Teach Primary Issue 19.6

• What key infrastructure is needed for a town to be successful and meet the needs of everyone in the population? • How can we design towns to become more sustainable? • Why is careful town planning, including building materials, important? well as a key to show what the symbols mean. Model the placement of each building as you draw your map. 2 | GET DESIGNING Next, get pupils into groups of two to four to design their ideal town, ensuring that they include essential features, as well as using symbols and a key to complete their maps. Children can create their town designs on paper or via digital means (if these are available). Encourage groups to consider what features make their town unique and successful, as well as articulating the reasoning for their choices. Once all groups have created a first draft of their town, they will take turns such as areas of potential flooding or overcrowding. Ask children to consider natural habitats and open spaces for both wildlife and humans to enjoy. Can they share some examples (for instance, parks, woodlands, ponds, allotments)? Remind pupils of the benefits of including green spaces in their town designs, such as cleaner air, more habitats for wildlife and spaces for people to exercise, as well as community spaces for people to relax, learn new skills and interact. Model drawing a simple map on the board, including common symbols and a key. Explain that children will need to use symbols to show where the features are, as • Groups can create physical models of their towns using a range of materials (e.g. LEGO bricks, cardboard, etc) to represent different types of building materials. • Provide each group with a different environmental challenge. For example, one town in the Scottish Highlands, another town in Iceland near an active volcano, a different town in a rural community near a major city in England, and another town on a small island in the Pacific where there is high probability of flooding. How does the change in the physical geographical location impact the needs of the town? What additional considerations do groups have to think about? • Ask children to think about what materials they could use to build their towns so that they are more environmentally friendly and sustainable for the future. EXTENDING THE LESSON presenting their designs to the rest of the class, explaining the reasoning behind their choices. Allow children to provide feedback on what each group has done well and what they could do to improve their town designs. For example, have they forgotten an important feature? Have they included sufficient green spaces? 3 | REVISE AND IMPROVE Explain that an important part of town design is to ensure that towns are sustainable. Check that pupils all understand what sustainable means. Ask children to discuss what changes groups could make to their towns to make themmore sustainable. For example, adding more public transport to reduce individual car use, ensuring houses have solar panels, including a recycling centre in the town, or having buildings that are made from specific materials. Can children also think about how they might use new technology to improve the town’s sustainability? They should then share ideas with the class, and you can add pupils’ ideas to the working wall as you go, for further reference. Finally, provide groups with the opportunity to revise and improve their town designs based on their peers’ feedback, as well as looking for ways to make their town more environmentally sustainable. Paul Ian Cross is a scientist and children’s author. His first chapter book, SuperQuesters Mission: River Crest Rescue (£6.99, QuestFriendz), is out now. “The freedom to consider the ideal town design enables pupils to develop critical thinking skills” USEFUL QUESTIONS www.teachwire.net | 101