2025 Shanghai Model Community Expo: SMIC-I’s first integrated unit for eighth graders
On December 7, multiple teams of young architects presented their designs of environmentally-conscious living spaces to a panel of teacher-judges at the SMIC-I Model Community Expo, aiming to create optimal living conditions for 2025 Shanghai residents.
The creation of this new middle school curriculum began in June. Kelsey Giroux, a cutting edge integrated project based learning expert from Beijing Features Academy, came to SMIC- I to train the middle school teachers on how to properly design an integrated unit, an interdisciplinary learning experience combining literature, history, science, math, and writing. Her presentation was spread out over two days, and Ms. Giroux gave some unit ideas as well. The middle school teachers then met to devise the different big problems for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, composed the essential questions to guide students, and finally determined the standards students would be expected to meet.
The eighth grade integrated unit began on November 12. Students were given the prompt “It’s the year 2025 and Shanghai is facing its largest energy crisis in history. The government is urging businesses and individuals to find ways to naturally reduce electricity usage in the city using the laws of thermal energy. In conjunction with these goals, the city of Shanghai is hosting a Model Community Expo to highlight the best ideas in urban residential development.” The students were expected to form groups and to ultimately be young architects who aim to design environmentally-conscious, optimal living spaces for the residents of 2025 Shanghai.
First, the eighth graders had to learn about Shanghai’s history. Students were informed about Shanghai’s past living conditions, architecture, and the city’s development. Then, they had to write an essay in response to one of the prompts. The prompts revolved around either the formation of an ideal Shanghai community, the people responsible for protecting Shanghai’s environment and for maintaining energy-efficiency, or the ways mathematical models influenced design. Finally, each group had to interview someone and create an informative, engaging podcast. This first part of the unit was led by history teacher Mr. Muenzler, literature teacher Mr. Cushing, and writing teacher Ms. Davis.
Next, the eighth graders learned about thermal energy through Mr. Chris Kong. After they researched about existing, attempted, or developing thermal energy projects or products, each group began designing their own model, with Mr. Chris’s assistance. At least one experiment had to be conducted to test the properties of their cooler to see how well it prevented ice from melting.
After that, using what they had learned about thermal energy and about Shanghai’s architecture history, each eighth grade group acted as an architectural firm that aimed to design energy-efficient, optimal living spaces that honor the traditions of Shanghai. They branded their architectural firm and created a logo for it. Each group also had to create a visual representation of their designed living space, either through blue prints or a 3D model. They had to consult and interview an expert at least once as well.
Finally, after gathering the group’s podcast, their members’ essays, their cooler, and their visual representation of their living space, the group had to compose a reflection explaining connections between the visual representation and the other components. Everything was then expressed through a 3-5 minute presentation at the Model Community Expo, where a panel of judges of SMIC-I teachers andstudents evaluated each project.
Featured Image – A Student presents the 3D model of his group’s living space – Courtesy of Temple Davis
By Gracier Dai