City of the Future Climate Project Educator Guide

• In this lesson, students design, evaluate, construct, and present their vision for a city of the future with people and the environment in mind.
• Students apply what they have learned about climate change solutions like renewable energy, public transportation, and community initiatives in a series of group activities and a final project.

Positives

• This is an engaging and multi-disciplinary approach to assessing students' knowledge of climate solutions.
• In this project, students are challenged to apply their research, critical thinking, and collaborative skills.
• The podcast discusses energy generation for urban areas, energy management for climate mitigation, and the electric grid.

Additional Prerequisites

• This lesson is designed to be used as a culminating project for a unit on climate change and not as a standalone. Students should therefore have a strong understanding of various climate solutions.
• The educator guide includes guidelines for each activity, a timeline, additional resources, and ideas for extension activities.
  
• Students should listen to the podcast before starting the project.
• The entire project should take 7 to 11 class periods to complete.

Differentiation

• As an additional element for more advanced classes, have students also include cost and financing as a consideration in their designs.
• The optional construction phase of the project can be completed in a 3-D or 2-D format, depending on your class's needs and access to resources.
• One copy of each worksheet can be printed per group or committee.
• Following the project, ask the class, "What does our city lack that the future city has? How can we move our city toward becoming this future city?"
• Use this table of solutions for an extensive list of various climate solutions.