Designing for Sustainable Living Learning Object
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Designing for Sustainable Living, developed as a 2004 Year of the Built Environment project, is an online curriculum resource for Middle and Senior Years of schooling.
Built by Education Queensland’s Distance Learning Unit in consultation with the Department of Public Works’ Built Environment Research Unit and the Department of Housing’s Smart Housing project team, the learning object addresses sustainability in the home environment through:
- siting a house on a block of land;
- orienting a house using passive solar design;
- capturing natural ventilation by employing the information from the site and orientation details;
- establishing vegetation around the house;
- managing resources through effective waste management, recycling etc;
- energy management;
- water management; and
- social issues associated with the choices made for orientation, fittings, appliances and access.
The concept of sustainable development is included in a number of key learning areas/subject areas and year levels across the Queensland curriculum. They include:
- the Study of Society and Environment (SOSE)
- Science and Technology (Years 6 – 10); and
- Senior subjects including Geography, Health, Technological Studies, Graphics, Home Economics, Visual Arts, Multi-strand Science and Agricultural Science.
Teacher notes, developed by the Queensland Studies Authority, are included in the learning object. The learning object also assists home builders and renovators gain an understanding of sustainability and provides tools for how they can adopt sustainable features within their own home.
For further information on the learning object contact:
Project Officer
Built Environment Research Unit
Department of Public Works
Tel: (07) 3224 4961
Email: smarthousing@publicworks.qld.gov.au
Using the learning object
The option to view this resource is recommended for single users or broadband users only. The object may run slowly on a dial-up connection or when there are multiple users on a network.
It is recommended that you download the zipped file for classroom use.
Zipped files have been compressed to reduce the file size of the learning object to enable it to download faster onto individual computers or networks. Files can be unzipped using programs such as WinZip.
Browser recommendations:
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Minimum version: 6 (MS-Windows XP); (Mac OS X)
Netscape Communicator, Minimum version: 7.2 (MS-Windows XP); (Mac OS X)
The object is designed to run using Macromedia Flash Player 7, freely downloadable from the Macromedia website.
