For the week of March 10, 1999  thru March 16, 1999  

Life on Mars!

Hemingway School students design futuristic +city for the red planet


By HANS IBOLD
Express Staff Writer

It’s true. A massive community on the red planet is currently being designed and built by some very imaginative and innovative fifth graders at Hemingway Elementary School. Space for homesteading is currently available.

The students are part of the school’s six-week-long Architectural Program, which exposes them to city planning and design and enables them to construct a model city.

In past years, the program, led by technology teacher Terry Thode and Ketchum architect Steve Pruitt, has immersed students in the design and construction of an earth-based city called "Hemopolis." This model city was replete with rivers, bridges, a railroad, platted blocks and lots, various zoning restrictions and—this is really hard to believe—land-use agreements.

"After the students worked in the individual projects over the course of approximately six weeks, the city appeared one morning with the lots and blocks filled with a variety of structures and designs with as much diversity and texture as any real city," Pruitt said of last year’s Hemopolis.

Pruitt designs and coordinates the program with the assistance of other professional architects and architectural interns from the local section of the American Institute of Architects. Parent volunteers also play a crucial role.

This year, the student-developers set their sights on Martian land and a colony to be called Marsopolis.

"With all the media attention given to space exploration lately, we thought it would be an exciting way to teach technology, math and science," Thode said. "It’s also a fun way to learn about the planet Mars."

"A goal of the program is to have students explore city planning concepts, the architectural design process and associated skills in a very hands-on way," Pruitt said .

He and other local architects drew up detailed specifications that students must adhere to, including to-scale guidelines, structure heights, lot sizes, setbacks and zoning guidelines.

Hemingway students are no strangers to high-technology. Thanks to Thode and a generous supply of high-tech equipment, students have been exposed to an array of computers, video production, robotics, automotive design, energy resources and systems, and biological and genetics studies.

A host of challenges confronts the fifth grade colonists. In addition to constructing their individual models, students must coordinate with each other to insure that their cities are rounded out with the necessary facilities. Low-gravity experimental stations, Mars research labs, and mining and extraction facilities mix with a range of community support facilities that would be included in such a colony.

"I’m in charge of the governor’s office," said fifth grader Devon Bunce, as she focused on measuring the cylindrical base of her model.

"It’s pretty hard getting everything to scale," said another student, Robby Hamlin, whose mining facility was nearly complete.

"These technology classes are just so good for students," said Shari Kunz, a parent roving the future Martian colony and lending a hand to the young developers. "It’s a thinking class and students get to apply what they learn."

Another parent on the scene, Keith Perry, was helping to keep student projects on schedule.

"The hardest part is getting the model to be balanced," Perry said. With a tap to one student’s model, Perry—accidentally—toppled the structure. "See what I mean?"

The Martian colony is eyed for the flat plains of the northern hemisphere of Mars, i.e., the lobby of Hemingway Elementary school. Students will install their completed models under six to-scale PVC domes.

Marsopolis will be unveiled March 18 at 9 a.m. The public is invited to attend and discuss completed projects with the Martian architects.

 

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