LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Design and build a house-Lesson Three

Overview: This lesson begins to set the context or place. From the students’ prior knowledge of houses and their new knowledge of the physical environment of the Himalayas, students solve the problem of shelter. The teacher asks the questions. "What materials would they use to build a home?" And "Where would they get those materials?" "What is important for shelters in the Himalayas?" Students brainstorm possible responses. Students will build a house using the criteria provided by the teacher.

Teaching Level

K-12 regular and ESL, vary criteria and resource materials for your group

Connection to Oregon Content Standards

Math: Apply indirect methods of measurement (scale drawings to estimate and calculate length, distance, area and perimeter). Common Curriculum Goals: Indirect methods. Derive and use various methods including trigonometric ratios to measure geometric figures.
Social Studies

Connection to National Geography Standards

Standard 15 How physical systems affect human systems

Materials

Students bring in found materials (stones, clay, paper (for mache), sand, and sticks.
teacher provides two foot square board for support for each group of four-five students
large graph paper (desk pad graph paper)
glue
Popsicle sticks
1/2 "gravel
paper mache making equipment (blender, dish bins, screen, newspaper)
Pictures of the Himalayan landscape large enough for all students to view
Recording of environmental sounds of mountain streams
chart paper
Teachers background link to Barbara Brower, Sherpa O f Khumbu, text on homes Pages 48-51.

Objectives

Students are expected to use prior knowledge of houses to build a house
Students will acquire knowledge of physical landscape of Himalayas
Students will identify items in their physical environment which can be used to construct a house
Students will adapt items to solve a problem

Procedure

1. Opening the Lesson: The teacher will introduce the physical landscape of the Himalayas to students by showing slides, overhead transparency pictures of the Himalayas. The teacher will develop a word bank on chart paper of descriptions of the pictures on slides or overheads. Discuss what is in the pictures and what is not in the pictures. See teacher background references.

Alternately, the teacher may read the guided imagery of a walk through the Himalayas while playing environmental sounds on a CD or tape recording.

2. Developing the Lesson: Open-ended questioning puts the student’s prior knowledge into motion. Following introduction of the physical landscape the teacher asks the question "What problems will homes face in this environment?" or? "What materials would they use to build a home?" Using chart paper record student responses, accepting all responses. All charts should be displayed in the classroom.

3.Then teacher asks, "Where would they get those materials?" Again using chart paper record student responses, accepting all responses.

4. At this point the teacher instructs the students that they are going to design a house for this environment. The teacher gives the students the following criteria and a large piece of graph paper. Students may begin to bring in found object for construction but will not be given the base to begin until the design has been approved.

Drawing should show scale (appropriate to grade level)
materials needed
include contributions from all members
have all items labeled
include a narrative of the math process

5. Building can begin when plans are approved and supplies are gathered. Building criteria could include:

found objects
chinked walls
conform to scale
show ways that the physical landscape is addressed (understood)
include all members
topic book supplies
camera for taking pictures of the houses

Building could be limited to two to three 1-½ hour periods. Through this activity the students’ imagination engages the students’ energy to the project. The time is well spent. Resist the temptation to tell students what their houses "should " look like. By going through the process of solving the problem of shelter your students will become very critical observers of house construction in the real world.

6. Concluding the Lesson: Display new houses and look at some Sherpa houses being constructed.

By taking a "New House Tour" students will present their houses as a group to all the other groups. Students will be instructed to include the "criteria" as well as descriptions of various items. The time for presentations could be 2 minutes to 4 minutes.
Evaluate results using the criteria.
Identify differences between students’ solutions to various problems and the Sherpa’s solutions by viewing pictures of Sherpa houses being constructed. See resources

Extending the Lesson

Students could write a "for sale" advertisement for their house for inclusion in the "topic book".

Assessing Students Learning

Students will mount a picture of their house and a reduced copy of the scale drawing on a page of a "topic book". See resources for a description of keeping and making topic books.