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| Photos courtesy of Allison Oropallo. |
Junior year in The School of Environmental Leadership allows students to further expand their skills to prepare them for life after school. During freshman and sophomore year, SEL students gain and practice softskills such as project management and public speaking in addition to gaining foundational knowledge of environmental issues and awareness. The 11th grade engineering class provides students the opportunity to gain and practice technical engineering design and construction skills.
Students are empowered as creators in our hands-on Environmental Engineering course. Led by builder-educator extraordinaire Allison Oropallo, this course teaches design concepts and gives students the skills to turn their designs into reality. The course begins by students mastering basic construction tools so they can dive into design, testing, revision, and construction. In the classroom, students learn about design principles such as biomimicry and design thinking and practice using programs such as Google Sketchup, Inventor, and more.
After gaining a foundation in basic design, engineering, and construction, students embark on a long-term project to incorporate these principles into a physical product. Examples of these projects include design, testing, and 3-D printing of a school wind turbine model and construction of chicken coops from reclaimed materials. The main Engineering class project requires students to work individually, in small groups, and as a class to tackle a challenge and construct objects that benefit both the school and their community.
With these sort of skills in their tool belt, who knows what these students might accomplish next!
Visit the MarinSEL Engineering class page!
Check out the video from the 2017-2018 school year below.