Module 7: Urban Sustainability Projects

Johannes Gerstenberg / pixelio.de

This module covers passive houses, parks and other green areas within cities, Hamburg’s Ecocity, and pedestrian zones. Students learn about the technological and design principals behind some of the future directions of sustainable urban living in Germany and parallel developments in the U.S. The final project requires summarizing previous information from this and other modules to deisgn a pedestrian zone that takes into account the practical and ecological concerns of a city.

This introduction
Reading (materials: links to information about passive solar houses in Minnesota; tasks: short comprehension questions)
Videos (materials: listening link on passive solar houses in Germany; tasks: fill-in-chart on advantages/disadvantages, short comprehension questions)
Group discussion (materials: reading for information about nature preserves; tasks: groups complete assignment according to assigned positions, then compare information)
Online activity (materials: reading to collect information about a sustainable city; tasks: short-answer questions guide findings)
Group projects (tasks: presentational mode, develop plans for a pedestrian zone in an urban area, guiding questions)

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