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The Sustainability Lab in Minecraft Java

Completed by 158 learners
Ages 8-13
Live Group Class
Minecraft Java StoryWorld class where students build sustainable villages through the exploration of renewable energy and redstone.
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:
(45 reviews)

Live video meetings
1x per week
1-10 learners per class
55 min

What's included

1 live meeting
55 mins in-class hours per week
Homework
Individual builds, but collaborative work is encouraged.

Class Experience

In this educational Minecraft course, students will select a renewable energy source and teleport to a biome. There, they will build a sustainable village and represent renewable energy generation with redstone.

Here are the first few classes:
Class 1: Orientation: tour existing sustainable village, select renewable energy, select biome, select special animal and start building a shelter for them.

**Students who join while the course is underway will be given this tour and set up with their energy biome on the first day while enrolled students continue their Minecraft builds.**

Class 2: Conceptualize redstone representation of renewable energy source. 

Class 3: Backstory of Minecraft village: what environmental catastrophe related to the student's renewable energy source brought the survivors to where they are now?

Class 4: The Protagonist: how did this past catastrophe negatively impact a main character's life and what is their goal now?

Class 5: Governance: how do your people make decisions? Consensus, monarchy, majority, anarchy...?

Class 6: Languages: how do your people communicate in ways unique to them? We explore conlangs such as Klingon and Nav'i in the context of StoryWorld building.

Class 7: Youth Justice: in what ways are youth treated differently than adults in your justice system? What would restorative justice look like in juxtaposition to a punitive model?

Further classes will connect real-world issues of sustainability with the fantasy villages students are creating in Minecraft. The long-term goal is to connect with other student-built villages in an RPG adventure, befriend and defeat bosses, and end with an Earth climate emergency simulation.

Sample of real-world issues:
- Fairtrade Chocolate and Coffee (organic and sustainable farming, economics of consumer choice) 
- Sustainable Fairtrade fashion: Good on You, Patagonia
- Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth (watch video prior) How could we demo this in our villages?
- Doughnut Economics case study: Amsterdam’s plan
- Douglas Cardinal sustainable plans that acknowledge biodiversity and 7-generations planning

"My teaching style is based on emergent design that acknowledges student voice and choice. I have 20+ years teaching experience in almost every subject and am constantly inspired by student creativity and imagination when they are given an engaging challenge that is relevant to their lives."
- Stefan Rasporich, M. Ed., founder of Infinite Mind Pictures Inc. and creator of "The Learner as Protagonist" learning theory

“I have worked with Stefan for a number of years. He is a passionate teacher, creative designer and enthusiastic learner who explores new ways of teaching and learning to draw best out of his students. With Stefan, learning becomes a joy and the discovery of self, others, and our worlds. I have also learned so much about how students could drive their curriculum by visiting his classes and co-authoring a book chapter.” - Beaumie Kim, Associate Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

Kim, B., Rasporich, S., & Gupta, D. (2019). Imagining the sustainable future through the construction of fantasy worlds. In P. Sengupta, M. Shanahan, & B. Kim (Eds.), Critical, transdisciplinary and embodied approaches in STEM education (pp. 61–82). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29489-2_4

"This study demonstrates how engaging students in the designs within an art form may integrate and expand the curriculum above and around disciplines, and shows the possibilities of arts immersion as a transdisciplinary and humanistic approach to sustainability education." (p.80)

"While creating sustainable villages situated in their own imagined landscape, its resources, history and culture, land, water, and the sun became living entities and their construction (or architecture) became “a living process” (Cardinal, 1998)." (p.78)

Our website:  infinitemind.games

Learning Goals

Students will learn about renewable energy sources, biomes, biodiversity and the ideas surrounding sustainable design thinking 7 generations ahead.
Students will apply redstone schematics to conceptualizing the storage and generation of renewable energy.
Students will learn how to build a StoryWorld in the context of surviving a catastrophic natural disaster.
Students will be able to create a protagonist that generates empathy for their situation.

If you've come this far, check out our Java Minecraft server lobby at TheRenewal.Earth (or the IP 149.56.242.157:25565)

Other Details

Supply List
A Minecraft account (specifically, Minecraft Java Edition) is required.  Minecraft Bedrock Edition will NOT work.  Learners will be given the Minecraft server address to connect to.
Language of Instruction
English
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:

Offered by

4.9
45reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
At Infinite Mind Pictures we engage world citizens by creating thrilling movies, lighthearted games and deep StoryWorlds.  Our goal is to help imagine a sustainable future by making students more aware of our planet through Minecraft.

Infinite Mind Pictures helps learners build sustainable StoryWorlds in Minecraft. As the founder, Stefan Rasporich is a teacher and has done research with the University of Calgary "Imagining A Sustainable Future" in Minecraft - (find this project's publication at: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030294885 )

“I have worked with Stefan for a number of years. He is a passionate teacher, creative designer and enthusiastic learner who explores new ways of teaching and learning to draw best out of his students. With Stefan, learning becomes a joy and the discovery of self, others, and our worlds. I have also learned so much about how students could drive their curriculum by visiting his classes and co-authoring a book chapter.”
 
Beaumie Kim, Associate Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

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