0. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Alice Keeler is a mother of 5 and a teacher in Fresno, California. She has her B.A in Mathematics, M.S. in Educational Media Design and Technology and is currently working on a doctorate in Educational Technology with an emphasis in games and simulations. EdTech speaker, blogger, and presenter. Founder of coffeeEDU, a 1 hour conference event for educators. New Media Consortium Horizon report advisory panel member. High school math teacher for 14 years. Currently teaching pre-service teachers curriculum, instruction and technology at California State University Fresno. Teaches online for Fresno Pacific University in the Masters in Educational Technology. Passionate that kids are not failures, researches gamification in education to increase student motivation.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: English Language Arts
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

1. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?
© Andy Lerner/Tandem Stills + Motion
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

2. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?
East of Singapore’s bustling downtown is the equally bustling hub of Marina Bay. Development of the area began in the 1970s and has since grown into a cultural destination with many eco-friendly construction projects. The futuristic-looking Gardens by the Bay is the latest attraction in the area. In this image, the dual domes of the Esplanade Theatres – looking a little like vintage microphones – anchor the scene.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

3. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?1
Web Search
What makes a building friendly to the environment? 2
Video Search
Locate videos of eco-friendly buildings. 3
What are things the designers considered when designing the building? 4
Thinking
What are unique geographical and weather features in your area that would affect building considerations? 5
What eco-friendly features are most important to you and why when considering the construction of your building?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

4. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

5. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?1
Web Search
What makes a building friendly to the environment? 2
Video Search
Locate videos of eco-friendly buildings. 3
What are things the designers considered when designing the building? 4
Thinking
What are unique geographical and weather features in your area that would affect building considerations? 5
What eco-friendly features are most important to you and why when considering the construction of your building?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

6. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?1
Web Search
What makes a building friendly to the environment?
(Possible Search Queries: ”building environment” “green buildings” )
Sources
Environmental Protection Agency -
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Water Efficiency
Environmentally Preferable Building Materials and Specifications
Waste Reduction
Toxics Reduction
Smart Growth and Sustainable Development

7. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?2
Video Search
Locate videos of eco-friendly buildings.
(Possible Search Queries: ”eco friendly buildings” )
Sources

8. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?3
Web Search
What are things the designers considered when designing the building?
(Possible Search Queries: ”eco friendly buildings” )
Sources
Residents use solar ovens instead of gas
alternative sources of energy including solar panels and bicycle pedaling
uses terrestrial heat from 100 meters under ground
building constructed using recycled materials

9. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?4
Thinking
What are unique geographical and weather features in your area that would affect building considerations?
Student answers may vary. Students may include variables such as:
Is /is not sunny enough to use solar panels
Is /is not windy enough to use wind power
Does/ doesn’t rain enough to depend on rainwater

10. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?5
Thinking
What eco-friendly features are most important to you and why when considering the construction of your building?
Student answers may vary. Students may include:
energy efficiency
producing as much (or more) energy than used
water efficiency
using eco friendly materials

11. How would you design an eco-friendly house or building in your area?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.