Name-Kaj Lofgreen

Class: LTC 8740 Curriculum in Education

Assignment-Lesson Plan: Design EARTH FRIENDLY HOUSES
GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS:
Big Idea: Along with WATER and FOOD, SHELTER is necessary for our survival.
Throughout time and place humans have designed and built environments in
which to live.
Key Concepts: All humans should have access to shelter. Design is about
creating solutions to serve our needs and to give meaning to our lives.
Design combines utility and beauty and is used in creating housing. Materials
and culture influence designs. Designers make decisions on how to best
solve a problem and also make something that has beauty and meaning.
Creating, Responding, Connecting, and Presenting
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

What is design?
Why do we design places to live?
How do we become more aware of design around us?
How can we create innovative design solutions?
Where do ideas for design come from?
What is the process by which designers use to create solutions?
How does design communicate a feeling or meaning?

RESPONDING AND CONNECTING:

Students will have an increased ability to see design in their

environment.
Students will understand the human need for housing.
Students will be able to identify the importance of design to our houses
and our lives.
Students will increase understanding that houses differ by location,
climate, culture, and economics.
Students will increase awareness of alternative materials of houses and
ways to make them more earth friendly.
Students will learn how to attach various materials together safely to
from an architectural model.

Through the use of videos and slides shows students will be introduced to
the essential idea that housing is needed by all people and that design has
an impact on our lives and on others in our world. We will investigate the
need for good design and look at ways that people have made innovative
choices for houses.
Students will see example works by innovative designers such as: Phillip
Johnson, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry . Maya Lin. Examples of how
technological advances have advanced the way humans can design.
Students will view a video on good and bad architectural design and how it
affects people.
Pre-Activity: Provide students with paper and card stock, sissors, glue and
tape and ask them to create ten 3 dimensional forms. Have fun playing with
shapes, color, and form. Set aside to be used later.
Students will be presented with images of alternative methods of house
design and construction through a slides show and videos.
Image storm alternative houses and show variety; lead a discussion as to
why the houses were different. Talk about some differences, size, location,
climate, materials, and culture. Discuss ways that houses could be made that
are better for the earth. Look at images of alternative houses. Look at
images of Tiny Houses and Treehouses and models from famous Architects.
Questions: What kind of materials did the designer/artist use? Why those
materials were chosen? Do those particular materials have an effect on us as
individuals? as a society? Why do we design house? Was the design
successful? Was the artist/designer communicating a meaning or feeling in
the design?
CREATING:
Students will be asked to create a model house using a piece of Masonite as
a platform or a tree branch section mounted on a pedestal stand to allow for
a model representing a treehouse. Provide recycled materials of various
kinds (or have students bring in items to share) Have a variety of materials
to use to create the models, many of these materials can be recycled
packaging materials, toy figures, broken toys, scraps of cardboard, foam
board, sand, sticks etc

Discuss steps to go about designing: The Design Cycle, the steps that
designers take to come up with solutions.
Sketch out an idea; play with shapes; cut, glue and tape together. Use at
least one of your paper forms created earlier in the model. If they want to
paint pieces to change color, remind them that sometimes it is easier to
paint them before they construct the whole model, so stress that planning
and safety are important which will affect what order they put the model
together and the end results.
ASSESSMENT:
Formative and Summative assessment should be used to check to see if
objectives are being met and if students are learning and what they are
learning. Expectations should be clearly communicated. Evaluations will be
based on how well students work collaboratively, and how well they create,
communicate, and show original thinking and engagement. By using surveys
(online) maybe before and after the process I could get good feedback in
progress. Some rubric questions could be:

Did the student create a compelling model showing evidence of

creativity and innovation?
Did the design contain an element from the play in paper exercise?
Does the model appear to be complete?
Did the student find enjoyment and engagement in the creation?

Have students reflect either in writing or on a video about what they learned
by this experience. These reflections could be included in a public display of
the models.

PRESENTING
Display in public place, possibly with the connection to a public awareness
campaign for housing, such as a Habitat for Humanity event, or at a
community center.
Take images of the models to make greeting cards for a fundraiser for a
housing charity connected to the community.
REFLECTION:

Teaching DESIGN is important. Students need to understand the built

environment well when they are adults and this lesion gives them some
themes to explore. Ive debated if this lesson should produce individual
project pieces or if pairs would be better. I see that cooperative learning is
valuable but on the down side no one gets to take the project home that is
theirs.
I could also include related activities to expand the lesson into a unit before
or after this lesson. Design a card game; where they draw five cards with
specifics to follow for creating a design, including non-traditional materials;
could write a story about a home and a memory to share, and then illustrate
it using texture or 2 or 3 pt. perspective; field trip out to look at houses and
take pictures of details. Bring back and share photos. Use photos for
inspiration to create a water color/acrylic based painting to demonstrate
perspective, or create a 2D design, using pieces of cardboard rough and
smooth to create images that could be printed and shared as greeting cards.
Make the connection of ART and DESIGN.

Resources (Book/Articles)
Pink, D. (2006). A Whole New Mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future.
New York: Riverhead Books
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the
imagination for the world of constant change. Lexington, Ky.
Liu, E. & Noppe-Brandon, S. (2009). Imagination First. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass Printing

Resources (Online links and videos)

Arhinect: News Designing Our World summer camp: Middle-schoolers get
lessons in architecture, urban design. (A program at the University of
Georgia) http://archinect.com/news/gallery/80375825/0/designing-our-worldsummercamp-middle-schoolers-get-lessons-in-architecture-urban-design
TED, Mark Kushner: Why the buildings of the future will be shaped by you
http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_kushner_why_the_buildings_of_the_future_will
_be_shaped_by_you?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2015-03-

15&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=t
alk_of_the_week_image
You Tube: 16 year old builds tiny home to guarantee mortgage-free future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXDu2U-CmkI
Remodeling Guy at remodelingguy.net
http://remodelingguy.net/2014/05/tiny-houses/
The Farmacy, at realfarmacy.com: http://www.realfarmacy.com/americacould-end-homelessness-in-one-year-by-doing-this/
Refrigeratorgood Artwork worthy of a magnet:
http://www.refrigeratorgood.com/2013/06/high-school-art-lessoncardboard_6.html
The Daily Beast. World Famous Architects Design Dollhouses for New Charity
Project http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/01/world-famousarchitects-design-doll-houses-for-new-charity-project.html
Top Five Tree Houses by Planet Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=cqt9pEsUBwI
Shelter Online: Wonderful Houses Around the World
http://www.shelterpub.com/_wonderful_houses/WH_p2-5.html
Paul Revere Williams American Architect, A man and His Work,
http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/