Students investigate urban heat islands and use local heat map data, campus observations, and material testing to design a cooler public space that works for community members. They apply science ideas about reflection, absorption, and transmission to explain how shade, color, texture, and surface choices can reduce heat and minimize human impact on the environment. Through expert feedback, critique, and revision, teams create a model, map, or prototype and a before-and-after display board that shows how their design improved over time. The work builds civic and geographic reasoning as students assess local solutions, map spatial patterns, and present a public design pitch to families and city staff.

Students will investigate how different materials reflect, absorb, or transmit sunlight and heat, and use that evidence to explain why some surfaces make public spaces hotter or cooler. They will define criteria and constraints for redesigning a local public space, then build and revise models or prototypes that reduce heat while meeting community needs and environmental considerations. Students will analyze local heat map data, create maps that show spatial patterns of heat, and compare before-and-after results to evaluate how well their design minimizes human impact on the environment. They will also strengthen civic action and design skills by working in teams, gathering feedback from city or sustainability experts, and presenting a public design pitch supported by data, testing, and reflection.

Students will create heat maps of campus or neighborhood hot spots, material-testing data charts, brief video reflections, and early sketches or small prototypes showing how shade, color, texture, and surface choices affect temperature. Midway through the project, teams will produce a draft model, map, or prototype and use feedback from classmates and a city planning or sustainability partner to revise their ideas. By the end, each team will present a city design pitch for a cooler public space that includes a final model, map, or prototype, plus a before-and-after display board with local heat map data, temperature results, surface samples, and revised sketches. At the Cool City Expo, students will share these products in a public gallery walk with families and city staff.

Begin with a Heat Hunt Kickoff where students examine local heat map data, then walk the campus or nearby block with sticky notes and quick observation tools to identify the hottest surfaces and least shaded public areas. Back in class, teams sort their notes into patterns about materials, shade, and how people use those spaces, then test a few surface samples under a lamp or in sunlight to notice which materials reflect, absorb, or transmit energy. End with the class unpacking the driving question and drafting first ideas for a cooler public space they could redesign for real users.

Host a Cool City Expo as a public gallery walk where teams present their city design pitch to families, classmates, and city planning or sustainability staff. Each team can display a before-and-after board with local heat map data, temperature testing results, surface samples, revised sketches, and a model, map, or prototype showing how their public space reduces heat. Invite visitors to ask questions and leave feedback on how well each design works for people, the environment, and the city. This format lets students explain the science of reflection, absorption, and transmission while showcasing how their ideas improved through testing, critique, and revision.