Disaster DIY

After reading a book about a natural disaster, students teamed up to help their novel's
main character survive his or her ordeal.

Your town has just been devastated by a massive earthquake. The phone lines are dead, there’s no running water and supplies are running out fast. All you have is a few household objects and your ingenuity. How do you make it out alive?

Our Grade 7 classes tackled this tough question through a week-long integration project from March 6-10. After reading one of three books by Canadian YA novelist Eric Walters about a natural disaster - an earthquake, a tsunami or a flood - students teamed up to help their novel’s main character survive his or her ordeal.

To be successful, students had to draw on knowledge from four core subjects:

• Science: Students invented a survival device that helped the characters purify drinking water, keep warm and dry or signal for help.

• Math: Students used mathematical reasoning to predict how long the device will help the character survive until assistance arrives. (One group created a giant air bubble and did detailed calculations to determine how long that oxygen would last!)

• Social Studies: Students needed to understand the specific characteristics of the area where the disaster took place, and to understand how humans acquire, manage and use natural resources based on their environment..

• English: Students produced an oral or written explanation of how their survival device works, as well as a series of journal entries written from the perspective of their novel’s main character.

Students used a design thinking approach throughout this process: understanding what the end user needs, making sense of their research and resources and generating ideas and prototypes. By using design thinking, students learn that the process of trial and error is a good way to solve problems.

To work collaboratively students need space. Our learning community classrooms are not
only spacious but allow lots of flexibility.

What Did Students Invent?

Students’ creativity shone through in the wonderful use they made of their available resources. Some examples of devices include:

• A water purifier made from a plastic bottle, coffee filters, curtains, sticks and a plastic bag
• A giant “Help” sign made from glow sticks
• A canopied raft made from debris and a tarp

How Did Our Expanded Building Support This Integrated Project?

To work collaboratively students need space: ample room to meet in small groups, spread out their materials and build their prototypes. Our learning community rooms fit the bill perfectly: they’re not only spacious, but their flexible furnishings allowed students to configure the room in the way that worked best for them. Our teachers also had plenty of space to circulate through the room and support teams as needed during work periods.

Our performance theatre also played a key role in the project. Its drop-down screen allowed the Grade 7s to view multimedia materials and go through short lessons as a large group. When it was time to present their projects, the theatre provided an ideal venue for this activity.

When it was time for Grade 7 students to present their finished prototypes, our
performance theatre provided an ideal venue.

Student Feedback

What did students like most about this project? Here’s what a few of them had to say:

“I liked that the whole week was connected to one main idea. I was really proud of our final product, because it worked and we had a clear view to why we made it.”

“I enjoyed using different ideas to help my character and put myself in the character's shoes.”

“I enjoyed going to different rooms and learning about survival if you were caught in an earthquake.”

“I’m proud of the final product because even though we disagreed at the beginning, we came together and worked through it, resulting in an awesome prototype.”

A Student-Centred Hub: The Lodge

Since Greenwood’s founding, the Lodge has been one of the school’s busiest spots - a place for students to eat, socialize and study. In the expanded building, the Lodge has become a central hub that gives students ready access to many essential services.

From the Lodge, students can seek advice from a guidance counsellor, purchase TTC tickets or Greenwood swag at the school store, pick up lunch, copy a document or seek IT support. And when they need downtime, the Lodge still provides plenty of room for students to chat with friends, fuel up for afternoon classes or play a game of chess.

The Lodge is busiest during lunchtime, of course, but older students on spares can often be seen grabbing a snack or studying by the windows in the Grad Lounge.

It's a Classroom! It's a Kitchen! It's... Both!

Cooking days enable students to put their new knowledge into practice. Here, students
 are investigating the Maillard reaction and molecular gastronomy.

Greenwood’s Food and Culture course combines academic content with hands-on cooking experience - and needs a space that supports both. Our versatile rooftop classroom supports everything from classwork to culinary creations.

From Monday-Thursday, students spend their classes delving into a food-related issue; they investigate kitchen science, learn more about nutrition and study the relationship between food and the environment. At the end of the week, it’s time to put everything they’ve learned to the test.

On Fridays, this rooftop space transforms from a classroom into a working kitchen. A portable convection oven and two convection burners enable students to whip up a wide variety of dishes. So far, the class has prepared pancakes, sushi, hummus, ice cream, Vietnamese spring rolls and more - each with a specific connection to the curriculum.

“The cooking days enable students to put their new knowledge into practice,” says teacher Michelle Douglas. “For example, the nutrition unit investigates new research in gut health, and we’re making our own kombucha (a fermented tea drink) as an illustration of those concepts.” As they’re preparing food, students also sharpen their knife skills, refine basic cooking skills and learn valuable food safety and etiquette tips. The great nutrition and food preparation knowledge they learn here will serve them well when they leave home.

Chef Sang Kim not only taught our students how to make sushi, but imparted valuable
information about the history of this Japanese dish and on food insecurity in Toronto.

Cooking days also provide another opportunity for Michelle to customize learning for students. “Each dish comes with many different tasks that can be assigned to students based on their readiness,” Michelle says.

Even hands-on kitchen days incorporate some history and theory. Chef Sang Kim recently visited Greenwood to give a class on sushi-making - but in doing so, he also imparted valuable information about the history of this Japanese dish and on food insecurity in Toronto. “It’s an academic course, and the content is challenging,” Michelle says. “We have high expectations for students.”

The location of the classroom is also conducive to the well-being aspect of the course. Large windows and glass walls bring in plenty of natural light; in the spring, the class can open a sliding door to the terrace and enjoy the fruits of their Friday labours outside.

Here’s what one Grade 11 student has to say about the course:

“Greenwood’s Food & Culture course really prepares students for the future. Throughout the week, our learning is focused on the techniques needed to prepare a certain dish. We learn about the origins of ingredients, their cultural significance, nutrition, and the science behind the method. Each Friday, we have the opportunity to practise these newly acquired skills through cooking and baking. The combination of theory and practical learning fully engages the class."