1. Cooperation vs. Competition (10 minutes - Review)
Talk to students about the word “cooperation”. What does it mean? What about the word competition?
As an opening game, list 10 words on the board - 5 are synonyms of competition and 5 are synonyms of cooperation. Ask students to guess which words match the word cooperation and which match the word competition. This activity can help build vocabulary skills.
Example Words:
• Cooperation: alliance, assistance, collaboration, harmony, participation, partnership, teamwork, union, unity
• Competition: aggressive, at odds, combative, opposing, rival, battling, contesting
Now ask students to consider how cooperation is connected to nature or “ecology”. Define ecology for students. Ecology is the study of our home, the planet Earth (eco means home, derived from Latinate and Greek roots). It is the study of living and nonliving things and how they interact with each other over time. Our home, Earth is filled with many things that frequently interact and cooperate with each other.
So what kinds of things are cooperative in nature? Or is nature really all about competition - cheetahs chasing gazelles or falcons swooping down to catch mice? Actually, most of the natural world exists in a cooperative balance. The relationship between predator and prey, which many think of as competitive, is part of a larger system of cooperation based on many variables like population dynamics, resource availability, climate and habitat type. In most cases, the predator only takes as much as it needs. Prey only reproduce as much as their food supply and other natural resources will allow. A constant balance is forged between both organisms, even though it may seem as though “survival of the fittest” is the overriding principle of the animal kingdom.
The aggression exhibited by predators, such as this Cheetah, is part of a larger pattern of balance and cooperation in the animal kingdom.
Let’s consider an example - the human body. All of our organs--liver, heart and kidney--each have different roles and needs. However, they ultimately work together as one system, which we refer to as the body. If our organs were in competition with each other, our bodies would not keep going for very long. Instead, the many systems that make up our bodies work in cooperation with each other: the nervous, circulatory and respiratory systems work together to ensure survival and proper function.
In ecology we have a special word for this kind of cooperation - ecological mutualism - a condition where both elements of the same system benefit from interaction. End your discussion by asking students to think about examples of cooperation they have observed in nature or their community.
2. Cooperative Design (10 minutes - Investigate)
After discussing cooperation vs. competition introduce the aspect of design. How can design be cooperative? Define and discuss the term “cooperative/participatory design” for students. What does it mean and what are some examples?
To facilitate this discussion, create a Ven diagram on the board in which different ecological balance issues overlap. You might write down the word "nature" and the name of your town or city. What kinds of things overlap - parks and street trees, nearby mountains or rivers, air quality and health, food and other resources? Make it clear that the overlap areas--those representing intersecting ideas--are the focus of today's discussion on the potential for cooperation and interaction.
Examples of cooperative design are all around us. Let’s focus on the example of an organic or urban farm like the Growing Power farms in the Midwest. (
https://www.growingpower.org/). Each element of the farm cooperates with the soil and the local ecology of the farm’s location. Let’s look at some examples of how cooperative design is used throughout the farm:
• Aquaponics: cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a re-circulating system
• Bees: Bee apiarys (or hives) pollinate the farms crops while producing honey that can be sold at market
• Compost: The farm takes food and organic wastes and converts this waste into a fertilizer for the farm
• Livestock: The farm grows worms, fish and chickens which all serve another purpose on the farm. The worms are used in vermiculture operations and help break down the food wastes collected into compost. The fish provide fertilizer and nutrients for the aquaponics systems. Chickens provide yet another kind of fertilizer for crops as well as eggs, which are sold at market.
How are these examples forms of cooperation? Why is it important or beneficial for this farm to encourage this kind of cooperative system in how it grows food and raises animals?
If you are still having trouble connecting students to the concept of cooperative design, explain that examples of cooperative design may be hard to see in our daily lives - but are there nonetheless. To provide more direct and relevant connections, gather some examples of cooperative design or behavior in you local region.
To further spark discussion about local issues, ask students to describe their local landscape or neighborhood. Conduct field studies from the windows of your classroom or go for a neighborhood walk, a trip to the park or local nature center. Begin to frame the main question we will be addressing through this exercise: how can cooperative designs be used to help our local community? What are the benefits and tradeoffs of a cooperative design?
Ask students to conduct research that will help them understand the power of cooperation in the design process.
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Element 1
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Element 2
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How do they cooperate?
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What benefits and tradeoffs does this offer the community?
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Food Waste
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Worms
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The worms eat the food waste and produce compost.
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The compost is used to grow food.
