The Open Classroom Hong Kong

Sociology of Deviance & Crime

In this class, students learned about the sociological theories for why crime exists in society. They also learned that crimes are not necessarily deviant, and acts of deviance are not necessarily criminal. Students also participated in a debate, in which they analyzed several case studies and defended the innocence of their respective defendants.

World Issues

Students engaged in deep discussion regarding several world issues, most notably animal poaching, institutionalized racism, and global warming. Each student was given the opportunity to present their ideas on how to solve these issues. They quickly learned that not all issues are easily solved, and this often result in students disagreeing or arguing with each other. The point of the class was to show that no one person can solve all of the world's problem, and that the best solution is for everyone to come together and engage in open discussion. Sometimes, it's not about finding the right answer, but the best answer.

European History

Students took part in an activity called the Dot Game. Students were given a piece of paper that either had a dot or not dot on it, and they were asked to interact and question each other to figure out which student had a dot on their paper. This resulted in lots of finger pointing and unrestrained accusations, which was the perfect recreation of the Witch Craze in Europe. Students learned that it didn't take much evidence or even logic to accuse and punish someone for being a witch.

Meet the Architect

In this module, students examined the role of an architect, learnt about famous architects and their architecture. Students met a professional architect and worked on a floor plan that replicates a real life challenge faced by the architect.

INTERVIEW WITH AN ARCHITECT

Do you ever wonder who is behind all of the fabulous skyscrapers in New York? It’s the great Thomas, aged 31! Thomas works for a company called Thunder Tyrants. He got this name from Thunderclan which is a clan from the imaginary book “Warrior: Clan Cats”. Thomas had invented a 160-storey triangular skyscraper. Thomas has also built the 400-storey shopping mall, breaking the world record! Right now, Thomas is building a 1000-storey high apartment near the White House. The president, Tom J. Jacob had ordered Thomas to do this. Thomas is an architect and he lives in New Zealand, even though he plans the skyscrapers in New York.

An architect plans how tall a building is, how wide it is and how comfortable it is. Thomas works starting from 9:00am-10:00pm. He works in a white room that has a few decorations: 1 table, 3 chairs and 1 sofa. It also has a small bookcase that has 20 books in it; 10 books about being a good architect, 5 fiction books and 5 books about art and music. The white room is also Thomas’s home, so it also has a bed and a TV. There’s also a fridge and 2 bags. Thomas has a servant called Ms. Chu Chu train. He wears normal clothes to work and also when he’s free. He wears a construction suit when he visits the site so he doesn’t have to worry if it gets dirty.

The most interesting thing I learnt about architects was you have to work hard to achieve what you want. One challenge for the architect is he has to concentrate on his job e.g. the architect’s favourite TV show is on when he’s supposed to be making blueprints. You have to be patient, brainy and be able to oversee a lot of thing. You also need to have a lot of details, think thoughtfully and know how to invent something new to be good at this job.

Refugee Run with Crossroads

For final output, students reinforced their learning through designing a product or service that can transform and empower the lives of vulnerable refugees.

Organic Farming with Herboland

Students wrote a thank you letter to the founders of Herboland, who gave our students a tour of the organic garden, baked cookies with them and taught them about the interesting facts of different plants.

Dear Gary and Gavin,

Before I visited Herboland, I learnt about factory farming, organic farms and processed foods and I also went to two fruit stores. Factory farming was created in 1950 by big companies that wanted to earn more money. I don’t support factory farming because the animals cannot move around and they are cruel to the animals. Organic farming was created in 1930. Organic farms do not use pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Conventional farming uses pesticides and chemical fertilizers. I support organic farms because it is healthier than conventional farms.

The field trip was very exciting. My favorite part of the day were making cookies and making my leaf book. I made the cookies with rosemary, cinnamon and baking powder.

I want Herboland to have better security and have air con.

From,

David 

Run a Tea Stand with Teakha

Students wrote a reflective piece after preparing and running their own tea stands. The students raised over $6000 for Kunpen Charity, dedicated to help Yushu’s Tibetan herding population.

LOVE AT FIRST BITE

Earthquakes often happen around the world. When disaster struck in Qinghai in 2008, thousands of residents were left homeless and moneyless. Abandoned, helpless children trudged around the deserted ruins, pausing only to wipe their tear-stained faces. Amidst the destruction, a bloody hand shot out briefly, only to be covered by the rubble again.

EcoProject tries to help these poor victims of the earthquake by asking people to donate money to help bring back business to Qinghai. By baking cookies and selling them at a fair price, we can lend a hand too.

My role in this Charity Bake Sale was to be a leader. With two maniacal 6 year olds under my supervision, this wasn’t an easy job. Every few seconds, they would giggle at my teammates’ pathetic jokes or start dancing around. But, we still managed to make some posters, send some emails, and practice our role play.During these crazy five days with my team, I learnt some pretty fascinating facts:

Ryan Lee insists on people calling him Orange.

Ryan Au is the tallest of the group. And he’s 10 years old.

Estrella and Gabriella are really un-talkative.

Abraham, who’s 6 years old, can play a Chinese flute. What’s a Chinese flute, exactly?

Benjamin, who’s 6 years old too, already knows how to play the piano.

I really look forward to selling our scrumptious cookies on Saturday!