The North Bay Society of Architects reached out to the Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board (NPSC) and the Near North District School Board (NNDSB) with a unique idea for a student project – construct a model of a home that can withstand the effects of climate change.
They dubbed the project the Climate Change Challenge, and students worked in small groups with each group receiving a different challenge to overcome with their model houses. Protect the home against fire, floods, and rising winds were the three options. Students had a day to plan out some design concepts – some created houseboats, to deal with floods – and then the glue guns came out and the construction began.
“When this came as an opportunity for us, we embraced it,” explained Lisa Spencer, the secondary program co-ordinator for the Near North District School Board. “We’re always looking for ways to enrich the curriculum with experiential learning activities.”
Students at St. Luke Catholic Elementary School, Holy Cross Catholic Elementary, St. Theresa Catholic Elementary, and West Ferris Secondary School took part.
BayToday was invited to West Ferris Secondary School this morning to see the builds in progress. Inside Jason Henstridge’s grade 8 science class, about thirty students were busy working on their model kits. The kits were put together and given to the classes by the North Bay Society of Architects (NBSA) and included cardboard to build the homes and other essential material – all biodegradable and eco-friendly, of course.
Joel Tremblay volunteers with the NBSA and is set to become an architect in the near future after completing his internship. “It’s to bring awareness to the profession,” he said of the event, “and to encourage students to think outside the box.”
Tremblay also helped come up with the story to help bring the house building to life. The NBSA chose the tale of the three little pigs, the idea being the kids would build models strong enough to protect the piggies from the dangers of the Big Bad Wolf – climate change – knocking at their door.
The idea went over well with the students, all of whom were in grades 5 to 8. The completed models will be judged by the NBSA to see which homes can stand up to the elements.
The Ontario Association of Architects provides funds to local chapters for community projects like this, and the North Bay branch was successful in its application which made the event possible.
The idea went over well with the students, one of whom, Emma Busch, was glad to be working with cardboard again – “I made a cathouse out of cardboard for my cat the other day.” So, the materials were right in her wheelhouse.
Her and her team were “making a houseboat” she said, “so when the water rises the house will rise with it as well. It’s an interesting project, and science is my favourite subject.” Next year she is going into the STEAM program with the goal of working in dentistry.
“I want to say a big thank you to the North Bay Architectural Society,” Henstridge said. “They’ve been a really big partner in all of this and provided these kits which allow students to see how climate change is going to affect the way we design buildings in the future.”
“The kids really enjoyed the opportunity to be so hands on and work in groups on the project.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
