Sustainable and Affordable Housing

Affordable Housing Problem

SAMPLE LESSON

IN THIS LESSON

60 MIN

GRADES

6-8TH

TIME

Understanding the problem

This lesson introduces students to Nashville’s need for more affordable housing through a Housing Search activity where they will role play as community members with different housing needs. Then, they will begin thinking about how new housing development can negatively impact the environment and be introduced to the driving question for the unit: How can Nashville provide sustainable and affordable housing with the limited natural resources in our community?

OBJECTIVES

I can provide evidence for why Nashville needs more affordable housing.
I can reflect on the impact of development on the natural landscape.

VOCABULARY

Affordable Housing: when a household spends 30% or less of their gross income on housing costs, including utilities.
Sustainable: Having as little negative impact on the environment as possible.
Natural Resources: Materials from the earth that are used to support life and meet people’s needs.
Low-Income Housing: Housing that is subsidized by the government or non-profit organizations to make it more affordable for individuals and families who might struggle to afford housing in the rental market.
Vocabulary for different housing types introduced during the Do Now activity

STANDARDS
6th
6.ESS3: Assess the impacts of human activities on the biosphere including conservation, habitat management, species endangerment, and extinction.
7th
7.ESS3.2: Engage in a scientific argument through graphing and translating data regarding human activity and climate.
8th
8.ESS3.1 Interpret data to explain that earth’s mineral, fossil fuel, and groundwater resources are unevenly distributed as a result of geologic processes.
SEL INDICATORS
3A.2 Recognizes multiple points of view or perspectives in a situation
3C.2 Recognizes the similarities of different cultures and social groups
4A.2 Demonstrates ability to perform different roles in a cooperative group to achieve group goals
5B.3 Defines how external influences impact decision-making
Cross Cutting Concepts
Pattern: Students recognize, classify, and record patterns in data, graphs, and charts.
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: Students recognize that phenomena are not necessarily observable at all scales.
Cause and Effect: Students begin to connect their explanations for cause and effect relationships to specific scientific theory.
Science and Engineering Practices
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information: Students can evaluate text, media, and visual displays of information with the intent of clarifying claims and reconciling explanations. Students can communicate scientific information in writing utilizing embedded tables, charts, figures, and graphs.

STANDARDS + CONNECTIONS

LESSON SLIDES

Procedure

1. Give students 5 minutes to complete the Science Affordable Housing Day 1 Do Now.
2. Use the Science Affordable Housing Day 1 Powerpoint to lead students in a discussion of the following questions, pushing students to think about the need for a variety of housing types and introducing students to technical vocabulary related to residential types. This Do Now establishes a shared language that they will need to engage in the Housing Search Activity and the rest of the unit.
  • Which types of housing do you see the most?
  • Which types of housing do you see the least?
  • Why do you think it is important to have different types of housing?
1. Put students into groups of four and give each group 1 copy of the Housing Profiles and Housing Search Guide, and How to Qualify for Public Housing handouts.
2. Explain to students that they will be role playing as different citizens in Nashville to search for housing. Through this, they will discover the housing that Nashville needs. Give students an overview of the activity using Slides 2 and 3 on the Powerpoint:
3. Assign each student a role within their group, or allow them to self-assign:
  • Reader - Reads the assigned profile to the group and makes sure the researcher meets their needs.
  • Researcher - Searches the websites on the Housing Search Guide to meet the needs of their assigned profile.
  • Recorder - Writes down the following about the housing their group finds:
  - Type of house (use Do Now vocab)
  - How it meets the needs of the profile
  - Challenges the group faced while searching
  Speaker - Share out the following to the class:
  - Brief description of assigned profile
  - Type of house you found (use Do Now vocab)
  - How it meets the needs of the profile
  - Challenges that the group faced while searching
4. Assign each group a profile and give them no more than 10 minutes to find housing. If students cannot find housing, this will be an accurate representation of a real-world challenge with finding affordable housing.
5. Allow the speaker from each group to share out.
6. Lead students through a reflection on the housing search, addressing the following questions which are included in the Powerpoint.
  • How do the challenges and compromises that you faced while trying to find housing impact people’s lives?
  • Have you experienced any of these challenges in your neighborhood? Do you know anyone who experiences these challenges?
  • What could be some solutions to affordable housing needs? Teacher Note: Be sure that students say “build more affordable housing” as a potential solution as this will lead into the project introduction.
1. Watch two of the videos from the “What Does Growth in Nashville Mean to You?” series that you believe your students will most relate to. As students watch, they should fill out the Growth in Nashville Videos handout that has them record the pros and cons to growth that the videos mention.
2. Discuss the following:
  • What are the pros and cons to the growth that Nashville is experiencing?
  • How do these videos support the challenges you faced during the Housing Search activity?
1. Using the Day 1 PPT, show students the before and after image of a housing development and ask the following questions:
  • What has been added? A: houses, streets, sidewalks, driveways, etc
  • What has been taken away? A: trees, greenspace, animal habitat, etc.
2. Then, ask students, “Should we add more affordable housing to our community if it hurts the environment?”
3. Explain to students that there are ways to build more housing that do not hurt the environment, which is what they will be tasked with doing during the unit.
4. Introduce the driving question: How can Nashville provide sustainable and affordable housing with the limited natural resources in our community? Ask students:
  • What does natural resources mean? A: Something that is found in nature and useful for humans. For example, water and trees.
  • What does sustainable mean? A: Building with as little damage to natural resources as possible.
1. Written Reflection: Explain the problem that you will be solving during this unit.