News From the Nest- April 3-7, 2023
Spotlight on Learning:Science 9 Building a Sustainable City
In Science 9 students, worked in small groups to collaboratively build a sustainable city.
Teacher Reflection:
Mr. Sung Oh
Each member of the group chose a sector of the city to be responsible for (director of energy, agriculture, interior, transportation and waste management). Groups began their planning with brainstorming definitions of sustainability, basic elements of a city and developing a common vision and philosophy. Students were expected to incorporate the concepts we learned through the course, with emphasis on the ecology unit. Students were provided with a limited budget with constrains and restraints on city design; and as such, collaboration and cooperation were key to city development. Lance’s group presented a city with a vision centred on sustainability and they carefully managed the city budget to provide the best services possible. The city layout was well-designed and demonstrated the group’s consideration for city’s happiness, convenience and comfort all while minimizing unnecessary pollution.
Student Reflection:
Lance Gecalao
We envisioned an environmentally sustainable city that was unique in design that maximizes happiness while minimizing pollution. We first chose the essential services like electricity, food source, transportation and waste management. We had limited money to spend so our team brainstormed on options that had minimal pollution. Then we added services with the remaining money to boost our city’s happiness, like adding parks around the city, recreation centre, aquarium and zoo. This was also to increase tourism to our city. The city layout was designed to separate residential areas and industrial areas so that harmful particles from industrial zone and landfills didn’t affect people’s homes. When we had a disagreement between team members, we discussed options that fit our vision of creating a sustainable city, to increase happiness and reduce pollution.