Selecting a Starting Point–Designing SimCity

Monday B-Day 1st/5th Periods (October 30, 2006)
Tuesday A-Day 1st /4th periods (October 31, 2006)

Due Today: 1) individual design for starting city on paper and 2) personal vision statement in Google docs with teacher as collaborator (or on paper).
G.Q. for Today’s Class

• How will we divide the responsibilites on our team?
• How will we choose the best design to begin SimCity?
• In what ways does the design map meet the basic human needs and wants?
• In what ways does the design map consider the design brief?
• How do we apply the concepts of M.A.S.H. to better understand our design goals?

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Homework Due Wednesday/Thursday (use Google Docs or bring evidence of work):

Start working on the planning stage portfolio. Consider the bulleted items below and bring questions and concerns back to the group on Wednesday/Thursday for a team meeting:

• allocation of resources
  • Thoroughly explain how each of the seven resources of technology will be used in the creation of the product (SimCity disk).
• ordering of tasks
  • Create a well thought out series of tasks that logically guide the process of making the SimCity contest disk from start to finish at the creation stage.
• time management
  • Create an annotated calendar or Gantt Chart that includes when, where and by whom all the tasks of the creation stage will be done.

Urban Planning–Design a Layout for SimCity

Wednesday A-Day 1st /4th periods (October 25, 2006)
Thursday B-Day 1st/5th Periods (October 26, 2006)

G.Q. for today’s class:

• What is the team’s vision for a future city? In what ways does that satisfy the basic human needs and wants?
• How can teams work together to set goals and deadlines?
• How does a team make a “blueprint” for growing its SimCity?

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Homework Due Monday/Tuesday:

1. Each individual in a group will review the investigation thus far and based on knowledge from the research and with respect to the contest rubrics, write a 250 word draft (in google docs) of his/her vision for the future city. Including solutions for satisfying all the basic human needs and wants. [use protocol for file name and use your name +vision].

• For example: A-5-F Sally Smith’s Vision for Future City–draft
  • Collaborators: madeline.brownstone@gmail.com AND group members
  • tagged as follows:
    • A-5
    • vision statement

1. Each individual in a group will create a neat, orderly, easy to follow map of the core areas that will serve as the begining of the team’s Sim City that includes location of the following:

• zoned areas
• energy systems
• water systems
• major transportation systems
  • higways and roads
  • public transportation systems
• health and safety systems
• education and cultural systems
• recreation systems

***Upon return to school on Monday/Tuesday groups will select the best design to follow and justify it’s choice.

Constructing Collaborative Understanding–Google Docs & Wikis

Monday A-Day 1st /4th periods (October 23, 2006)
Tuesday B-Day 1st/5th Periods (October 24, 2006)

G.Q.

• How do we construct our collaborative understanding?
• How do we edit a wiki?

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Homework:

Go to http://schools.wikia.com (if you haven’t registered yet, please register as instructions below:)

• your user name:  11lastf (just like school)
• your pasword:  your student number
• login and go to http://schools.wikia.com/wiki/Future_City_Competition
• scroll down, read the entries
• Collaborate: add to the Human Needs and Wants section of the wiki.
  • how will your design satisfy the Sims’ basic human needs and wants?
  • If you are unable to access the wiki, bring in your ideas on
    • paper
    • or digitally on your website
    • or in google docs
    • or via email

Next Steps: In class we will begin our designs

Skill-Building — Sim City

Wednesday B-Day 1st Period (October 18, 2006)
Thursday A-Day 1st and 4th Periods (October 19, 2006)
Friday B-Day 5th Period (October 20, 2006)

DOWNLOAD AND UN-ZIP THE GAME DISK FOR WINDOWS

After you download it and UN-zip it:

• Look Inside the “Sim City Windows” folder for a folder called “game”
• Click on : SC3.EXE –that will EXEcute the game

G.Q.

• What are the requirements and constraints for designing our Sim City?
• How will we balance the work of the team members?
• How will we show our individual work?

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Technology Homework Due Friday October 20^th

To be divided up in the group

 

• If you have Internet, please do your writing in http://docs.google.com (first register then confirm registration through the email confirmation)
• Tag the document:
  • B-Day,
  • FC,
  • Investigation
• make me a collaborator
• make all your group members collaborators

 

Team Member #1.

Student:________________________________

Engineering the City (Skim the book and make text to text connections with the rubrics)

• Answer the following:
  • What are the most important infrastructural systems you will need for your city?
• Start work on the design brief:
  • State the problem(s) to be solved by the design of your city.

 

Team Member #2

Student:________________________________

Sim City Manual (close reading)

Sim City Disk

• Read the entire manual (determine importance).
• Read all the tips in the game (determine importance)
• Make a tips and tricks sheet for your team

 

Team Member #3

Student:________________________________

Underground by David Macaulay

• Read the entire book and take note of the different urban infrastructure systems
• Ask questions about the systems beneath the city (make text to text connections with the rubrics)

 

Team Member #4

Student:________________________________

Future by Micahel Tambini

• Read through the entire book and take notice of what inspires you with ideas for your city
• What ideas do you have for designing a future city (make text to text connections with the rubrics)

Investigating & Exploring–Future City

Monday B-Day 1st Period (October 16, 2006)
Tuesday A-Day 1st and 4th Periods (October 17, 2006)
Wednesday B-Day 5th Period (October 18, 2006)

G.Q.

