Torrance Journal for Applied Creativity

ideas and conducting a mock public
hearing, where they assume the various
professional roles. Why not invite the
town council and mayor to provide
some guidance for the class to follow
in conducting these sessions? Maybe
there are new buildings being considered;
re-development projects; traffic
lights planned; or new uses for an aging
facility. Students can track the project’s
evolution in local newspapers or via the
Internet.
Perhaps the mayor and council
can even suggest something they are
considering and challenge your class to
come up with something different and
new. Contact your town leaders and
invite them to be a part of the education
process.
Another approach is to consider
an “imaginary” project for expanding
your school or adding a significant
addition to it; or maybe adding a large
solar power system to it. Invite neighbors
into the classroom to discuss their
concerns; and invite other experts like
the ones listed previously and conduct
mock hearings where experts can voice
their concerns. First, students can develop
and present their expansion plans;
and as the hearings proceed, students
can then modify their plans as a mediated
solution emerges from comments
received. This shows how multi-dimensional
problem solving is necessarily an
iterative process.
The principle goal of education in the
schools should be creating men and women
who are capable of doing new things,
not simply repeating what other generations
have done.
-Jean Piaget
(www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/
jeanpiaget403394.html/)
140
Infrastructure Lessons
Our nation’s rich infrastructural
network developed over about 150
years, representing the ultimate social
resource for economic growth. How
many of your students can identify
these often out-of-sight, out-of-mind
facilities? This is a huge opportunity to
“STEM-i-fy” the classroom, showing
how engineering achievements are so
important to the advancement of our
society. Let’s start with a list of the major
national infrastructures to consider
for possible lesson plans.
- Electric utilities
- Natural gas utilities
- Water utilities
- Sewage utilities
- Telephone/communication utilities
- Refineries
- Heating oil storage and deliveries
- Gasoline storage and distribution
- Pipelines and bulk storage terminals
- Offshore oil rigs, and loading/unloading
facilities
- Docks, piers, loading terminals
- Chemical processing plants
- Transfer stations
- Broadcasting and satellite up/down links
- Military bases/facilities
- Ships
- Ports and water access
- Airports
- Railroads
- Highways
- Bridges
- Dams
- Tunnels and underwater tubes
- Truck and delivery vehicle depots/distribution
centers
- Refuse, garbage, and recycling centers
- Police and fire departments
- Hospitals
- Libraries
- Charitable organizations
Imagine the ways you can teach
your students how an advanced society
works and how to use this to integrate
the curriculum. Perhaps your GT pupils
can
- envision new infrastructures we will add
in the future,
- discuss the economic and social benefits
these infrastructures engender,
- identify key issues surrounding the rejuvenation
of aging infrastructures,
- determine when and why infrastructures
developed, and
- investigate how these infrastructures are
financed, maintained and expanded.
Invite various infrastructure
engineers and managers into your class
to discuss the day-to-day operation of
your town’s drinking water and sewage
system, for example, its design limits,
environmental concerns, repair and
rejuvenation, economic growth factors,
etc. Delve into what infrastructure development
has meant for safety, public
health, and economic growth.
Much talk today focuses on our
aging infrastructures and what we need
to do to upgrade them on a massive
scale. Have student teams concentrate
on some of these infrastructures like
bridges, water utilities, or dams. What
kind of program would they propose
to rejuvenate these important systems?
What kinds of costs might we be facing?
How long would this take? Emphasize
the planning and organization skills in
doing this.
Here is a great way to appreciate
what the Internet, our newest
infrastructure, has done. Engage your
students in teams to discuss the pros
and cons of the Internet and to identify
ways it has and will continue to impact
our nation and the world. Have students
interview parents and senior citizens
to learn how the world was before
instant communications and why the
Internet is such a positive force in the
world from the application of STEM
topics like computer science, electrical