Building a Green Community at the National Building Museum

by Ms. Trenkle

On Monday, October 27, the four literacy classes went to the National Building Museum to pilot one of their new programs, "Building a Green Community." During their visit, students visited the new "Building a Green Community" exhibit and discussed urban growth. By looking at community models around the country, students saw how urban centers and brown zones could be developed to better use the land and the resources available. Students then came back to the education room and designed their own green community. Buildings for their community were made with recycled boxes, cans and egg cartons. Students then had to think about which buildings they wanted where in their community--should a fire station be in the center of the community (to be centrally located in case of an emergency), or on the fringe of the community so not as many people would be disturbed by the loud sirens of the coming and going fire engines? Should a school be in the center of the community for accessibility (and so that more students could walk or bike to school) or near a park so that students can play in a green area? Were factories necessary? (Everyone concluded that they were) Then...where should the factories be placed? These were the type of conversations that were included in our two and half hour visit. Students went home thinking about their city, their environment and how to be more environmentally friendly.




by Phillip Tucker

The National Building Museum was great. When we were there the building was huge. We built a mini house and put them on a map. We put them together in a row and landscaped them.