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Kids build some sweet scale models
Carbondale students learn about environment-friendly design
ENLARGECarbondale Community School eighth-grader Julia Williams, 12, right, shows, from left, Morgan Hollenback, 7, Lauren Murphy, 6, Melissa Sanchez, 7, and Ruby Meade, 7, her architectural design project Friday afternoon at CCS.
CARBONDALE - Catherine Masters' house is made of sugar cubes and popsicle sticks.
It has a greenhouse with a glass dome stretching above hot tub. Windows cover the south wall of the house, maximizing solar gain. Those along with concrete floors help keep it warm during the winter.
The sugar cubes represent straw bales in the scale-model the eighth-grader constructed for a semester-long seventh- and eighth-grade math and science project at the Carbondale Community School (CCS). Students learned about straw bale construction as part of the project, which was designed to teach them about sustainability and design. Local architects, contractors and designers visited throughout the semester to add their insights on topics such as design, layout, infrastructure, foundations and other principles.
It's about "how you can make less of a footprint on the earth," CCS Teacher Francie Jacober said. "Our focus is on global warming this year."
It has a greenhouse with a glass dome stretching above hot tub. Windows cover the south wall of the house, maximizing solar gain. Those along with concrete floors help keep it warm during the winter.
The sugar cubes represent straw bales in the scale-model the eighth-grader constructed for a semester-long seventh- and eighth-grade math and science project at the Carbondale Community School (CCS). Students learned about straw bale construction as part of the project, which was designed to teach them about sustainability and design. Local architects, contractors and designers visited throughout the semester to add their insights on topics such as design, layout, infrastructure, foundations and other principles.
It's about "how you can make less of a footprint on the earth," CCS Teacher Francie Jacober said. "Our focus is on global warming this year."
Straw bale construction uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation or both. It is cheap, easily available and said to be a good insulator. Plus, it's more biodegradable than traditional building materials.
"Construction is the largest contributor to solid waste in the U.S.," Jacober said, who lives in a straw bale constructed house.
Masters designed her house so that a drainage system from the roof waters the lawn with rain or snowmelt.
The students learned about how the paths of direct sunlight hitting the earth changes by season. Using the ideal angles, they were able to design overhanging rooftops that maximized or minimized the amount of summer sunlight versus winter sunlight that gets absorbed through windows.
"Construction is the largest contributor to solid waste in the U.S.," Jacober said, who lives in a straw bale constructed house.
Masters designed her house so that a drainage system from the roof waters the lawn with rain or snowmelt.
The students learned about how the paths of direct sunlight hitting the earth changes by season. Using the ideal angles, they were able to design overhanging rooftops that maximized or minimized the amount of summer sunlight versus winter sunlight that gets absorbed through windows.
One entry from the list of criteria for grading the projects: "Building is maximally oriented for solar exposure; design allows light to penetrate to interior spaces."
Students worked on floor plan drawings for about four to six weeks, and used math skills to calculate scale, Jacober said.
"It was a really intense problem solving process for them," she said. They would come up with these incredibly intricate designs, and then find out intricate designs are really hard to build, she added.
Students worked on floor plan drawings for about four to six weeks, and used math skills to calculate scale, Jacober said.
"It was a really intense problem solving process for them," she said. They would come up with these incredibly intricate designs, and then find out intricate designs are really hard to build, she added.
Contact Pete Fowler: 945-8515, ext. 16611
pfowler@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO
pfowler@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO
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