Ecotecture 2: Earthship
In this five week course, we will experiment with five sustainable architecture techniques to design our own mini-earthship.
Emily Jaeger
Average rating:
4.7
Number of reviews:(100)
What's included
5 live meetings
4 hrs 35 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
In this course, we will get our hands dirty as we explore five different elements of eco-homes known as Earthships: green-roofs, insulation, biodigestors, berms, and cob buildings. While this course is a great followup to the general overview of sustainable architecture in the original “Ecotecture: Mini Course” this class can also be taken independently (with no prior knowledge). This course will use slides/video clips, lecture, hands-on building activities, and group discussion. Class 1: Green Roofs In this class, we bring lessons from ecology into the design of eco-friendly roofing. We will learn about how different colors from nature absorb and/or reflect light, design a panel of a green roof, and watch it grow! Class 2: Insulation One of the lesser known heroes of sustainable architecture is insulation—which helps our homes to remain a comfortable temperature with less overall energy use. We will experiment with a variety of materials to determine the qualities of the best insulators. We will also set up for the biodigestor experiment. Class 3: Biodigestors Wait, you can make bio-gas AT HOME from things we normally throw out or flush away?! How come we haven’t been doing this for years!? We will examine the results of our biodigestor experiment and learn in depth about larger scale biodigestors and how they are used around the world. Class 4: Berms Use architecture to protect the nutrients in our soil and our natural landscape by constructing berms and terraces. Drawing on lessons from ecology and archaeology, we will design model structures from recycled materials aimed at preventing erosion. Class 5: Cob Not as in corn! Cob is a cheap, widely available, sustainable non-traditional building material which doesn’t destroy trees. We will make our own cob to construct a mini-Earthship
Learning Goals
Learners will be able to define sustainability, interpret example of sustainable architecture techniques based on this definition, apply their knowledge to multiple prototypes.
Other Details
Supply List
ALL FIVE WEEKS: please bring pen/cil, paper. Also make sure your scissors are strong enough to cut through plastic and cardboard! Week 1 An 8x8 foil baking pan or recycled plastic fruit carton of similar size. Plastic or Styrofoam egg carton, fabric (same size as pan) corrugated cardboard same size as pan, 4 cups dirt, fast growing seeds of your choice (grass, lettuce, turnips, arugula) or plants (live moss to transplant, chicks and hens etc), something to hold up your pan at a slant (building blocks, legos etc). A cup of water, scissors. Week 2 A bath of warm water (larger Tupperware), 5 ice cubes, 5 cups (plastic disposable, tumblers, or small mason), five different materials to test from this list: tissues, newspaper, cotton balls, aluminum foil, cloth, shaving cream, snack foods such as cheese curls, etc. Setup for week 3: five latex ballons, five small water bottles/other small bottles with a neck, five rubber bands, funnel or paper to make a funnel, knife, cutting board, vegetable scraps/peels/or whole: onion, apple, banana, lettuce, orange peel Week 3 Pen and paper, set up from last week! Week 4 Pitcher of water, a baking pan (either reusable or disposable—if you want to be able to keep your model), scissors, strong tape, tinfoil, legos (if you have them), recycled materials: toilet paper tubes, cardboard boxes, plastic cartons, anything else you can cut up, Week 5: Ratio 2: 1 sand to clay. I would recommend at least 2 cups sand to 1 cup clay (if not double). Make sure your clay is natural, not plastic. A cup of water. A handful of straw (can be found at Michaels, hobby lobby, pet store in smaller quantities than a hardware store). A piece of thick cardboard or thin wood for the base (10x10 inches approx.) A large bowl for mixing cob that you don’t mind getting dirty, gorilla glue, gather any decoration materials—recommendations include beads, bark, moss, small pebbles, acorns/acorn caps, scraps of fabric and/or ribbon, seashells, pipe-cleaners, pieces of pine cones, etc.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined April, 2020
4.7
100reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
Over the past nine years of my career as an experiential educator, I have taught every age group from pre-schoolers to retirees in private school, camp, university-level, and more. With a bachelor's degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Brandeis 2011), an M.F.A in Creative Writing (UMASS Boston 2017), and past service as an agricultural extensionist for Peace Corps, Paraguay, I couple knowledge of the ancient world with survival skills, poetry with animal husbandry.
My classes are learner-centered--I want to know what you are curious about so we can explore together. I care about each of my students (especially in these difficult times) and I hope our adventures together will be nurturing as well as educational.
My specialties include: Ancient Near East/Mesopotamia, Creative Writing, Literature, Agriculture, Spanish, Hebrew, Guarani (indigenous language), Bible (and its historical context), Recycled Art, Vegan Cooking, WWII, and Judaic Studies. Reviews
Live Group Class
$60
for 5 classes1x per week, 5 weeks
55 min
Completed by 5 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 9-13
3-12 learners per class
