It was nice to see Class 3/4B again today after our last visit to the school two weeks ago. We also had a few boys from the Eco-design Team join this class today. Like the previous class, we listened to Ms. Roberts read the homework that the students had done to describe their favourite place in their house using the five senses. We also introduced them to the idea of 'site analysis' and why it is important to understand the place in which we are designing.
After a brief discussion, we went outside in three separate groups to find a site in the school grounds that might be a good place to locate a cubby. I had nine students in my group and to decide together which place we were going to go to, we stood in a circle and negotiated. Places were quickly ruled out as they were out of bounds, too busy with other activities like volleyball and basketball, or they had too many trees. We chose a spot on the edge of the oval, near the fence, where there was a reasonable gap in the trees and vegetation.
When we got there we realised that we only had about ten minutes and we had about five things to do. We quickly drew what we we could see on our site - the trees, the structure made of logs, the fence, the sky, the clouds, the grass. We wrote about the other senses - what could we smell, what could we taste, what could we hear, what could we feel. We then measured the site with a tape measure and learnt about millimetres, centimetres and metres. Our site was about 8 metres by 4 metres long. Finally, we discussed what we thought was good and bad about our site by writing a sentence that started with: "I think this is a good/bad spot for an Eco-Cubby because..."
Then we heard the other groups calling us to come back to the classroom. Each of the groups had done something slightly different. We found out that Ammon's class had even learnt how to convert between feet and millimetres!
Next week both classes will be developing the 'brief' and talking about the purpose or function of the Eco-Cubby. As homework they will be answering two questions - What do you want to do in the Eco-Cubby? and What do you want the experience of the Eco-Cubby to feel like?
For the first hour that we were at Clayton South Primary School today, we met with a new class - 3/4A! After quick introductions where we heard everyone's name and favourite colour, we spoke briefly about what an architect does. We then heard Mrs. Roberts read out the homework that everyone had done last week. They were asked to write about their favourite place at home using the 5 senses.
After that we started to talk about the idea of 'site analysis' and why we need to think about and understand the places that we are designing in. We talked about the differences between designing a cubby to be located in the middle of the oval as compared to building a cubby under a tree. As a group we discussed ideas of light/shade, building a roof to block out rain, hail, wind, and sun, and what some of the issues of building too close to a tree would be.
We then split up into three groups and went outside to find a spot in the school grounds that we could analyse. We talked about the five senses as we sat in our spots and we wrote a list of opportunities and constraints that the site had. We found that some places were too windy and too cold. Others were too sunny and not protected from any of the elements very much. Some were peaceful and comfortable amongst the trees and birds, while others were too close to trees. Some of the groups even measured their sites by pacing out their steps!