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Cooperation in Context (5 - 10 minutes - Frame/Reframe)
Let’s consider some more examples of cooperative design. In a recent MoMA exhibition called
Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront, designers were asked to think of solutions to emerging climate change issues like rising water levels. Each designer used some kind of natural process to find an innovative way of tackling this issue. Using the rubric and attached image sheet, ask students to identify the cooperative elements of each design proposal. In other words, what are two distinct things or processes you can identify from each proposal. For instance in the first example by ARO and dlandstudio, designers propose the planting of a grassland around Manhattan to protect the island from rising waters. In this instance, the designers used native aquatic grasses to (1) absorb water and (2) provide a natural barrier for the island.
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Proposal
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Element 1
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Element 2
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New Urban Ground
ARO and dlandstudio
In this example, architects propose a large grassland to be planted around the perimeter of Manhattan to help stave off rising waters.
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Water Proving Ground
LTL Architects
LTL’s plan proposes a series of piers, canals, and coves that house a new assortment of urban activities, from fish farming to watery recreation.
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Oyster-Tecture
Scape
This proposal uses the concept of oyster farms to help filter water and provide opportunities for new landuses around places like the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.
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Working Waterline
Matthew Baird Architects
This proposal re-uses old bottles to create a giant reef or barrier that would protect waterfront areas and also generate power as the tides move the barrier up and down.
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New Aqueous City
nArchitects
This idea suggests digging into areas around the East River and Atlantic Ocean and floating columns that would support suspended structures that would float above the water.
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(Note: you can visit
for ideas on how to talk about climate change in your classroom)
Provide even more examples from the 2010 National Design Triennial:
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MetaboliCity - MetaboliCity is an urban ecosystem that supports modular farming systems. A lightweight textile structure, serves as the scaffold on which plants are grown. Organic, dye-sensitized solar cells, are clad to the woven structures to harvest the sun’s energy, powering a pump system that monitors and feeds the plants as well as micro LEDs for ambient light at night.
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Soil Lamp - The Soil Lamp makes use of the metabolism of biological life in dirt to produce enough energy to power a small LED light. The soil, enclosed in cells containing zinc and copper, acts as an electrolyte—an electrically conductive medium—and requires only a simple splash of water to keep it from drying out.
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H2Otel - Water is the primary energy source in the H2Otel. Located next to the Amstel River in Amsterdam the hotel utilizes the river’s water for heating, cooling, cooking, and generating electricity. Because of this comprehensive use of water, the H2Otel is expected to be named the first carbon-neutral hotel in the Netherlands.
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Cabbage Chair - The Cabbage chair was created for an exhibition organized in Japan by fashion designer Issey Miyake. Resins added to the paper during the original production process give it strength and memory, while the pleats make the paper springy and elastic. The poetic and practical chair is a direct, minimal transformation of an industrial waste product. Its pod-like skin unfurls to reveal a luxuriant and expansive interior. It has no internal armature, and requires no finishing, assembly, or hardware.
As a further extension look at examples from the Portland, OR based organization City-Repair or the Design Trust for Public. These use design to improve local neighborhoods through a participatory and cooperative design process that uses community input to solve problems.
Cooperative Design Lab: Part One (20 minutes - Generate)
Now its time to encourage students to think of cooperative designs for the future! Think big, think wacky! Challenge each student to pick two areas like water and housing, transportation and food, clouds and fish and find a way to make a cooperative design that includes both elements equally. Start with a Ven diagram then make sketches of a possible design for the real world.
First, ask students to think of a simple problem to address or question to answer.
i.e. How can buildings make their own energy? There is too much traffic in my neighborhood. Where can I ride my skateboard?
Next, help students define two focus areas to work with:
• Focus Area One: (ie. Water)
• Focus Area Two: (ie. Food)
Cooperative Design Lab: Part One (20 minutes - Edit and Develop)
Now lets make your designs a reality! Each student should first generate a sketch of their design and then create a poster that includes the following elements:
1. Problem or Question
2. 2 focus areas
3. Cooperative Design Idea/Description
4. Sketch or Drawing of final design
Encourage each student to explain clearly how a cooperative approach to design helped him or her think through a problem or challenge.
If time allows - have students create 3D models from recycled materials. Add labels and descriptions to these models.
Now share your cooperative designs with your class. Can they guess the two or more overlapping areas you have chosen? Think about where these designs could be placed and how they may help the environment and your health. (Share and Evaluate)
Each student should present their designs to the class and walk her or his peers through the issues the design explores. (Finalize)