Project Design

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This is Part 3 of Lesson 7 of Project Resilience curriculum.

Students use the resilience toolkit to design a detailed plan for adaptation projects that would benefit their school campus.

Learning Objectives

• Students will analyze and appreciate the value of resilience toolkits.
• Students will design projects to address environmental issues on their school campus as part of a school resilience plan.

Materials

• Student access to computers/tablets
• Project Planning Student Sheet (PDF) (from Lesson 7: Part 2)

Preparation

• Talk to the school administration about the students’ projects. Let them know the students may be contacting them with questions about the impacts of environmental problems on their school campus. Students may also ask about the feasibility of their adaptation project designs on campus.
• Review theProject Planning Student Sheet

Directions

Dig in to project planning (50 min)

1. Students will use Sections 2 and 3 of the Project Planning Student Sheet to outline their resilience projects. Have students begin with questions 1 and 2 of Section 2.
   • With question 1, students should identify a goal for their project. This goal should be attainable and address their school problem. Let students know this goal may shift as they design the actual project, but the goal will help them design their project.
   • Question 2 focuses on identifying possible secondary benefits of their projects (educational components, improving water quality, providing green space, etc.).
   • Students should also make a sketch of their project. Have them label their sketch to identify the parts of the project (this will be a basic sketch to help students envision their ideal project and will not be part of their final presentation).
2. Once students finish questions 1 and 2, they will move on to the project plan. Questions 3 through 5 ask students to outline their project, including the project’s location, steps for completion, and necessary materials. Have students divide responsibilities within their groups to complete the project plan and to prepare for the presentation. The presentation will need to follow the Project Planning Student Sheet and include the visual. Consider having each group fulfill the following roles:
   • Visual Artist- This student will create a project sketch to serve as a visual in their presentation. The visual should be detailed and include all parts of the project.
     • Students may need access to the internet to look up images of project examples and access to supplies to make a large sketch (poster board, etc.).
     • The visual (or a picture of it) will be included in the final school resilience plan.
   • Materials & Services Researcher- Will require two students. These students will create a detailed list of necessary materials for their project. If professional help is needed, students should also include a list of professionals and their contact information (contractors, engineers, etc.).
     • Students may need access to the internet to look up similar projects and possible materials.
   • Editor- This student will revise the plan document and create an outline for the presentation.
     • They might need to do some additional research online or by reviewing content from Project Resilience Lessons 1-6.
3. Before beginning the project plan (questions 3 through 5), have students look at Section 3 of the Project Planning Student Sheet document. As a group, they should brainstorm answers to the Thinking Deeply About Your Project section of the planning document to determine what roles are needed throughout the project as well as address any special considerations, anticipate challenges, pose questions that need to be answered, etc.
4. Students should spend the remainder of class time working on their tasks for the project plan and presentation. By the end of class time, students should have a fairly complete rough draft of their project plan and presentation. Out of class time will likely be needed to complete the plans and prepare for presentations. Students will present their plans and have the opportunity to revise them based on peer feedback in the next lesson.

Assign Journal Prompt #18.

Prompt #18:Today’s lesson asked you to brainstorm possible adaptation plans for your school campus. What was challenging about making a list of adaptation projects? If unlimited funds were available, how would you adapt your school campus to face Louisiana’s land loss problem? List the projects that would be included in your adaptation plan and describe each project’s benefits to your school. Why are these projects not possible right now?

Note: Students will continue working on this journal entry for the next two parts.

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Background

Refer to Lesson 5 & 6 background information as needed.

Credits

This activity was developed for Project Resilience, funded by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.