Design Your Own Utopian Planet

Chat about your interdisciplinary Utopian Planet project (as described in the optional analog school-wide lesson plan) with Dr. K in her Utopian Zoom Room Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. (ID 955-4032-2117). Password sent separately.

Principal's Corner: Principalkittelson.blogspot.com

Suggested Steps

These are simply suggested steps that may be done in any order. Let your own curiosity and creativity be the ultimate guide. 

1. Complete a project contract (or save it until the end and use it as a reflection tool).

2. Fold a blank 8 x 11 paper in half three times so there are 8 rectangles (and hence room for 16 categories, 8 on each side)

3. Label the rectangles with whichever categories you want to explore first. Here is mine:

4. Complete the chart, listing elements under each of the 16 (or however many) categories

THIRD-GRADER DECLAN'S SPREADSHEET OF EVERYTHING:

THIRD-GRADER ROWAN'S SPREADSHEET OF "CREATURE STATS":

AUDIO FILE OF THE YARNIFINE HOWL

5. Answer any process questions that come your way, for example:

THIRD-GRADER DECLAN'S ANSWERS TO THE PROCESS QUESTIONS:

KINDERGARTNER SIMON'S ANSWERS TO THE PROCESS QUESTIONS:

Is there money? What does it look like? Is it virtual or tangible?

No money, share with everyone, machines clean your house, fix roads and pick up garbage. 

How do inhabitants get rich? Or do they have an equal amount of money?

Nobody has money. 

What will the life expectancy be?

Infinite years. (Simon said everyone would have 5-10 babies and is still thinking about where all the people will fit if they have 5-10 babies and life for infinity.)

Will there be pollution?

After a discussion on what pollution is, Simon decided his planet definitely does not have pollution. 

How long will your planet last?

Infinity, but there is another layer if your plants die there are more plants if you dig to the next layer.

6. Draw, design and/or build as many of the various elements that your creativity will allow. Draw landscapes, cityscapes, maps, towns, vehicles, schools, and creatures. Construct villages (to scale), buildings, vehicles, money, creatures and costumes. Make a 3-D prototype of the planet along with its rings (like Saturn, if it has), moons (if it has), and stars. Here is some info on actual planets, as inspiration.

KINDERGARTNER SIMON'S RENDERINGS:

SIMON'S PROCESS AS DESCRIBED BY SIMON'S MOM:

"Here are some photos of Simon's flying bicycle. He really enjoyed the conversation today and was especially excited about the idea of a bubble bike and creating a planet that could bounce or float. 

He also went a little further in his idea of an infinite life expectancy. He asked me one morning why people did not have life cycles like the immortal jellyfish. Evidently, courtesy of a Wild Kratz episode that aired this week, he learned that these jellyfish repeat their life cycle and can biologically life forever if they are not eaten. He has now decided that animals and people have this life cycle on his planet. However, dragons grow until they are 18 and then get small again, the egg appears around them and they stay in it for 1 year. I have a video of this explanation, but it's a pretty large file."

SIMON'S SOP-MOTION VIDEO OF HIS FLYING BICYCLE (WITH GREEN SCREEN):

SIMON'S STOP-MOTION DEPICTION OF A HUMAN TRAINING A SNOW WRAITH DRAGON:

ON ANOTHER CONTINENT CALLED "DINO ISLAND," A DINOSAUR ALTERCATION:

SIMON'S STOP MOTION DEPICTION OF A SLITHER WING (WITH STRATEGIC USE OF FOREGROUND IMAGE) :

SIMON'S 3-D PROTOTYPE:

7. Create a language for your planet's inhabitants and craft a conversation that is either depicted as a graphic story or comic book, OR make a video, where you and another person have a conversation in your made-up language. 

SAMPLE GRAPHIC STORY/SCENE:

DECLAN'S GRAPHIC STORY IN ENGLISH (BEFORE TRANSLATION TO UTOPIAN L):

8. Design a travel brochure that highlights your planet's most inviting attributes. 

SAMPLE TRAVEL BROCHURE:

IN LIEU OF A BROCHURE, DECLAN MADE A COMMERCIAL FOR HIS PLANET "UTOPIA":

SEE DECLANS' OTHER ACADEMIC VIDEOS.

9 Write about your planet in one or more of the following ways:

• Narrative story about how your planet originated (origin story)
• Newspaper article (or entire first page) from one of your planet's biggest towns or cities
• Song by one of your planet's most famous singers (if your planet has music)
• Sheet music, where you notate one of your planet's most famous songs (or perhaps one of its country's national anthem)
• Collection of poetry in two languages, one English and the other a language from your planet
• Speech by your planet's leader (written and/or recorded)
• Other forms of writing that you divine and that showcase your writing and creativity

DECLAN'S SONG LYRIC

UTOPIA

An AMAZING PLACE

It's way out there

Deep in space

UTOPIA

Where hover cars fly

Rodan is there

Protecting the sky

We don't roll on the ground

We fly in the air

If monsters attack

We don't care

Cuz our monsters

Are always there

UTOPIA

An AMAZING PLACE

It's way out there

Deep in space

UTOPIA

Where hover cars fly

Rodan is there

Protecting the sky

10. During the last week of the reporting period, reflect on your project using this reflection tool, and evaluate your project using this rubric. (Feel free to add a video-taped verbal explanation of your reflection.)

SAMPLE GRADING RUBRIC:

When we grade students, our goal is to inspire future innovation, not squash souls. 

If you love your work, we surely will too!

SIMON'S PROJECT CONTRACT/REFLECTION TOOL AND GRADING RUBRIC:

Meeting Agenda

When we meet via Zoom to discuss your project (Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. ID 955-4032-2117, password sent separately), we will answer some or all of the following questions:

1. What step are you on?
2. What have you so far created?
3. What was the most challenging aspect?
4. What are you the most proud of?
5. What was your inspiration?
6. How does your work on this project relate to your work on other projects, e.g., the Beautiful Cities project and/or Game Day?
7. How might you apply science to your project?
1. Info on gravity: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/
2. Info on batteries: https://www.livescience.com/50657-how-batteries-work.html
3. Info on how bacteria can behave like computers: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2009/jul/24/bacteria-computer
4. Earthly animals that are crazy-looking but are indeed real: 
5. Info on the nine planets: https://nineplanets.org/
8. How might you apply fantasy to science?
1. Fantastical vehicles: https://www.pinterest.com/chrisgrow142/fantasy-vehicles/
2. Cool bicycles: https://www.pinterest.com/extrah/cool-bicycles-and-bike-design/
3. In-development hyperloop: https://electrek.co/guides/hyperloop/
4. Drone taxis https://blog.dronetrader.com/top-passenger-drones-helicopters-drone-taxis/
9. What is your next step?
10. Do you have someone helping you?
11. How can I best support you?
12. Other personalized questions that emerge
13. Do you have photos or videos that I can post on this site?