Environmental+Case+Study

= **CASE STUDY: Environmental Studies. ** =

What is a house and what is a home? This was the main topic we chose to focus on in this rich task. We were given the opportunity to carry out a rich task with three different Environmental Studies classes. Each of them were to focus on tasks, made hypothetically relevant to them through a scenario. We decided the best way to utilize our ideas was to give each class a different topic. We asked them to come up with ideas based on the scenario.

=__﻿Class 1__=

The first class we had were given the scenario:

**"In the future it is not possible to produce enough energy to meet demand; therefore a programme of energy rationing has been put in place. Every house must be capable of generating half of the electricity it plans to use. So if your lifestyle consumes 900 kilowatts per hour a month you must generate a total of 450 kilowatts an hour" **

The class we worked with was the first class of the day, however that did not hinder their creativity and many of them came up with fantastic ideas. All the students chose to work in groups at their own tables, so there was no mixing up of the already formed groups at their specific tables. However this did not in any way inhibit the interaction between students. The ideas being generated were very interesting for examples being:


 * "The main source of energy for this house is the wind turbine located on the roof, but in case of lack of wind the house can rely on its wood burning fire place or natural gas system that stores methane gas from the septic system. This house also includes insulated walls and windows. This house is almost completely self-reliant, except for piped in water."


 * Noise vibrations could be used to power electrical equipment.

" -During the day, sun shines in and it liquefies the columns in the house. - At night, you close the curtains, and the heat that was absorbed during the day is released to heat the house -Green house must be connected to house, with solar panels on top. - Have deciduous trees to shade area in summer" -Green house can also be used to produce their own food"  
 * "Phase change materials" This would mean that:



=﻿__Class Two__=

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Second class we had were given the scenario " Every new house built must be constructed of 50% recycled materials and be prepared to recycle 50% of its waste." **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">This group was right after the first, meaning it was still quite early yet the class was just as productive as the first. Again there was no shifting from tables and the students formed their groups based on where they sat. Ideas produced were all interesting and creative. Examples being:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">We will recycle our waste using that as fertilizer for our gardens where we will grow food. The roof will be used to collect rain water. The roof is made out of recycled glass to let in natural light. Exercise equipment will be used to generate energy to save money. Blankets will be made of old clothing and finally the driveway will be made out of recycled tires.”

>
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Use aluminum for wires and pipes, shredded paper for insulation and also we could recycle refrigerators, heat pumps, etc.



=__Class Three__=

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The third and final group were given the scenario:

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">**"Due to very high fuel prices it is no longer economically viable to transport raw materials. Therefore all building materials must be sourced locally. Try to get them from as close as possible, but the state border is the furthest limit (in other words get as much as you can from Bergen County, and nothing from outside New Jersey)."**

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">In this group there was some movement from tables, where a group of two girls joined a group of three to form a larger group. Apart from that the students all decided that the tables they were sitting at were an appropriate place to work. There was a lot of noise during this lesson, which seemed to be generated through discussing ideas. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Groups thought that:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">· Renovating old buildings would be a good idea <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">· There is a lot of bamboo somewhere in New Jersey and that they could utilize that supply.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">Overall the day was one of extreme productivity and we have grouped all the ideas together and created a big house picture with all their ideas on it. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">﻿ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">﻿  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We interviewed Wanda Powers, the teacher of Environmental Studies after the lesson and she was very positive about the work carried out in her classroom. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">When asked if she felt that giving the students the option to choose whether they were going to work in pairs of groups was beneficial, she responded “some people thrive better in a smaller group and some people work better in a larger group so giving them the opportunity to do that, I think it’s better for them to have the option.” She also added that <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">“ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">it actually gave me some good ideas of what I can do in class which is good so I was happy with that.” So there was a good positive response from the students and the teacher. Overall we found this task to be a great success.