Lesson Overview
Student teams act as urban engineers tasked with designing a 1-km² sustainable city district. They must balance competing constraints — energy, water, transportation, housing density, and green space — while minimizing carbon footprint. Teams use systems thinking, quantitative trade-off analysis, and iterative design to produce a justified proposal — aligned to NGSS HS-ETS1-1 through HS-ETS1-4.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Apply systems thinking to identify interdependencies among infrastructure components (energy, water, transport, housing)
- Quantitatively analyze trade-offs between competing engineering constraints using a weighted decision matrix
- Design an urban district that meets defined criteria: carbon footprint target, housing density requirement, green space minimum, and budget ceiling
- Construct a technical brief with labeled site plan, quantitative justifications, and an analysis of design trade-offs
Lesson Phases (5E Model)
- 1Show satellite images of contrasting urban areas: Houston (sprawl, high carbon) vs. Amsterdam (density, transit, low carbon) — ask: 'Which city would you rather engineer? What did each designer prioritize?'
- 2Introduce the scenario: 'Your team has been awarded the contract to design a new 1-km² district in a growing mid-size city. The city council has three non-negotiable requirements and a budget.'
- 3Reveal the constraints: (1) Carbon footprint ≤ 40 kg CO₂/person/year, (2) ≥ 2,000 housing units, (3) ≥ 20% green space, (4) Total budget ≤ 50M carbon credits
- 4Ask teams: 'What questions do you have before you start? What information do you need?'
📝 Teacher Notes
Let students voice their questions — write them on the board. These questions will guide the Explore phase. The goal is productive ambiguity, not hand-holding.
Assessment Strategies
Scored on correct quantitative weighting and evidence-based ranking — not just arbitrary choices
Rubric: constraint compliance (all 3 met?), quantitative justification, quality of trade-off analysis, systems interdependency identification
Peer-scored on clarity of claim, quantity of evidence, and quality of response to questions
Extension Activities
- →Research the 15-minute city concept — how does Paris's urban redesign embody this principle?
- →Calculate the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for your energy choices — compare solar vs. natural gas
- →Use GIS tools (ArcGIS Online free tier) to explore real urban density and infrastructure data
- →Advanced: Model carbon sequestration from your green space using published biomass density data
At a Glance
Materials
- 1-km² city grid template (printed, large format)1 per team
- Land-use zoning cards (residential, commercial, industrial, green, transit)1 set per team
- Constraint budget sheet (carbon credits, $, water units)1 per team
- Decision matrix template1 per student
- Colored pencils or markers1 set per team
- Technical brief template (2 pages)1 per student
- Calculator1 per team
Key Vocabulary
- Systems thinking
- An approach to problem-solving that views a problem as part of a larger interconnected system
- Trade-off analysis
- A process of evaluating options by comparing their advantages and disadvantages against defined criteria
- Carbon footprint
- The total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by an individual, organization, or product
- Decision matrix
- A tool that evaluates and prioritizes options based on weighted criteria
- Infrastructure
- The physical systems (roads, utilities, buildings) that support a community
- Optimization
- Finding the best solution within given constraints — maximizing benefit while minimizing cost or harm
Standards Alignment
Digital Tools
- →Engineering Academy — Bridge Builder & Structural Simulations
- →Engineering Academy: Systems Engineering Module
