Students begin research to develop and design a complete, off-grid tiny home.
Generate inquiry questions about tiny houses through individual and collaborative brainstorms
Students will keep track of their ideas using a method of their choosing. They might use simple sticky notes on a board or their desks or they might collaborate on a digital idea board such as Miro or similar.
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1. Group exercise: Group brainstorm everything you know about tiny houses
2. Individual exercise: Write questions that you have about tiny houses
3. Group exercise with deliverable: Combine questions: In their groups, rotate clockwise and have each member share one of their questions while the person to their left writes the question down and adds to the group list (sticky notes, or Trello board, or Google/Excel sheet, etc.)
4. Individual exercise/close-out: Exit slip: Write down 2 things you found interesting, 1 idea you have, and 1 question you still have
Research inquiry questions and summarize findings in an organized way
1. Individual warm-up
Option 1: Create an initial sketch of your idea for a tiny house
Option 2: Describe what your tiny house will look like and how it will work
2. Group exercise
Groups will need their question list from their group brainstorm. Meet as a group and decide what you would like to research. Their research might include:
who typically lives in or buys tiny homes
what makes a home a "tiny house"
common features in a tiny house
features that can save space
The group will decide how they want to divide and conquer their question list. Individual research or paired research? Encourage them to create some shared resource (notecards, Trello board, Google/Excel sheet, Miro board, etc.) to document their findings. Have the group prioritize the questions and have them set a maximum amount of time to spend on each question so that all of them get at least a quick answer before the end of the allotted research time.
3. Individual exercise
Individuals research their assigned topics and record their findings in the manner that their group agreed upon. Encourage them to write down, but not answer unless they have time remaining, additional questions they come up with during this phase and remind them to stay on task/timer to answer all of their assigned questions.
4. Group exercise with deliverable
One at a time they present their findings to their group for one of their assigned questions for one minute (give them a timer if available). Progress to the next member in the circle until all time is exhausted or they run out of questions. Have the group record a list of four key things that they have learned
5. Individual exercise/close-out
Exit slip: Explain and/or sketch two ways to save space in a tiny house