The Green Roof project is a really interesting project. The girls that I have been working with really seem to like the project so far. They are really into planting the plants. I feel the planting is what they are most interested about. I was really impressed about how much they remembered about green roofs. We didn’t talk about the benefits too much last time, but they clearly remembered each of the different benefits.

I thought it was really cool how excited the girls were about the project. Two of the girls were so excited that they went to the Farmer’s Market and purchased their own plants for the Green Roof. I think that really shows how much they are thinking about what they are learning and how excited they are to continuing working on the project.

I also thought it was good how excited the girls were to show their parents what they are doing. Again, this shows that they are excited about the program and really want to tell people about what they are doing.

I feel that this project relates to the lecture in a bunch of different ways. The way that seems the most relevant is how he talked about the project continuing to grow in popularity as years go on. I feel that if we were able to keep these kids really interested and get a teacher that was really invested in the club we would really have a lot of success. In a project I have worked on before there were two teachers that were there every single time the club met and very invested in the project. They thought what we were doing was cool and they saw how it helped the students. I think if we were able to get something like that at Casey we would really see a lot of success with the program.

--Laura (Design Club 4/16)

Another Successful Model Build (4/16/08)

Today at Casey we continued our project building sustainable communities. This seemed to be just as successful as it was the first week we tried it. The students really seem to be getting a grasp on the principles behind what we are trying to teach them in this process. The most significant ideas that seem to be sticking with these sixth graders seem to be how cities benefit from using green roofs and other efficient elements like solar panels. By building these model cities the students are finding out how easy it can be to incorporate these ideas into their design. They are now at the point where the CU students don’t even need to ask them if they should include them into their design, they just do it as if it was second nature. It is really inspiring to see that these ideas actually mean something to these kids because they can back up their design ideas with reasons why they are important. Hopefully the next two weeks will be as successful as the last two have been.

-Brett

Green Roofs

Today we created green roofs with the middle schoolers. The group that I worked with was entirely self sufficient and great. They even brought their own plants to add onto their creation! It was great. They were so into it that they had thought about it all week. Their initial design looked nothing like the final outcome, but that's how the design process normally goes in real life so it was a good learning tool for them. They seem saddened by the nearing final date of our design club meetings, and eager at the prospect for continuing on with it when they move to Platt. Hopefully we will be able to continue working with these club members since they have a great drive for sustainable design and participatory planning.

16 April 2008

Chelsea 

Casey 4/16/08

Today's design club was my first day really working "one on one" with a Casey student. Up until now, there has just been too many CU students to really work this close. I really enjoyed the experience, particularly because my partner seems to be the one Casey student that is not in one of the two cliques in our club and tends to be alone. However, one of the girls did come over to offer compliments which seem to perk up his spirits. I am Looking forward to next week! Cant believe we are almost done with design club! (jon bortles)

Michael Duffin and Casey

This Wednesday (4/9) the Casey Design Club had a great turn out. I am glad to say that we really do have a sustained group of kids that we can count on each week. Today I collected some information for my project in asking each kid "if you could do one thing to be more sustainable, what would it be?" The answers I got seemed to be thoughtful, and I was glad that each kid had a unique answer to their specific lifestyle.

The Michael Duffin presentation left me with mixed opinions. Part of me was pleasantly surprised with the supporting data he had found that supported place based education. On the other hand, it really came across as a sales pitch. For all the "objective" data he found, he sure left out anything negative. Checking out his website worsened the issue when I found out he really does "sell" these results. All-in-all it was still thought provoking and worth the while. (jon bortles)

Casey Design Club: Week 6

Week 6 of Casey Design Club was another success. We worked with a large group of Casey students again, and began to design green roofs, as well as continue with completing their previous community designs. The day started off with informing the Casey kids about our intentions for the remaining weeks in the semester, as well as to get insight on their thoughts and ideas about what we should use the remainder of our time on. After we discussed our intentions, we set out to design both green roofs for building-tops and finish up the communities that some of the students started two weeks ago. The day, overall, went over smooth and was informative, I feel, to both the CU students as well as the Casey students. We were able to gather imaginative ideas from the green roofs that the students designed, as well as offer advice or answer any questions that they had about them. Afterwords, we discussed the possibility of presenting their ideas and designs in a final wrap-up presentation, where the students would be able to stand infront of their works and describe to viewers what their thoughts were behind their designs. This seemed to be something that most of the kids were interested in, and should be interesting to see how it works out over the next couple of weeks. Next week we are going to finish up the green roof desings and conclude the course with the students.

-Ian

Green Roofs and Role Camera

Today was the first day that I started shooting video and have to tell you wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. Really it made me feel awkward and I don't think that some of the Casey students like it. We started off with and introduction of what green roofs are and how there will be one on the new school. The student looked at the new school's design plan so they visualize where the green roof was going to be and then we went back into the computer lab to teach them more about green roofs and look at their picture of sense of place. It was exciting for the Casey student to get to look at their pictures even though not many really had to do with a sense of place but I think that it was still a good activity. Next we took the student to the EPA green roof site and let them explore like past similar activities on the computer it went OK and I'm beginning to think that their are better ways to teach kids about sustainable design then on the computer. We then went back out to the library and started on the green roof design. The Casey student seem to enjoy this more and came up with some good and creative ideas which has got the ball rolling for next weeks activity and further green roof design. At this point I asked one of the students which wasn't really participating the green roof design to help me get some footage and surprisingly it work very well. I just asked him if I let him use the video camera that he had to ask the other students about green roofs and their design and he ended up doing a great job.

