Eco-Cubby: footprint on the world

Celebrating Geelong East Primary School

Last Friday I attended the Eco-Cubby celebration at GEPS.

The Eco-Cubby class invited their architects from Third Ecology for a celebration to mark the completion of their cubby model. The class and their teacher Mr. Biggins, thanked the architects for a wonderful couple of terms learning about sustainable design.

The finished model was on display and Mr. Biggins read out quotes from the students about what they had learnt during the project. Participants were given certificates and celebrated with cake!

Their interesting design incorporates a main structure which is the 'winter' cubby. This structure is a more enclosed cozy space that captures the warmth of the sun. Suspended underneath the main structure, accessed by ladders, is the 'summer' cubby that enjoys shade and lovely cool breezes!

These kids know the good life! Well done GEPS - you have designed a truely awesome cubby!

Geelong East Primary School

I ventured into a fast and furious classroom where students worked in groups making separate parts of their model (to be assembled at a later stage!). Guided by Architects John and Anthony, they worked at a fast pace and the morning's progress was swift!

Rocky the class Cockatiel looked on to make sure everything was to scale and matched the plans. Decisions about materials were made using the democratic 'hands up' approach and students worked extremely well in their teams.

Geelong East you're doing fabulously!!

hands up...red or blue carpet? (blue won!)

getting out the big guns...!

Rocky gives John a bit of design advice

Geelong East Primary School

Here's the latest update from Geelong East:

Students presented models of their special eco-cubbies such as a dog’s house, Bart Simpson’s tree house and a cave house.

This activity was followed by students beginning to design the final template for the school’s chosen eco-cubby building. Students had to incorporate lots of sustainable features that they have learnt during the course.

students present a model

digital rendering of model

another idea

Geelong East Primary School

In the first week back from holidays, students got back into experimenting with their Eco-Cubby designs. Here's a summary of their ECO-CUBBY SESSION 6

Factors such as air ventilation, thermal mass and shading were revisited by the students as they are vitally important considerations when designing a house.

Students formed groups and used recycled materials to construct a variation of shelters including a doghouse, cat house and cave. Sustainable features such as air vents were incorporated into their constructions.

 

Geelong East Primary School

ECO-CUBBY Session 4

In this session some students continued to present their information reports about building materials including carpet tiles and cement sheeting. They investigated embodied energy and sustainability issues such as the ability to recycle material.

The architects discussed a number of issues to consider regarding the potential site for the Eco-Cubby including orientation towards the sun, shade, noise level and potential to sustain biodiversity. The class brainstormed potential sites and four areas were identified as possibilities.

Students formed into groups and walked to the nominated sites to consider all aspects of the locations. Each group was supervised by an architect or Mr Biggins.

At the next session all groups will present a case study to argue why their site should be chosen.

arial view of the school showing possible sites

 

students choosing a site for the cubby

Geelong East Primary School

ECO-CUBBY Session 3

Students were excited to receive feedback about the results of their quiz on climate change, energy sources and recycling as they had put a lot of effort into answering the questions.

In this session students looked at different materials such as concrete, timber and aluminium and were asked to use their netbooks to google search information regarding the products’ life cycles from cradle to grave. Students discussed which materials used the most energy as part of their life cycles and were given samples of products to look at and to feel. Investigations were carried out in groups, with each group reporting their findings to the rest of the class. All of the students enjoyed the hands-on nature of this session as they worked together in groups.

Some of the materials discussed

Students examining some material and preparing for their talk

Geelong East Primary School

Here's a report form Graeme Biggins - Geelong East Primary School:

'Our architects from Third Ecology initially made several visits to Geelong East Primary School (GEPS) to make contact with project facilitators and make a site inspection of the school grounds.

An Eco-Cubby class of 24 students has been formed from senior classes and the first class began last week with much excitement and anticipation from all of the students involved. The architects, led by John Sprunt and Anthony Timms (student architect), engaged the class in some interesting discussions about the environment including greenhouse gases, renewable v non-renewable energy sources and habitat/land degradation.

Session two began with a quiz to assess the level of student understanding from the first session’s presentation. Students were made aware of designing buildings in relation to climate conditions including the use of passive heating/cooling,  orientation and insulation.'

We look forward to further reports from GEPS and hope to visit them soon to see what else they get up to in the coming weeks!

John + Anthony explain the greenhouse effect and talk about designing for specific climates.

some students answering a quiz at the beginning of session two