Forthtopia: Sustainability, History, and California Architecture

You might remember the classic fourth-grade California Mission model project, which most elementary school students in California completed. Last year, Poly’s Fourth Grade Team reinvented students’ learning through a project-based learning project known as “Forthtopia,” which combined sustainability, history, and California architecture.

“Forthtopia was sort of born out of this idea to incorporate more meaningful, authentic, project-based learning opportunities for students and connect them to service learning,” said Poly Fourth-Grade Teacher Joseph Bacon. “We knew based on our WASC Self Study that we wanted to bolster our focus on climate awareness.”

Students completed a writing project proposing a land grant. Part of their task was to lay out plans for sustainability design for the future. Students drew upon reading, writing, and social studies and deeply examined different regions in California. The project ultimately culminated in a vision for a utopian city based on all of the learning. Thus, Forthtopia was born. 

“We first talked about, ‘Where would you like to live? What can you do there? What are the essential things, or what needs and wants?’ And we reverse-engineered it from there.” said Joseph. 

In terms of housing, students learned about mixed-use development and classic California architecture, like a bungalow court. They also learned about public transportation and necessary public works, like a fire department. The project culminated in presentations with speakers and experts in the field, as well as QR displays at the Poly Pet and Hobby Show with assistance from K-5 Technology Integration Specialist Sarah Nua. The displays taught readers about native plants, drought-tolerant landscaping, and specific choices made by students for their models.

Forthtopia served as proof of concept for the unit, which ran for about two and a half months, to great success. The Fourth Grade Team wants to expand the unit this year and teach fourth graders about important topics that will serve their future education. We look forward to seeing how this project grows in the future!