Ben

Fun Activity

At the design club on Wednesday, everything seemed to go very smoothly. All the kids from the week before were back and they all seemed pretty excited about what we were working on. They liked the pizza that they got, but they inhaled it in about a minute. All of the students surprisingly new a lot about green roofs and the benefits of green roofs. I was working with the same two girls that I have worked with in the past and they were both really into the idea of green roofs.

When we started working on the activity they really got into it. There were many different uses that they knew they wanted included in the roof, but there were also many things that they knew they did not want on the roof. For example, they absolutely knew that they wanted to be able eat lunch on the roof and work on the roof for different science projects.

On their roof, they split it up into two different parts. One was social and the other one was educational. The social area was to be used for lunch and breaks. The educational area was going to be used for different planting/ botany projects.

I really felt that this activity turned out really well and got the kids engaged and thinking about what they would want in their new school.

--Laura

 

Enthusiastic Week at Casey (4/9/08)

This week at Casey Middle School we began our session by looking at photos that the students took around Boulder that represented the place to them. Some of the kids did not have their own pictures, but everybody eventually had some shots to look at and describe how they thought the photos may describe a sense of place. Our next activity on the computer was searching and exploring all the benefits that green roofs can bring about to a city. We studied how they help reduce the “heat island effect” while at the same time they contribute to the aesthetic beauty of a place that most generic roofs simply cannot achieve. After we did our research we began to design the ideal roof for the new Casey. I worked with Victor and David, and they were both making decisions that were environmentally friendly and looked pretty good. Most of the kids were excited about next week when we will either be working on Google Sketch Up or building models again. I think that the opportunity to get their hands on some materials and step away from just talking about the process and getting some ideas on a physical surface. I think all of the activities we did were successful and really fun.
-Brett

This week in class we were required to watch a lecture, recorded on DVD that was given by Michael Duffin Ph.D., on the C.U. campus a few nights before. The topic of the lecture was Place Based Education, and I was prepared to learn more about the subject than I actually did. From what I could understand, Place Based Education is a certain approach to teaching that involves getting students involved with the local community through service projects, and using these experiences as a base for their studies in the classroom. The lecture itself consisted mainly of Michael Duffin giving examples of programs around the nation that have applied Place Based Education to their programs, and the successes they have had. In relation to our work at Casey, I think there are many elements of the new school design that have incorporated some of the principles of successful Place Based Education. The one that first comes to mind is the design for the new playground, which focuses on local systems, themes and content. I think that all of the plans for the design are also relevant to the students at Casey, and can contribute to a lot of learning that will take place on-site in the school and local community.
JCM

Landscape Arch Visit

The landscape architect working with RB+B came today to show the kids their design for the outdoor areas. Most kids liked the cool, intricate design. Some actually knew the specific names of all the math patterns and stuff. Once the entire site was explained, the students did not waste their time. They jumped right into designing the gardens, banner bars, climbing walls, benches and more. The activity ran all the way up to the last sec of the class. This does not happen often because the students want to leave early.
The students are getting more and more excited to use sketchup as the weeks pass.

Steinmark

Building the City

Working with my student on creating the city was an awesome experience. It was a little hard at first to break the ice and start to work on the project. Once the basics were established, then the recycled material started to take shape in to a city, complete with a skyscraper with a slide as an escape. The coolest idea my student had was to create a moving windmill to produce extra power for the building. By the end of the session, my student wanted to keep working on the city. I think he will pick it back up in the next week or two.
More kids are starting to show up to the program!! Hopefully things stay upbeat through the rest of school.

Steinmark

Duffin's Talk

Duffin's talk was very interesting. Most of the time it felt like he was trying to promote some other company or something. He did have some very good points in his presentation. It was full of facts and data. However, I felt like some of it did not have a direct affect to our class. He was just showing the benefits of using such a program in a district and how spark can be started by first graders. It was an inspiration to see how enthusiastic he was about implicating such programs in school districts.

