Busch Stadium, while a brother and sister in the class made sure their houses were well apart from each other. As with so many other projects, linking your teaching goals to students’ interests
and giving them room to express a personal flair will go a long way toward a success- ful venture.
Bob Coulter is the director of Mapping the Environment, a program at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Litzsinger Road Ecology Center that supports teachers’ efforts to enhance their science curriculum through use of the Internet and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. Pre- viously, Bob taught elementary grades for twelve years.
bob.coulter@
mobot.org
©SYNERGY LEARNING • 800-769-6199 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
Connect • PAGE 17
Bob Coulter
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