Grade 5 students designed model structures, worked with visiting engineers, and studied climate change during a nine-day interdisciplinary residency at Spence’s 412 Ecology Center. 

(VIDEO: See the residency in action)

 

As part of their exploration, they examined the structural components of a house’s material and tested the strength of four-walled structures. The residency included collaboration with two engineering firms and engineers—primarily women—who taught the girls about how to build safe and resilient structures, and deepened their understanding of real-world applications. 

The fifth graders also investigated the intangible elements that construct the essence of “home.” They learned how different Hispanophone community members’ favorite foods built a sense of home, wrote personal memoirs, and connected ancestral Manahatta with the present. 

The students leveraged one specific interdisciplinary skill, perspective taking, to take on the role of a city council member helping a fictional city address climate change. Through reflection and this city council activity, they were able to link their learning to fostering collaboration and creating change.

This is the second Ecology Residency for these students who were introduced to immersive, interdisciplinary learning opportunities at 412 last year.  And the threads of learning will continue to build as a part of a Girls in Science initiative that runs through their entire Middle School years and culminates in a capstone sustainable home project in Grade 8. 

"It is exciting to see students come year-after year as they continue to grow their interdisciplinary skills through application to real-world problems,” says Ecology Program Director Brandon Kraft. “The goal of these residencies is to empower students to create the changes necessary to build a more equitable and resilient world."

The residency offered the fifth graders a focus and clarity that allowed for thorough research and reflection. They compiled evidence of learning on a Google Site that includes individual student portfolios. This site highlights each student’s reflections and different artifacts of learning. They will revisit and build on this site each year that they participate in an Ecology Residency.

Supported by teachers, the fifth graders moved beyond simple concepts of “house” and “home,” gaining a deeper understanding of how different climates affect home construction, how different cultures view the concept of “home,” and how different constituencies must overcome disagreements in times of crisis to strengthen community.

The 412 residency started with students learning about the strength of different structures and then forming groups to build their own small, four-walled models. The models were then put to the test, keeping geometrical shapes and buttressing in mind. One structure held an astounding 255 pounds before breaking.

They also learned how different climates affect building construction and designed their own shelter, clothing, or tool based on the culture they were studying—the Eastern Woodlands. Herb dryers, berry smashers, clothing for hunters, moss-covered houses and more were created.

The fifth graders explored the concept of “home” and what it meant to them by creating individual mind maps, and then working together to create a large mind map using their bodies and string to highlight the connections between words like “family, safe, shelter and memories.”

Another way the students learned about each other's homes was by designing surveys, polling classmates, and then finding the mean, median, mode and range of each class’s responses.

The concept of “home” also came to life through food. Learning to work in the 412 teaching kitchen, they baked Cinnamon Sugar Scones in the first week. They were prompted to practice math skills by scaling up recipes—creating their own recipes afterwards. In the second week, they made and then enjoyed Arepas with multiple fillings.

The students formally recognized indigenous peoples as the original stewards of land through land acknowledgements, and then broke into cross-classroom constituency groups to create an imaginary city called Spence—working outside of their familiar peer groups. The City of Spence had to respond to climate change issues, like sea levels rising, drought and infectious disease.

Constituents included homeowners and renters, civil service workers, retail workers, doctors, engineers and more. The fifth graders spoke on behalf of and advocated for their groups’ particular needs. Most importantly, they had to build consensus around important decisions that would impact the resiliency of the imagined city. They came away with an understanding of what it takes to achieve a consensus, despite a diverse set of needs and competing priorities.

The residency was also a chance for girls to see their future in a STEM career by learning from and working with women at the height of their field—with some of the visiting engineers working on projects as prestigious as the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station.

Two female engineers, from Silman, focused on how different materials are required to support a myriad of dwellings—ranging from a glass house to an underground apartment. Students got to explore the strength of glass, iron, wood, and cement. 

The residency ended with a presentation and full day of workshops with six engineers from JB&B Engineering—all but one of whom were women. The students built sturdy structures and circuitry and identified engineering components of 412—the building in which they had just spent a wealth of time.

Their new knowledge and curiosity motivated the students. When one pair was having trouble getting their electrical circuit to work, they pressed on. During several trials and errors, the visiting engineers prompted them with questions and ideas for refining their work until, finally, they were able to get it right.

Through the residency, the fifth graders made 412 a home, bonding with the space and building sisterhood. 

Grade 5 teachers Miki Belenkov, Carline Bennett, Ben Gantcher, Luca Graham, Chinita Hard and Steph Romary; Spanish teachers Elsy Bellow and Synthia Olveda-Rodriguez; PE teachers Kate Hallex, Arnold Orellana and Kevin Rowe; Ecology Program Director Brandon Kraft; and Ecology Program Assistant Sheri Kusatzky designed the residency. They guided the immersive residency, working to maximize understanding, approaching each student at their level, and using their extended time with each to pull even more potential out of them.

Most of all, each student had fun, anchored by a sense of belonging and a joy of learning during their two week adventure together. Though the residency is over, the students are filled with a drive to ever-sharpen their knowledge—and their ability to communicate disparate needs and reach consensus—throughout their Middle School years.