What if our buildings were built using more recycled materials? How can our buildings help us conserve water? Middle School Math Teacher Dustin Delfin, an architect, challenged the students in his Winter Term Course to use Minecraft Education, a favorite app among Middle School students, to explore sustainability. The results? A series of carefully designed buildings that show the ability of our students to think creatively and proactively about protecting our world’s resources.
“When planning for my course, I knew I wanted to combine my passion for architecture and use Minecraft as a vehicle to make it relevant to students,” said Delfin. “I also knew that I wanted my students to leave this course thinking about how to make our world a better place. Sustainable Architecture takes on the overarching theme of this course which asks students to create a self-sufficient house that does not contribute harmful effects to our environment. In my course, my students used the Sustainable City from Minecraft Education to explore various lessons on sustainability.”
The Sustainable City gave students opportunities to learn about sustainable food production, dependable forests, sustainable homes, and alternative energy. “For the first couple of days of Winter Term, students used this platform to gather information and learn about these various sustainable strategies,” explained Delfin. “Once students were informed, they (some in pairs and some individually) selected 12 different sustainable strategies to include in their designs; they then spent most of the course building their own sustainable house in Minecraft.”
To showcase their final product, students created a 24″ by 36″ poster composed of exterior and interior perspectives of their designs. In addition, the poster highlights and describes the 12 sustainable strategies they incorporated in their homes. Some strategies included solar panels, large double-pane windows made from recycled glass to let natural light in, and a greywater system to name a few. Delfin enlisted the help of the Marketing and Communications department to print the posters, which he then displayed in his classroom for students to participate in a gallery walk on the last day of class. Check out their amazing work here!
After the gallery walk, students were given the opportunity to go into the different Minecraft worlds of their peers to tour and explore their designs. “This was exciting for many as these virtual tours brought the sustainable homes to life,” said Delfin. Micah Gomez ’31 even made a scavenger hunt for his peers to participate in.
“As we closed the course, I wanted students to know that they do not need to build a sustainable house in order to help our world be healthier. Some of their suggestions included recycling, walking vs using vehicle transportation, and turning off the water while brushing their teeth. I am hopeful that this group of students will continue to value sustainability and protect this place we call home,” said Delfin.