steinmark

Reflection on Columbine Elementary

I have to say, I was really excited when we were given the opportunity to work with the second graders from Columbine Elementary, which is why I was so quick to volunteer for the rest of semester. The plan for the second graders was to do the “ideal sustainable community” activity with the kids and have them build a model just as we did with the 6th graders from Casey Middle School. Because the kids from columbine have not had any formal education on sustainability, we also had to attempt to teach them a little of bit about what sustainability means and how it can be incorporated into a community.
Overall, I think the hour that we had at Columbine went extremely well. I would almost say that this day was more successful than some of the days that we have spent at Casey Middle School. At the beginning, the kids seemed a little uneasy about strangers coming to the classroom, but they became very enthusiastic once we described the activity. We divided up into four groups and the girls that were in my group were extremely excited to have me working with them. I even had one girl cling to me because she didn’t want to be separated from me, I though it was cute. They were very eager to talk about their community and even more eager to build the model. I did find a few errors in the day however. I found that it was really hard to keep the girls on the topic of their ideal community, and even harder to keep their attention on sustainability. It seemed that they were more concerned about adding small details such as people to the model, and making sure it looked pretty. I was able to keep their attention on the real purpose of the activity for the first half, which is when we talked about having a park and a lake, and a school. But once we got those features down they all began to add poof balls as people and even separated them into age groups.
Although we were not able to get the ideas of sustainability across to the kids, I believe that this day was still very successful. Everyone, both kids and CU students seem excited for the next time that we go to Columbine. I think for the next session, I am going to try to keep the girl’s attention on the components of a community, and how to expand the ideas we have already come up with. And if at all possible, I would really like to incorporate more sustainable ideas into the model, and get the kids thinking of how they can be sustainable in their own life.

Joanna Kropelnicki

Landscaping Success

This last week’s design I think marks the fact that we have finally hit our stride. The numbers and faces remained basically the same from the last week to this one, and we seem to have the students who are truly interested in the content remaining, which is great. This week, we found success through bringing in the landscape architect, having her tell the students about the project and her current plans and ideas. However, the best part about the day, for the students, was the fact that she actually wanted ideas and suggestions from the Casey students, something that rarely happens on a project of this scale. The students seemed excited to finally get a say in the project, and they took to the task of creating design ideas swiftly and excitedly. Working with the students we got to see their individual interests, with the groups dividing up the tasks and doing everything from designing culturally significant poles to researching the different parts of the world that lie along the N 40 degree latitude line that bisects Boulder. The students seemed genuinely interested in partaking in the design of the future Casey Middle School, even if it was just a small aspect like the green roof or a rain garden. I hope that we truly have hit our stride and can continue the success throughout the final two weeks of the Club, without declining in numbers or quality.
~Austin~

Michael Duffin's Talk

Michael Duffin's talk on place-based education relates to our program at Casey in many ways, but also displays how our participatory design process is different and not as successful as we had hoped. Within our program we use team teaching by having the CU students participate in the teaching of sustainability and green design to the middle school students. I feel that we could improve on this and have the CU students take more responsibility in teaching the middle school students and also to allow more freedom for the middle schoolers to decided what they want to do and learn. The examples that were shown by Michael of place-based educational success stories were student initiated and directed. The students took a problem that was present at their school and within their community and took the initiative to learn more about this particular problem and then set up ways to alleviate them. This is not how our program began and I feel that because of this there is a lack of student participation, involvement, and agency. The Casey students have begun to show a greater interest in our projects, but I do not feel that they have ownership over them or a great say in the learning methods.

Our program does center on environmental issues and we do address certain aspects of community and creating a sense of place, but there is not outside participation from the larger community and the students have not had the opportunity to engage parents and community members. Because our program is focused around the design for the new middle school, we are not addressing issues of why and how environmental degradation affects some people more than others, especially those of lower socio-economic standing along with people of color.

Although our program is centered on the environment and in particular the surrounding areas of Casey, I feel that we have not fully achieved the benefits of place-based education. There needs to be more hands-on activities, along with a greater understanding and exploration of the local community and its natural surroundings. The students need to have more agency and individual students skills should be harnessed and built upon.

Stevi

Michael Duffin

Watching Michael Duffin's lecture on dvd, was not quite the same as seeing it in person because you could not hear many of the questions. However, it touched on placing the choice in the hands of the students. By allowing students to problem solve through hands on projects, and creating a learner-centered education that adapts to students individual skills and abilities, eventually allowing these kids to explore their communities. He studied the impacts on place based education and found that it had profound effects on learning experiences for kids. He used the dose response theory, standardized testing, interviews, and observations all as research for his theory on place based education. I recall from his lecture that he found by taking kids outside and learning about ecology for a couple weeks, most all the students after scored higher on their science exams.
I think that place based education is still a very new concept and has not yet caught on, however I see that it does have many positive effects on children and teachers. There are still many more studies to do and this theory needs to become more mainstream before it is used in all schools. It seems that this could be a good solution for a faulty education system, and kids are proving to be learning more through Duffin's research.

-Kaley

Design Club: Landscape Architect Presentation

I think that this activity went pretty well overall. The landscape architect brought some scales for drawing for the kids to keep, which they seemed to be excited about. Showing the kids what their playground was going to look like and what sort of designs they were working with also seemed to get them excited along with the materials they were going to use. She did a really good job letting the kids know what was possible as far as realistically considering certain aspects for the outdoor areas. I felt like my partner and I could have used a little more time, however most people seemed to be finishing up right at five. The girl I was working with had a hard time coming up with something she wanted to work on. She wanted to add some art to the tiles of the sidewalks so we started to work on the 40 degree latitude design that will follow the sidewalks at Casey. We started researching the various cities that we could put on the line and came up with a few ideas, however unfortunately did not have enough time to get them all down onto paper.

-kaley