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A Showcase of Ingenuity & Creativity
IB Middle Years Programme Personal Projects
IN THEIR FINAL YEAR OF THE IB MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME, LCC GRADE 10 STUDENTS EXPLORE AN AREA OF PERSONAL INTEREST, WORKING INDEPENDENTLY WITH THE GUIDANCE OF A SUPERVISOR. THEY HAVE THE FREEDOM TO SELECT THE TOPIC AND DETERMINE THE LEARNING GOAL AND END PRODUCT.
JAMIE GREENBERG ’24 WITH HER ECO-FRIENDLY HOME BY
The students are required to journal about their process and write a report. An exhibit of their work is held at the end of the year. The personal project provides an opportunity to further develop and apply an array of skills around self-management, research, communication, critical and creative thinking, and collaboration.
This year, Jamie Greenberg ’24 focused on the theme of sustainability with her project on energy efficient homes.
“The personal project allowed me to highlight why the environment needs to be a priority,” she says. “When I first started brainstorming ideas, my intention was to build a basic model home. But, at the time, I was reading many articles about the clean water crisis in some Indigenous communities and I felt compelled to incorporate sustainability into my project.”
Jamie’s eco-friendly model home integrates the concepts of renewable energy using solar panels and a packaged sewage treatment plant that is fully portable and can be placed anywhere in the surroundings of the house. She recruited a professional architect to supply recycled materials for the model and offer guidance.
AN ECO-FRIENDLY HOME BY JAMIE GREENBERG ’24
“I learned what it’s like to work in an architecture firm,” she says. “There are always new developments, which is what attracts me to this field and to design. An example of this is a new concept, where nanotechnologies are used to control the homes’ internal temperatures.”
Through the process, Jamie enhanced her communication skills by listening to the feedback of the architect and adapting her product as needed. Further focus on self-management skills meant that she stayed on task.
“The personal project has definitely compelled me to take further action in the future,” Jamie reflects, “whether I become an architect and design sustainable homes and/or through the small things I can do now, such as buying sustainable and local brands.”
