Interdisciplinary – Environmental Design

Rainshadow Community Charter High School – Fall 2009 ID Project Group Syllabus
Joe Ferguson *** joe@rainshadowcchs.org *** www.joerainshadow.weebly.com
Course Description: We will spend the semester looking at different aspects of environmental design
in our modern lives. We will be operating under the theme of exploration and invention and will
spend the first part of the semester exploring environmental topics including, but not limited to;
sustainable living, permaculture, deep ecology and radical environmentalism, outdoors adventuring,
reducing, reusing, and recycling, and finding ways to tread more lightly on our planet. We will then
turn to learning how to use discarded or unwanted objects and turn them into usable, sellable goods.
We will start be learning skills in how to mend, fix, and create clothes and accessories from old
unwanted materials. We will be learning how to sew, knit, crochet, silkscreen, and design recycled
fashions for the future. We will consider starting our own businesses, writing business plans, and
marketing our hand-made products. This part of the class will culminate in a recycled crafts and
fashion show that we will promote and put on as a community-wide event. The next part of the class
will be working with the Reno Bike Project on turning unwanted or slightly damaged bikes into
beautiful, rideable, and sellable transportation machines. We will learn all of the skills necessary to do
personal bike maintenance, and to eventually become a bicycle mechanic. We will also consider
designing and building our own bicycles out of scrap materials and learning welding skills to build
monster bikes and other scrap metal creations. This part of the class will culminate in a community-
wide Rainshadow bicycle show and shine event including bicycle games, prizes, an alley cat race,
barbeque, etc. We will be exploring and inventing all semester long.
Course Aims and Objectives for this Nine Weeks:
Upon completion of this 9-week course of study, students will be able to…
- Understand environmental problems and solutions affecting our modern lives.
- Utilize aspects of environmental design in exploration and invention.
- Develop skills to be able to turn unwanted materials into usable, sellable products.
- Build bicycles and perform basic bicycle maintenance.
- Promote, market, and execute community events to show off our skills and creations.
- Create websites to communicate with classmates and the outside world.
- Work with community and nonprofit groups on a variety of projects.
Requirements:
- Participation in classroom and field activities every day.
- Record of notes, journal entries, other writings and classroom assignments.
- Completed portfolio of projects and assignments (see requirements below).
- Completion of major student-driven projects and presentations.

Week / Dates Monday - Thursday

1) Intro to exploration and invention. How to explore and invent. How has exploration and
Aug 31 - Sept 3 invention changed our lives for the better and worse? The environmental impacts of our
lifestyles. What parts of nature are important and how to save and preserve.
2) Exploring nature, the outdoors, fieldtrip(s) looking for aspects of nature preservation in
Sept 7-10 our neighborhood. The wild lands right in our backyards. Looking for environmental
impacts in our neighborhood. No School Monday (Labor Day)
3) Intro to environmental design, green technology, sustainable living, permaculture, deep
Sept 14-17 ecology, and radical environmentalism. How can we make our school more
environmentally friendly? No School Monday (Professional Development)
4) The three R’s: reducing, reusing, and recycling. What do people do with industrial and
Sept 21-24 household waste? Composting, turning glass, plastic, cardboard, and aluminum into usable,
sellable items. Fieldtrip(s). Begin thinking about business plans and finding market niches.
5) Recycled goods. What are people making? What eco-fashions exist? Collecting unwanted
Sept 28 - Oct 1 materials to use in class. Begin to brainstorm ideas for crafts to make usable and sellable
goods. What kinds of things do we want to make and what do we need to make them?
6) Developing crafting and mending skills. Intro to sewing, patching, mending, fabrics, etc.
Oct 5-8 Making simple accessories, jewelry, etc. Intro to using the sewing machine and surger.
How to modify clothes to make them fit. No School Monday (Professional Development)
7) Developing more crafting and creating skills. Intro to silkscreening and t-shirt design.
Oct 12-15 How to create effective and marketable images and logos for your startup company.
Developing business plan(s).
8) More crafting skills. Intro to knitting and crocheting, dying and tie-dying fabrics to bring
Oct 19-22 them back to life, making bags, backpacks, purses, shoes, etc. Elements of design.
Craftsmanship and making quality things to sell. Planning and promoting our big event.
9) Using our time efficiently and effectively to create our wares. Making stuff and creating as
Oct 26-29 much as we can to show off and to possibly sell. Refining our crafts and logos, marketing,
and finishing up our business plans. No Class Thursday (Half-Day)
10) Expanding the marketplace by selling online. Using our websites to connect with people
Nov 2-5 and turn a profit. Continue to work and create goods for our big event. Planning our event
and getting the community involved.
11) Unit culminating event: preparing for and putting on our community-wide recycled crafts
Nov 9-12 and fashion show. It’s show time… No School Wednesday (Veterans Day)
12) Part 2: Intro to the bicycle. Parts of the bike. Different types of bikes. Modes of
Nov 16-19 transportation and eco-travel. Bicycle safety and proper riding technique. What is the
Reno Bike Project? How did it get started? What are its goals?
13) The Build a Bike Program. Turning junk into good stuff. Basic bike maintenance. How to
Nov 23-26 tune up your ride. How to put together a bike from scratch. Parts and accessories that you
need to have. Bicycle safety. No School Thursday (Thanksgiving)
14) Continue learning about bike building, tuning, and maintenance. The tools of the trade.
Nov 30 - Dec 3 How to true a wheel. Working as a team to completely finish building our bikes.
15) Other types of bikes. Tall bikes, monster bikes, bike carts, the septocycle, how to design
Dec 7-10 and create new things from old. Reusing and recycling unwanted materials.
16) Advanced topics in bicycle design and fabrication. Materials, welding, specs, components,
Dec 14-17 etc. Begin to plan our community-wide bicycle event.
17) Continue to work on our bikes and finishing them up for our big event. Planning our
Jan 4-7 event and getting the community involved. How to promote our event? How to get the
community involved.
18) Unit culminating event: preparing for and putting on our community-wide bicycle party:
Jan 11-14 bike games, prizes, alley cat race, barbeque, etc. It’s party time.
19) Last week of the semester. Finish portfolios and websites. Course reflection and
Jan 18-21 evaluation. What didn’t we quite get to? What do we want to do next semester in here?
No School Monday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), No Class Thursday (Half-Day)
Grading Policy and Assessment: This interdisciplinary course of study is worth approximately 2500 points. It is
worth 1 high school elective credit per semester.
Point Breakdown:
Attendance and Participation – 500 points
Completed Work Folder – 500 points
- includes notes, journal entries, website updates, mini-projects, quizzes, and other classwork.
Major Group and Solo Projects and Presentations – 500 points
Completed Rainshadow Online Portfolio – 500 points
Club Attendance and Participation – 500 points
Portfolio Contents: You will submit components from this course into your Rainshadow portfolio that will
showcase your work for the full semester course of study. Your portfolio will contain your best work from this
class and will be a demonstration of your skills and growth as a Rainshadow CCHS student. It will be expected
that your major projects and several other pieces of work from this class will be components of your portfolio.