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.
|
Element 1 | Element 2 | How do they cooperate? |
What benefits and tradeoffs does this offer the
community? |
| Food Waste | Worms | The worms eat
the food waste and produce compost. | The compost is used to
grow food. |
| | | | |
| | | |
|
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.
|
Proposal | Element 1 | Element 2 |
| 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.
| | |
| 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.
| | |
| 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. | |
|
| 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.
| | |
| 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. |
| |
(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:
•
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.
•
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.
•
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.
•
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)