Sustainable Village Ecosystem STEAM Projects at School 7

At School 7 over the past few months, Science Teacher Marla Arrington, Woodrow Willson Fellow and Student Teacher Sue Denardo, and WPU ART PIR Myra Winter co-created a sustainable ecosystem project that integrated science, engineering, art and math.

Ms. Arrington and Ms. Denardo jointly developed this STEAM project, integrating the ecology unit of their 7th grade science curriculum with town planning.  Working in groups of four, the students first brainstormed the requirements of  self-sustaining villages.  The students created blueprints of their sustainable villages. They then worked in groups of four building their village, using corrugated board, clay and balsa wood pieces.
 
Guest speaker Mr. Steven Winter, Director of Engineering at DVL Engineers, visited the students early on to share some of his expertise with them, and to guide them in their understanding of this creative/scientific problem.

The students discussed what to include in their village and how to present their findings.  Students had to consider all aspects of sustainability. For example, they had to determine what potable water sources - rain water cisterns, well water, river water, melting snow, reservoirs, and/or desalinized sea water - could be made available for their towns.
 

Students also came to understand that there had to be plans for water storage, water quality, and a water delivery system.  Such a system had to provide water for bathrooms, kitchens, clothes washing, and irrigation for gardens and farms.  Next, students had to conceive of and create water saving devices, waste disposal/decomposition systems, and storm water drainage systems. 

Students also had to consider that if their village was actually to be sustainable, then plans had to be made for garbage/solid waste disposal and recycling systems, as well as for sources of power, ideally clean energy with zero carbon emissions. 

 After each group's blueprint was completed, students had to plan what art materials to use to create their final project.  They considered the available materials and discussed the possibilities with their teachers and with Art PIR Winter.  Then, in groups of four, they built their eco-villages, using corrugated board, clay, balsa wood, and paint.  As they built from their original blueprint, students saw their abstract ideas become concrete models.


This STEAM project required students to engage in higher order thinking skills, to work collaboratively, and to integrate concepts learned in all core subjects.  In addition, they learned to use art materials to express and communicate complex ideas.