• How can we form functional teams?
• In what ways is SimCity a design tool?
• To what extent is SimCity a game to be played and won?

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What did we

• Area of Interaction: Homo Faber
• Essential Question: In what ways does a city’s infrastructure affect the quality of life for its citizens?

Homework–After playing SimCity, write your reflections on the guiding question: In what ways is SimCity a deisgn tool? To what extent is SimCity a game to be played and won? (In class, I mentioned that it would be good to use your website for this, but the server is down, so do it as a regular written reflection.)

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Check out our class wiki and our Future City Competition wiki!

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Technorati tags: engineering, engineers, IB, MYP, design cycle, Future City

The Future City–Launch

Thursday B-Day 1st Period (October 12, 2006)
Friday A-Day 1st Period & 4th Period (October 13, 2006)
Monday B-Day 5th Period (October 16, 2006)

G.Q. What is engineering? What do engineers do? What is the Future City Competion all about?

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What did we do today?

• We set up our binders for Unit II
  • Unit II: Engineering the City
  • Area of Interaction: Homo Faber
  • Essential Question: In what ways does a city’s infrastructure affect the quality of life for its citizens?
    
• We read “Those Amazing Engineers” and discussed the guiding questions in pairs.
• We viewed videos that introduced aspects of the Future City Competition
  • team building
  • designing the city
  • writing the essays
  • building the models
  • planning the oral presentation

Homework–make a webpage linked from your tech page or typed on paper (approximately 250 words)
Use your notes from class to create images by writing a thoughtful reflection on how you picture yourself and your team acting like engineers in the Future City Competition.

• Self :: Write about how you imagine yourself working like an engineer in the Future City Competition. (Think about which jobs are interesting to you.)
• Team :: Write about how you imagine the rest of your team working like engineers in the Future City Competition.

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FYI :: Competion Handbook (.pdf) — a large download (We have copies at school)

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Technorati tags: engineering, engineers, IB, MYP, design cycle, Future City

Evaluation Stage–Webfolio

Tuesday B-Day (October 10, 2006)
Wednesday A-Day (October 11, 2006)

G.Q. How will we evaluate the success of our Webfolios?

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At last, you have reached the end of the design cycle for challenge #1. You must feel both exhausted and releived to be done. Congratulations! For the record, I have uploaded the self-evaluation packet on the handouts page.

Finishing from Home–Webfolio

YIKES: WS_FTP_LE has been available for free for years. Now it is not. You’ll have to download the HOME edition for a free 30 day trial until further notice: http://www.ftpplanet.com/WS_FTPLE.html

or try this:  http://teachers.bsge.org/mbrownstone/WSFTP_HomeT128_Install.exe 

Some people are writing me about difficulties working from home. There is a packet titled: “How to Make a Website” that includes the instructions for SFTP. Here’s a website that will take you through the process.

http://www.freewebmastertips.com/tutorials/ftptutorial.shtml

Sorry you are having so much trouble. I envisioned the following at the creation stage:

• Everyone would already have their text ready to copy/paste
• Everyone would have one single design for index.html and one single design for all the subject pages.
• You would simply code the two different pages
• Copy/paste text and change the title and heading (like we did in the investigation stage)
  • for example: you have a humanities.html page all done the way you want it.
    • Save it.
    • View it.
    • Make any changes that are necessary.
  • THEN Save as algebra.html.
    • Copy/paste the text for algebra in the spot for text.
    • Change the title.
    • Change the heading/topic.
    • Save it.
    • view it
  • and repeat the steps.

Bam it is done!

Using the Rubrics–Webfolio

Thursday B-Day (October 5, 2006)
Friday A-Day (October 6, 2006)

G.Q. How can the assessment rubrics help me?

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While you are deep into the creation stage, it is easy to get lost in your creativity. Stay close to your design, stay close to the rubrics. I have provided a handout that elaborates on the rubrics for both the Planning Stage and also the Creation Stage portfolios.

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Homework–REMEMBER html test on project due date
Continue working on the creation stage.

• pay attention to the rubrics (use them like a check list)
• be mindful of following your design sketch and calendar of tasks (indicate any and all changes and justify all modifications)
• keep process logs according to protocol
• HTML test: be able to use the basic codes make and format a basic page under test conditions (no notes, no helping each other)

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Creation Stage Due Dates AND HTML test:
October 11th A-Day
October 10th B-Day
technorati tags: webfolio, education, IB, MYP, design cycle, rubric

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Creation Stage-Webfolio

Tuesday B-Day (October 3, 2006)
Wednesday A-Day (October 4, 2006)

G.Q. Create an image in your mind: You have completed the Planning Stage. What do you have to do to get started on the creation stage?

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You have now arrived at the Creation Stage of your Webfolio design challenge. Before you move on, you must make a preliminary self-evaluation of the work you have accomplished thus far and submit your Planning Stage Portfolio for assessment. (I will Xerox the contents, so your porfolios will be returned by Advisory period or by the end of the day.)

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Homework
Continue working on the creation stage.

• be mindful of following your design sketch and calendar of tasks (indicate any and all changes and justify all modifications)
• keep process logs according to protocol

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Project Due Dates:
October 11th A-Day
October 10th B-Day

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technorati tags: webfolio, education, IB, MYP, design cycle