Cities

Every spring, EcoEd runs a research program for students in grades 4-12. The 2016 theme is "Cities and Environmental Sustainability." Students will select a city (anywhere in the world) then explore its environmental history, current environmental footprint and problems, and possible pathways to greater environmental sustainability in the future. Students will use news articles, academic publications, interviews, and data provided by governments, international organizations, and NGOs in their research – learning to locate, analyze, evaluate and use research resources. "

Each secondary student will have an RPI student as a mentor, and will move through a structured research process. Each student will produce a substantial written report (approximately 10-15 pages) and an annotated bibliography. Results will also be presented as a poster, and in an oral symposium presentation. Much of the research and writing will be done as homework, and students will be expected to meet weekly deadlines. Student should expect approximately three hours of homework each week.

RPI mentors need to develop a research protocol for the Spring 2016 program, and exercises to do with the students that advance their understanding of cities, environmental sustainability, and their interconnection.

Really useful history and review of good city form -- that doesn't address environmental sustainability. http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/simcity/manual/history.html

Critically review two of the following "games for change". First describe how the game works, and what assumptions it builds in, then describe how it could (or could not) contribute to sustainability education (noting the audience it would best address). [|SimCityEDU: Pollution Challenge!] [|Enercities]
 * CURRICULUM RESOURCES**


 * POSSIBLE RESOUR**CES

2 10 minute films about food waste in cities (by Yale) http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_big_waste_why_do_we_throw_away_so_much_food/2874/

11 films about cities http://www.citylab.com/tech/2012/06/11-best-documentaries-about-cities-streaming-netflix/2228/

[|Future megacities] (10, 10-minute films on sustainability issues in cities)

Good on garbage []

Crash Course Ecology (Series of 10 minute videos, which look pretty good). []

Environment and Pollution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW7fxGG9cEM (lots of short videos on air pollution)

+ Critically review two of the following "games for change". First describe how the game works, and what assumptions it builds in, then describe how it could (or could not) contribute to sustainability education (noting the audience it would best address). [|SimCityEDU: Pollution Challenge!] [|Enercities]

http://www.citylab.com/

Slums and Money ([|RPI owns]) Film focusing on patterns of urbanization and poverty, and its relationship to globalization and market regulation. Interviews with scholars, experts and oridinary individuals facing urban hardships are provided throughout. Commentators include Jeffrey Sachs, Paul Krugman, Sakika Fukuda Parr, and Robert Zoellick. City residents, favela dwellers, and merchants in India, Turkey, Nigeria, Brazil and China are also interviewed.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/before-and-after-americas-environmental-history-38622578/?no-ist

[|TED Talks on Urban Planning]

[|New York Before the City]