Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about urban life through drawing and design.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking, and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to design and annotate a drawing of a sustainable transport system for an urban environment.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are sustainability, infrastructure, concept drawing.

I'm going to say those again and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Sustainability, infrastructure, concept drawing.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

Sustainability means using resources in a way that protects the environment and ensures they are available for future generations.

Infrastructure is the basic physical systems, like roads, bridges, transport, that's needed for a city to function.

A concept drawing is a visual representation of an idea, often used to show early design ideas.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords and when you are ready to continue, press Play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Imagining sustainable transport systems, and creating and communicating your design.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to imagine sustainable transport systems. Different types of transport affect the environment in different ways.

What kinds of vehicles are better for the environment? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press Play when you're ready to continue.

What could you think of? What vehicles are better for environment? Well, there's a bit of a clue on that picture there.

Taking a bicycle or even an e-bike or an electric car because that is sustainable energy.

One challenge for urban planets is how to design transport routes that are safe and efficient.

Sustainability means using resources in a way that protects the environment and ensures they are available for future generations.

It's not all about the climate or environment.

We can now live more sustainably by using renewable energy sources, like solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and biofuels.

We can also reduce, reuse, and recycle waste.

Pause the video here and have a moment to think.

Can you remember a time where you've done one of these things? And press Play when you're ready to continue.

Could you think of one? Maybe you used a cardboard box to make a model, or maybe you turned an old t-shirt into a cleaning cloth, or perhaps you used your plastic bottles in the recycling bin at home.

And these small actions can help protect our environment.

Electric vehicles that use energy generated from renewable sources, like solar, wind, or biofuels, can be more sustainable to drive than those that rely on fossil fuels.

Now, designing transport systems with sustainability in mind can help to reduce their environmental impact and the effects of climate change.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Sustainability means using resources in a way that.

Uses them up quickly and makes attractive products? Ensures that new materials replace resources that have been used up? Or protects the environment and ensures they are available for future generations? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about how to finish this sentence and press Play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that sustainability means using resources in a way that protects the environment and ensures they are available for future generations, then you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Cities can often be busy places.

They often contain pollution, traffic, and lots of different noises.

Look at this image here.

You can see how busy cities can get, lots of cars, trucks, motorcycles, lots of things happening, but cities are also full of life, energy, and different communities.

Some people enjoy the hustle and bustle while others prefer quieter green spaces.

Do you live in a city? And if not, what do you think it would be like to live in a city? Would you enjoy it or would you prefer somewhere more peaceful? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about the idea of living in a city and press Play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Do you like living in a city or do you prefer more peaceful places? The basic physical systems, like roads, bridges, and transport, are needed for a city to function, and that is referred to as infrastructure.

The infrastructure of urban environments like cities can be designed sustainably through planning and creativity.

Sam and Jun are discussing ways that the transport infrastructure in their local area could be more sustainable.

Sam says, "Adding bike lanes on the roads could reduce traffic, and also encourage people to exercise through cycling more." And Jun says, "Electric buses that use electricity generated from renewable sources are more sustainable than cars because one vehicle can carry many people at the same time." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which of these is not part of urban infrastructure? Roads, trees in a forest, or trains? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question and press Play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said trees in a forest, you're absolutely right.

They're not a part of urban infrastructure.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to create a mind map exploring different possible sustainable transport systems. I would like you to include their basic features, considering where it will go, the sky, road, the underground, the water, and how it might help support an eco-friendly infrastructure.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at creating that mind map, exploring those different possible options for sustainable transport systems and press Play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Were you able to think about those basic features, about where it will go and how it will support an eco-friendly infrastructure? Well, let's take a look at an example.

Maybe you thought about trains made from recycled materials.

Perhaps you thought of bike lanes on roads and that they don't rely on fossil fuels or cause pollution.

Perhaps you thought of electric vehicles that use electricity generated from renewable sources.

On your mind map, maybe you included incentives for using certain roads.

Maybe futuristic monorail systems using electricity generated from renewable sources.

Or maybe smart adaptive streetlights that dim when there is no activity around to save energy.

So well done for having a think using your creativity and thinking about the different possible options for those sustainable transport systems. This now brings us to the second part of our lesson.

I'd like you to create and communicate your design.

So contemporary designers often shape the infrastructure of cities and urban environments.

Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-British architect who revolutionised modern architecture with a futuristic and distinctive style.

Here's an example here of futuristic architecture.

It's quite beautiful, isn't it? British design company Heatherwick Studio redesigned London's Routemaster bus in 2012 to reflect its greater fuel efficiency and improvements in sustainability.

Here's an image of the London Routemaster bus here.

Have you ever been on one of these or seen them maybe in the movies? Sustainable transport includes more than just power sources.

It also involves materials, energy use, and reducing pollution across a whole system.

Think about using recycled materials for construction, the engines and the fuel efficiency, and even the passenger capacity.

Take a look at this image here of a train on a railway system.

How can we make that more sustainable? In this way, even small changes to infrastructure can improve sustainability and the quality of life for the people who live there.

Take a look at this image here and how the infrastructure of the roads are beside some green spaces.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What material would be most sustainable for building a vehicle? Plastic, recycled aluminium, or gold? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press Play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Which material would be most sustainable for building a vehicle? If you said recycled aluminium, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Forward thinking designs and concept drawings can often lead to real-world changes.

For instance, Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci sketched flying machines long before planes existed.

Concept drawings are a visual representation of an idea, often used to show early design thoughts.

Think of concept drawings like functional sketches.

They allow designers to visually communicate their ideas to others.

It's important for concept drawings to be designed thoroughly.

A great concept drawing should visually depict the key features.

It should describe the functionality through notes and annotations.

By making concept drawings clear and descriptive, they can communicate the concept, they can appeal to people, and they can gather people's support.

They can also bring designs to life.

Look at this concept drawing here of a futuristic monorail system.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What should a designer think about when designing for a city? Where the people will go, only how it looks, or whether it's easy to build? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question and press Play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that a designer should think about where people will go when they're designing a city, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

They're not going to think about only how it looks or whether it's easy to build.

This brings us to our second learning task.

I'd like you to develop one or multiple of your sustainable transport system ideas from task A into a concept drawing.

You can use pencils, pens, and coloured pencils, or digital design software if available.

And then I'd like you to add annotations to explain its sustainability features.

So has it got solar panels or have you used recycled materials? Make it really clear by annotating your design.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at creating those concept drawings and making sure that they're annotated carefully, and press Play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Did you develop one of your ideas or more than one? And how did you find doing your concept drawing? Did you use pencils or coloured pencils or maybe even digital design? Well, let's have a look at an example.

So maybe like Lucas, you developed a concept drawing like this, and Lucas says, "I made this concept drawing for a futuristic, sustainable monorail transport system incorporating some of the multiple sustainability ideas to improve the city's infrastructure." Then importantly, he's added his annotations.

So here he's saying that sections separate and come together depending on how many people it carries, the windows adapt to the time of day or night, that it runs on renewable energy sources like solar or biofuel, and that it's made from recycled metal and glass.

So well done if you were able to have a go at creating your concept drawings based on some of your sustainability ideas, and well done if you were able to add those annotations to make it really clear what those different sustainability features are.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about designing a sustainable transport system.

Sustainability is an important area to incorporate into design as it can affect infrastructure and reduce environmental impact.

The functionality and aesthetics of design can influence urban life.

And concept drawings help designers to communicate their early design ideas.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope you enjoyed learning about urban life through drawing and design.

I certainly did.

I hope to see you for another unit of learning soon.

See you then.