Teaching Guide -- selected summaries.
Want to know more before you download the whole guide? Here I've listed selected summaries of the teaching resources (X listed here out of Y total in the guide). Each brief and exercise in the guide contains information on how it has, or could be used (discipline/ages), readings and sources, context/aims, setup/launch, structure, follow-up and contributor.

E C O L O G Y
design briefs [2 of 4]
Eco-baby: Infants are extra vulnerable to toxins: design an infant product or environment with particular attention to reducing its impact, on both babies and ecology.

Ecological Literacy: research the answers for the bioregion quiz and create a presentation for a specific audience within the region.

exercises [2 of 4]
Estimation: evaluate a consumer item or building component and estimate how many of the item there are and how frequently the item is replaced or updated, in order to think through the massive scale of worldwide material use in a more specific way.

Invisible Materials: examine a product (or a building or an interior) and evaluate the visible and invisible aspects of its materials.

Events [2 of 7]
Film, “Exporting Harm: The High Tech Trashing of Asia.”

Short films on eco architecture, hosted by the Guardian (London) architecture critic’s Jonathan Glancey

writing/research [1 of 2]
Rapid Prototyping: consider a rapid prototyping method (such as 3D printing) and reflect on its implications for sustainability.

E C O N O M Y

design briefs [2 or 4]
Transparency: After conducting research on a product type or a building, design a version that shows (makes transparent) some aspect(s) that is not reflected in its price.

Power of 10: students design something using material that comes from a radius of 10 miles around the studio, a budget of $10, and input from 10 local people.

exercises [2 of 5]
Economy Quiz: Students take a quiz on the economy before they do any reading, to find out what they already know (or don’t know).

Fair/ethical trade — examine case studies to explore what it would mean to create a fair trade product, building or item of clothing.

Events [1 of 3]
Short film Costing the Earth, where Stephen Fry plays “the earth” and talks about the environmental damage he is suffering and the fact that this damage is not captured by the economy.

Writing/research [1 of 3]
Local versus Global: use a specific design (object/building) to consider the strategies you could employ for an outcome that would respect and reinforce local communities.

C U L T U R E

Design Briefs [3 of 5]
Rites of Passage: design a contemporary rite of passage that helps people navigate transitions in life without so much reliance on commercial images and material wealth.

Sensual Prototype experience: Students design something based largely on felt experience, rather than visual appearance.

discovering history through memorial —uncover a tragedy or celebration within a community and propose a relevant way to memorialize it.

exercises [1 of 2]
Advertising Audit: Students spend a set period of time counting and recording the number of commercial messages they encounter.

essay questions/other writing [1 of 2]
Time and Design: given a specific design project, evaluate the potential for scenario planning.

F R O N T I E R S

Design briefs [2 of 3]
Change Triangle: Students use the perspective of three large systems for change—technology, policy and behavior—to come up with three distinct approaches to a design challenge.

supermarket sustainability — a supermarket turns to you to help them with a complete redesign that enables the store itself as well as the shoppers to contribute to sustainability.

essay questions/other writing [1 of 3]
Manifesto — Take a critical look at several of the design manifestos and accords that have been written over the past 20 years or so.

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